Once upon a time, the ancient Irish celebrated a holiday called Samhain. It involved all-night partying to herald the end of summer and bringing in the harvest. It also involved honoring, petitioning, and/or protecting oneself from the spirits of the deceased.
Fast forward a few centuries, after Christianity had come to Ireland, and a certain Pope Gregory IV moved the old Christian holiday of All Saint’s Day, or All Hallow’s Day, from May 13 to November 1, which is right around when the Irish celebrated Samhain.
All Saint’s Day was (and still is) a feast day honoring, you guessed it, all the saints, and especially martyrs. Like many church holidays, the night before people would keep an all night prayer vigil. This stay-up-all-night-thinking-about-dead-people thing reminded a lot folks of Samhain, and the two sort of fused together into what we know as Halloween, or All Hallow’s Eve. Irish immigrants brought the tradition to the U.S. in the 19th century, and there you go.
So, about saints – official Catholic doctrine recognizes someone as a saint thusly: “recognition by the Church that one of her children has won his or her place in Heaven.” A saint, therefore, is somebody we KNOW is in heaven. How do we know that? Well, if you have been martyred, you’re in. If not a martyr, “they must be shown to have been God-fearing, pious, just in their dealings, patient, self-denying, charitable, and so on, far above the average of ordinary good men.” And “since Almighty God alone can make known this fact to mankind every canonization (declaring someone a saint) essentially depends on proof that miracles have been wrought in witness thereto.”
(Incidentally, the term “devil’s advocate” is the popular term for the Church lawyer who is appointed to argue against the canonization of a particular person.)
So there it is. A handy, systematic approach to knowing who’s already in heaven. Martyrdom, miracles, and an outstanding life. In the Catholic Church, the day after All Saint's, November 2, is All Soul’s Day, in which the Church remembers those who have died and we cannot be SURE they are in heaven yet.
There is a part of me that admires our Catholic brothers and sisters for their systemization. But “sainthood” is a bit more flexible from the Biblical standpoint.
The apostle Paul addresses 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, to the “saints,” or “holy ones.” 1 Corinthians 1:2 says, “to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling…”
Quite a different picture of sainthood, really. “Sanctified” – made holy in Jesus. “Saints by calling.” And apparently he means every single person in the church is a saint. Whether they’ve done miracles or not. Even if they were not living up perfectly to the calling (as the rest of letter makes clear they weren’t) they are saints – because Jesus made them so. Their place in heaven doesn’t seem to be the defining characteristic – it’s their place in Christ.
I don’t know about you, but I find that I most clearly know what to do when I most clearly remember who I am. And who I am is a saint - called, sanctified, set apart. If I believe that, I find it easier to be “God-fearing, pious, just in dealings, patient, self-denying, charitable, and so on.”
So, on this All Hallow’s Eve eve, spend a little time in a vigil for the saints, both living on earth and living in the presence of God.
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"For All the Saints" - by William Walsham How
1. For all the saints, who from their labours rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
3. For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
4. For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
5. For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
6. O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
7. O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
8. And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
9. The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
10. But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
11. From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
