On Saturday, November 1, many Christians will remember the lives, witness, and grace-centered love of many who have died in the Faith. In fact, this day is so important for our collective Christian memory that many parish will celebrate All Saints Day on Sunday, November 2.About this feast day, one excellent Christian publisher, Paraclete Press, makes this fine observation:
Since there are many more Christian saints than the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year, this day is set aside to honor all of them. The official list of canonized saints, as large as it is, does not claim to include every saint. Many have never had their names mentioned beyond a very small circle of friends.Not all saints are alike. Spiritual gifts are as varied as the many interests and abilities that exist in the broad spectrum of people. Some saints have mystical experiences; others do not. Some saints stay busily at work in the world; other saints have neither the energy nor the social skills for that. Many saints have no idea that they are saints. One saint will rediscover the value of tradition, while another saint will open new doors of innovation. Each life has a purpose and fits into God's grand scheme the way plants - an oak or a trillium - grow in a forest.
On both November 1 and 2, June and I will remember several saints who are especially important to us: our parents, a brother, two of our sons, and several friends who have died during this past year. Yet even while doing so, we also know that each Sunday we have opportunity to remember (and be with!) all those whom we remember on All Saints Day. Here's why and how we Lutherans--along with many other Christians--express our conviction concerning our communion with all the saints:
When we approach the Lord's table, with whom do we commune? Who joins us at the Lord's Supper table? Who is beside us, across from us, or at the other end of the table?
Answer: All the company of heaven.
We live in an age that promotes the feeble strength of the rugged individual and the false security of private religion. Many try to find comfort and peace in isolation from others. Sadly, some Christians even isolate themselves from their fellow Christians. But the Lord loves us too much to let us be "Lone-Ranger Christians." Instead, He graciously gives us "all the company of heaven."
In the Lord's Supper liturgy the pastor addresses God with these words: "Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name." It's no accident that we hear these words just before we commune at the Lord's table. The Lord's Supper is one of God's best tools for gathering His family together, a family that includes not only Christians on earth but also all the company of saints who rest from their labors.
November 1 (or a Sunday close to it) is traditionally observed as All Saints' Day. On this day the Church remembers those who have finished the course of this life in faith. On All Saints' Day, we thank God for the faith of our fellow saints and for
their example in the Christian life. But most of all, we praise God for His faithfulness to His saints, keeping them in His merciful favor. God promises to be faithful to us
just as He has been faithful to our fellow saints before us.
What does it mean when the pastor says the words "with all the company of heaven"? It means heaven and earth are joined together at the Lord's Supper table. It means that even as we commune with our fellow believers, we are united with the saints of every age.
What an awesome miracle! When we commune, the whole company of heaven is looking on-Abraham and Moses, Ruth and Hannah, David and Isaiah, Peter, Paul and Priscilla, just to name a few. In the Lord's Supper we are given a sneak preview, you might say, of what awaits us: the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb and His bride the Church. For now we are joined together in a hidden reality. But one day the reality will be fully revealed, and we all shall dine together. Heaven comes down to earth in the Lord's Supper and prepares us for the great heavenly banquet yet to come.
This is great comfort for all Christians as we mourn the deaths of loved ones. Yes, a beloved family member or dear friend may have departed this life and may rest in the grave, but as a fellow saint he or she is still joined to us in all the company
of heaven. We may not see it, but we do believe it. And as often as we commune, we are also joined together with our faithful loved ones. This too is part of Christ's resurrection victory over death.
In some churches the communion rail extends out from the front wall and bends around the front of the altar. What if the rail extended through he wall where we can't see and joined together on the other side? We'd then have a completed circle.
This is a good way to ponder "all the company of heaven." Even though we can't see our fellow saints, we have the promise of God's Word that in Christ we are all one. What the saints now have in full-life and salvation-we also receive as we join in
this sacred meal.
The Collect for All Saints Day
O Almighty God, who have knit together your elect in one Communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those indescribable joys which you have prepared for those who truly love you: through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.
For an especially beautiful Litany, visit The Feast of All Saints, where you'll find the litany of saints, chanted annually at the Church of St. Stephen and the Incarnation in Washington, D.C., at the principal eucharist celebrating All Saints' Day. It was composed around 1979, largely by William MacKaye, former religion editor of the Washington Post, though some of the images were taken from A Liberation Prayer Book of the Free Church in Berkeley, California, and has been adapted here and there in the subsequent years.
The litany is intended to be chanted in procession. The procession moves from station to station around the church during the singing of the verses of "For all the saints." Each section of the litany is then chanted at a station. The final sections-- to martyrs, to all saints, to Mary, and to Jesus--are chanted at stations in the center aisle as the procession makes its way toward the sanctuary. The litany concludes with the singing of the Gloria in excelsis. (The usual salutation and the Collect for Purity are omitted.)
Of course, you may pray this Litany privately or with someone as part of your Evening Prayers. There's so much to give thanks for on All Saints Day. Some day you yourself will be with All the Saints, joining your worship with All the People on Earth who adore the Most Holy Trinity! After all, we are all One in Christ.
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