The Chantry List is here
Guild of the Holy Souls
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THE GUILD OF THE HOLY SOULS at St John Henry’s, launched in November 2023, is based on the Guild of All Souls, founded in England in 1873 and, thus, is essentially a prayer guild, available to all Catholics. The Guild seeks to promote the teaching of the Catholic Church in regard to the Faithful Departed principally through intercessory prayer for the dying and for the repose of the Holy Souls. The Guild encourages serious preparation for death (making of a will, legacies, detailed funeral instructions, etc.), and time-honoured Christian customs for those approaching death (prayers, litanies, the presence of a priest, etc.) and especially at, and following burial or cremation (Vigil, Requiem Masses, visits to the cemetery). The Guild also seeks to offer consolation and prayer for the bereaved.
The Guild promotes the two great doctrines of the Christian Creed, namely, the Communion of Saints and the Resurrection from the Dead, in support of which the Guild promotes awareness through teaching and study of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell. |
Objectives & Activities
The Guild offers its members the opportunity to pray for the dying and the departed of the parish, our families, friends, and those for whom we have promised to pray. The Guild also remembers those departed on their Year’s Mind. In summary, the Guild offers opportunities to learn:
1. What the Church teaches concerning death;
2. Preparation – spiritually, liturgically, and practically – for one’s own death;
3. Prayers for the dying;
4. Prayers for the recently departed;
5. Prayers on the Year’s Mind (anniversary) of the death of a loved one;
6. Prayers for the bereaved.
Additionally, the Guild may adopt certain groups in society for whom we may offer prayers, for example for members of His Majesty’s Canadian Armed Forces.
The Guild offers prayers, as a matter of course, for our own members who have died, but also those for whom our prayers are desired by the members.
The Guild may also be of service in the ministry of praying for the War Dead, since the practice of offering such prayers has waned in recent decades. We would welcome names of members of His Majesty’s Armed Forces of our country (and also of our allies: the UK, USA, etc.) who died in the World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, UN peacekeeping missions, more recent wars, or of those members of the police, fire, ambulance, or emergency services who have died in the line of duty.
1. What the Church teaches concerning death;
2. Preparation – spiritually, liturgically, and practically – for one’s own death;
3. Prayers for the dying;
4. Prayers for the recently departed;
5. Prayers on the Year’s Mind (anniversary) of the death of a loved one;
6. Prayers for the bereaved.
Additionally, the Guild may adopt certain groups in society for whom we may offer prayers, for example for members of His Majesty’s Canadian Armed Forces.
The Guild offers prayers, as a matter of course, for our own members who have died, but also those for whom our prayers are desired by the members.
The Guild may also be of service in the ministry of praying for the War Dead, since the practice of offering such prayers has waned in recent decades. We would welcome names of members of His Majesty’s Armed Forces of our country (and also of our allies: the UK, USA, etc.) who died in the World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, UN peacekeeping missions, more recent wars, or of those members of the police, fire, ambulance, or emergency services who have died in the line of duty.
Guild Chantry List & Chantry RequiemThe Guild Chantry List is for members of the Guild who wish to enrol a name in our permanent record of those for whom members are asked to pray. These souls will be remembered, by name, at a monthly Guild Requiem Mass. To add a name to the Chantry List an offering of $20 for posthumous enrolment is requested. Names on the Chantry List are restricted to the Holy Souls, i.e. the Faithful Departed, those who were baptised in a Christian church or ecclesial community which uses the Trinitarian Formula. Names enrolled in the Guild Chantry List are inscribed in the Chantry Book, which is the permanent record of the Guild Chantry List, and is kept in a suitable location in church to aid the faithful in their prayers.
Since the Guild is also concerned with the sick and the dying, we would also welcome requests for prayers for those who have returned from conflict impaired, reduced, or wounded, praying for God’s will that they be healed or come to deal with their situations as well as humanly possible. These prayers, too, can be requested by any member, and will be included in the Intercession Paper in a special section. We believe that this ministry, entirely consonant with the Guild’s intentions, will help fill a need. |
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Seeking the Prayers of the English and Canadian Martyrs
Prayers to and for the intercession of these Holy Martyrs are affected in two ways: 1. at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on a given saint(s)’ feast day; or, 2. through private prayer on the day of their death as recorded in the Birthday Book of English Martyrs, which will be kept in a suitable place in church.
Members’ Duties
Guild members will strive to:
1. Once a week, perhaps Fridays, say the Guild Prayers for the sick, the dying, and for deceased members of the Guild;
2. Attend Mass on 2 November, All Souls’ Day, and make the indulgenced devotion of visiting a cemetery;
3. Attend, if possible, the monthly Guild Requiem Mass, as well as other Requiem Masses and devotions for the departed in church;
4. Arrange that upon your death, notice shall be sent to the Guild Chaplain so that we may all pray for you; and
5. Priest members are asked to celebrate Mass at least once a year for the work of the Guild.
1. Once a week, perhaps Fridays, say the Guild Prayers for the sick, the dying, and for deceased members of the Guild;
2. Attend Mass on 2 November, All Souls’ Day, and make the indulgenced devotion of visiting a cemetery;
3. Attend, if possible, the monthly Guild Requiem Mass, as well as other Requiem Masses and devotions for the departed in church;
4. Arrange that upon your death, notice shall be sent to the Guild Chaplain so that we may all pray for you; and
5. Priest members are asked to celebrate Mass at least once a year for the work of the Guild.
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The Guild Manual & Other ResourcesThe Guild Manual, available to Guild members, contains prayers and devotions for the sanctification of sickness, the dying, and for the departed.
Many of the prayers can be also found in Ordinariate’s St Gregory Prayer Book, and Guild members are encouraged to obtain this book as a useful supplement to the Manual, and an aid to their personal devotion. The St Gregory Prayer Book offers many of the prayers from the rich Anglican and Catholic patrimony of the Ordinariates, such as the various versions of the Devotion to the Five Wounds of Christ, visits to Catholic graveyards in November, and prayers for the English and Canadian Martyrs. Members are also encouraged to purchase a copy of the Ordinariate’s breviary, Divine Worship: Daily Office which includes Mattins and Evensong for the Dead. |
Membership
Membership is open to all Catholics. Those wishing to join the Guild may apply to the Chaplain, Fr Kenyon, or to the Warden, Kevin Kirkwood.
Annual dues are payable by All Souls’ Day, 2 November, and are $10 annually. These, and all other funds, are used to further the Objectives and Activities of the Guild of the Holy Souls. Members who in Holy Orders, or Religious, are not required to pay dues.
Annual dues are payable by All Souls’ Day, 2 November, and are $10 annually. These, and all other funds, are used to further the Objectives and Activities of the Guild of the Holy Souls. Members who in Holy Orders, or Religious, are not required to pay dues.
THE GUILD PRAYER
Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, to this Guild of the Holy Souls such an increase of members as shall best enable thy servants to accomplish the work thou hast set before them, and whether we be many or few, grant us so to live here upon earth that hereafter we may come to joys everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.