The Revival of All Souls Day
In the late 1960’s A.F. Raymonds’ noticed an alarming trend dwindling crowds at All Souls Day celebrations. The amount of people at both the Roman Catholic and Anglican chapels were fast diminishing - a number of grave owners had emigrated leaving only a handful of people to follow this all important Christian feast.
It was in 1972 that Aubrey Raymond Chairman at A.F. Raymond Ltd, contacted the priest in charge of the Roman Catholic section of the cemetery, The Rev. Fr. Bertram Dabrera who was then the parish priest of All Saints Church and the Rev Fr. Swithin Fernando of the Anglican church to discuss the decline of the faithful on this day of remembrance. If not for the efforts of these men of God, All souls Day would have been a very different event to day - if it lasted at all. We at A.F. Raymond’s carried out a survey and found out that while people trickled in to the cemetery through out the day they didn’t have a reason to stay and remember their loved ones who had gone to their eternal rest. And so, to give visitors a reason to linger and draw in the crowds to the chapel, the firm invested in state-of-theart studio equipment to play recorded tapes of spiritual hymns and readings, in both the Anglican and the Roman Catholic Chapels.
And the crowds returned, drawn by the peace and prayerfulness of the setting and the ambiance created by the recordings, to spend more time in the chapels.
By the late 70’s, the Catholic church decided to celebrate a special mass in the evening, at the chapel in the cemetery. By now, the celebration of All Souls Day had become a major event with thousands attending. A trend that is true today. The firm also organized this practice at suburban cemeteries, such as Kotte, Jawatte, Dehiwala, Mount Lavinia and in Kandy too.
To this date, dusk in the Christian sections of the cemetery sees the entire area aglow with candlelight each candle celebrating a life remembered. It is a joyous sight and one that has to be seen and experienced to be believed.
In 1985, in celebration of A.F. Raymonds’ Centenary Year, the company decided to celebrate by doing something extraordinary for All Souls Day. That year the entire Roman Catholic Chapel was covered in black cloth, creating the effect of a tomb, the tomb from which Jesus Christ arose from the dead and high above the alter, was a statue of the Christ Risen. This feat drew in the largest crowds seen to date and has never been done, either internationally or locally ever again.
The firm would always be grateful and remember the efforts and guidance given by late Fr. Bertram and late Bishop Swithin. The late Fr. Claver Perera and the St. Mary’s Choral group and the ever obliging Mr.lambert, who were always helpful and generous with their time have also got to be acknowledged for creating what has become a tradition - for today. All Souls Day celebrations are conducted by the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches but it might not have been conducted at all, if not for the little bit of extra service that A.F. Raymonsd’s put in all those years ago.
By now, the celebration of All Souls Day had become a major event with thousands attending. A trend that is true today.