November 2 All Souls Day
On this day we remember and pray for the souls in Purgatory.Although we should pray for them everyday, we have this day to remind us and perhaps to pray a little more for them.The church offers special indulgences on this day for these prayers and even for a visit to a cemetery.For this reason, many customs and beliefs have sprung up around this day—including the “folk” belief of souls visiting earth on this day. It is a custom to visit cemeteries of relatives and fix up the graves, plant flowers and even have a picnic there. In Mexico we see big celebrations called the Day of the Dead with special foods and customs.These families make special altars in their homes with items from deceased relatives; foods shaped liked bones and skulls; and other reminders of the dead. http://www.celebrate-day-of-the-dead.com/day-of-the-dead-symbols.html At the very least, we should take time today to remember our relatives who have died and pray for them.We can pull out their pictures and use this time to acquaint our children with their ancestors—all for the purpose of remembering to pray for them. 
My whole family loves to color these Day of the Dead skulls. Here are 6 Free ones for you to download and color!
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To Do:
Visit the graves of your family. Spruce them up. Plant flowers. Sprinkle with Holy Water. If this is not possible, visit another cemetery as representing your family’s cemetery and pray for your own family members there. (and throw in some prayers for those in residence, too.) Put out pictures of the deceased members of your family and friends at home. Acquaint your children with these people by sharing stories that you experienced or were told to you. And pray for them! We also have a "Remembrance Book" that we have out all month. It has some pictures, obituaries, programs or Holy Card from their funeral. Nothing very fancy--just stored in a scrapbook. See picture. Read Father Philip Tells a Ghost Story. Find it at your Catholic bookstore or online. To pray: Eternal rest grant unto him/her (them), O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon him/her (them). May he/she (they) rest in peace. Amen. To eat Donuts are supposed to represent eternity—the eternal circle.It would be a good day for Krispy crème. I guess you can’t buy the filled ones, though.Or I like to make my own. I use the recipe in my Betty Crocker Cookbook but it is similar to this: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cake-doughnuts/detail.aspx or a short cut version: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grandmas-doughnuts/detail.aspx Our Mexican Friends have wonderful food and celebrations. They call it Day of the Dead. I use many of their beautiful decorations, like our own "Day of the Dead" Skulls. And some of their food like, Pan de Muertos: This is a bread shaped like skulls and bones. I’ve never made this, but my son made it for his Spanish Project last year. It turned out great. We also made Sugar skulls, too. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pan-de-muertos-mexican-bread-of-the-dead/detail.aspx
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