All Saints' Sunday, November 1, 2026
On All Saints' Sunday, Mother Tiffany Clark preached on All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day: the great company of the saints, and the faithful departed whom we remember by name.
A summary of the sermon: Mother Tiffany told of a parishioner she had met who was afraid of committing fully to God, in case God asked something difficult of them. Being committed to God, she said, does not mean being spared hard things. It means not being afraid of the difficult situations God gives us, because we do not face them alone. That is the courage of the saints.
The full text of the sermon will be posted here when it is available.
All Saints' and All Souls' in the Episcopal Church
All Saints' Day (November 1) is one of the seven Principal Feasts of the church year in the Book of Common Prayer, and it may also be kept on the Sunday after November 1. It celebrates the whole communion of saints: not only the great figures of the church, but all the faithful, living and departed, who are joined together in Christ. The Prayer Book names All Saints' Day, or the Sunday after it, as one of the days especially appropriate for Holy Baptism, when new members are welcomed into that same communion.
The collect for the day gives its meaning in a sentence:
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 everlasting glory. Amen.
The Book of Common Prayer (1979), Collect for All Saints' Day
All Souls' Day (November 2), kept in the Episcopal Church as the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed, follows the next day. It is a quieter observance in which the church prays for those who have died and gives thanks for their lives. Many parishes read aloud the names of members, family and friends who have died during the year, and offer prayers from the Burial Office.
Together the two days hold joy and grief side by side: thanksgiving for the saints who have gone before us, and remembrance of those we love but see no longer. The hymn sung in many churches at this season, For all the saints, who from their labors rest, carries both.
If you would like the name of someone who has died remembered in the parish's prayers, please contact the clergy through the parish office or send a prayer request.
Earlier Chronicles
- Second Sunday of Easter, 2026: the Rector on Thomas, faith and being human in an age of artificial intelligence.
- A Christmas Message, 2024