Ukrainian Orthodoxy		Orthodoxie ukrainienne

The Beauty of the Saints

Very Reverend Ihor Kutash kutash@unicorne.org

“Be Holy for I am Holy”: The Sunday of All Saints

The Sunday following Pentecost is dedicated to All Saints, both those who are known to us, and those – a huge number - who are known only to God. There have been saints at all times and they have come from every corner of the earth. They were Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, Hierarchs, Monastics and Righteous, yet all were perfected by the same Holy Spirit.

In fact this is why the Holy Spirit was sent to us by Our Lord Jesus from the Father.  The Descent of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to rise above our fallen state and to attain sainthood, thereby fulfilling God's directive to "be holy, for I am holy" (Lev. 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16, etc.). No one should be content to remain as he or she is.  We are all called upon to continually move on up to the heights, as one of the Holy Ones we have been speaking about, St. Gregory Palamas, challenged us to do with his dying breath. 

No one ought to be simply measuring himself or herself against other people and being content to be better than the ones we perceive to be less than ourselves.  Our standard is God Himself!  A candle may appear to be less than microscopic in comparison with the mighty sun, but it shares its quality of being able to shine, to give light, to give warmth and to give comfort.  And also to light other candles!  This is what all followers of Jesus are called to do!

There is a joy in being so linked and so challenged!  There is also a sadness, because we frequently (perhaps even continually) see how far we are from this ideal state to which we are called.  But this is a blessed sadness, like the thirst of someone who is about to drink a glass of cool fresh water – they are happy to have been thirsty, for that wonderful pleasure of having one’s thirst so quenched would not be unless they were thirsty to begin with.

The Feast of All Saints may have originated at an early date, perhaps as a celebration of all martyrs.  Eventually it was broadened to include all men and women who had borne witness to Christ by their virtuous lives, even if they did not shed their blood for Him.

A Troparion to All Saints goes thus: “Apostles, Martyrs, and Prophets, holy Hierarchs, Saints and Righteous, having fought the good fight and kept the faith you have boldness towards the Savior. Intercede for us with Him, for He is good, we pray, that He may save our souls.”

We are reminded that not only are we called to be Holy, but that the Holy Ones continually accompany and surround us invisibly – not to judge and condemn us, but to pray and intercede for us so that we may join their blessed company.

While all the categories of Saints listed in that Troparion are familiar to us, the category of “the righteous” may be most interesting – accessible to us.  It honours those who may not be tortured or put to death for bearing witness to Jesus, but who strive with all that is available to them to offer God the gift of humble, generous, lovely lives.

The feast of All Saints achieved great prominence in the ninth century, in the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise (886-911). His wife, the Holy Empress Theophano (December 16/29) lived in the world, but was not attached to worldly things. She was a great benefactor to the poor, and was generous to the monasteries. She was a true mother to her subjects, caring for widows and orphans, and consoling the sorrowful.

Even before the death of St. Theophano in 893 or 894, her husband started to build a church, intending to dedicate it to Theophano, but she forbade him to do so. It was this emperor who decreed that the Sunday after Pentecost be dedicated to All Saints. Believing that his wife was one of the righteous, he knew that she would also be honoured whenever the Feast of All Saints was celebrated.

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