Sunday of All Saints
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Each day of the church year is dedicated to a saint or group of saints. But there are many saints that no one knows or guesses about. In God's Providence, their names are recorded in the Book of Life. Therefore, in order to pay their respects, the Church has dedicated a day to honor all Saints who are not included in the annual cycle of the church calendar.
The veneration of saints dates back to the time of the first Christians. The example of martyrs in the first centuries gave impetus to their veneration. Death for the faith of Christ testified to the devoted love of Jesus Christ. “It is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you! No one is able to love more than when he lays down his life for his friends ”(Jn 15:12-13). The first example of perfect love was shown by Archdeacon Stephen, a martyr for the faith of Christ. "And they stoned Stephen, who cried, saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' And he fell on his knees, and cried with a loud voice, 'Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7: 59,60).
In our Eastern rite, All Saints' Day falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost, which is of great symbolic significance. We know that the history of Christ's Church begins with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. The apostles, full of the Holy Spirit, came out into the world to carry the Good News to all nations. The fruit of their preaching is the righteous life of many converts. “And fear fell upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. All believers were in a group and had everything in common. They sold their estates and wealth and distributed them to everyone as they needed. Every day they were unanimously in the temple, breaking bread from house to house and eating food with joy and simplicity of heart; praised God and rejoiced in the Love of all people. But the Lord added daily to the church those who were saved.” (Acts 2: 43-47).
In the prayerbook we have a list of prophets, apostles, saints, monks, martyrs, holy martyrs and miracle workers, and many, many other saints. As the Apostle Paul says in one of his epistles: “A cloud of witnesses that it is worth living with God, that it is worth belonging to Him, that it is worth being united with Him, because we are all His children.” We may look very limited, but we need to remember that we are created in God's image and likeness. The Lord wants to see us in the light of His love, in the light of His happiness, His joy. St. Augustine said, "God became man so that man may become like Him". God made His Church in our hearts. He came into our lives to bless, to save, to open the way to heaven through us, especially to those who are still wandering, who are still in danger.
The call addressed to us by all the saints is echoed by the words of St. John Chrysostom: "Do not praise us, do not sing praises to us, but be like us." St. John says here that we sing praises in vain, we sing the glory of the saints in vain, if we do not try to be Christians like them in all our lives, minds and hearts.