Weekly News | 10.31.25
As Hallowtide (October 31-November 2) arrives, followed swiftly by the season of Advent, I’d like to offer a few thoughts about the goodness of the liturgical seasons and of Hallowtide in particular.
On its surface, the liturgical year is a round of feast days and fast days, beginning each year on the first Sunday of Advent, celebrated by the church at large and in the homes of Christ followers. Fasts are generally preparation for the great feasts. But I prefer Joan Chittister’s definition, taken from her book The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life:
“The liturgical year is the year that sets out to attune the life of the Christian to the life of Jesus, the Christ. It proposes, year after year, to immerse us over and over again into the sense and substance of the Christian life until, eventually, we become what we say we are--followers of Jesus all the way to the heart of God.”
This Friday, October 31, marks the first of three days of celebration and remembrance called Hallowtide, Halloween being a contraction of All Hallow’s Eve, the evening before All Saints (All Hallows) Day on November 1. Every year, Church of the Cross celebrates All Saints on the first Sunday after November 1 with the sacrament of baptism, as we welcome children and adults alike into the life of God.
All Saints Day stems from the early Christian practice of honoring Christian martyrs. When the growing list of local and global saints made it difficult to hold a feast day for each one, they were gathered up into one collective day of commemoration--mentioned in church writings as early as the fourth century. By the mid-ninth century, the date had been set to November 1. On this day, we celebrate and remember saints whom the global church has more formally recognized for their faith and contributions to Christianity. Claude Atcho describes “big S” saints this way in his book Rhythms of Faith: A Devotional Pilgrimage Through the Church Year–“those in whom the transforming grace of God shone brightest throughout history.”
So what is All Souls Day? In the Anglican church, November 2 is a day of hope and celebration--to remember all Christians who have died and are with the Lord, to remember our communion and fellowship with them, to celebrate our “small s” sainthood and communities of saints here on earth. We remember and celebrate the ordinary (and sometimes overlooked) children, women, and men who are cherished by God. Making space to grieve is also a fitting practice for All Souls, giving thanks for the “great cloud of witnesses” who manifest to us the love and grace of Christ, while we acknowledge the sting of death and remind each other of the hope of the resurrection.
For a few concrete Hallowtide practices, check out this document. May God strengthen, comfort, and keep you this weekend as you pray this Collect for the Feast of All Saints:
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical Body of your Son: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
–Krista Vossler