The Feast of All Saints | Tuesday 1 November 2022

Today is Tuesday, the 1st of November, the Feast of All Saints.

Audrey Assad sings, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’. As we celebrate the feast of All Saints, begin by imagining all the angels and saints in heaven, worshipping the Lord. Will you join in this song with them?


Holy, holy, holy!
Lord God Almighty
Early in the morning
Our song shall rise to Thee
Holy, holy, holy!
Merciful and mighty
God in three persons
Blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy!
Though the darkness hide thee
Though the eye of sinful man
Thy glory may not see
Only Thou art holy
There is none beside Thee
Perfect in power, in love and purity
Holy, holy, holy!
Lord God Almighty
Oh thy works shall praise Thy name
In earth and sky and sea
Holy, holy, holy!
Merciful and mighty
God in three persons
Blessed Trinity
Oh God in three persons
Blessed Trinity!

Today’s reading is from the book of the Apocalypse.


Apoc 7:2-4,9-14

I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, saying, ‘Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.’ And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel.

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’

And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, singing:
‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honour
and power and might
be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.’

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

The author of the Apocalypse here paints a vivid picture of all the saved gathered around the throne of God. Take a moment, as this prayer starts, to get a sense of what that’s like. Make sure that you include yourself in the huge crowd.

What unites all these people is their determination to praise God. What kind of situation have you ever been in that gives you some hint of what that might be like?

At the centre of this crowd is a select group who have been persecuted for what they believe in. Who might you see in that group, or what kinds of people would you expect to be there?

As the second part of the passage is read again, notice the words that the angels sing in praise of God, and make those words your own.

Let your praise of God continue, in your own words this time, as this time of prayer draws to a close.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.