Faith Matters: All Saints and All Souls
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As we approach the time of Halloween, All Saints and All Souls, Ven. Dr. Thomas Carpenter, Archdeacon of Chichester, reflects on one of the key themes of this time in the Church calendar.
November is the month of death. On the first day we keep the Solemnity of All Saints, the next day is All Souls’ Day. There is a clunking shift from one day to the next. On All Saints’ Day, the Church’s vestments are white, and the hymns are joyful; a day later white is replaced by black, and the hymns are sombre. Why the difference? Both days are, after all, about dead Christians. Why we should we celebrate one sort of dead Christian - the Saints - but sorrow over others - those for whom we pray on All Souls’ Day?
The Church knows that certain dead Christians are now in heaven. These men and women have attracted the love and prayers of Christians on earth. The lives of the Saints on earth and the effect of their prayers after their deaths have made the Church sure that they are now there, seeing God in heaven. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ Jesus’ promise in the Sermon on the Mount have come true for them.
What of those faithful Christians who have died still mixed up in sin and guilt? Heaven is the vision of God, enjoyed by the pure in heart, so what about those Christians who die when they are not yet pure in heart? Are they forever excluded from heaven? A Catholic would say no, that God provides for their purification, for the purging away of this sin and guilt. To pray for the dead is to pray for those who undergo this final preparation for the vision of God in heaven.
The Church starts November thinking and praying about its dead members. There is celebration for the Saints and then sorrow and intercession for sinners. There are two approaches to departed Christians, just as there are two sides to the death of Christ. We rejoice at his victory on the Cross over sin, as we sorrow over the sins that brought him there. We cannot do one and not the other. In this, as always with Jesus, it is all or nothing.