Solemnity of All Saints a Day of Encouragement

Happy All Saints Day… It’s pretty neat how sandwiched in between Halloween and Dia de los Muertos the beef of our faith, the hope for our lives - All Saints Day is celebrated.  During a season when our society toys with a romanticized view of death our Church dedicates a day to honor all those holy lives gone before us as a way to play tribute, but also encourage us that heaven is possible.  These past few days I have been thinking of those who believe in a second death, the death that comes when a beloved is forgotten.  In fact, for all of us who have lost a loved one- that is perhaps one of the biggest fears that haunts us, I remember when my brother died I was terrified of forgetting the sound of his voice or what he looked like.  For the longest time I held on to the hurt of his passing because I felt that was the only thing I had left of his and I was afraid that letting go of the hurt would also mean letting go of him.  The loss of a loved one is terribly hard and thinking of a second death is equally devastating.  As usual my Catholic faith saved me by helping me realize that when we believe in God a second death is impossible.

Today we honor the saints, those men and women whose lives can serve as role models of our Christian faith, but we also honor those holy lives that never made the headlines.  Those quiet lives who are saints unaware by society.  The Church in its infinite wisdom honors the holiness today of all those people that have beat us to the finish line not just the famous well known saints, but all holy lives. Whether on earth we only remember the most influential – heaven is full of ordinary people because to God each person is equally important, equally loved - equally unforgettable.  As long as I live my brother is with me, “I carry his heart in mine,” BUT if one day my mind fails me and sends his memory to oblivion – God will never send him there.  Jesus came to save us in so many ways, to offer us hope even in the most hopeless situations and to teach us that if we choose Him – His mansion in heaven awaits all of us with a room allocated specifically to each with our name written above the door frame.

Today, is a day of obligation meaning that I will see you in the Eucharist (smile).  It’s also a day where we pray the Litany of the Saints the prayer that reminds me that even in death love doesn’t die or forget.  Just pay attention to the litany - there are names in that litany from Jesus’ day – names our Church has not forgotten.  There’s also names of a few saints that I still don’t know that to me do not have a personal connection (yet) but it excites me to see these names because they are proof that to God we are all worth so much more than sparrows.  A few years ago I went to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels in Los Angeles and inside the church on both sides hanging from high are tapestries with life size images of the saints.  As I walked down the center isle admiring the saint art on both sides of me I felt like I was in heaven surrounded by all those gone before me.  I am a novice in the study of saints, thus a lot of the saints honored on those walls were strangers to me which gave me a greater sense that in heaven I am going to meet a lot of holy people, people that perhaps to the world have been lost- but never to God because each of us is inolvidable para Dios today is proof of that.

THE LITANY OF THE SAINTS

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Christ, have mercy on us. 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Christ, hear us. 

Christ, graciously hear us. 

God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us. (repeat after each line)

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, 

God the Holy Ghost, 

Holy Trinity, one God, 

Holy Mary, pray for us (repeat after each line)

Holy Mother of God, 

Holy Virgin of virgins, 

St. Michael, 

St. Gabriel, 

St. Raphael, 

All you holy angels and archangels, 

All you holy orders of blessed spirits, 

St. John the Baptist, 

St. Joseph, 

All you holy patriarchs and prophets, 

St. Peter, 

St. Paul, 

St. Andrew, 

St. James, 

St. John, 

St. Thomas, 

St. James, 

St. Philip, 

St. Bartholomew, 

St. Matthew, 

St. Simon, 

St. Thaddeus, 

St. Matthias, 

St. Barnabas, 

St. Luke, 

St. Mark, 

All you holy apostles and evangelists, 

All you holy disciples of our Lord, 

All you holy innocents, 

St. Stephen, 

St. Lawrence, 

St. Vincent, 

SS. Fabian and Sebastian, 

SS. John and Paul, 

SS. Cosmas and Damian, 

SS. Gervase and Protase, 

All you holy Martyrs, 

St. Sylvester, 

St. Gregory, 

St. Ambrose, 

St. Augustine, 

St. Jerome, 

St. Martin, 

St. Nicholas, 

All you holy bishops and confessors, 

All you holy doctors, 

St. Anthony, 

St. Benedict, 

St. Bernard, 

St. Dominic, 

St. Francis, 

All you holy priests and levites, 

All you holy monks and hermits, 

St. Mary Magdalen, 

St. Agatha, 

St. Lucy, 

St. Agnes, 

St. Cecilia, 

St. Catherine, 

St. Anastasia, 

All you holy virgins and widows, 

All you holy men and women, saints of God, intercede for us. 

Be merciful, spare us, O Lord. 

Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord. 

From all evil, deliver us, O Lord. (repeat after each line)

From all sin, 

From Thy wrath, 

From a sudden and unprovided death, 

From the deciets of the devil, 

From anger, and hatred, and all ill-will, 

From the spirit of fornication, 

From lightning and tempest, 

From the scourge of earthquakes, 

From plague, famine and war, 

From everlasting death, 

By the mystery of Thy holy incarnation, 

By Thy coming, 

By Thy nativity, 

By Thy baptism and holy fasting, 

By Thy Cross and Passion, 

By Thy Death and burial, 

By Thy holy Resurrection, 

By Thine admirable Ascension, 

By the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete. 

On the day of judgment. 

We sinners, we beseech Thee, hear us (repeat after each line)

That Thou wouldst spare us, 

That Thou wouldst pardon us, 

That Thou wouldst bring us to true penance, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to govern and preserve Thy Holy Church, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to preserve our Apostolic Prelate, and all ecclesiastical orders in holy religion, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to humble the enemies of holy Church, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to give peace and true concord to Christian kings and princes, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to grant peace and unity to all Christian peoples, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to ring back to the unity of the Church all who have strayed away, and lead to the light of the Gospel all unbelievers, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to confirm and preserve us in Thy holy service, 

That Thou wouldst lift up our minds to heavenly desires, 

That Thou wouldst render eternal blessings to all our benefactors, 

That Thou wouldst deliver our souls, and the souls of our brethren, relatives, and benefactors from eternal damnation, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to give and preserve the fruits of the earth, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to grant eternal rest to all the faithful departed, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe graciously to hear us, Son of God, 

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord. 

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord. 

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. 

Christ, hear us. 

Christ, graciously hear us. 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Christ, have mercy on us. 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Our Father, etc. (inaudibly) 

V. And lead us not into temptation 

R. But deliver us from evil.