Feast of All Saints

Feast of All Saints
Solemnity
· 1 November

About the Feast

Let’s understand; we who follow the Lord are already members of the Communion of Saints; God’s heavenly family, The Kingdom of God is at Hand. In many writings of the Early Church all members of a Christian Community were called saints meaning Holy Ones, or Good Ones.

When we say, “Saint” today, we generally refer to those exclusive members of the Communion of Saints who have passed through this life, a time of purification, and now continue to exist throughout eternity after death in God’s presence in Heaven. So, in spite of what many of you say, the Whip cannot be a Saint until she is dead….

A Saint therefore is not limited to only those officially recognized by the Church, like the folk we discuss every day in our emails. It could be that poor dude with the floppy old fedora who gave a buck every day to the homeless man outside the church of St. Stephen on 28th street on the east side, without fanfare or recognition of any kind…on Earth.

Today is the feast of All Saints. Today we remember all the Saints in Heaven…the ones recognized by the church, like the ones we discuss every day, and the ones that we don’t know about or are not publicly recognized…like my Uncle Bill, who sported a floppy fedora and lived on east 27th street, or Sister Helen my 8th grade teacher who lived in the Bronx.

Today is indeed a Solemnity and a Holy Day of Obligation. A big deal in the church and it has been since the year 610 or so. It was moved around a bit on the calendar until we finally settled on November 1st. Today has been called All Saints Day, the Feast of All Saints, and All Hallows Day (All Holy Day). Which is why last night was called All Hallows Eve or in Middle English, Halloween.

It is not possible for us to know all the people who have attained their eternal reward in Heaven; we can never know what good was in everyone who ever lived…only HE can….and does. So today we celebrate everyone we know and those we don’t know….in Heaven. Even if they’re not canonized formally nor have a feast day, they’re all saints.

May I direct your attention to Revelation 7:13-17? John the Divine describes an uncountable multitude before the throne of the Father; he isn’t talking about a Lady Gaga Concert here:

Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, "Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?"

I said to him, "My Lord, you are the one who knows." He said to me, "These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"For this reason they stand before God's throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.

 They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them.

For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

When you read that it is pretty cool isn’t it? I hope someday to be wearing a white robe…and I don’t mean an Alb either, I wish the same for you.