Today is the Solemnity of All Saints, and this year it lands on a Sunday, so your Sunday Mass is the All Saints’ Mass; there is nothing extra to fit in. The one thing to do: tonight, hold a small All Saints’ party at the table, where every person in the house says the name of their own saint out loud. Tomorrow is All Souls, and the two days belong together: today Heaven, tomorrow the people on the way there.
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Matthew 5:1–12a
1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set down, his disciples came unto him. 2 And opening his mouth he taught them, saying: 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land. 5 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 6 Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the clean of heart: they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10 Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: 12 Be glad and rejoice for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.
Jesus says the clean of heart will see God. Who gets to see God right now?
Members receive questions with optional answers and a little help for parents.
Today’s saint
Everyone in Heaven is a saint, and today is the feast of all of them, including the ones nobody on earth ever heard of.
Picture a church so full that the crowd spills out the doors, and everyone inside is smiling. That is what today’s feast is: the one day a year the Church throws a party for every single person who ever made it to Heaven.
The saint’s story to read aloud, with questions for the family.
A crowd of saints gathered together, with Mary in the middle: apostles, a bishop, a soldier, nuns, mothers, and children. Give Mary a blue mantle, color each saint’s robe a different bright color, and leave the halos gold.
Every day’s calendar art becomes a printable coloring page for the family table.
Do the saints hear our prayers? Our Catechism states clearly that the saints who precede us into heaven serve as “a cloud of witnesses.” Further, “they contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth” (2683). In the parable of the talents, Jesus told us that God’s faithful servants will be placed in charge over much when they enter into the joy of the Master (Matt. 25:21, 23). The prayers they offer up for us are part of their exalted service, and we should pray to them “to intercede for us and for the whole world” (CCC 2683). Of course, as we saw in chapter 2, separated souls lack bodily senses (to be restored at the Last Judgment). The saints have no ears, so how do they hear our prayers? Thomas explains that the saints in heaven see the divine essence, which is sufficient for knowing all things necessary. God, by beholding His own essence, knows all there is. No creature, including the saints and the highest angels, can completely comprehend God’s essence and thereby know everything, but each of the blessed does see in God’s essence “as many other things as the perfection of his happiness requires.” Part of the saints’ service to God is helping us attain our salvation, “for thus they become God’s co-operators, ‘than which nothing is more Godlike,’ as Dionysius declares.” Hence, they know not through senses, but through the Word of God, “the vows, devotions, and prayers of those who have recourse to their assistance.” Thomas also notes that while the saints know the woes and sufferings of their loved ones on earth, this does not produce grief in the saints, because they are so full of heavenly joy that they can know no sorrow whatsoever.
Members receive an original excerpt from a Sophia Institute Press title, with the book close at hand.
At dinner have each person say their patron saint’s name followed by “pray for us,” then eat something sweet for the saints.
A hands-on activity with materials and steps, and a shorter version for a hectic day.
I seldom think of All Saints’ Day without recalling Belloc’s walk in 1902, recounted in "The Four Men." The walk took place in his native Sussex County from October 29 until All Souls’ Day. It is about our home and our heavenly home, so intimately related.
Members receive an original excerpt from a Sophia Institute Press title, with the book close at hand.
The whole family of God, joined together: the saints in Heaven, the souls in Purgatory, and all of us on earth, helping each other with prayer.
A word from the day, explained for children and used in a sentence.
Blessed are the clean of heart: they shall see God.
A verse to learn together, with a tip for remembering it.
Soul cakes (a spiced, raisin-studded biscuit with a cross cut on top; any simple scone or shortbread recipe works) or “saint cupcakes,” one per person, decorated for the saint they dressed as. The soul-cake custom comes from England, where children went “souling” door to door on All Saints and All Souls and prayed for the household’s dead in exchange for a cake.
Something to cook or share at the table to mark the day.
Members receive an original excerpt from a Sophia Institute Press title, with the book close at hand.
Can I be a saint?
A question children often ask about the day, with an answer for the parent.
White vestments, not green, and the Gloria is sung. The first reading is from the Book of Revelation: listen for “a great multitude which no man could number” and the white robes. The Gospel is the Beatitudes; have the kids count how many times they hear “Blessed.” If your parish sings the Litany of the Saints, that long list of names with “pray for us” after each one is the whole Church calling the roll.
One thing for the family to notice at Mass today.
God our Father, thank you for all the saints in Heaven, the famous ones and the hidden ones. They loved you more than anything. Help us love you like that. All you holy men and women, saints of God, pray for us. Amen.
A short prayer for the whole family, written for the day.
Tomorrow is All Souls’ Day. Plan a family visit to a Catholic cemetery any day from today through November 8; the Church grants a plenary indulgence for the souls in Purgatory for a cemetery visit with prayer for the dead, with Confession, Communion, a prayer for the Pope’s intentions, and a heart free of attachment to sin, even venial sin. Tomorrow’s email teaches the “Eternal rest” prayer; tonight, think of the names of family members who have died so the kids can write them down. Wednesday, November 4, is St. Charles Borromeo: find where your family catechism is.
Members can look ahead to the coming feasts, recipes, and traditions before the day arrives.