Despite decades of commercialism, All Hallows’ Eve is not pagan. In fact, it is a Christian holiday that comes before All Saints Day. These feasts are like a matching set that give each other context, and without one the other loses all of its meaning. All Hallows’ Eve is a day where believers remember what death and darkness have become, and All Saints is a day where they remember what they have become.

Through Christ death and darkness have been conquered and stripped of their power, which means that they are not to be feared as they used to be. After the Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension they are but quaking shadows of their former selves. Yet, for those we follow Christ, we are no longer sinful shadows. Through Him we have been brought into a glorious light and become saints of God with all the blessings of heaven.

Indeed, All Hallow’s Eve and All Saints are like a matching set, and together they call us to give thanks to Him Who was crucified, risen, and ascended on our behalf. Jesus Who, in the words of Watts’ hymn, is our Help in ages past and our Hope for years to come.

Here is my prayer for this year’s All Saints. Please feel free to share it with the proper acknowledgements.

O Christ our Help and Hope, we thank You for this day where we can think of Your loving and redemptive work beyond the Easter season. By Your crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension You have brought us out of darkness that Your light might rule our lives. And by these things You have also silenced the voice of death, that life alone might speak and have the final word forever. Help us to remember what darkness and death have become through You, and what we, who once feared them, have become through You. They are powerless shadows while we are precious saints and children of the One Who sent You out of love to save us. In Your gracious name we pray. Amen.