May the Saints & Feast Days for the month of November
inspire you to grow closer to Christ Jesus. The month of
November is dedicated to the Souls in Purgatory
November 1: The Solemnity of All Saints
On this day, the Church celebrates all the saints. Those who are canonized or beatified,
and the multitude of those who are in heaven that are known only to God. This multitude
was shown to St. John the Apostle in Revelation:
“After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every
nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud
voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the
Lamb.” (Rev. 7:9-10)
(Heb. 12:1)
The feast of All Saints is a day of great hope and inspiration for us. As the Epistle to the
Hebrews states “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid
ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race
that lies before us.”
Many people frequently ask if there is a connection between All Saints Day and All
Souls Day, and Halloween and paganism. There is no such connection and the article at
this link explains this more fully:
Resource: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=6210.
November 2: Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed
This day is the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, also known as All Souls
Day, a day set aside to pray for all the dead. All Souls Day is the beginning of praying
for the Faithful Departed throughout November. The need for prayer for the dead has
been acknowledged by the Church and is taught in Scripture: “It is therefore a holy and
wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” (2 Macc.
12: 46). Our intentions are expressed in public and private prayers, and especially in the
offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the repose of the departed souls.
“We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on
earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming
one Church; and we believe that in this communion, the merciful love of God and his
saints is always attentive to our prayers” – (CCC, 962).
November 10: St. Leo the Great (400-461)
St. Leo reigned as Pope from 440 to 461. He was named a Doctor of the Church In
1754, based on the 100 sermons and 150 letters he wrote which are preserved
to this day. He was a staunch defender of the faith and during his pontificate the
Church settled a major doctrinal dispute in the Council of Chalcedon (451) which
defined that Christ is one divine person with two natures, divine and human.
He is famous for stopping Attila the Hun from sacking and burning Rome. The Pope
persuaded Attila to turn back, and as the story goes, when the Hun was asked by his
servants why, contrary to custom, he had so meekly yielded to the entreaties of a
Roman bishop, he answered that he had been alarmed by a figure dressed like a priest
that stood at Leo’s side; this individual was holding a drawn sword and acted as if he
would kill him if he advanced farther. As a result, Attila retreated.
– Pope St. Leo
“Beyond our grasp, He chose to come within our grasp. Existing before time began, He
began to exist at a moment in time.”
November 16: St. Gertrude (1256-1302)
St. Gertrude was a Cistercian nun, who at the age of five was taken to the convent at
Rossdorf, Germany. When she was twenty-five years old, Christ began to appear to her
and disclose to her the secrets of mystical union. Obeying a His wish, she put into
writing the favors of grace bestowed upon her; her most important work is “The Herald
of Divine Love”. St. Gertrude was an early devotee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Book 2 of the Herald of Divine Love describes the veneration of Christ’s heart
and the belief that Christ’s heart poured forth a redemptive fountain through the
wound in His side.
St. Gertrude showed great sympathy toward the souls in purgatory and urged
prayers for them. One of her prayers for the faithful departed is:
– St. Gertrude
“Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus,
in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in
Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, for those
in my own home and in my family.”
November 20: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, formerly referred to as
“Christ the King,” was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism.
This is a way of thinking in which a person organizes their life as if God did not exist.
The purpose of the feast is to proclaim Christ as Creator, Redeemer, Shepherd, and
Judge. As King of the Universe, His kingdom extends to all nations and places, is
eternal, and is not of this world.
Just as the universal Church celebrates Christ as King of the Universe, our family
domestic church can celebrate this through the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart. Let us
continue to honor Christ in the liturgy and our home, as King, Savior, and Friend.
(Dan. 7:13,14)
“I saw coming with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man. When He reached the
Ancient of Days and was presented before Him, He received dominion, splendor, and
kingship; all nations, peoples, and tongues will serve Him. His dominion is an
everlasting dominion that shall not pass away.”
November 21: Presentation of Mary
The presentation of Mary in the temple is not recorded in the Bible, but is described in
an apocryphal account from the 2nd-century writing, the Protoevangelium of James.
The account tells us that Anna and Joachim offered Mary to God in the Temple when
she was three years old. This was to carry out a promise made to God when Anna was still
childless.
Though scholars debate the historical accuracy of the Protoevangelium of James, the
Presentation was also attested to by St. Maximus the Confessor, and the mystics
Venerable Maria of Agreda and Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich. The feast of Mary’s
Presentation has an important theological purpose. It emphasizes that the holiness
conferred on Mary at her Immaculate Conception, continued through her early
childhood and beyond.
(Rev 11:19, 12:1)
“Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant could be seen
in the temple… A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with
the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”
November 27: First Sunday of Advent
Our new Liturgical Year commences with the first Sunday of Advent. The Church starts
the liturgical year with Advent Season, a season of waiting that prepares us to welcome
the mystery of Jesus Christ the Word Incarnate. This is a time of prayer and acts of
service to others, allowing the Light which comes into the world to shine through us and
illuminate others. We celebrate both a historical moment and the ongoing incarnation of
the Word of God in our lives – an awakening of our participation in Christ’s kingdom.
The Incarnation of Christ demonstrates God’s loving concern for the human race. As
“Awaken! Remember that God comes! Not yesterday, not tomorrow, but today, now! The
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
one true God, “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”, is not a God who is there in
Heaven, unconcerned with us and our history, but he is the-God-who-comes.”
November 30: St. Andrew the Apostle
St. Andrew was born in the village of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee during the
early first century. He was a fisherman, a disciple of St. John the Baptist, and the
brother of St. Peter. In the Gospel of John, when Jesus walked by one day, John
the Baptist stated, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” At this point, St. Andrew and
another disciple, made the decision to follow Jesus. Later, St. Andrew introduced
his brother St. Peter to Jesus, saying, “We have found the Messiah.”
Per Christian tradition, St. Andrew went on to preach the Gospel around the
shores of the Black Sea and throughout what is now Greece and Turkey. Andrew
was martyred by crucifixion in Patras, Greece during the persecution of Nero
around 60 AD. He was bound, rather than nailed, to a cross that was in the form
of an X (called a saltire or crux decussata). Today this is commonly referred to as
“St. Andrew’s Cross”. It is believed Andrew requested to be crucified this way,
because he deemed himself “unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross
as Jesus.” St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and their flag is a white
saltire on the backdrop of a blue sky.
There is a tradition of praying the St. Andrew Christmas Novena prayer 15 times
per day, starting on St. Andrew’s feast day and ending on Christmas. Even
praying this once per day, it is a good prayer to help us focus on the real meaning of
Christmas and to prepare ourselves spiritually for His coming:
St. Andrew Prayer
+Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the
most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour
vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your
request] through the merits of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother.
Amen.
