All Saints Day!

Just about every day in the Church calendar has the celebration of a saint, but today, the Solemnity of All Saints, is when the Church honors all the saints, known and unknown.  This is kind of like the American holidays Veterans Day and Presidents Day, where many people are honored on one day.  While we have information about many saints, and we honor them on specific days, there are MANY unknown or unsung saints, who may have been forgotten, or never been specifically honored.  On All Saints Day, we celebrate these saints of the Lord, and ask for their prayers and intercessions.  The whole concept of All Saints Day is tied in with the concept of the Communion of Saints.  This is the belief that all of God's people, on heaven, earth, and in the state of purification (called Purgatory), are connected in a communion.  In other words, Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe that the saints of God are just as alive as you and I, and are constantly interceding on our behalf.  Remember, our connection with the saints in heaven is one grounded in a tight-knit communion.  The saints are not divine, nor omnipresent or omniscient.  However, because of our common communion with and through Jesus Christ, our prayers are joined with the heavenly community of Christians.  St. Cyril of Jerusalem (AD 350) testifies to this belief:

We mention those who have fallen asleep: first the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition... (Catechetical Lecture 23:9).

The Catholic Catechism concisely describes this communion among believers, by which we are connected to Christ, and thus to one another:

"Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness... They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us... So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped."

"...as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues all grace, and the life of the People of God itself: We worship Christ as God's Son; we love the martyrs as the Lord's disciples and imitators, and rightly so because of their matchless devotion towards their king and master.  May we also be their companions and fellow disciples (CCC 956, 957)!