All Saints Day, also known as Allhallows or Hallowmas, festival celebrated on November 1 in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, and by the Orthodox churches on the first Sunday after Pentecost, in honor of God and all his saints, known and unknown.
The feast of All Saints began in the early centuries as a "catchall," remembering martyrs whose names were not known and who therefore did not have their own festivities. It was introduced in Rome on May 13, 610 as the "Feast of All Holy Martyrs" by Pope Bonifice IV. The occasion was a gift of the ancient pagan temple of the Pantheon to the Church by the Roman Emperor, Phocas. First celebrated on May 13, it was transferred to November 1 for the universal Church by Pope Gregory IV in 835. By then it included all the saints.
The reason for the new date may have been a practical one. It seems that so many pilgrims came to Rome for the feast that it was moved to the fall when more food would be available after the harvest. November 1 may have been chosen because it was the day of one of the four great festivals of the pagan nations of the north, and it was church policy to supplant pagan with Christian observances. The new date spread throughout the church. Its eve, All Hallows Eve or Halloween, gave its name to a pagan Celtic Druid custom still popularly observed on October 31.
(Most of the following italicized below is from: http://www.scborromeo.org/biblestu/allsaint.pdf, which I read some time ago.)
"A reading that periodically appears on the church calendar is from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5:1-12, also seen in the parallel gospel of Luke (6:20-23) and also known as the beatitudes. A beatitude can be defined as "a declaration of blessedness on the ground of some virtue or good fortune'".
Read the beatitudes.
"1 When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down
"This is the posture of" Asian teachers".
“his disciples came to him. “
The teaching was not just to the twelve but in reaction to Jesus' seeing the crowds. Commentators have postulated that the crowd formed concentric rings around Jesus with the twelve making up the innermost ring.
2 “He began to teach them, saying: 3 "Blessed”
To understand the meaning of blessing we must look to the Old Testament where it is conceived as a communication of life from God. With life comes vigor, strength, and success, which brings one peace of mind and peace with the world.
“are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Emphasizes less the literal lack of possession than the lowly condition of the poor--they have no arrogance or assertiveness and instead are servile in nature. Christians are called to serve one another.
4 “Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Those who mourn--they have compassion. This could mean those who mourn the evils of Israel which are due to its sins.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.”
These are the same class of people who are poor in spirit.
6 “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”
The condition of good relations with God; achieved by submission to His will. The Pharisees thought that the condition of righteousness was assured by observance of the Law. Jesus insists that His disciples strive for something higher than this.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
This seems to indicate those who are compassionate. The two works of mercy most emphasized by Matthew are almsgiving and forgiveness.
8 “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.”
Clean of heart can be interpreted as pure of heart as opposed to external purity gained by ritual washings. Purity of heart is described in Matthew 15:10-20.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
Peacemakers are those who reconcile quarrels. Reconciliation is a Christian office often recommended in the gospels (see Matthew 5:23-26).
10 “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Persecution for righteousness is persecution that is endured in order to maintain good relations with God by obedience to His will. Persecution is one of the rewards of discipleship. (Mark 10:30)
11 “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. “
There are only eight beatitudes -- this is an expansion of the previous verse.
12a “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
This refers to everlasting life in the kingdom of God."
As one reflects on the beatitudes, one can recognize that the term saint can apply to persons who have some, or many of these qualities. As I reflect on the beatitudes and the qualities noted, I recognize that on a good day, I may manifest one of the saintly qualities.
Then ask yourself on this All Saints Day, what qualities of the beatitudes, of All Saints, do I manifest regularly?
Have a "Saintly" All Saints Day!
Paul
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