Called to Sainthood

A presentation to Conference of Catholic Women, Ascension Church, Boca Raton, FL on October 17, 2022

November 1st is All Saints Day. November 2nd is All Souls Day. Theologically, these two days are related. On All Souls day, we recognize and pray for those who have died but who have not yet gained their eternal reward. These souls are in purgatory, being purged of the guilt of sin. Our prayers and good works on their behalf speed them on their way.

We don't have perfect knowledge or understanding of how time exists outside of our reality. We do know that Christ’s death on the cross made reparation for all sins of all peoples in all time, from Adam to the end of the world. The prayers you say today, for example, may be “applied” to someone who lived a thousand years ago – or to someone who hasn’t even yet been born.

Outside of our world, all time may exist simultaneously. But there are always souls in purgatory who need our prayers. None of us are perfect; all of us sin; we all need one another to gain eternal life.

And it is those who have attained eternal life who we celebrate on All Saints day. You know, at least in general terms, how the church proclaims someone a Saint. There needs first to be an examination of the person’s life. This normally doesn’t start until at least five years after their death, to allow for facts not to be confused with emotions. If they are judged worthy for examination, and a formal case for sainthood opened, they earn the title “Servant of God.” If the examination is judged to establish that their life was one of heroic virtue, they earn the title “Venerable” and the process continues. Those martyred for their faith may attain the next step, beatification, by virtue of that death. However, Beatification in all other cases requires a miracle attributed to prayers made to the individual after their death. We refer to those who have been beatified as “Blessed.” The final stage, Canonization, does require a miracle attributed to prayers made to the candidate after they have been beatified. Once canonized, the person is given the title of Saint.

A miracle is most usually the spontaneous and lasting remission of a serious, life-threatening medical condition, which takes place in ways that the best-informed scientific knowledge cannot account for, and which follows prayers to the holy person to whom it is attributed. The granting of those prayers is accepted as proof that the individual is already in heaven, and hence able to intercede with God on others' behalf.

But All Saints Day does not simply celebrate those who have formally been raised to Sainthood by pronouncement of the Church. It celebrates all those who have attained eternal life. There are, undoubtedly, many more souls in heaven than those who have been recognized by the church. These souls are no less Saints than those named by the church, and, even though we do not know them by name or deed, they deserve our recognition.

These, then, are the Saints of All Saints Day. Interestingly, the feast is celebrated on November 1st by the Roman Catholic Church, and the Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist churches. However, in other sects the date varies. It is a moveable feast, celebrated the Sunday after Pentecost, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and associated Eastern Catholic and Eastern Lutheran churches. Others, like the Church of the East and the Syro-Malabar Church, celebrate it on Friday of Easter Week. So does the Chaldean Catholic Church, which is in communion with Rome.

In the Coptic Orthodox tradition, All Saints' Day is on Nayrouz, which is the start of the Coptic new year and its first month, Thout. There is a certain symmetry to this date– it coincides with September 11, which seems like a good day to consider those who have died.

This year, on November 1st and November 2nd, remember those of your friends and families who have gone before you. Those who are souls will be helped on their way to heaven by your prayers. Those who are Saints will hear your prayers, and will pray for you in return.

And, always, strive to live your life to fulfill your true destiny of life everlasting in heaven.