All Saints: Everyday Holiness

Being saints today in the spirit of the Assumption

Every year, the Church invites us to pause for two consecutive days: All Saints’ Day, on 1 November, and All Souls’ Day, on 2 November. María Eugenia de Jesús saw these days as a call to ask ourselves what we hope for, where we are heading, and what we truly desire.

Longing for Heaven, Living on Earth

For Marie Eugenie, the goods of heaven are the goal towards which the whole of life is directed. Accepting in faith the sacrifice of each day (tiredness at the end of the day, patience at dinner with the children, a task we did not choose) quietly prepares our eternal happiness. In this way, the horizon widens without leaving the earth behind: heaven gives meaning to everyday life, and everyday life becomes a path to heaven.

The Saints Next Door

In the exhortation Gaudete et exsultate, Pope Francis reminds us that the call to holiness is universal and that the Holy Spirit pours it out upon the whole faithful people of God. The saints next door are mothers and fathers who hold a home together, workers who do their jobs honestly, sick people who offer up their pain, elderly religious who never lose their smile. The Pope calls them “the middle class of holiness”: they may not fill the pages of history books, but they sustain the life of the Church day by day.

A Christ-centred Spirituality

The spirituality of the Assumption is rooted in Christ and in the mystery of the Incarnation, in a God who draws near in what is human and concrete. From this comes a synthesis of contemplation and apostolate: we pray in order to live better, and we live in order to proclaim the Gospel. Both dimensions meet in ordinary life: at the table, in the classroom, at work, in community and in shared prayer.

How to Be Saints Today

• Living everyday life with love. Holiness takes shape in small things: preparing a meal with care, listening unhurriedly, doing our work honestly and paying patient attention to those beside us. Faithfulness in simple things is a very serious way of loving God, and often the most demanding. Think of the catechist who prepares each session in prayer, the nurse who stays with a patient through the night, or the father who, after a long day, sits down to listen to his child.
• Discerning our own path. Each believer receives a personal way of responding to the call. It is good to ask ourselves in prayer what gifts we have received and how to place them at the service of others: in the family, at school, in the parish or in volunteering. No vocation is lesser; each has its place in the body of Christ.
• Cultivating detachment. A heart free from attachments becomes able to welcome what God asks. This might mean letting go of the afternoon rush, sharing what we have with those in need, accepting a change of plans calmly, or giving up a complaint that only shuts us in on ourselves. Detachment does not impoverish the heart: it disposes it to love.
• Feeling in communion with the departed. The saints who are already in God’s presence keep bonds of love and intercession with us. That is why the feast of All Saints and prayer for the dead come together naturally: whoever prays for those who have gone before also supports those of us still on the way, and whoever lives united with the saints learns to hope with confidence.

For This Week

We suggest a short itinerary for living these days meaningfully:

1. Give thanks. Choose a person, living or deceased, who has shown you a faithful way of living the faith, and thank them in your daily prayer. Write their name on a piece of paper and leave it near the crucifix.
2. Remember those who have gone before us. Visit a cemetery, light a candle or pray an Our Father for a loved one who is no longer with us. If possible, pray with your family or community, so that the remembrance is shared.
3. Offer your day. Each morning, offer a specific task (the journey to work, the difficult meeting, dinner with the family, the carefully prepared lesson) as a gesture of love for God. At the end of the day, give thanks for what has gone well and place in His hands what has not.
4. Review your week. At the end of Sunday, ask yourself: who has been my saint next door? When have I been that saint for someone close to me? Write it down in a notebook and read it again next Sunday.

Almudena de la Torre

Communication team