This weekend the Church marks the Festival of All Saints. (Or All Hallows as it is also known). It is a festival that celebrates all the “Holy/Hallowed” people that the church wishes to honour and remember for their faith. It is a feast that can act as an encouragement to our own faith, by looking at the examples of others who have gone before us.

Originally this feast was celebrated in May, but it was moved to November 1st, where combined with All Hallows Eve (Halloween) and followed by All Souls Day (Nov 2nd) we have a three-day combination called All Hallowtide.

It is a feast which I have always found to be hopeful and light filled, despite the shorter days and longer nights. In remembering those stories and lives of the Saints, I am reminded that heaven and earth are not quite as far apart as I might think. That there is a deep connection between the two. That the Saints as the hymn says “who from their labours rest” pass to us the joy of living here on earth and continuing the work of Jesus so that it can be as we pray “on earth as it is in heaven” May we all have a blessed All Hallowstide.

Rev’d Lizzie