Blessedness as Identity
All Saints’ Sunday (Year A)
Matthew 5.1-12
St. Gregory’s, Long Beach
I don’t know if it’s just me, or if all clergy struggle with this. But it seems to me that the Church sort of has a fast and loose approach to dealing with All Saints’ Sunday. Particularly when All Saints’ Day and All Saints’ Sunday fall on the same day. Perhaps it may seem to be splitting hairs, but for those who are liturgically obsessive-compulsive, these are the kinds of things that have the potential to send you into a tailspin. Allow me to explain.
All Saints’ Day, which is celebrated on November 1st, is one of the seven “Principal Feasts” observed by the Church. In addition to All Saints’, Principal Feasts include Easter Day, Ascension Day, the Day of Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Christmas Day, and The Epiphany. While three of these always fall on a Sunday, four do not always fall on Sunday, and one never does. Each of these Principal Feasts are to be celebrated on the actual date on which they fall and are NOT transferred to a Sunday. With the exception of All Saints’ Day. If not falling on a Sunday, “All Saints’ Day may always be observed on the Sunday following November 1, in addition to its observance on the fixed day” (BCP, p.15). What this tells us is that the Church Fathers determined that, not only is All Saints’ one of the handful of Principal Feasts of the Church, it is so special that of all the Principal Feasts, it CAN be moved to a Sunday to ensure it is properly celebrated. And, that it can actually be celebrated twice if November 1st is not a. That is saying something. In addition, All Saints’ is designated as one of the four Baptismal days—days considered particularly appropriate for the performing of Baptisms. So, suffice it to say, the celebration of All Saints’ is a really big deal.
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