The dust has settled and Halloween 2024 is in the books.  Now we’ve arrived at the holiday that Halloween—All Hallows’ Eve—is actually about:  All Saints’ Day.

Growing up Pentecostal, we did not really celebrate or observe these major feast days (frankly, I’m surprised we celebrated Halloween growing up, but I think that’s because of my Stephen King-loving mother).  We missed out on a great deal of the beauty of the high church liturgical calendar as a result.

All Saints’ Day and its close companion, All Souls’ Day (observed on 2 November) are two beautiful solemnities worth observing for all Christians.  While I believe that all saved Christians count among God’s “saints,” and I don’t think the Roman Catholic Church holds a monopoly on canonization (or that canonization is even a legitimate spiritual designation), I do appreciate the celebration of the lives of the saints.  They were inspiring Christians, often because they were such fallen sinners themselves before receiving Christ’s Grace.

I do believe they performed miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit.  I believe such miracles are still possible.  Sure, there’s probably some literary license taken with some of the saints, but I can’t deny the possibility of miracles; Scripture is full of them!

As a doughy American Evangelical Protestant I realize I am out of my depth here among the Anglicans and Catholics that read this blog, but I hope it is clear that I appreciate the richness of your traditions.  All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days are worthy of celebration; all Christians should honor these days with prayer and feasting.

Maybe it’s the feasting that I like.  Let’s see how I do with the days that call for prayer and fasting.  Gulp!

One final coda:  my recent release, Spooky Season III, ends with a piece called “Eleventh Hour and All Saints’ Day“; it’s two pieces in one.  The hymn-like chorale “All Saints’ Day” kicks in around 4:30:

I wanted to capture the transition from the quiet solitude of a post-trick-or-treating Halloween night into the glorious morning of All Saints’ Day.  I hope this humble piece did the trick.

Happy All Saints’ Day!

—TPP