It first was celebrated in the Spring, not the fall – All Saints’ Day, that is. It was designated so on the Christian calendar in order to overlap with a pagan holiday that pre-dated Christianity.
Situating Christian holidays smack up against pagan festivals was a common practice in the early and medieval church, a canny way for the church to diminish the significance of those festivals without actually taking them away from the people. Take Christmas, for example, and its celebration so near the Winter Solstice.
Later, All-Saints’ Day was moved to November for the same reason. The Christian observance then coincided with the Celtic celebration of Samhain (sow-win), a festival that welcomed the harvest and ushered in the dark half of the year. Because of its origins, Samhain has always been associated with dying and death.
According to author Selena Fox, “Samhain's long association with death and the Dead reflects Nature's rhythms. In many places, Samhain coincides with the end of the growing season. Vegetation dies back with killing frosts, and therefore, literally, death is in the air. This contributes to the ancient notion that at Samhain, the veil is thin between the world of the living and the realm of the Dead .”
Overlapping All-Saints’ Day with the festival of Samhain was a smart move for the Christian Church in the Middle Ages. After all, both celebrations acknowledged the dead, and the Church wanted to set aside a day to honor those stalwart and often martyred Christians who had gone before. It was perfect! All-Saints’ Day sought to bind together church folk of all generations and root them into their ancestral spiritual family. Hence, the “great cloud of witnesses” came to life.
Initially, All-Saints’ Day focused on exemplary Christians, real saints. However, as theologian Frederick Buechner points out, those people were by no means perfect. He writes, “Many people think of saints as plaster saints, men and women of such paralyzing virtue that they never thought a nasty thought or did an evil deed their whole lives long. As far as I know, real saints never even come close to characterizing themselves that way. On the contrary, no less a saint than Saint Paul wrote to Timothy, ""I am foremost among sinners"" and Jesus himself prayed God to forgive him his trespasses.
In other words (Buechner writes), the feet of saints are as much of clay as everybody else's, and their sainthood consists less of what they have done than of what God has for some reason chosen to do through them. When you consider that Saint Mary Magdalene was possessed by seven devils, that Saint Augustine prayed, ‘Give me chastity and continence, but not now,’ that Saint Francis started out as a high-living young dude in downtown Assisi, and that Saint Simeon Stylites spent years on top of a sixty-foot pillar, you figure that maybe there's nobody God can't use as a means of grace, including even ourselves.”
It is like the children’s song, “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God”. Here is the final verse:
They lived not only in ages past;
there are hundreds of thousands still;
the world is bright with the joyous saints
who love to do Jesus’ will.
You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea,
in church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea;
for the saints of God are just folk like me,
and I mean to be one too.
And so it is not surprising that eventually All Souls’ Day was added to the Christian calendar as a way to acknowledge all believers who have passed away. Over time, particularly in the Protestant church, All Souls’ and All Saints’ Days have merged into a single Sunday, the first Sunday in November.
And so, for us, on this All-Saints’ Sunday, we remember those in our families and in this congregation who died during the past year. In addition, because of the tendrils of those pagan roots that still reach out to us, we are particularly sensitive to being surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses” as our reading from the Book of Hebrews proclaims. This almost mystical sense of time (Kairos time we call it in the church) and the consequent merging of past and present leave us wondering - with great high hope even - whether the veil between our world of the living and their world of the dead will be thinner than usual today.
This focus on the past and on those who have passed on can help us gain wisdom for the present too. As we remember the stories of these loved ones who have died, we can learn from them. And, of course, as Christians, we trust in an afterlife. So, as Anglican pastor Greg Goebel noted, “We aren’t just pining for the past, we are looking forward to a grand reunion.”
Obviously, we rely on our memories of those we have loved and lost. Perhaps those memories will bring tears, perhaps a smile, perhaps both. My hope is that we can approach these all-saints’ remembrances in the manner and spirit about which Frederick Buechner commented.
He wrote, “There are two ways of remembering. One way is to make an excursion from the living present back into the dead past. The old sock remembers how things used to be when you and I were young, Maggie. The faraway look in his eyes is partly the beer and partly that he's really far away.
The other way is to summon the dead past back into the living present. The young widow remembers her husband, and he is there beside her.” It is a mystic sweet communion – and we know it is real.
Let’s come together then and remember those we have loved and lost, not retreating into the dead past, but rather summoning the dead past back to the living present.….
PAULINE CADOTTE: Pauline was Robert and Michael Cadotte’s mother. Robert recalls that “although she had a stern side, she also had a very big compassionate side in raising two boys, one with a lot of mental challenges, the other just a little rebellious.
She made time for them at the expense if her time.” Pauline worked as a nurse for many years and was particularly sensitive to Michael’s developmental needs. She was a longtime member of this church and was elected an elder, an honor bestowed on men and women who have volunteered and supported our church in longstanding and significant ways.
Pauline was a deacon and came to worship very Sunday until her health failed. She assisted with telephoning when baked goods were needed for a church fair or event, helped with the Christmas Fair, and loved doing crafts. In fact, her small apartment was filled with all sorts of craft material, as Linda and Caryl discovered when they cleaned it out.
Pauline cherished her independence. I remember when the Lions Club here in town helped her get new hearing aids. Was she ever happy! She was also feisty and did not hesitate to state her opinions. In that regard, I remember that she was not too keen on much decoration on the altar. She particularly disapproved of the colored fabric I sometime used, that “flowy stuff” she called it – and she let me know exactly how she felt.
As her son, Robert, wrote to me: “She will be sadly missed by us and
the people that knew her. Rest in peace, Mom!!!!!!”
PAM ELDERKIN: Pam is Chan Roach’s sister. She lived in Hoosick Falls, New York and passed away quite suddenly this past summer. Pam worked as a switchboard operator for Albany Medical Center and later for Samaritan Hospital before retiring. However, Pam’s calling was as a foster mother.
Over the years, she took in and raised as her own a variety of children in need of the warmth and security and unconditional love of a real home. Here is what Chan said about his sister: “Pam was a mother above all else. She had her own two children and she had her found children that were beyond hope in the system and she gave them everything she had. She took the Word of God literally reaching out to the least of these whatever the cost.”
JEFFREY LAMBERT: Jeff is Lori and Dan Lambert’s son and their young grandson, Nate’s, father. Dan and Jeff’s wife, Beth, wrote his obituary, part of which I now share with you. Jeff “passed away peacefully at home after a long illness. He was surrounded by his loving family and friends.. Jeff worked as a Security Specialist with Millennium Partners in Boston for many years, where his teammates were more than co-workers - they were friends.
He was an avid fan of Star Wars, vintage comic books, video games, and making models. He spent many happy hours building intricate Lego sets with his son.
Jeff enjoyed spending time with friends and family, and he loved camping and hiking. Jeff never saw the Dark Side, and he always encouraged others to stay positive. Though he was battling a serious illness, he kept his wonderful sense of humor. He was quick to reassure loved ones that there is always a silver lining, no matter how difficult the situation. He was heard to say many times, “If I can smile, so can you.” When asked what should be remembered about his dad, Nate said, ‘He was really awesome, and he gave great hugs.’”
JANICE WALLER-BRETT: Janice is Joan Morton’s sister. She was born in Portland, Maine but lived most of her life in Connecticut where she worked as a secretary for several companies in the Groton area. She was known by all as a kind, selfless, funny and irreverent women who loved everybody, who always looked for the goodness in people, who lived for parties, and who loved most to make the people around her happy.
Janice volunteered as a Boy Scout and Girl Scout leader as well as with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony and Chorus and Connecticut Lyric Opera of which she was a co-founder. She was elected Treasurer of the City of Groton multiple times and also served as Assistant Registrar of Voters. Janice an active Democrat for 50 years and part of the Connecticut Federation of Democratic Women.
She died peacefully in her sleep after a long battle with several illnesses. However, knowing that her death was imminent, she made certain to vote in last November’s election and admonished every citizen to exercise that right.
MAY WELCH: May was Frank Sullivan’s aunt whom he loved dearly and misses tremendously. Frank said that he “loved her like she was my mother. We were very close. She always told me to call her if I was having a bad day.” Frank shared with me that just a week before she died, she called Frank to make sure he was OK.
Frank said, “This was the kind of person she was, a giver. She was always there for me since I was a child. She wasn't like an Aunt; she was like a real mom.” Frank went on to tell me that “May and her husband, Cliff, attended a church in Lewiston where they would bring food and other needed items to hand out to the people in need.” Frank ended his email to me by writing this: “I could keep going on. The biggest thing was she loved me with all her heart – as I did her. I tried to make this short, but she did so much for me, I shall miss her all of my life.”
JAMES YEAGER – James is Margo Fournier’s younger brother and Muriel Yeager’s son. Because he and Margo were born 13 months apart (I think that makes them Irish twins), they were very close growing up. Jim died very suddenly a week after being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, a disease he had beaten once before a few years earlier. Margo described the essence of James in one word – caring.
His sister, Donna, had this to say about Jim: “He loved his family and his country. His wife, children, dogs, and home were his true happiness. He spent his leisure time swimming, sunning himself, working in the yard, or planting the best tomatoes for all to share. He served his country in the Air Force and was once stationed in Iran.
Jim worked for Grumman for over 40 years. He and his fellow workers built the Lunar Module for the Apollo moon landings. When the Module was completed, their photo was taken and placed on the moon at the first moon landing and it is there still! Though Jim is now with the Lord, his spirit and love remain with us forever.”
