All Saints’ Day, celebrated on 1 November every year, is the only “Principal Feast” in the Christian Year which can also be observed on the Sunday following that date. It is a commemoration of the intercommunion of living and dead Christians throughout time, those renowned and unknown. Traditionally, the Gospel reading assigned for All Saints’…
Why Do Anglicans Pray for the Dead?
For those new to the Anglican tradition, it may surprise you that the Book of Common Prayer, in all of its major editions, offers prayers for those who have died in the Christian faith. We don’t just pray for those who mourn but for the departed themselves. We see these prayers for the dead in…
Halloween and the Victory of Christ
Halloween assures us of the ultimate comfort in our times of darkness. Taken together with the rest of Allhallowtide, it tells us that, though Satan’s forces still rage against us and this world’s ills plague our frail bodies and minds, Christ preserves his people from generation to generation.
10 Ways to Preach the All Saints Sermon
the Feast of All Saints gives the Church a way to celebrate and honor all known and unknown saints who have faithfully served Christ.
And I replied “My Lord”: A Reading of George Herbert’s “The Collar”
As someone who did not always observe All Saints’ Day or All Souls’ Day, I have grown to appreciate the spiritual significance of both these feasts deeply. As we remember the followers of Jesus who died before us, these feasts remind us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves and encourage us to…
The Liturgical Home: All Saints’ Day
Halloween is almost here! I doubt this is news to you. The stores have been filled with hanging witches and zombies for weeks, and nowhere is Halloween on fuller display than in neighborhood yards. Driving through my mom’s neighborhood yesterday, I passed by ghosts hanging from trees and gravestones placed in the grass. There was…
The Liturgical Home: The Feast of St. Simon & St. Jude
As the Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude approaches on October 28th, the Church anticipates a unique celebration that honors not one but two remarkable saints and apostles. The Church commemorates them together due to ancient Christian traditions and writings that suggest their collaboration in spreading the Gospel and a shared martyrdom in distant…
Let Us Now Praise Famous (and Unfamous) Men: The Wisdom of Sirach
This is the third part of Dr. Noll’s series, “Reading and Enjoying the Apocrypha.” “Let us now praise famous men” is the best-known phrase from the entire Apocrypha. In the 20th century, it was used as the title of a photo narrative of poverty in Appalachia by James Agee and Walker Evans and a patriotic…
Told the Devil That I’m Going on a Strike: Kanye West for All Saints’ Day
“We could call ‘halfway believers’ Only halfway read Ephesians Only if they knew what I knew I was never new till I knew of True and living God, Yeshua The true and living God Somebody pray for me.” Since last week, I’ve been listening to Kanye West’s new album Jesus is King and not just…
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…
Spiritual Preparation for Election Day
The debates are over, and the election approaches. American Christians have more than enough information to discern their presidential choice, even if discernment is ongoing and that choice has not yet been made. We’re not impoverished for information; we suffer from a poverty of stillness in a sea of contentious noise. We’re responsible for the…
The Ache of All Saints’ Day
I cannot remember the last All Saints’ Sunday I sat in the pew instead of the chancel. However, this All Saints’ Day, I wasn’t collared and vested, leading the liturgy in the parish I serve. I sat in a pew in another parish because I’m taking a sabbatical this autumn. Where does an Anglican priest…
