Alll Saints and the Communion of Saints

November 1, 2009

All Saints Day and the Communion of Saints

The opening prayer in the Book of Common Prayer liturgy for All Saints Day is:

Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one
communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son
Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints
in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those
ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love
you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy
Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

We are knit together in one communion and fellowship.

Growing up as a low-church Protestant, of course we did not recognize these saint’s days nor did we follow this type of liturgy.  As an adult exploring these earlier church traditions for 25 years, I have slowly grown to appreciate the value of annually reflecting on various aspects of our faith from many new perspectives.

As a parent who lost his son, I am now profoundly moved by this notion of “communion of saints” and All Saints Day since I long to be “knit together” and in communion with this son of mine who is gone from this life, but not gone forever. 

In an earlier entry in this journal I reflected on the sense I sometimes have when I am taking communion at my church and I realize that Daniel is at the same table, participating in this communion of saints though he happens to be on the other side of the veil from me – at least for now.

I realize that this perspective is uniquely Christian and not held by many of the people I come in contact with everyday.  I cannot imagine how I would handle this loss without this hope – this hope that Daniel is alive and well and living in some realm we call heaven, as a saint in communion with God, still knit together with me and with all those who love him on earth in this “mystical body” of Jesus.

On All Saints Day, my priest, Father Stace, collected around 100 names we wrote on a clipboard and, during the Eucharistic Prayer, recited these names of individuals whose lives on earth had been closely linked with those in the congregation present that day.

When I heard Daniel’s name read, my heart paused as I once again realized the joy and pain of having been a witness to my son becoming a saint.