Good day,

Happenings in the Deanery:

All Saints’ Day Holy Eucharist at Holy Trinity, SSM, 7pm, Nov.1. Archbishop Anne presiding and preaching.

Emmaus is having an All You Can Eat Breakfast at Icebreakers, Sunday, Nov.10, 10:30am – 12:30pm for $20.  Call the church at 705-259-2545 for tickets and more information.  

Advent Zoom Bible Studies begin on Wednesday, Nov.20, 7pm and will continue each Wednesday until Dec.18. 

Advent Retreat at the Trinity Centre, Saturday, Nov.23, 9am – noon. 

Anglican Corporate Communion at St. Luke’s Cathedral, Thurs., Nov.28 at 11:30am, followed by a light lunch. This is the annual gathering, mostly of church women, for St. Andrew’s Day.

Christmas Market at the Trinity Centre, Saturday, Nov.30, 11am – 3pm: chili lunch, bake table, lots of “makers” tables, and “new to you” as well. 

St. Luke’s Cathedral is performing “Unto Us a Child is Born” on Sunday, Dec.8. Please see the attached poster below for more information. 

A Liturgical Note For You:

The Sadly Neglected/Misunderstood Principal Feast of All Saints’ Day: There are just seven “Principal Feasts” observed in our Church. One of them, quickly approaching, is unfortunately, much neglected and misunderstood.  I am speaking of All Saints’ Day.  It is right up there with Christmas and Easter and has a specific date on which we are to celebrate it…November 1st.  All Saints’ Day is named as one of the four “particularly appropriate” days of our entire church calendar on which to celebrate baptism (the other three days are Easter – especially the Vigil, Pentecost, and the Baptism of the Lord) [BAS p.146-7].  According to The Anglican Church of Canada, All Saints’ Day is to be celebrated on its actual day. If we would like to celebrate it during our Sunday Eucharist then that celebration is done “in addition to its observance on the fixed date” and “on the Sunday following 1 November” (BAS p.15).  

Why is All Saints’ Day so important? Beginning in the 4th century, the churches of the East began observing a day on which we celebrate “the feast of the martyrs of the whole world.”  These saints of the Church “are Christians who in various ways, often against great odds, showed an extraordinary love for Christ. The Holy Spirit acted in their lives so that they chose to bring aid to the needy, justice to the oppressed, hope to the sorrowful, and the divine word of forgiveness to sinners. For the sake of Christ they were servants to the people of their day; and the service they rendered in the past makes them examples to the rest of the people of God throughout history” (For All the Saints p.328). 

Why the strong connection of All Saints’ Day with baptism? Through the mystery of baptism, we participate in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, reconciling us with God. The martyrs of the Church are those who, like Christ, went through actual physical suffering and death for their belief. If you are familiar with The Revelation to John then you will know that the Church understands that these martyrs, robed in their white baptismal garments, are with God, awaiting with us the final perfection of God’s kingdom on earth (see, for ex. Rev.6:9-11).  We believe that, as we pray, they pray with us and are bound to us in mutual service and ministry which is “to help others become partners in the salvation of God” (FAS p.328).  

The Principal Feast of All Saints’ Day is not to be confused with the memorial known as All Souls’ Day: All Soul’s Day, Nov.2, is the commemoration of the faithful departed – the day when we remember and mourn the loss of our loved ones.  There is often a procession into the graveyard, attached to a church, for additional prayers and the blessing of individual graves.  The difference between All Saints’ and All Souls’ is noticeable in the use of the liturgical colour – white is used on All Saints’ to mark the thanksgiving of those who have been sanctified.  Violet or black has been traditionally used for All Souls’ to allow for the reality of the grief of loss mixed with our hope and joy of the “resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come” (BAS p.189).  

For Your Devotions:

Monday, October 28th is the Holy Day of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles.  We actually know extremely little about the apostles we celebrate today but they are both thought to have come from the Zealots (the uncompromising and aggressive Jewish nationalist group who were opposed to pagan Rome). Simon is only mentioned on the lists of the apostles but Jude (actually, “Judas, not Iscariot”) is recorded as asking Jesus (in John’s Gospel) why he will choose to reveal himself only to the disciples and not to the world after his resurrection. For more information…  https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saints-simon-and-jude/

Tuesday, October 29 is the commemoration of James Hannington, Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa and his Companions, Martyrs, 1885. This is, sadly, a short story. James spent a few years serving a parish in England but then heard of two missionaries murdered on the shores of Lake Victoria in Africa. This turned his thoughts to mission and, after being consecrated as bishop, he arrived on the shores of Lake Victoria in 1885 only to be murdered, along with his colleagues, a few days later by order of King Mwanga of Uganda.  An important member of the king’s household – Joseph Musaka (a Roman Catholic) – reproached the king for the massacre and was beheaded for speaking up.  This was just the beginning of the atrocities. We remember additional martyrs of Uganda on June 3. For more info, see p.320:  https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/ForAlltheSaints.pdf

Wednesday, October 30th is the commemoration of John Wyclyf (died 1384) and Jan Hus (died 1415), both Reformers. We’re more familiar with “Wycliffe” as the spelling of his name. John Wycliffe was disillusioned by the power and wealth of the Church. He questioned the Church’s authority and believed the ‘common people’ should have access to the Scriptures to read them for themselves in their own language. He and others translated the Bible into English and began circulating it. Wycliffe was expelled from Oxford University but, because he had the favour of some very important people, he was not burned at the stake as a heretic.  One of his followers, Jan Hus, was not so fortunate. The burning of Hus provoked a rebellion among the Czechs and, after 10 years of fighting, they prevailed. For more info…  http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/rel-christ05.htm

Thursday, October 31st is the commemoration of the Saints of the Reformation Era.  Today we remember all those – Anglicans and Roman Catholics – who were painfully executed in the name of the Church during the Reformation Era. We remember with humility and repentance as both sides, believing their side to be “right”, did what should not have been done. The link here is a Church of England site and so the date is not the same as ours but the information is good:  https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/english-saints-and-martyrs-of-the-reformation-era/

Friday, November 1st is the Principal Feast of All Saints’ Day.As mentioned, this is one of the four Principle Feasts named by our Church as the days on which baptisms should take place. It would therefore be highly appropriate to renew baptismal vows on this day even if no baptisms are taking place.  This is the day we celebrate all of the saints of the Christian Church – known and unknown – who have died and attained heaven. This day has been celebrated in different forms and on different dates since at least the 4th century. Of course, in medieval England this day was called “All Hallows” and so its eve was “All Hallows’ Eve” from which we get Halloween. For more info:   https://www.britannica.com/topic/All-Saints-Day

Saturday, November 2nd is the memorial known as the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed.  This is very different from All Saints’ Day and is not a Principal Feast and thus does not get celebrated on the Sunday. (In fact, if Nov.2 fell on a Sunday, this memorial would be moved to a different day of the week). This is the day we pray for our dead loved ones. It was based on the idea that prayer could help dead loved ones more hastily pass through purgatory into heaven. This sparked controversy in the Church – for one thing, many scholars argue that the concept of purgatory is not supported by Scripture –  and so this day was not liturgically celebrated until the Middle Ages. Here is what the website at the other end of the link says: “Whether or not one should pray for the dead is one of the great arguments which divide Christians. Appalled by the abuse of indulgences in the Church of his day, Martin Luther rejected the concept of purgatory. Yet prayer for a loved one is, for the believer, a way of erasing any distance, even death. In prayer we stand in God’s presence in the company of someone we love, even if that person has gone before us into death.” https://www.franciscanmedia.org/commemoration-of-all-the-faithful-departed/

In the hope of Christ,

Susan