On Sunday November 1st, 2026 the Church joyfully celebrates the Solemnity of “All Saints”. It’s rare that this solemnity is celebrated on a Sunday. The last time was back in 2020. And the next time it falls on a Sunday is eleven years from now in 2037.
What are we celebrating on “All Saints”? We the Church on earth are honoring the ones who have made it to heaven: those we know about, those who have an assigned day on the Church calendar like St. Peter and St. Paul, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Therese of Lisieux (the Little Flower) to name a few. But we also celebrate and honor those we don’t know about, those who have not been assigned a day in the Church calendar, like maybe our loved ones and other unknown persons who have lived a saintly life.
What does the word “saint” mean? It’s from the Latin “sanctus” meaning “holy” or “set apart”. But the important thing for us is to know is that the lives of the saints remind us that “sainthood” is not only for the select few. Through our Baptism each and every one of us are called to become “saints”, holy and set apart for God.
St. Josemaria Escriva preached in a homily,
“Don’t forget that a saint is not a person who never falls but rather the one who never fails to get up again, humbly and with a holy stubbornness.” Saints in the making have the help of Christ and His Church, the Blessed Mother and all the saints known and unknown (the great cloud of witnesses), and we have each other. Let’s go forward with a “holy stubbornness” to be saints (holy & set apart) now and in eternal life!
You are called to be a saint!!