"For all the Saints..."

 

 

The Feast of All Saints was November 1, and we observed the occasion Sunday, November 7. Originally the church set aside an individual day – usually the day on which an individual died – as a commemoration of the life and witness of those whom the church declared “saints.” As you can imagine, the calendar soon became overrun with commemorations even when the church celebrated multiple persons on a single day. So, the church (long before there were denominations of any size) gathered all of these lives into one celebration, All Saints. These saints were almost exclusively martyrs, and the day was one of great solemnity.

The church also recognized all other faithful departed on the following day and observed the event as All Soul’s Day. In the Western Church (the congregations aligned with Rome) this early November observance remains to this day. In the Eastern Church (those congregations that recognized the leadership of the church at Constantinople, also known as the “Orthodox” Churches), the tradition sought to maintain a connection between The Resurrection of the Lord and the sanctification of believers by locating the Feast of All Saints on May 13, or alternatively, on the first Sunday after Pentecost.

Protestant churches unified All Saints and All Souls into one celebration early in their history. In order to involve more of the church family in this commemoration, many congregations held their celebrations on the Sunday following All Saints Day.

The day held great personal meaning for John Wesley. In a journal entry from November 1, 1767, Wesley calls it "a festival I truly love." On the same day in 1788, he writes, "I always find this a comfortable day." The following year he calls it "a day that I peculiarly love."

It is a day to remember and give thanks for those upon whose shoulders we stand. These include the martyrs and the great theologians of the church. But they also include Sunday School teachers and youth counselors Vacation Bible School Leaders. We owe a great debt to a lot of people without whom our faith would not hold the vibrancy that we now enjoy. 

 

 This is the great Hymn for the day:

“For All the Saints”
William W. How 

 
For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia! 

 
Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;
thou Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;
thou in the darkness drear, their one true light.
Alleluia, Alleluia! 

 

 O may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold,
fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
and win with them the victor's crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia! 

 
O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia! 

 
From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,
through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!