By Kathleen and George Alford
All Saints Day was not designated as a Holy Day of Obligation this year. However, this crowd of “saints-in-the-making” decided to celebrate the feast day as a “Holy Day of Opportunity” to celebrate the saints in style! Many came to our party dressed as their chosen saint, and all shared in the food, games, stories, and songs to honor the great could of witnesses who are cheering us on from heaven.
How It All Started
The day began with Holy Mass at 8:15 a.m. at St. Peter Catholic Church, celebrated by Father Emmanuel Mbuk, MSP. Thereafter, everyone headed to our house, where a banner “Remembering All Saints ~ All Souls” hung on the front door. Once inside, it was time to sign in and start the fun!
What a spread of holy foods! Everything from Monk’s Bread in honor of the Benedictine saints -to- heart-shaped strawberries in honor of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and more! Everyone brought something delicious to add to the feast.
Next, let the games begin!
Our two games this year were an All Saints Trivia Contest and the Saint Name Scramble.
Winners of the All Saints Trivia contest were
1st place – Piper and Indie Jemison
2nd place – Shannon and Richard Winter
3rd place – Maeve and Mat Jemison
Winners of the Saint Name Scramble were:
1st place – Maeve Jemison
2nd place – Laura Tobler
Congratulations, winners!
Saint Stories
One of the high points of the day was when everybody explained who their saints were and why they chose them. Take a look at our gallery of saints! Represented at our gathering were St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, St. George the Dragon Slayer, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Pio of Petrelcina, St. Isadore the Farmer, St. Benedict, St. Scholastica, St. Francis of Assisi, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Emma of Lesum, St. Carlo Acutis, St. José Sánchez del Río, St. Joseph, St. Clare of Assisi, St. Begga of Andienne in Austrasia, and St. Therese of Lisieux. It was great fun to hear their stories, and we learned a lot!
A Heavenly Reading
Before we sang songs to end the celebration, George read this passage from The New Oxford Annotated Bible that describes the righteous as entering their heavenly rest in seven stages of joy. These seven stages of joy described in 2 Esdras 7:91-97 are as follows:
- First joy: Having struggled hard and won the victory over the evil impulse.
- Second: Seeing the endless wandering and punishment awaiting the souls of the wicked.
- Third: Realizing the testimony of their Creator has been kept by those who lived on earth.
- Fourth: Understanding the rest they now enjoy, gathered into their resting place and protected by angels.
- Fifth: Rejoicing that they have escaped the corruptible life and will inherit the future.
- Sixth: Seeing how they will receive glorious and illuminated faces, becoming like the faces of angels.
- Seventh: Experiencing the ultimate joy of seeing the great glory of God and being received by Him.
Oh, when the saints go marching in,
Oh, when the saints go marching in,
O Lord, I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in!
♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫
0 Comments