More about All Saints

Sunday of All Saints is the Sunday following Pentecost which is dedicated to All Saints, both those who are known to us, and those who are known only to God. There have always been saints, and they have come from every corner of the earth. They were Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, Hierarchs, Monastics, and Righteous, and all were perfected by the same Holy Spirit. By the descent of the Holy Spirit, it is possible for us to rise above our fallen state and to attain sainthood, fulfilling God’s directive to “be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16). So, it is fitting to commemorate All Saints on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Guided by the teaching of the Divine Scriptures and Apostolic Tradition, we honor all the Saints, the friends of God, for they are keepers of God's commandments, shining examples of virtue. Of course, we honor the known Saints especially on their own day of the year. But since many Saints are unknown, and their number has increased with time, and will continue to increase until the end of time, the Church has appointed that once a year a common commemoration be made of all the Saints the Sunday following Pentecost.

Other Activity Ideas for All Saints

Symbolic Snack Ideas

Saintly Halos - want a simple symbolic way to remember the saints? Buy and serve a can of sliced pineapple rings and serve to your kids as a snack. They remind us of the halos of uncreated light around the saints!

Buy or make Donuts - it may be a bit of a stretch, but why not serve donuts with a hole in the middle as a symbolic food! The circle of the donut reminds of the halo of uncreated light and the hole symbolizes the “holiness” of the saints!

Throw an All Saints’ Day Party - I look for any excuse to have a party, and certainly a Feast Day celebrating All Saints is a perfect excuse! Have your guests dress up as their favorite Saint, serve special foods like “Angel Food Cake”, pray together, and feast with one another!

Serve the poor, sick, suffering, and lonely - I can’t think of a better way to honor the Saints than to serve the needy in their honor. Each and every Saint was a human just like me and you. Jesus says “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matt 25:26) Some ideas include: volunteer at a food bank, bring donuts to shut-ins, care for the sick, write a card to someone far away.

Ask for the Saints to Pray for us - What is this great feast day all about? The gift of our friends in heaven who pray and help us. Ask for the intercessions from your favorite saints! St John Chrysostom says "We should seek the intercessions and the fervent prayers of the saints, because they have special 'boldness', before God."

Book Recommendations :

Read a Saint Story (or two!) - My favorite way to teach anything (especially the faith) is through stories. You can read the lives of the Saints in the Synaxarion is a compilation of the lives of the saints. Patristic Nectar Publications has recorded hundreds of stories which you can listen to and access HERE.

(Coming Soon) God’s Saintly Friends by Parker End Books - this brand new picture book is the first in the ‘God’s Saintly Friends series’ created by Kathryn Reetzke and Abigail Holt. Pre-Order now!

My Synaxarion “A Saint for Every Day” by Potamitis Publishing - is a brand new series of books, with each book covering the Saints' lives commemorated each month. Currently January and September are available!

The Feast of Holy Pentecost is celebrated each year on the 50th day after Pascha and 10 days after the Feast of the Ascension of Christ. The Feast is always celebrated on a Sunday and is one of the 12 Great Feasts in the Orthodox Church.

The story of Pentecost is found in the book of Acts. In Chapter 2, we are told that the Apostles were gathered together in one place and suddenly, a sound came from heaven like a rushing wind, filling the entire house where they were sitting. Then, tongues of fire appeared, and one sat upon each one of Apostles. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as directed by the Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). This caused such a disturbance that others in Jerusalem heard and drew near in shock as they listened to the disciples speaking in their own language. Many believed, and they asked the Apostles, "What shall we do?" and Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38-39). The Bible records that on that day about 3000 were baptized. The book of Acts states that the newly baptized continued daily to hear the teaching of the Apostles, as the early Christians met together for fellowship, the breaking of bread, and for prayer. Many wonderful signs and miracles were done through the Apostles, and the Lord added to the Church daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47).

There are many ways to celebrate this Great Feast with your kids! Check out this list below for some ideas to help you make this day extra meaningful and even begin some new traditions in your home!

1. Attend Liturgy

If you plan to do just one thing, this is the best choice! The most important way to celebrate and give thanks to God is to attend Divine Liturgy, as you are able. As a family, we prioritize attending the 12 Great Feasts as much as possible. Check with your local parish to find out when the service is being offered!

2. Practice/Prep for Kneeling Prayers Vespers

A little prep goes a long way. As an adult, I appreciate having a heads up about what to expect, so I try my best to prepare my kids as well. Explain to them that after the service on Sunday, we will say a few more prayers and make many prostrations. Show them how to make prostrations (you can even practice in front of your icons), so they will be eager and ready when the time comes in the service. This is one of the many services where movement is encouraged and kids usually enjoy it!

Interesting fact: We do not kneel or make prostrations in Church or in our private prayers at home from Pascha through Pentecost, as kneeling and prostrating are postures of repentance and sorrow for our sins. The brilliant solemnity of the events that we are celebrating takes precedence over such external manifestations of penitence.
We generally do not kneel on any Sunday of the year as each Sunday is a "mini-Pascha," commemorating our Lord's resurrection. However, we resume kneeling at appropriate times during the "Kneeling Vespers" celebrated after the Divine Liturgy for Holy Pentecost.

3. Sing a Song for Kids about Pentecost

One of the easiest ways for children to learn is through memorization through songs. This is especially true for elementary aged children. The song “The Birthday of the Church (Pentecost)” is a great song written with this idea in mind, to help kids learn more about Pentecost. Gigi Baba Shadid is a singer/songwriter and she is also a Priest wife and educator at a classical education school. I highly recommend playing this song with your kids a few days before the feast and singing along with them. You’ll be amazed how easily they pick up the words!

4. Pray to The Holy Spirit

One of my favorite prayers to sing with the kids is O Heavenly King. A friend introduced her tune to us years ago and we’ve been using it ever since! (Listen HERE in this 1 minute video on YouTube). From Pascha until Pentecost, the prayer “O Heavenly King,” where we invoke the presence of the Holy Spirit, is not said either in Church or in our private prayers at home. It’s during this time when we intentionally remove this familiar prayer from our prayers that I long for and crave it. The Church provides this change to help emphasize the importance of the descent of the Holy Spirit that we celebrate at Holy Pentecost. “O Heavenly King” will be heard again at the Festal Great Vespers for Pentecost, and it will again return to our services and prayers. So say or sing a prayer to the Holy Spirit (click here to find some other examples).

5. Wear Green to Liturgy!

The local liturgical color for many churches at Pentecost is green. You can dress your family in green or help your children notice this changes in vestments and clothes throughout the church! Green is the symbol for life, so in the green we can see a connection to themes of “life-giving”: the Holy Spirit which descends on Pentecost is the Life of God dwelling within us!

6. Make Edible "‘Tongues of Fire" Snacks

Pentecost is often referred to as the birthday of the Church, so why not try to make some yummy “tongues of fire” for dessert today! I guarantee your kids will remember this one and look forward to it each year! You can find the recipe HERE (ps…. it’s super easy!)

7. Decorate your home with green clippings or flowers!

Beauty will save the world, so says Fyodor Dostoevsky. Why not beautify your home as a reminder of this great feast! After all, God created all living things, including the plants that grow around us. Green is the symbol for life, so in the green we can see a connection to themes of “life-giving”: the Holy Spirit which descends on Pentecost is the Life of God dwelling within us! I find that making a visible change in our home, specifically around our prayer corner, I am reminded of the heavenly realities even more.

8. Listen to a Podcast ‘Readings from Under the Grapevine’ which includes 2 Stories on Pentecost for kids read aloud

9. Print Puppets to Learn the Elements of the Icon in This Lesson for Kids by Orthodox Pebbles

I love printing the paper puppets and going over the lesson with my kids before the service, to help prepare them. I even bring these to the service for my kids to have a quiet activity to “act out the story” during Liturgy. By pointing out the icon and the elements of the icon, they will be excited to see the festal icon at church! Making those connections that these things we learn at home are also reinforced and seen at Church begins to form the foundations of our faith. We begin to see that it is not just our family that believes and lives this way, but it is the whole community as well! You can download it HERE.

10. Read the story of Pentecost in the Scriptures

For Biblical Stories, we love to read them directly from the source! Read the story of Pentecost in Acts 2:1–31. You can use the paper puppets from Orthodox Pebbles to act out the story. If you have the children’s book Heaven Meets Earth by Ancient Faith Publishing, there’s a great section on Pentecost!

Taste and see

I find that engaging in all the senses (tasting, hearing, singing, seeing, touching) not only helps children learn better, but the whole experience is more enjoyable and fun! This is first modeled to us by our Church, who in her wisdom knows we need all the help we can get! Our services also engage all the senses - we can see, hear, smell, feel and even taste that the Lord is good! Bringing your family to Church is a great start to participating in Feast Days. If you are in a season to add more to your day, try one of these simple ways to bring the life of the Church into your homes and perhaps even create new traditions as a family!

Whatever you do, I pray the Lord blesses your efforts! Blessed Feasting, Friends!

You might also enjoy: Easy kid-friendly snacks for Pentecost: Tongues of Fire Cupcakes!