Welcome to You All as We Celebrate All Saints Day
The Gathering of the Community
From its earliest days, the Church has recognised as its foundation stones those heroes of
the faith whose lives have excited others to holiness and have assumed a communion with
the Church on earth and the Church in heaven.
Celebrating the feast of All Saints’ began in the fourth century. At first, it was observed on
the Sunday after the feast of Pentecost; this was to link the disciples who received the gift of
the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the ‘foundation of the Church, with those who were martyrs,
giving their lives as witnesses for the faith. In the eighth century, a pope dedicated a chapel
to All Saints in St Peter’s at Rome on 1st November. Within a century, this day was observed
in England and Ireland as All Saints’ Day
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with you all.
And also, with you.
Dear friends in Christ, we have come together on this Bible Sunday to celebrate in word and
song and to affirm our faith in God, the Three in One.
Hymn: For All the Saints
We say Together:
Heavenly Father, all hearts are open to you.
No secrets are hidden from you.
Purify us with the love of your Holy Spirit
That we may love and worship you faithfully,
through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen
Lord, have mercy Lord, have Mercy
Christ, have mercy Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy Lord, have mercy
Heavenly Father,
we have sinned in thought, word, and deed,
and have failed to do
what we ought to have done.
We are sorry and truly repent.
For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ
who died for us, forgive us all that is past,
and lead us in his way
to walk as children of light. AMEN
May God our Father,
who by the Lord Jesus Christ
has reconciled the world to himself
and forgives the sins of all who truly repent,
pardon and deliver us from all our sins,
and grant us the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
The Gloria.
Glory to God in the highest
and peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King,
Almighty God and Father,
we worship you; we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.
Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us.
You are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer,
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God, the Father. AMEN
The Collect
Almighty God,
you have knit together your elect
in one communion and fellowship
in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord:
grant us grace so to follow your blessed saints
in all virtuous and godly living
that we may come to those inexpressible joys
you have prepared for those who truly love you;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
be the kingdom, the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Readings
Revelation 7. 9-17
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. For this reason
they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more,
and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb
at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of
the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’
Gospel Acclamation
Your words oh lord give Joy to my heart and light to my Soul
Matthew 5. 1-12
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his
disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against
you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the
same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Thanks be to Christ
Homily
A festival to celebrate All Saints is the reminder to the faithful in Christ about their
collective identity existence and mission. We are not celebrating the life and faith of
any particular individual or group of individuals but the whole body of Saints and so
are reaffirming the connectedness in the body of Christ that transcends the
limitations of time and space. No one is named in today's feast, there is no one
lesser or greater here, in fact the focus here is on those who were never named
those who could not make it to the church calendars and lectionaries. Although they
did not catch the attention of the church hierarchy. This group surely includes those
faithful who were rejected and even tortured by the authorities. If we surveyed the list
of the Saints named in the church's calendar we will find the diversity and variety of
people women and men Noble and lowly, breathtaking in its range they come from
all sorts of conditions and of various types, the poor the hungry the meek and so on.
This is a source of hope for us all and is tremendously encouraging, there is a place
for everyone and a special place for the lowly and the humble. Then what unites
them all and of course us together each one of them was unique and different but
they were all related to God. God found favour in them, it was not their achievements
or qualities but God`s grace and grace alone, this feast day comes to us with an
invitation to recover the vision of the church that is Gods and not ours and to rejoice
in the abundant mercy in Christ that accepts us just as we are we are. Celebrating
Gods achievement not ours or our forebears in faith.
God`s achievement is all about empowering and reversing. The persecuted ones are
still seeking to make peace and those mourning are still showing mercy they do not
give up. God has transformed them in their weakness they're safe because they
know that they will see God. Normal human standards and assumptions are turned
around, in Christ God reverses the values of the world and so the Saints are not
heroes of holiness but the poor who simply hold on to God. God achieves all this
through the lordship of Christ in him.
God has won the world
Amen
The Creed
I believe and trust in God the father,
who created all that is.
I believe and trust in his Son Jesus Christ,
who redeemed humankind.
I believe and trust in his Holy Spirit,
who gives life to the people of God.
I believe in and trust
father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN
Prayers
Prayer to Keep the Beatitudes
My God, You gave us the Church so that Your saving work and ministry would continue after
Your Ascension, and this Church recommends us that today, contemplating the glory of all
Your saints, listen to the beatitudes. How often do I forget the price of sainthood! You are
right, Lord, it is the poor in spirit, the mourners, the hungry and the thirsty, the merciful, the
clean of heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted who merit Your great reward in
Heaven. Do not let my heart harden to the truth that I may have to give up everything to
gain You, my true everything, and grant me a resolve to aspire to nothing but to receive
Your blessings, whatever price I may pay for them. Amen.
Prayer to Imitate Saints
Allow me to make a resolution this All Saints’ Day, my God. I would like to be more like Your
saints! Your servant, Saint Paul tells us in his Letter to the Hebrews that You will not ignore
our work and our love in serving Your saints, and this makes me wonder. Have I been relying
on their intercession so as to avoid being holy? Am I trying to spare myself, and avoid
sacrifices for Your holy name? Never let me do that! I too would like to share in heavenly
bliss, and for that, I know I have to walk the narrow path; it is not enough to call on the
saints if I am like them. Teach me in this holy season to not just love, respect, and marvel at
Your saints, but to, for Your holy sake, become one. Amen
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Hymn: Oh When the Saints go Marching in
The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all now and ever more. AMEN
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
If you would like to donate £5 to the overall work of the 12 churches in the parish, please
carefully text: GIVE5 to 70970. Thank you, diolch.
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