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Feast of All Saints, 2021
4 years ago
"Moreover concerning the dead, that they rise again; have ye not read in the book of Moses, in what manner God spoke to him upon the blackberry bush? saying, 'I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of the dead, but of the living."
~ Mark 12:26-27, AVP
This is very late. >< I apologise. On the Hallows weekend I had a real-life problem that drained all my energy, and then after the date had passed it was hard to recall that I still wanted to write this up.
All Saints was, for those who might not know, the first of November. Hence Halloween -- Hallow-e'en, All Hallows' Eve, the night of All Hallows, just as Christmas Eve is the night of Christmas and New Year's Eve the night of New Year's Day.
So first, a bit of etymology. xD "Saint" is derived from Latin sanctus, "holy," via French. "Hallow" is the native English equivalent, the noun and verb form of "holy." "A hallow" is a holy place, thing or person; "to hallow" means "to make holy, sanctify." The noun form is obsolete, I believe, surviving only in the antiquated "All Hallows"; the verb form is archaic but might still be encountered -- as in the traditional form of the Lord's Prayer.
So what does All Saints Day celebrate? The common Catholic perspective, as I recall, is that it is a commemoration of all the saints in Heaven -- partiuclarly those whose deeds went unrecorded. Pretty useful, especially since early hagiographers were blind to the merits of anyone outside of the clergy, or martyrs.
The practice in Western Christianity of commemorating all martyrs, later all saints, goes far back; but observing it on November 1 originated in Britain, before being confirmed and established throughout the Catholic Church by Pope Gregory IV. After the Reformation, the observance was retianed by the Anlgicans and Lutherans.
Eastern Christianity has similar observances, though on different days. To quote Wikipedia,
"The Eastern Orthodox Church and associated Eastern Catholic and Eastern Lutheran churches celebrate it on the first Sunday after Pentecost. The Church of the East and the Syro-Malabar Church and Chaldean Catholic Church, the latter of which is in communion with Rome, celebrates All Saints' Day on the first Friday after Easter Sunday. In the Coptic Orthodox tradition, All Saints' Day is on Nayrouz, celebrated on September 11. The day is both the start of the Coptic new year and its first month, Thout."
Now I think it a good thing to reflect upon the verses I quoted as my lead-in. Some feel it wrong to reverence the dead. But those who belong to God, as Jesus declares to the Sadducees, are not truly "dead." All Christians are united to each other by the Spirit of God, the Giver of Life. While they are departed from this world, we are still a single family, the one Body of Christ.
That said, the Bible does emphatically refer to all believers as sancti, "holy ones," "hallows," "saints." While I believe commemoration of the dead is good and healthy, reminding us at once that we too must prepare ourselves for our exit of this life, while also reminding us that death is not the end but the beginning, and nothing to be feared -- and also giving those who mourn a solemn outlet for their grief -- it is also worthwhile to see All Hallows as a tribute to all Christians, living as well as dead, and the victory of our Master Christ in bringing us together.
Finally, I would like to point out that the Bible supports the idea that people can come to know and love God after death. "Because Christ also died once for sins ... put to death in the flesh, but enlivened in spirit -- in which also coming, He preached to those spirits in prison, who aforetime had been unbelievers." (I Peter 3:18-20 AVP) So the number of saints may be far greater than we realise.
May God bless you all. ^^
~ Mark 12:26-27, AVP
This is very late. >< I apologise. On the Hallows weekend I had a real-life problem that drained all my energy, and then after the date had passed it was hard to recall that I still wanted to write this up.
All Saints was, for those who might not know, the first of November. Hence Halloween -- Hallow-e'en, All Hallows' Eve, the night of All Hallows, just as Christmas Eve is the night of Christmas and New Year's Eve the night of New Year's Day.
So first, a bit of etymology. xD "Saint" is derived from Latin sanctus, "holy," via French. "Hallow" is the native English equivalent, the noun and verb form of "holy." "A hallow" is a holy place, thing or person; "to hallow" means "to make holy, sanctify." The noun form is obsolete, I believe, surviving only in the antiquated "All Hallows"; the verb form is archaic but might still be encountered -- as in the traditional form of the Lord's Prayer.
So what does All Saints Day celebrate? The common Catholic perspective, as I recall, is that it is a commemoration of all the saints in Heaven -- partiuclarly those whose deeds went unrecorded. Pretty useful, especially since early hagiographers were blind to the merits of anyone outside of the clergy, or martyrs.
The practice in Western Christianity of commemorating all martyrs, later all saints, goes far back; but observing it on November 1 originated in Britain, before being confirmed and established throughout the Catholic Church by Pope Gregory IV. After the Reformation, the observance was retianed by the Anlgicans and Lutherans.
Eastern Christianity has similar observances, though on different days. To quote Wikipedia,
"The Eastern Orthodox Church and associated Eastern Catholic and Eastern Lutheran churches celebrate it on the first Sunday after Pentecost. The Church of the East and the Syro-Malabar Church and Chaldean Catholic Church, the latter of which is in communion with Rome, celebrates All Saints' Day on the first Friday after Easter Sunday. In the Coptic Orthodox tradition, All Saints' Day is on Nayrouz, celebrated on September 11. The day is both the start of the Coptic new year and its first month, Thout."
Now I think it a good thing to reflect upon the verses I quoted as my lead-in. Some feel it wrong to reverence the dead. But those who belong to God, as Jesus declares to the Sadducees, are not truly "dead." All Christians are united to each other by the Spirit of God, the Giver of Life. While they are departed from this world, we are still a single family, the one Body of Christ.
That said, the Bible does emphatically refer to all believers as sancti, "holy ones," "hallows," "saints." While I believe commemoration of the dead is good and healthy, reminding us at once that we too must prepare ourselves for our exit of this life, while also reminding us that death is not the end but the beginning, and nothing to be feared -- and also giving those who mourn a solemn outlet for their grief -- it is also worthwhile to see All Hallows as a tribute to all Christians, living as well as dead, and the victory of our Master Christ in bringing us together.
Finally, I would like to point out that the Bible supports the idea that people can come to know and love God after death. "Because Christ also died once for sins ... put to death in the flesh, but enlivened in spirit -- in which also coming, He preached to those spirits in prison, who aforetime had been unbelievers." (I Peter 3:18-20 AVP) So the number of saints may be far greater than we realise.
May God bless you all. ^^
