Allhallowstide
As we begin this month of November, I just wanted to give some explanation of the feasts of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. In recent years, there has been a tendency to collapse these two commemorations into one; and so I just wanted to explain what the differences are between these two days and why, historically, they have been distinct.
All Saints’ Day, which we celebrate on November 1 is a major feast, on which we commemorate all those whom the Church holds up as exemplars of the faith, as canonized saints. Like other major feasts, it begins at sunset the day prior, with an eve. Because the saints are those whom Christ has made holy, or hallowed, the English Church referred to the saints as “Hallows,” or holy ones; and so October 31 (the day before All Saints' Day) was known as “All Hallows’ Even”—shortened to “Halloween.” We celebrate on All Saints’ Day those whom we venerate as worthy of emulation in the Christian life. These saints have finished their race and received their crowns. (For this reason, churches which bear the name of “All Saints” often have as their logo three crowns on a shield.) As the book of Hebrews tells us, they surround us as a great company of witnesses, cheering us on in our own race, and we believe them to be offering to the Lord their prayers for us.
On the day following, we address the following question: What about my loved ones who have passed on? They, too, are saints who have been made pure by the blood of Christ, but it would feel odd to venerate them alongside the likes of the Virgin Mary, St. Francis, St. Peter, and others who lived especially holy lives. And so on November 2, the Church affords us the opportunity to lift them up to the Lord in love, to offer our prayers for all souls. On this day, we pray for the faithful departed whom we love who have passed on, mentioning them by name, that God’s light perpetual would shine upon them, as they behold him face to face.
These three days, of All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day, form a triduum, a three-day's observance, that reminds us of that phrase in the Creed—“the communion of saints.” For we are in communion with the saints, in communion with the faithful departed, being of one body with those who have passed on. Because Christ is alive, we who have been incorporated into his body are alive as well, whether on earth or in heaven. Just as we say in the All Souls’ Day service, “The life of thy faithful people, O Lord, is not taken away but changed.”
May God bless you this Allhallowtide and may his light perpetual shine upon those whom you love but no longer see.
