All Saints’ Day: A Rookie Anglican Guide
All Saints’ Day is November 1st, and it is often celebrated on All Saints’ Sunday, the first Sunday in November.
Though we remember the most notable Christians throughout the year with the calendar of the saints, the Feast of All Saints is a day to remember the whole Church across time and space. We honor the example of their lives and deaths and rejoice in the continued communion with them through membership and participation in the body of Christ.
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The Collect for All Saints
There are many wonderful prayers for All Saints, including the collect appointed for the day:
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical Body of your Son: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
BCP 2019, 633
When is All Saints Day?
In secular culture, the end of October is usually focused on preparation for Halloween on October 31st. But Halloween is actually the beginning of a three-day feast, as follows:
- October 31: Halloween (All Hallows Eve)
- November 1: All Saints’ Day (All Hallows Day)
- November 2: All Souls’ Day (The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed)
This three-day feast is called Allhallowtide, and some churches or families make a point of celebrating each day with distinct commemorations. Others will celebrate by combining elements of all three on All Saints’ Sunday.
Where did All Saints’ Day come from?
It has become popular to claim that Halloween was a pagan holiday that Christians tried to adapt to All Saints’ Day. In fact, in recent years, the opposite is true! Halloween and All Saints’ Day are originally Christian holidays, but 20th-century neo-pagans have attempted to claim them for themselves. In her article on All Saints Day, Ashley Wallace explains:
A common myth is that Halloween is based on a pagan festival known as Samhain (pronounced SOW-an). The story typically goes that the Church Christianized a popular Celtic festival that celebrated the dead. However, the earliest sources available indicate that Samhain was a harvest festival, like many around the world. It had no particular ritual connections to the dead. A direct link between the two is largely speculative. Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, originates primarily from Christian traditions marking the eve of All Saints’ Day. Its practices and customs, including attending church services, lighting candles on the graves of the holy, and the later traditions of trick-or-treating, have clear roots in Christian liturgical observances.
The celebration of the saints dates to the early centuries of the church, to its period of persecution under the pagan Roman Empire. For example, the early martyr Polycarp was remembered annually, on the date of his martyrdom, the first of a calendar of martyrs. For a church beleaguered with extreme persecution, such a time of remembrance of those who faithfully professed Christ, even to torture and death, must have been a great encouragement!
Today, All Saints’ is celebrated in many Christian traditions worldwide.
What do we do on All Saints?
For personal or family celebration, it’s an excellent time to learn about a saint you might not be familiar with, to study the written prayers of saints from church history, and to specifically thank God for the work of those who were instrumental in leading you and others into a profession of faith.
As a principal feast day, many Anglican churches will celebrate a full eucharistic liturgy on All Saints’ day. Symbolizing the shining robes of the martyrs, the liturgical color for All Saints is white. It is also common to have Baptisms on All Saints’ Day (or the Sunday after Nov. 1).
At my parish (Trinity Lafayette), we incorporate a practice from All Soul’s Day by including a commemoration for the faithful departed. We take the names of those whom we have buried, together with names submitted by our members, and list them in our bulletin. Then, during the service, we pray a short set of scriptures and prayers, such as this passage from Thessalonians:
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
Or this prayer:
O God, the King of saints, we praise and glorify your holy Name for all your servants who have finished their course in your faith and fear: for the blessed Virgin Mary; for the holy patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs; and for all your other righteous servants, known to us and unknown; and we pray that encourage by their examples, and strengthened by their fellowship, we also may be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
BCP 2019, 263
Most of the time, the church celebrates baptisms some days, funerals other days, and ne’er the twain shall meet. But on All Saints Sunday, there is profound sense of spiritual depth when the church in the same service welcomes new members in baptism, and also commemorates the faithful departed. On All Saints, we experience awe at the encompassing power of God’s love, in the lives of and deaths of sinners he has made his saints.
The Music of All Saints
There are a number of hymns sung especially during All Saints’ and throughout Allhallowtide, including:
Readings for All Saints’
Sunday/Holy Communion Readings:
- Ecclesiasticus 44:1-14 or Revelation 7:9-17
- Psalm 149
- Revelation 7:9-17 or Ephesians 1:(11-14)15-23
- Matthew 5:1-12 or Luke 6:20-26(27-36)
Daily Office Readings:
- Psalm 1 and Psalm 15
- Hebrews 11:32-12:2
- Acts 8:26-end
More Resources on All Saints’ and Allhallowtide
- Halloween and the Victory of Christ
- The Liturgical Home: All Saints Day
- “What is All Saints’ Day?”
- “All Saints’ Day: A Collect Reflection”
- “The Ache of All Saints'”
- All Souls’ Day: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Image: Altarpiece at Fiesole San Dominico, by Fra Angelico, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The Calendar of Saints: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Anglicans celebrate feast days for saints to honor exemplary Christian lives, rooted in biblical teachings on imitation. This practice evolved from early church commemorations of martyrs like Polycarp. While Reformation efforts simplified the calendar, Anglicans now recognize both historical and contemporary figures, maintaining focus on Christ as the central figure in worship.
The Feast of St. Francis: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Francis has much to teach us even today from his life of simplicity, care for the poor, and ability to wonder at God through the natural world.
