ALL SAINTS SUNDAY

All Saints' Sunday and the Meaning of Holiness in the Orthodox Church

On All Saints’ Sunday, the Church remembers and honors all the disciples and friends (known and unknown) of Christ – men and women, young and old, learned and simple, laypeople and clergy, from the world or from the desert – who, to the ends of the earth and throughout all times, have loved Him, preached in His name, or bore witness to the one Bridegroom of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ, often without sparing even their own lives for Him.

The Difference Between a Saint and a Good Person

The Church does not call saints those good people who help their fellow human beings and contribute to the alleviation of universal human suffering. Such a life of self-giving is not an exclusively Christian privilege. For the Church, a saint is someone who, living out their faith in Christ as God with seriousness, not only repented, confessed, received Communion frequently, and took part in Church services, but gradually underwent an ontological transformation through the uncreated grace of God—surpassing the level of a moral life and reaching union with God and deification. From the outpouring of his love for Christ, he naturally gave to his brothers and sisters as well, whom he loved as himself. Therefore, saints are distinguished by their love for the Triune God and their unceasing inner prayer to Jesus Christ—not merely by moral and good relationships with others, which do not always, in all cases, flow from a pure conscience.

No One Becomes a Saint Alone, but Only by Participating in the Holiness of Christ

In essence, only God is Holy. “One is Holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father,” we sing at every Sunday Liturgy. The faithful are sanctified when they unite with the grace of Christ and shine as His icons. Let us not forget what God commands even from the Old Testament: “Be holy, for I am holy.” Christ clearly states that He is the Light of the world, and by partaking of this uncreated light of His, we too are sanctified—by grace, not by nature. We do not partake in the essence of God, but in His works (energies), and beginning in this life, we will continually be sanctified, passing “from glory to glory.”

The Saints Lead Others to Salvation Through Their Example

This is, we could say, the “mission” of the saints. First, God says about them: “Those who honor Me, I will honor” (1 Samuel 2:30). That is, those who glorified Me on earth, I will glorify not only here, but also in heaven. How do we glorify God? Through faith, hope, obedience to His commandments, keeping the Decalogue inwardly and without grumbling, showing practical love toward others, giving up many comforts for the sake of those in need, and striving not to deviate from His will. These are what God desires from us, and the lives of the saints show us this path. Many of them were tortured and killed rather than deny Christ, encouraging us also—if necessary—to choose martyrdom rather than renounce His name.

The Saints Not Only Lead Us to Christ, but Also Intercede for Us Before Him

Some non-Orthodox deny the intercession of the saints, but this is a misinterpretation of Scripture. How could it be possible that the saints—who, while on earth, prayed to God for the salvation of their fellow human beings—would no longer be interested or cease to pray for us now, when their souls are near God? That would not be logical. Moreover, when we speak of “intercessors,” we mean that they participate in the intercession of the One and Only Mediator, who is, of course, Christ. They are not autonomous or independent mediators apart from Him. Entire cities have been saved through the prayers of saints (Jeremiah 5:1; Ezekiel 22:30)—as Abraham did for Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:23–33) and Moses for the people of Israel (Exodus 32:9–14). Their prayers rise like incense before the throne of God (Revelation 5:8; 6:9–11), and they rejoice over every sinner who repents (Luke 15:7–10). The prophet Elijah, though in heaven, responded to the request of his disciple Elisha and, through God's power, parted the waters of the Jordan (2 Kings 2:14). He prayed and it did not rain for three years; then he prayed again, and rain came (James 5:17–18). Likewise, the high priest Onias and Jeremiah, as preserved in Judas Maccabeus's vision, though fallen asleep in the Lord, were praying for all the Jews and for the holy city of Jerusalem (2 Maccabees 15:12–14). In any case, “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). And the saints are considered our greatest friends in heaven, just as they were on earth. In this sense, they are called intercessors: because they hear our prayers, they pray for us, and they plead for God to pour out His mercy upon the world—being, after their departure from this life, in a better state, with a fuller presence and boldness before Christ.