The Solemnity of All Saints

According to the New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship, the Feast of All Saints originated in the Eastern Church as a commemoration of all unknown martyrs who were slaughtered by the reigning emperor. Today, in our Western Churches, this feast is a liturgical Solemnity observed on November 1.

Every year, on this feast, we take time to ask ourselves who among the many good people who lived saintly lives went largely unnoticed by any prominent Church official. They are not listed among the Saints and Martyrs in our extensive liturgical celebrations, nor are they even faintly noted in popular devotion.

For our meditation, it may help to seriously examine the Good Samaritan story in Luke 10:25-39, where Jesus tells this parable in response to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” At times, aren’t we asking a similar question: “Who is to be listed among the unrecognized saints?” Does not Jesus give us the same reply: “Whoever acts in a saintly way toward each and every one of God’s children. Everyone and everything you see and experience are my holy GIFT to you. Treat them all as you would me. In fact, act like me, who am holy.”

Let Us Pray:

As we adore you, O God, who alone are holy and wonderful in all your saints, we implore your grace, so that, coming to perfect holiness in the fullness of your love, we may pass from this pilgrimage table to the banquet of our heavenly homeland. Through Christ our Lord. (Prayer After Communion)