"For All the Saints Who from Their Labors Rest"

This feast is the most comprehensive of the days of commemoration, encompassing the entire scope of that great cloud of witnesses with which we are surrounded (Hebrews 12:1).


It holds before the eyes of faith that great multitude which no man can number; all the saints of God in Christ - from every nation, race, culture, and language - who have come "out of the great tribulation...who have washed  their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:9, 14). As such, it sets before us the full height and depth and breadth and length of our dear Lord's gracious salvation (Ephesians 3:17-19).

It shares with Easter a celebration of the resurrection, since all those who have died with Christ Jesus have also been raised with Him (Romans 6:3-8).

It shares with Pentecost a celebration of the ingathering of the entire Church catholic-in heaven and on earth, in all times and places - in the one Body of Christ, in the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  Just as we have all been called to the one hope that belongs to our call, "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:4-6).

And the Feast of All Saints shares with the final Sundays of the Church Year an eschatological focus on the life everlasting and a confession that "the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18). In all of these emphases, the purpose of this feast is to fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, that we might not grow weary or fainthearted (Hebrews 12:2-3).

Taken from 'Pray Now' 1 November Concordia Publishing House




"For All the Saints Who from Their Labors Rest"

1. For all the saints who from their labors rest,

Who Thee by faith before the world confess,

Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might;

Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;

Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

3. Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,

Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old

And win with them the victor's crown of gold.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

4. O blest communion, fellowship divine,

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

5. And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,

Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,

And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

6. But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day;

The saints triumphant rise in bright array;

The King of Glory passes on His way.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

7. From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,

Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,

Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

8. The golden evening brightens in the west;

Soon, soon, to faithful warriors cometh rest.

Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest.

Alleluia! Alleluia!