What is All Saints Day, and why do we celebrate it?
All Saints is a day on which we celebrate the saints, both the ones we know about and those we don’t. It recognizes that there is a spiritual connection between those who exist on earth and those in heaven. Therefore, many congregations remember those who died in the last year as part of their worship on All Saints Day. At Holy Cross, those whom have suffered a significant loss can light a candle. We also name all the new living saints baptized in the last year.
Revelations 7:9 describes the saints as “a number no one could count” with saints “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.” In short, All Saints allows us to focus on our own loved ones while imagining the sheer volume of the Saints throughout time who now rest with God.
All Saints does not just honor those who are especially holy, like those you learn about in the Bible. As Lutherans, we acknowledge that we are all sinners in need of our Savior Jesus and that it is God’s grace, not our good deeds, that makes us saints.
How do we celebrate All Saints Day?
There are many ways to celebrate it. Here are a few to get you started…
- Attend church on All Saints Day
- Discover the story of a saint – in the front of our hymnbook, it lists the names of the saints in the church.
- Read the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew
And now a question for you… how does the concept of “All Saints” trickle into your everyday life? Leave a comment below.