Sunday of All Saints (Heb. 11:33–12:2; Mt. 10:32–33, 37–38, 19:27–30)

The Holy Church commemorates the saints every single day. But because there were servants of God who labored in obscurity and were not made known to the Church, in order to leave none of them without veneration, the Holy Church established a day on which she glorifies all who have pleased God throughout all ages, so that none remain unglorified by her. She appointed this feast immediately after the descent of the Holy Spirit because all the saints have been and continue to be made holy by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Holy Spirit brings repentance and the forgiveness of sins; it is this same grace that leads a person into struggle against the passions and lusts and crowns that struggle with purity and dispassion. And thus a new creature appears—fit for the new heaven and the new earth. Let us therefore strive to follow in the steps of God’s saints. Today’s Gospel teaches us how: it calls for fearless confession of faith in the Lord, for love of Him above all else, for taking up the cross of self-denial, and for heartfelt detachment from everything. Let us make a beginning according to this instruction.