In the Western Christian Church, the Feast of All Saints’ is observed on November 1st. Protestant churches often mark the occasion on the first Sunday in November. St. Stephen will observe All Saints’ on Sunday, November 4, 2012 at both morning worship services.
As early as 3500 B.C.E., Celtic religions honored their dead through their worship of nature and a pantheon of gods and goddesses. They believed in a mythological connection between the dead, the living, and their gods. Eventually this developed into a Celebration of the Dead, known as All Hallows Eve, or Halloween, when it was believed that spirits of the dead walked among the living. In most Protestant countries, Halloween is a secular observance, but historically, it was the impetus for the Christian observance of All Saints’.
The early followers of Jesus observed anniversaries when martyrs died, however these were confined to the locale of the deceased martyr. By the second century, the idea of a specific date for a wider Christian observance began to be established. By the fourth century the custom was common throughout the Roman church.
As with most of the major Christian Feast Days (Christmas; Epiphany; Easter; Pentecost; etc.) the commemoration of All Saints’ was attached to a pagan celebration, already well established. It was through this quasi-symbiotic marriage of secular and sacred that Christianity was able to gain a foothold and grow. The pagan celebrations were reshaped and re-branded to suit this new religion–an early form of spin doctoring!
The ancient Irish celebrated Samhain, on November 1st, continuing the celebration (pagan) of the previous night. This pagan festival marked the end of the harvest, beginning and rebirth. When Christianity came to Ireland in the fifth century, this Celtic festival was blended with the Christian observance. Through the sixth and seventh centuries this Christian tradition spread throughout Europe. In 847 C. E., Pope Gregory IV declared that November 1st would be the day of observance for the Solemnity of All Saints’ (Roman Catholic Church).
Following the 16th century Protestant Reformation, Protestants retained the celebration of All Saints’ redefining it with Reformed Protestant theology. The Roman Catholic (West) and Orthodox (East) Churches believe in a specific process that leads towards veneration and/or canonization of a person: (1) theological soundness of the person; (2) overt holiness and virtue; and (3) performance of two miracles. If the pope verifies all this, the person may be Beatified, step 1 in the ascendance to sainthood after which the person is referred to as Blessed ________. To be canonized a Saint, the believer must be certified to have performed two additional miracles. If the pope canonizes a person a Saint, it is an infallible act meaning Catholics can venerate, imitate and pray to this saint as an intercessor to God.
After the Reformation, Protestants had a very different approach to “saints,” tending to regard all Christian believers as “saints” and in the past 50 years the observance of “All Saints’” has grown among Protestants in the USA. Martin Luther taught that the righteousness we enjoy before God is not ours at all, but the righteousness of Christ that God counts as our own. Luther refers to this as an “alien righteousness” because it is outside of us rather than inside of us. It is a time we commemorate family members, church members and friends who have died. Our faith teaches that when we worship we join with all Christians past, present and future as we worship, known as the Communion of the Saints. It is particularly appropriate that we in the Church Militant (still living) celebrate the Lord’s Supper in thanksgiving for God’s gift of Jesus and in memory of those who now worship as part of the Church Triumphant (dead).
All Saints’ is observed in many different ways in other cultures. In Mexico, the Dia de los Muertos, (Day of the Dead) is one manifestation of this feast day.
One of the great hymns of the faith, written specifically for All Saints’ is “For All the Saints,” penned by Anglican Bishop, William Walsham How. Read the story of this hymn printed below.
“For All the Saints”
(A hymn by William Walsham How)
The hymn, “For All the Saints” was written as a processional hymn by the Anglican Bishop, William Walsham How (1823-1897). All of his life How worked to help the poor and outcast. As bishop of the slum section of East London, a position with a small salary and no social prestige, he fought to help the people in this blighted area rise above their hopelessness and improve the appalling conditions in which they lived. How declined the prestigious bishopric of the great city of Manchester without even mentioning it to his wife. Later, he turned down the bishopric of Durham with a salary more than double what he was currently making. His only consideration was how much he could make his life count.
In London, he was called “the poor man’s bishop,” though his influence was by no means confined to the poor. His large heart, untiring energy and genuine interest in the spiritual welfare of his flocks brought him the respect and love of all who knew him. All of his hymns were written between 1858 and 1871 while he was rector at Whittington, a pleasant farming village on the Welsh border. How is buried in the churchyard.
Written for All Saints’ Day in 1864, this hymn is a commentary on the clause of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in the Communion of Saints” i.e., the solidarity of the faithful, whether here–the Church Militant–or in heaven–the Church Triumphant. Its eleven stanzas have been edited down to six or fewer in most modern hymn books. There is a logical progression of thought throughout the stanzas but most appealing is the exalted language, its sustained emotion and the feeling that we, who are still fighting, are carrying on a great crusade.
The original hymn tune to which this text was sung, SARUM (pg. 528 in the Presbyterian Hymnal.) was written by the great Victorian composer, Joseph Barnby. The text and this hymn tune were wedded until the publication of the English Hymnal in 1906. For this hymnal, edited by the great English musician, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) Bishop How’s transcendent text was set to a new tune composed by Vaughan Williams: SINE NOMINE. It translates, ‘without name,’ itself a reference to its use on the Feast of All Saints (Nov. 1st) and is considered one of the finest hymn tunes of the 20thcentury. All eleven (!) original stanzas are printed below.
1 For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
2 Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;
Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
*3 For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
*4 For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
*5 For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
6 O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
7 O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
8 And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
*9 The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
*10 But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
11 From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
* stanzas not included in the Presbyterian Hymnal, 1990