All Saints Day
November 1, 2022
THE Feast of All Saints is “the annual commemoration of all those who are honored in the Church as holy men and women whose lives are worthy of imitation and whose intercession we may profitably seek in prayer.” (The Rev. William J. Lallou)
From The Feast of All Saints: Part 1 by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876:
If on today’s festival we think of the communion of the Saints in heaven, we will undoubtedly exclaim within our soul: “Oh, what a joy, what an ecstasy of delight will there be in heaven on this glorious feast!”
And what is it that incites the hearts of our brethren in heaven to such holy rejoicings? Ah, it is the remembrance of their victory–the victory which, while on earth, they gained over Satan, the world, and their own evil inclinations! They lived for heaven, fought for heaven, and gained heaven. Their joy, then, is a victor’s joy, the greatest and sincerest of all the delights which can be tasted by the heart of man.
To show that in truth, on this day, an unbounded joy reigns in heaven, we need but remind you of the description which the seer St. John, in the island of Patmos, gives us of the city of God. “And I heard them,” he says, “singing the canticle of Moses, the servant of God.” It was the re-echo of that canticle which the children of Israel entoned on the shores of the Red Sea after God had destroyed Pharaoh, with all his warriors.
By saying that the Blessed sang the canticle of Moses, St. John wants to represent to us the indescribable sweetness and grandeur of the canticle of Victory which the Blessed in heaven chant before the throne of the Almighty.
I want to explain today to you the meaning of this Canticle of Moses sung in Heaven.
O Mary, Queen of Saints, lead us to victory in our battle on earth, that we may entone once the joyful songs of Saints and Angels with thee in Heaven! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, for the greater glory of God! [cont.]
Do Catholics worship saints? A rebuttal here.
Hail to the saints above:
1. I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations standing before his throne.
2. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and they fell down before the throne, and adored God.
3. Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord God, in Thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made of us a kingdom unto our God.
4. Bless the Lord all ye His elect, keep a day of gladness and give thanks unto Him.
5. A hymn for all his saints, for the children of Israel, for the people that is nigh unto Him; this glory have all his saints. [From First Vespers, All Saints Day]
