ALL SAINTS MARGARET STREET

Evensong, 4 before Advent - 30 October 2005
Fr Ivan Aquilina

Tomorrow we will, with the help of God, embark upon our Festival. As the nights draw in and winter takes over Holy Church lights our path and warms our heart with the solemnity of All Saints.

The first day of November is a joyful day for the Church Militant but a little bit more so for us who worship and are attached to this temple dedicated to the glory of Almighty God under the title of All Saints. Indeed the first of November is a mystical feast, a day of hope and a day in which we get our bearings.

How did this feast day on the first of November originate?
Veneration towards holy people started in the Church from the word go. During and after the persecutions the Martyrs became the heroes of the Faith, their shedding of the blood identified them more closely with the shedding of the blood of the Saviour on the cross. Christians assembled next to their tombs; there they experienced the communion of saints as they celebrated the Holy Mysteries.

After the edict of Milan which gave freedom to the Church, large churches were built. The Christians took with them from the Catacombs the holy relics of the Martyrs and placed them under the High Altar, a custom still in practice. The day of the Martyrdom was kept as a feast day for the local area and when churches in new districts got relics from the Minster church they transferred not only the sacred bones but also the cult, the ritual and traditions.

Christians were aware that they were not celebrating all those who witnessed to Christ and so, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, they appointed a common day for all. This feast day was kept in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost. St. Ephrem the Syrian in the 4th century and St. John Chrysostom in the 5th preached about this feast. As early as the year 411 there is in the Chaldean Kalendar a Commemoration for All Confessors for the Friday within the Easter Octave.

In the West the feast originates when Pope Boniface IV on the 13 May 609 consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the Martyrs, ordering an anniversary to be kept each year on that day throughout the Church.

On 1 November 735 Pope Gregory III consecrated the chapel of All Saints in the Basilica of St. Peter. This day became popular and so in the ninth century Pope Gregory IV extended the celebration of the 1st November to the entire Church. The vigil seems to have been held as early as the feast itself. The octave was added by Pope Sixtus IV in the 15th century.

In the Western Church the November festival of All Saints was already widely celebrated in the days of Charlemagne. By a decree of Pope Gregory IV and Louis the Pious it was made a day of obligation throughout the Frankish empire in 835. This confirmed its celebration on the 1st of November.

The festival was retained after the Reformation in the Kalendar of all the Liturgical books of the Church of England.

So, very briefly, these are the reasons why we celebrate the feast on the 1st of November. What is the meaning of this feast?

During the year we keep the sacred days of those heroes of ours who through the shedding of their blood or the overcoming of all things that hindered them from serving God namely: the world, the flesh and the devil, are now shining like stars in the firmament of heaven. These heroes configured themselves once and for all with the Resurrection of Our Lord and today they serve not merely as models for our encouragement, edification and example but above all constantly intercede for us. Together with the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, this is the first tier of people that we are to behold on our festival days.

Then there are the Holy Angels, those blessed and pure spirits created by God to worship Him and assist us in worshipping Him also, these spirits who constantly call us to join them in singing that hymn of praise: the thrice holy.

Last but not least there is another holy and innumerable crowd that we honour in our festival: the saints who are not officially canonised or recognised to be so by Holy Church. These are no less saints than the others. These are those who constantly enjoy the face of God and need no light as their lamp is the Lamb. Most of them are unknown to us as they come from all countries down every century, but a few we might know or know of. These are our parents and grandparents, relatives, neighbours and friends, some who worshiped in this church alongside us and now worship in the heavenly city towards which this building always points and is a constant reminder. These also we honour in the coming days alongside the Martyrs, the Virgins and the Confessors.

All the Saints are calling us in these coming days to climb the Holy Mountain of our faith, to look beyond the horizon and see our destination. Let us heed their calling with no delay. They encourage us as they surround our footsteps as we journey on. They pray for us as we join them in praising God and as we pray for those who are still being purified. One day we will benefit from the prayers for the dead and hopefully on a very happy day we will be honoured also as here below they celebrate the Feast day of All Saints.