“Holy teachers have instructed that the faithful church should celebrate and worthily keep this day to the honour of All Saints, because they could not appoint a feast for each of them separately, nor are all their names known to any man in this life; as John the Evangelist wrote in his divine vision, saying, “I saw so great a multitude as no man may number, of all nations and of every tribe, standing before the throne of God, all dressed in white garments, holding palm-branches in their hands, and they sang with a loud voice, Salvation be to our God who sits upon his throne. And all the angels stood around his throne, and bowed down to God, saying, To our God be blessing and brightness, wisdom and thanksgiving, honour and strength, for ever and ever. Amen.”
This is the opening of a sermon for All Saints’ Day, written in the tenth century by the Anglo-Saxon homilist Ælfric.
‘þisne dæg eallum halgum to wurþmynte’: An Anglo-Saxon Sermon for All Saints’ Day https://t.co/uBptCMCF7j pic.twitter.com/NXgqNMiFyW
— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) November 1, 2016