A Sunday Thought About All Saints Day to Start the Week Off Right
All Saints Day is less than a week away and we've got a treat in store for you today. We're getting a jump on this wonderful Holy Day because in many parts of the country, well, it's not going to be a Holy Day of Obligation this year, since it falls on Saturday. (We emphasize "of obligation" because it's still a Holy Day.) Our bishops in their wisdom came up with a rule about Holy Days of Obligation that fall on Saturdays or Mondays - that is the day before or day after Sunday - not requiring our attendance at Mass. I think it has something to do with not being too demanding on us poor dumb sheep who would be really put out by having to go to Mass on both Sunday and a Holy Day, one day following the other. If you remember, this rule applied a few years ago to New Year's Day - the feast of the Mother of God, or in the Extraordinary form, The Circumcision of the Lord. Our parish did not schedule any extra masses for New Year's and most people dutifully skipped Mass that day. What was accomplished by that? Of course, the hysterically funny thing about this is that most Catholics don't even go to Mass on Sunday any more. So what are the bishops worried about here?
But let's put all that aside and focus on the wonderfulness of All Saints Day - a day on which I'll be sure to attend Mass. As we previously saw, All Saints - and its companion feast All Souls - is a major stop on the "straight shot to Christmas," which will now pick up steam in November in the run-up to Thanksgiving and the beginning of Advent. My own affection for All Saints originated in getting a holiday from school when I attended Catholic grammar school. But more than just getting off, it was an occasion when we in the church choir chanted the "Litany of the Saints," which is the treat we've got lined up for you today.
Being in the choir was and remains one of the highlights of my life. Our choir wasn't one of these namby-pamby choirs that allow any kid who can breathe membership. We had to audition - both boys and girls - and we were pretty good, if I say so myself. The boys sang the traditional "boy soprano" style, and our repertoire included Gregorian chant, which is where the Litany of the Saints comes in. It was sung at a number of of Masses and liturgical celebrations like Forty Hours Devotion (which our parish provided once per year) and singing it was always a great joy.
If you don't know this great chant, we found a decent version on Youtube. And it's sung in Latin, which I consider a special bonus, as it's the original language of the Litany, just as Latin is the original language for virtually all of the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. This version varies somewhat from other versions with which I'm familiar, not in structure, but in some specific saints honored. I suspect there's no one "authoritative" or "official" version of the Litany; if there is I'm not familiar with it. The basic structure, though, begins with the "Kyrie," proceeds to ask mercy from God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, (Miserere nobis) then begins to ask the saints pray for us (Ora pro nobis, or in the case of multiple saints, Orate pro nobis), beginning with Mary, then the angels, the Old Testament Patriarchs and Prophets, Saints Peter and Paul, the Apostles, then a list of individual saints from the early martyrs, through the Fathers of the Church, on down the centuries. After this, we ask Our Lord to spare us (Parce nobis Domine), to graciously hear us (Exaudi nos Domine), to deliver us (Libera now Domine), then to supply various needs by pleading "We beseech Thee, hear us (Te rogamus, audi nos). Then we conclude by beseeching His mercy yet again.
Even as a boy in the choir, each time I sang The Litany of the Saints I really did feel united with the Church Triumphant (the saints) as a member of the Church Militant (those of us now living) in the Body of Christ, a part of a great hierarchy proceeding from Our Lord as its Sacred Head, beginning with Mary, the angels and then all the saints. Since the version we found also includes the Latin words, you can follow the text as well as hear the invocations. Do yourself a favor and let this great centuries-old chant draw you in and you may feel similarly united to the saints in Heaven. And with that, perhaps you'll consider going to Holy Mass this Saturday, November 1st, All Saints Day.
But let's put all that aside and focus on the wonderfulness of All Saints Day - a day on which I'll be sure to attend Mass. As we previously saw, All Saints - and its companion feast All Souls - is a major stop on the "straight shot to Christmas," which will now pick up steam in November in the run-up to Thanksgiving and the beginning of Advent. My own affection for All Saints originated in getting a holiday from school when I attended Catholic grammar school. But more than just getting off, it was an occasion when we in the church choir chanted the "Litany of the Saints," which is the treat we've got lined up for you today.
Being in the choir was and remains one of the highlights of my life. Our choir wasn't one of these namby-pamby choirs that allow any kid who can breathe membership. We had to audition - both boys and girls - and we were pretty good, if I say so myself. The boys sang the traditional "boy soprano" style, and our repertoire included Gregorian chant, which is where the Litany of the Saints comes in. It was sung at a number of of Masses and liturgical celebrations like Forty Hours Devotion (which our parish provided once per year) and singing it was always a great joy.
If you don't know this great chant, we found a decent version on Youtube. And it's sung in Latin, which I consider a special bonus, as it's the original language of the Litany, just as Latin is the original language for virtually all of the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. This version varies somewhat from other versions with which I'm familiar, not in structure, but in some specific saints honored. I suspect there's no one "authoritative" or "official" version of the Litany; if there is I'm not familiar with it. The basic structure, though, begins with the "Kyrie," proceeds to ask mercy from God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, (Miserere nobis) then begins to ask the saints pray for us (Ora pro nobis, or in the case of multiple saints, Orate pro nobis), beginning with Mary, then the angels, the Old Testament Patriarchs and Prophets, Saints Peter and Paul, the Apostles, then a list of individual saints from the early martyrs, through the Fathers of the Church, on down the centuries. After this, we ask Our Lord to spare us (Parce nobis Domine), to graciously hear us (Exaudi nos Domine), to deliver us (Libera now Domine), then to supply various needs by pleading "We beseech Thee, hear us (Te rogamus, audi nos). Then we conclude by beseeching His mercy yet again.
Even as a boy in the choir, each time I sang The Litany of the Saints I really did feel united with the Church Triumphant (the saints) as a member of the Church Militant (those of us now living) in the Body of Christ, a part of a great hierarchy proceeding from Our Lord as its Sacred Head, beginning with Mary, the angels and then all the saints. Since the version we found also includes the Latin words, you can follow the text as well as hear the invocations. Do yourself a favor and let this great centuries-old chant draw you in and you may feel similarly united to the saints in Heaven. And with that, perhaps you'll consider going to Holy Mass this Saturday, November 1st, All Saints Day.
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