All Saints on Sunday, All Souls Monday at Christ the King, and Bishop Cahill’s installation

The Church sets aside November to pray for the faithful departed. All Saints Day falls on Sunday, Nov. 1, this year, and All Souls Day, the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, follows on Monday, Nov. 2.

The Church's Manual of Indulgences grants a plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, to anyone who devoutly visits a cemetery and prays for the dead, even silently, on any day from Nov. 1 through Nov. 8. It can be gained once a day, so a person who visits on all eight days can offer eight plenary indulgences for the departed. On All Souls Day itself, a plenary indulgence is also granted for devoutly visiting a church or oratory and praying an Our Father and the Creed.

The usual conditions apply. You must go to sacramental confession, receive Holy Communion, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, and you must be free of all attachment to sin, even venial sin. Confession can be made within about 20 days before or after, and one confession covers several indulgences, but each plenary indulgence needs its own Communion and its own prayer for the Pope. An Our Father and a Hail Mary are the customary prayer for his intentions. If a condition is missing, the indulgence is partial.

The Catechism explains that an indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, and that the faithful can apply indulgences to the dead as a work of charity (CCC 1471). A quiet visit to a family grave in early November is one of the simplest and oldest ways to do that.

Lombard's parishes offer confession every week. Sacred Heart hears confessions on Wednesdays from 6 to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 3 to 4 p.m. St. Pius X hears them on Saturdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., and Christ the King on Saturdays from 3 to 3:30 p.m. or by appointment. Divine Mercy, a mainly Polish-speaking parish, offers confession Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m. and 6:30 to 7 p.m., on Saturdays from 7:30 to 8 a.m., and during every Sunday Mass. Our Lady of Lebanon offers it on Sundays from 9 to 9:20 a.m. Times can change around All Saints and All Souls, so check your parish bulletin before you go.

Sources: Manual of Indulgences, no. 29 (USCCB translation); Catholic Culture: Praying for the dead and gaining indulgences in November; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1471–1479 (Vatican); Franciscan Media: All Souls; Sacred Heart parish website; St. Pius X parish website; Christ the King parish website; Divine Mercy parish website (in Polish); Our Lady of Lebanon parish website

Whether it has been a week or many years, confession follows the same simple pattern. Before you go, take a few minutes for an examination of conscience. The U.S. bishops publish several, including ones built on the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes.

In the confessional, begin with the Sign of the Cross and say, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been [this long] since my last confession.” Then confess your sins, naming mortal sins in kind and number as best you can. The priest may offer some counsel and will give you a penance. You then pray an Act of Contrition, and the priest speaks the words of absolution. Afterward, do your penance promptly.

If you have forgotten how it goes, simply tell the priest. Priests hear that often and are glad to walk you through it. Everything said in confession is protected by the seal, which a priest may never break.

In Lombard, Sacred Heart hears confessions on Wednesdays from 6 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 3 to 4 p.m. St. Pius X hears them on Saturdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., and Christ the King on Saturdays at 3 p.m. or by appointment. Divine Mercy offers confession before its weekday morning and evening Masses (the parish is mainly Polish-speaking), and Our Lady of Lebanon offers it on Sundays from 9 to 9:20 a.m. before the Divine Liturgy. Times can change on holidays, so check the parish bulletin before you go.

Many parishes add extra confession times during Advent and Lent, and The Parish Post will list them on the calendar as they are announced.

Sources: USCCB: Sacrament of Penance; USCCB: Examinations of conscience; Catechism of the Catholic Church, on the Sacrament of Penance (Vatican); Christ the King bulletin, Oct. 18, 2026; St. Pius X bulletin, Oct. 18, 2026