In the Episcopal Church, along with many other churches, November 1st is All Saints’ Day. The origins of the feast go back to when Christians would share the relics of the local saints with their neighbors in surrounding towns for local celebrations. Over time, this evolved into a singular festival of all the saints commemorated by the church on one day, including the vast number of unknown or unnamed saints.
In the Episcopal Church, the focus of All Saints’ Day is our fellowship with all the saints of every generation from St. Paul to today. The people of God, regardless of where or when they lived in history, are all joined together into a single communion and fellowship in Christ Jesus. And this includes us. As one of the readings from the Bible for All Saints’ Day says, “Beloved, we are God’s children now” (1 John 3:2).
Today in Chapel, the children celebrated All Saints’ Day early with traditional All Saints’ songs and learning about well-known saints like St. Francis and St. Paul.