The Solemnity of All Saints honors the whole company of heaven, including the many holy men and women whose names are known only to God. Catholics pray this novena to seek their intercession and renew their own response to the universal call to holiness.
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From its earliest centuries, the Church honored the martyrs who gave their lives for Christ. The celebration gradually widened to include apostles, pastors, consecrated men and women, and all the faithful who reached the fullness of life with God. The feast developed in both East and West and came to be celebrated in Rome on November 1. It does not honor an anonymous ideal, but real members of Christ’s Body who now share in His glory.
All Saints also reminds the baptized that holiness is not reserved for a small spiritual elite. It is God’s gift and the vocation of every Christian, lived through faith, hope, charity, repentance, the sacraments, and the duties of one’s state in life. The saints intercede for the Church on earth and show many ways of following the one Lord. This novena asks their help so that the Beatitudes can take visible form in ordinary Christian life.
