All Saints Day
We give thanks to the Father, who has made us worthy to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Colossians 1:12
| look |
the magnificent painted dome at holy ascension in charleston, SC (source)
| listen |
O quam gloriosum est regnum (Oh how glorious is the kingdom)
O how glorious is the kingdom
in which all the saints rejoice with Christ,
clad in robes of white
they follow the Lamb wherever he goes.
| read |
all readings for the day (source)
A prayer from today's reading in Ephesians 1:17-19:
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
| pray |
The Collect for All Saints Day:
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: 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.
| do |
Listen to Malcolm Guite's sonnet for this day, and then read the words out loud on your own.
May I also highly recommend you purchase his excellent book of poems for the entire liturgical year? Sounding the Seasons: Seventy Sonnets for the Christian Year (affiliate link)
Though Satan breaks our dark glass into shards
Each shard still shines with Christ’s reflected light,
It glances from the eyes, kindles the words
Of all his unknown saints. The dark is bright
With quiet lives and steady lights undimmed,
The witness of the ones we shunned and shamed.
Plain in our sight and far beyond our seeing
He weaves them with us in the web of being
They stand beside us even as we grieve,
The lone and left behind whom no one claimed,
Unnumbered multitudes, he lifts above
The shadow of the gibbet and the grave,
To triumph where all saints are known and named;
The gathered glories of His wounded love.
Vladimir Grygorenko painting the prophets (source)