Happy All Saints' Day!

Last night we took the kids to an All Saints' Day party. I am so grateful for this opportunity to recognize one of the Church's greatest and most forgotten Feast Days. I read a really great article from Catholic Update about the origin of Halloween and the Church's attempt to bring some holiness to the holiday. It made perfect sense to me.


Because of our choice to celebrate this way, the kids and I learned more about a few saints we were familiar with as well as one I had never even heard of before I went to Rome.
Aiden was St. Longinus, the soldier who pierced the side of Christ at the Crucifixion. He converted when darkness fell over the land at Christ's death. "Truly this man was the Son of God" (Matt 27:54). He became a monk and converted many people in his 38 years of service. He was martyred by order of Pontius Pilate. There is a beautiful statue of him in St. Peter's in Rome.

Dawson was St. Sebastian, a popular choice for this feast day. He was Captain of the Guard in the Imperial Roman Army. He usually appears with arrows stuck in him because once he was found to be a Christian, the emperor had him tied to a tree, shot full of arrows and left for dead. He not only survived, but went back to that very emperor to preach to him. Consequently, he was beaten to death.
Mackenzie chose St. Clare of Assisi since she had been to Assisi. A little known fact we learned about her is that at the end of her life, when she was too ill to attend mass, visions of the service used to appear on her cell wall. Thus, she is the patroness of television.

What a wonderful opportunity to teach my children about some true heroes. I went to the party as the mother of future saints. Hopefully, as they learn more and more about these holy men and women, they will strive to emulate them.