For all the saints
An Allhallowtide celebration of the communion of saints, which, as it happens, does include some women
Gentle reader,
Welcome to Allhallowtide: the three days embracing All Saints’ Eve (or Halloween), All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day. It’s a time to remember those who have gone on before us. It’s a time to remember God’s faithfulness to the beloved dead and to us.
Keep scrolling for a celebration of the saints of God, crowned in glory.
“Will we ever stop being afraid of nights and death?”
”When you reach the stars, boy, yes, and live there forever, all the fears will go, and Death himself will die.”
― Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree
“He did not say: You will not be assailed, you will not be belabored, you will not be disquieted, but he did say: You will not be overcome.”
— Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love
“And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away.” (1 Peter 5:4)
“Since both the departed saints and we ourselves are in Christ, we share with them in the ‘communion of saints.’ They are still our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we celebrate the Eucharist they are there with us, along with the angels and archangels. Why then should we not pray for and with them? The reason the Reformers and their successors did their best to outlaw praying for the dead was because that had been so bound up with the notion of purgatory and the need to get people out of it as soon as possible. Once we rule out purgatory, I see no reason why we should not pray for and with the dead and every reason why we should – not that they will get out of purgatory but that they will be refreshed and filled with God’s joy and peace. Love passes into prayer; we still love them; why not hold them, in that love, before God?”
—N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope
After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!”
And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing,
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
For this reason they are before the throne of God
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat,
for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:9-17)
Though Satan breaks our dark glass into shards Each shard still shines with Christ’s reflected light, It glances from the eyes, kindles the words Of all his unknown saints. The dark is bright With quiet lives and steady lights undimmed, The witness of the ones we shunned and shamed. Plain in our sight and far beyond our seeing He weaves them with us in the web of being They stand beside us even as we grieve, The lone and left behind whom no one claimed, Unnumbered multitudes, he lifts above The shadow of the gibbet and the grave, To triumph where all saints are known and named; The gathered glories of His wounded love. --a sonnet for All Hallows
The poem above is from Malcolm Guite, Sounding the Seasons
"Yet you have made them a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (Psalm 8:5-9)
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(1 Corinthians 15:55-56)
A prayer for those who are grieving:
“Most merciful God, whose wisdom is beyond our understanding: deal graciously with those who mourn. Surround them with your love, that they may not be overwhelmed by their loss, but have confidence in your goodness and strength to meet the days to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” —Book of Common Prayer
“Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12)
Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with thee.
“As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6-8)
“I’m not here to say that older Hallowe’en traditions are ‘better’ - but I do believe that by having a dialogue both with liturgical traditions of bygone days, as well as a dialogue with our own preconceived notions and experiences, we might add depth and expand our awareness of this mysteriously spooky evening that the Church has gifted us.” —
at
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Lord it’s all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
It often overwhelms me
But when I think of all who've gone before and lived the faithful life
Their courage compels me
And when I'm weary and overwrought
With so many battles left unfoughtI think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the starsI see the shepherd Moses in the Pharaoh’s court
I hear his call for freedom for the people of the LordAnd when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them — Sarah Groves, Lyrics to “When the Saints”
O Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord: Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable joys, which thou hast prepared for them that unfeignedly love thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. — Collect for All Saints, Book of Common Prayer
Grace & peace,
BFJ
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Just…wow.
I love this so much! Thank you.