All Souls’ Day: A Rookie Anglican Guide to the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed
We all experience the busyness of day-to-day life, which often leaves little time for reflection and remembrance. Even after a loss, life amazingly continues, which is why the church sets aside time each year to remember those who have gone on before us—the three-day triduum of remembrance called Allhallowtide.
While All Saints’ Day on November 1st focuses on saints whose work and witness shaped the history of the larger church body, All Souls’ Day, or the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, on November 2nd remembers those “ordinary saints” whose lives and witnesses deeply touched our own. Their faithfulness in their obscure, ordinary lives has built up our own lives and our local churches. Unlike a day of mourning, this remembrance calls to mind the hope of the resurrection, both theirs and ours, and gives thanks for their faithful testimony.
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The Origins of All Souls’ Day
Originally, the Roman Catholic Church observed All Souls’ Day on November 2 to remember those who had died in the faith, particularly within the last year. As the tradition grew and changed, they included masses for the dead to bring souls out of purgatory.
The commemoration has a complicated history within Anglicanism. Reformation leaders largely removed it from the official English liturgical calendar, but it survived in various forms and eventually returned in many Anglican churches. At its heart, All Souls’ Day expresses a conviction deeply rooted in Anglican worship: death does not sever the fellowship of those who belong to Christ, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our hope in life and death.
How Do We Commemorate the Faithful Departed?
Many Anglican parishes hold a special evening service of remembrance. These services typically include Scripture readings, hymns, prayers, a brief homily, and a time for worshippers to remember family members and friends who have died. Even if there is no formal service, many choose to visit or decorate the gravesites of these “ordinary saints.”
In our family, we plan a simple dinner, set the table with all in white, and add a long line of white candles. Before we eat, we lift up a prayer of thanksgiving for “all those who have departed this life in the certain hope of the resurrection.” For each remembrance, we light a candle.
I was amazed at how quickly we lit all the candles, and we were still calling to mind good friends in the faith! While we ate, we shared favorite memories of these dear ones.
A Collect for All Souls’ Day
O God, the Maker and Redeemer of all believers: Grant to the faithful departed the unsearchable benefits of the passion of your Son; that on the day of his appearing they may be manifested as your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 1994
Additional Prayers for the Faithful Departed
114. For All Faithful Departed
Almighty God, with whom the souls of the faithful who have departed this life are in joy and felicity: We praise and magnify your holy Name for all your servants who have finished their course in your faith and fear; and we most humbly pray that, at the day of resurrection, we and all who are members of the mystical body of your Son may be set on his right hand, and hear his most joyful voice: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Grant this, O merciful Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.
BCP 2019, p. 679
125. For the Saints and Faithful Departed
We give thanks to you, O Lord our God, for all your servants and witnesses of time past: for Abraham, the father of believers, and Sarah his wife; for Moses, the lawgiver, and Aaron, the priest; for Miriam and Joshua, Deborah and Gideon, and Samuel with Hannah his mother; for David, King over Israel; for Isaiah and all the prophets; for Mary, the mother of our Lord; for Peter and Paul and all the apostles; for Mary and Martha, and Mary Magdalene; for Stephen, the first martyr, and all the martyrs and saints in every age and in every land. In your mercy, O Lord our God, give us, as you gave to them, the hope of salvation and the promise of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, the first‑born of many from the dead. Amen.
BCP 2019, p. 683
Image: All Souls’ Day by Jakub Schikaneder (1888), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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