This image above is normally called "Icon of the Second Coming" but is also used to illustrate "All Saints Day." It is from an anonymous Greek author from about 1700 A.D.
All Saints Day...celebrated in November?
In a church staff meeting sometime early in the year, some of the ministerial staff were attempting to iron out some dates during the fall months for events at the church. An event for late October, early November, was being mentioned that would also be the “theme” for a Sunday’s Worship service. When Sunday, the first of November, was mentioned as a possible date for the emphasis, the Music/Worship Minister spoke up and said, “Nope, that’s All Saints Day.”
The discussion then turned to other possible Sundays to use for the emphasis in question. The discussion ended up being tabled for another meeting. But the minister who had suggested using Sunday, the first of November for the event, then asked, “What is All Saints Day?”
You know you’re in a Baptist staff meeting when someone asks...
The senior pastor answered that it was a celebration of the persons who have been lifted to sainthood by church tradition. And “all saints” day is purposefully set aside to ensure all persons are recognized as such whether they have a specific day or tradition that celebrates their sainthood individually or not.
But is a blanket celebration, covering all the bases just to make sure we don’t leave out any saints, all the reason there is for the celebration by Christianity? Why is it November? What other celebration is pretty darn close to it? How are they related...particularly in a spiritual sense that can even speak to our selves today?
For more info on the history of “All Saints Day,” check out this Wikipedia page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints_Day , so I don’t have to copy the info and get picked up for plagiarism.
See all you saints on Sunday...
