• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Building Faith

Building Faith

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Who We Are
    • Our Writers
    • Author Guidelines
    • FAQs
    • Subscribe
    • Contact Us
  • ARTICLES
    • Articles by Topic
    • Most Recent Articles
  • EN ESPAÑOL
  • RESOURCES
    • Curriculum Center
    • Vacation Bible School
    • Webinars
    • Episcopal Teacher
    • Signs of Life
    • Meeting Jesus in the Gospel of John
    • 5 Marks of Love
    • Growing a Rule of Life
    • It’s Time To…
  • SUPPORT US
  • Show Search
Hide Search
Home/Children & Family/What Does This Day Mean? Handout for The Feast of All Saints & Souls at Home
Blue sky, white clouds with light shining through.

What Does This Day Mean? Handout for The Feast of All Saints & Souls at Home

To download this beautiful resource for households that supports the celebration of the Feast of All Saints & Souls at home as a PDF, click here.

Introduction

In the New Testament, the word “saints” describes the entire community of followers of The Way of Jesus. We all bear the word of God within us. From the very early church, followers whose faith and lives were particularly inspiring began to be described as “Saints” with a capital S. On All Saints’ Day, November 1, we remember with gratitude those Saints whose lives and actions we look to as models for our own.

All Souls’ Day, November 2, extends from All Saints’ Day as a time to remember and honor deceased family and friends. As The Book of Common Prayer teaches, “The communion of saints is the whole family of God, the living and the dead, those whom we love and those whom we hurt, bound together in Christ by sacrament, prayer, and praise.”

These days are wrapped in Holy Mystery, connecting all people across time and space.

A Meditation from Bishop Steven Charleston

Can you hear them as they pass by? Can you feel them standing just beside you? They are the ones who have gone before, saints who have touched our lives. They are the family to which we belong, ancient and never ending. Our ancestors watch over us, their constant vigil keeping. Their wisdom surrounds us. Their healing a river through channels of time. Can you hear them? They speak of a love they have seen, love beyond imagining, love that holds us safe, until we rise to meet them.

Read

Hebrews 12:1: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

The Feast of All Saints

Wonder

Find a favorite Saint. The Lent Madness website, the books listed below, or your church leaders are great resources. Imagine what their daily life might have been like. What
challenges did they face? What brought them joy? Notice what inspires you about them and how you may want to celebrate that inspiration. Dress up as them? Create an artistic rendering? Share an icon or a quote from them on social media or with a friend?

Pray

Almighty God, you have knit together your people 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 the people of the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
The Book of Common Prayer, 1979, p. 245, adapted.

The Feast of All Souls

Wonder

This is the time of year the veil between this world and the next feels very thin. On these holy days, we are invited to peek through that veil and remember we are all connected so that not even death can separate us. Whose name do you speak today Set out or create a picture of those you want to remember today. Light a candle. Share or write down stories about them. Offer prayers in thanksgiving for how they have shaped you. Feel them near.

Pray

God of all, we pray for all those whom we love but see no longer. May they enter Zion with singing. May light perpetual shine upon them. May their souls, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
The Book of Common Prayer, 1979, p. 498, adapted

For More on Saints

Links below are Amazon affiliate links that benefit Virginia Theological Seminary.

  • Coco, Disney, 2017. (Movie)
  • We Are One, by Ysaye Barnwell and Brian Pinkney, Harcourt Children’s Books, 2008. (Picture book)
  • Meet the Saints, by Lindsay Hardin Freeman and Melody Wilson Shobe, Forward Movement, 2015. (Family)
  • Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People, by Nadia Bolz-Weber, Canterbury Press, 2015. (Adult)

Download PDF

To download this beautiful resource for households that supports the celebration of the Feast of All Saints & Souls at home as a PDF, click here.


Photo by Daniel Páscoa on Unsplash.

Created by The Rev. Jennifer McNally, priest at Saint Anne’s Episcopal Church and convener of dinner church Table 229, St. Paul, Minnesota, and The Rev. Anna V. Ostenso Moore, Associate for Family Ministry at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, Minneapolis, and author of the picture books “Today Is a Baptism Day” and “We Gather at This Table.” Please share freely!

About the Author

  • Jennifer McNally & Anna V. Ostenso Moore

    The Rev. Jennifer McNally, priest at Saint Anne's Episcopal Church and convener of dinner church Table 229, St. Paul, Minnesota, and The Rev. Anna V. Ostenso Moore, Associate for Family Ministry at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Minneapolis, and author of the picture books "Today Is a Baptism Day" and "We Gather at This Table."

    View all posts

Print PDF

August 15, 2021 By Jennifer McNally & Anna V. Ostenso Moore

Filed Under: Children & Family, Home Practices, Intergenerational, Saints & Holi Popular, Saints & Holidays Tagged With: All Saints, All Souls, faith at home, handout, home, resource, Saint, saints, souls

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS

Subscribe to Building Faith

You’ll get new articles, plus free weekly updates in your inbox.

We respect your privacy. View our privacy policy here.

Search Our Site

Search by Topic

New Articles

Tiles with alphabet letters in midair in front of a black background

Ways to Use AdventWord

’Tis the season for gift-giving guides and black Friday sales that started a month ago. As active …

Continue Reading about Ways to Use AdventWord

Two white sheep figurines and one brown animal figurine on a light gray surface with a light gray background

Christmas Pageants from Two Points of View

I (Jodi) have a confession to make: I don’t like Christmas pageants. It's not just the significant …

Continue Reading about Christmas Pageants from Two Points of View

Text that says "2024 Forma Annual Conference: a Way in the Wilderness" on a desert landscape background

“Behold, I Am Doing a New Thing!”: The Radically Hybrid 2024 Forma Conference

Editor's Note: This article is in a forthcoming issue of VTS Magazine. Some of its content is also …

Continue Reading about “Behold, I Am Doing a New Thing!”: The Radically Hybrid 2024 Forma Conference

Footer

Keep in Touch

  • Email
  • Facebook

Building Faith

Lifelong Learning, Virginia Theological Seminary
3737 Seminary Rd.
Alexandria, VA 22304

Copyright © 2023 · Building Faith · A Ministry of Virginia Theological Seminary

Design by Blue+Pine Creative, Inc.

Subscribe to Building Faith

Get articles and resources by email

Privacy Policy