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At the beginning of November, we, along with Christians around the world, celebrate All Saints' and All Souls' Days. This is known as All Hallowtide.

 

On All Saints' Day, we celebrate the saints whom we cherish as exemplars of the faith. Yes, many Saints have their own specific feast days, but with only 365 days in the calendar year, it is hard to include everybody! The best part about All Saints’ Day is that we get to include the unconventional saints in our practices and memorials. Does your grandmother have an incredible prayer life? Celebrate her on All Saints! Is your best friend generous and compassionate in ways that only a Christian would understand? Celebrate them! Are you inspired by the courage of modern-day social and peace activists like Leymah Gbowee (click here if you don’t know who she is), or perhaps you’ve attended a diocesan event and fallen in love with Rikki Kooy? Celebrate them both. All Saints is a wonderful day of celebration to consider the saints around us and the impact of their faith on our lives. St. Mark’s will celebrate All Saints’ on November 2nd. Use this day to wrap your arms around the modern saints in your life and thank them for what they have meant to you.

 

Also, be sure to sign up for our Spiritual Practices workshop, which is happening that day. During this workshop, we will explore how to pray with the Saints and why this practice might be a good one to adopt from time to time.

 

On November 9th, we will celebrate All Souls’ Day. This is an extension of All Saints’ Day, where we remember the everyday saints that we “love but see no longer.” We will mark this day with the lighting of candles, reading the names of the departed, and sharing our favourite stories about them. This is an important day because God cares about our grief and those whom we miss. For the next few weeks, we will have an All Souls’ book available, where you can write the names of those who have died so that they can be read out loud on November 9th during our 10am service. If you can’t make it to church to write in the book, please email me (my email is fatherdarajoy@gmail.com) the names of those you would like to be remembered, and I will add them for you.

 

I look forward to celebrating All Hallowtide with you all, and I give thanks for the many saints we have at St. Mark's.