Also known as All Hallows Day, Hallowmas, or All Saints Day, the Solemnity of All Saints is an important holy day celebrated each year on November 1. It is dedicated to all of those people who have died and are now with God in Heaven.
Initially, the saints who were honored by the Church were all martyrs. Later, other people who had modeled their life after Jesus and exhibited heroic sanctity were also venerated.
Many saints are recognized on a particular day on the Church’s calendar but All Saints Day is an opportunity to remember all the saints, including those who have not been formally canonized and who are known only to God.
Along with All Hallows Eve the night before and All Souls Day the day after, All Saints Day is part of Allhallowtide when Catholics place a special emphasis on remembering the dead.
All Saints Day is a holy day of obligation. All Catholics are required to attend Mass.
A celebration of our heroes:
There are saints who are known to God alone:
Our connection with everyday sanctity:
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple; and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Revelation 7: 13-17
The perfection of God is expressed in the diversity of the saints:
Exemplifying holiness in spite of human weakness:
The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, share in the living tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their writings, and their prayer today. They contemplate God, praise Him and constantly care for those whom they have left on Earth. When they entered into the joy of their Master, they were “put in charge of many things.” Their intercession is their most exalted service to God’s plan. We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 2683
We are all called to be saints:
Flesh and blood bound for Heaven:
A “great cloud of witnesses” encourage and support us:
Today, Solemnity of All Saints, let us raise our thoughts to Heaven and fervently invoke all those who already enjoy God’s eternal happiness in Heaven. St. John in the book of the Apocalypse claims to have seen an immense multitude, which no one could count, of every nation, race, people and language: this is the celestial image of the universality of redemption. The vision of St. John comforts us, because it makes us reflect on the infinite Mercy of the Most High, which has prepared such an ineffable destiny for all believers in Christ. The Liturgy of this Solemnity expresses the supreme certainty of the Eternal Glory, which was acquired for us by Christ with his passion, death and resurrection.
Pope John Paul II, Angelus Address, 1 November 1991
Venerating their honor serves us, not them:
Celebrating the glorified dead at the Pantheon:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
So different from mindfulness:
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