Today is All Saints Day. Since it falls on a Sunday, it is not a Holy Day of Obligation. But All Saints Day has always been one of my favorite days in the Church. Who can’t be moved and inspired with the chanting and singing of the Litany of the Saints? How beautiful!
Of course, in school we always had All Saints Day off — a nice fall break during a beautiful time of year, punctuated rudely by the first (gruelling) day of soccer practice. Still, as we were reminded constantly by the Benedictines (and the lay faculty, too) we were given days off to remember the Holy Day long after we graduated, so as to observe it always. It worked.
This is a great day to commit yourself to studying a saint or saints. Perhaps your patron saint. There are several saints to whom I constantly ask for intercession, and I observe Mass each year on their feast days. It truly brings you closer to God through learning and joining yourself to the lives of these role models. They provide inspiration. They seek help for you and your community in general. If you have a cause, find the saint that patrons it and learn about him or her, and pray for his or her intercessions.
There are many ways to honor saints, through which you draw nearer the Lord. The more you do, the more you will learn about the Church and its teachings, and the more the revelation of the Word of God will engulf you and bless you.
