Today’s Thoughts to Live by, Sun, All Saints Day.

The Solemnity of All Saints is celebrated on the 1st of November. On this day, the Church honors all Saints, formally canonized or not (see Heb. 12:22-24). The day is also called “All Hallows Day,” the day of all holy ones. Its eve is “Halloween.”

In the Philippines, on All Saints Day, the cemeteries are crowded as people clean and beautify the graves of their beloved ones for All Souls Day. This practice unfortunately blurs the distinction between All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

In the early days of the Church, Christians celebrated the anniversary of a martyr’s death at the place of martyrdom. In the 4th century, neighboring dioceses began to interchange feasts, and join in a common feast. Thus, St. Basil of Caesarea (397) invited the bishops of the province of Pontus to join. Groups of martyrs who suffered death for Christ on the same day were jointly commemorated. As the numbers of martyrs grew especially in the persecution of Emperor Diocletian and his successor, the church in Antioch decided to commemorate all of them on a common day, the Sunday after Pentecost. In the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, and ordered an anniversary. In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III consecrated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica to all the Saints and fixed the anniversary to Nov. 1.

Finally, in the 9th century, Pope Gregory IV extended the celebration to the universal Church. We honor the saints in heaven today and ask for their intercession. St Paul says that we have a cloud of believers in heaven praying for us as we “run with perseverance the race [to heaven] that is set before us” (Heb.. 12:1).

We celebrate today even ordinary Christians whose holiness consists in their dedication and love for God. As St. Therese of Lisieux said, “Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will, and being just what God wants us to be.”

Hence, All Saints Day provides us an opportunity to reflect on spiritual journey, our common vocation to be holy, to become saints. We reflect on how we are obeying God’s will, expressed in the two great commandments of loving God and our neighbor. We consider on how we have walked humbly, acted justly, with integrity and love, on how we have observed the precepts of the Church, esp. the celebration of the Eucharist and the Rite of Reconciliation, as well as our own devotions.

Prayer — Almighty ever-living God, by whose gift we venerate in one celebration the merits of all the Saints, bestow on us, we pray, through the prayers of so many intercessors, an abundance of reconciliation with you, for which we long. This we pray, through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son and our Savior. Amen.