Solemnity of All Saints
Readings: Apocalypse 7:2-4, 9-14; Ps 23:1-6; 1 John 3:1-13; Matthew 5:1-12
We are familiar from the Apostles’ Creed with confessing our faith ‘in the communion of saints’. (Interestingly, this article is not included in the longer Nicene Creed.) ‘Communion’ is central to the church’s self-understanding, its synodal way and sacramental life, especially in and through the Eucharist. The readings for today’s Solemnity focus on the criteria for those recognized as saints, the so-called canonised. Three reflections …
Firstly, from the Book of Revelation, we read about the ‘people dressed in white robes’ who are those ‘who have been through the great persecution and have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb’. While we might think in this part of the world that persecution of the church is a thing of the past, the reality of martyrdom is for many Christians a ‘sign of the times’. Pope Leo XIV recently received a document entitled ‘Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church’ which ‘lists 1,010 reports ranging from assaults on clergy to attacks on sacred spaces’.[1]
Secondly, the Gospel lists the Beatitudes which read like a litany, looking at the moral and spiritual characteristics of the blessed. Informed and inspired by the holy men and women who lived these qualities in suffering, service and solidarity, we are invited again and again, on hearing the Word of God especially in the Liturgy of the Word on their feast days, to imitate their example. I recently reflected on the Dromantine Altars[2] – located in the chapel there –named in honour of the saints for their holy lives at home and abroad. There are thirteen altars – eleven named for Saint Therésè, Saint Augustine (‘Special Patron’ for the SMA), Saint Peter Claver (‘Principal Patron’ for the SMA), Saint Colmán of Dromore, Saint Joseph, Saint Patrick, Saint Colmcille, Saint Francis Xavier (‘Patron’ for the SMA), Saint Brendan, Saint Paul, Saint Peter alongside altars for Our Lady and the Sacred Heart – to which another is added, the African Saint Josephine Bakhita, canonised in 2000 by Pope John Paul II, who has since then joined this litany of virtuous and venerable men and women.
Thirdly, Pope Francis reminds us to remember ‘The Saints Next Door’, writing: ‘Nor need we think only of those already beatified and canonized. The Holy Spirit bestows holiness in abundance among God’s holy and faithful people…I like to contemplate the holiness in the patience of God’s people…Very often it is a holiness found in our next-door neighbours, those who, living in our midst, reflects God’s presence’.[3]
Kevin O’Gorman SMA
[1] The Tablet, 11th October 2025, p. 28.
[2] A Dromantine Prayerbook, Cork, 2025.
[3] Gaudete Et Exultate/Rejoice and Be Glad, Dublin: Veritas, 2018, par. 6.