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What to do on "All Saints' Day"

By Fr. Jojo Zerrudo

Spiritual Director, PWHS

SO many candles of all shapes and colors will once again be sold at stores and on the sidewalks. This only means one thing: All Souls Day is at hand. Once again we will troop to the cemeteries – some to pray for their dead, the majority to intrude into their silence. Once again we will jostle through the crowd. When is it? The first of November.

But wait! When I look at the Catholic calendar, this day is referred to as "Todos Los Santos". I had a difficult time passing Spanish before, but from the few words that I know, "saint" does not mean "dead" in Tagalog. To us, "saint" is "holy." The first day of November is "All Saints’ Day" – not All Souls Day but a day of the Saints. It is a day for all the saints.

This holy feast began in Rome this way: Once upon a time, in Rome there was a temple known as the "Pantheon" which was built by the pagans to honor their gods. At the downfall of the pagan religion, Christians took over this temple and, in the year 607, it was declared by Pope Boniface IV as a house of prayer, or church, to honor the Beloved Virgin Mary and all the Saints. It was in this church where the remains of some martyrs were interred. Since that time, a feast to honor the Saints has been celebrated in Rome; from there, this devotion spread out to France and, not long after, throughout the world. The Church celebrates this feast every 1st of November, close to the end of the Year of the Church, to announce to all of us that the purpose of all the celebrations of the Church through the whole year is to guide us towards holiness and, as we continue to participate in the graces that the Lord gives for our holiness, we will be sharing in the glory of Christ and we can be together with all the Saints in heaven.

On All Saints’ Day, the Church honors all the saints, not only those recognized by the Church, but everyone, famous or those known only to God, no matter what their state in life, but who endeavored to follow the will of God in life so that they are now sharing eternal happiness in the company of all the Saints in heaven.

These glorious citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem were chosen by God without prejudice from all races and nations; people of all ages, young or old, to show that no age is ripe to merit the kingdom of heaven. These people came from all walks of life: some were rich, some poor, there were soldiers, business people, leaders of nations, ordinary citizens, priests, nuns, monks, married people, singles, widows/widowers, slaves, free men. No state in life was deprived the honor of bringing forth saints. All of them became saints regardless of their situation and through the ordinary day-to-day events of living. They became saints in richness or in tribulations, through fame or humiliation, in wealth or in poverty – all of these they employed as sanctifying graces to holiness. The Lord does not ask anyone to turn his back on his livelihood on this earth. As a matter of fact, He even advises that they be made holy through godly works. Everyone is called to a life of holiness. Holiness is not reserved to a few but it is for everyone. And the Saints answered to move in the grace of God in their lives, whatever their status in life. In obedience to Jesus, they triumphed over all the earth through the grace of God.

It is but proper that we give these saints our reverence. Why must we deny them our respect when in their earthly existence they accomplished a lot of good, suffered a lot of trials, and bestowed a lot of graces to the whole world. Since they proved themselves friends of God, they are much more honorable than those that the world looks up to, because it is God Himself who has edified them by granting them a share in his heavenly kingdom. The only thing is, they are too numerous to be acknowledged individually. Firstly, because most of these holy people were not known. The ones we know are too few when compared to the true number of the citizens in heaven. Their real number is too large that, were we to pray one "Our Father" to honor every single saint, we would have to live for over a thousand years to accomplish this. For this reason the Church designated an All Saints Day so that not a single saint will be neglected when honoring the saints. This feast was declared by the Church to thank God for all the blessings and glory that He bestowed on His tens of thousands of loyal servants.

However, this feast was also declared to strengthen our commitment to follow the examples given by the saints. As we mentioned earlier, one does not have to perform great miracles to be a saint. The ordinary day-to-day events in our lives are opportunities for sainthood. Jesus revealed to us the secret of holiness: "Anyone who wants to follow Me must renounce himself, carry his cross everyday, and follow Me." All of us should aspire for 

just one thing, to be holy. Anyone who makes no effort to be holy is not following the purpose for which God created him as man. God created us so we can know Him, love Him, serve Him, and be happy with Him in heaven throughout eternity. That is why if you fail to enter heaven and fall into hell, you have failed to fulfill God’s purpose in creating you. "God does not expect us to be successful; He only expects us to be faithful."

On All Saints Day, let us hear mass to honor all the saints. Nothing gives honor to the saints that exceeds the edification that the Mass accords them, which is offered to God in their behalf. You know, instead of joining the fad in the celebration of halloween, which honors the forces of darkness, let us honor the forces of light during this holy feast. Don’t worry, God is not jealous. Is the painter jealous when his masterpiece is admired? In the same manner, God will not be jealous because the holiness of the saints is His own handiwork. They are proof of the power of His grace, because without this grace they could not triumph over the whole world..

God is wonderful in His saints. Praise the Lord in His angels and in His saints!