In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Matthew 10:32-33; 37-38; 19:27-30
The Lord said to his disciples, “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Then Peter said in reply, “Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many that are first will be last, and the last first.”
St. Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews 11:33-40; 12:1-2
Brethren, all the saints through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated – of whom the world was not worthy – wandering over deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
After the First World War, a custom arose in many countries of erecting a special memorial called the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. So many men had fallen in that war whose remains could not be identified; and as the nations mourned their dead, a feeling arose that there should be a place where these fallen heroes might have a place where they could be commemorated, symbolic though it might be.
In each of these tombs was placed the body of single soldier, a man who made the supreme sacrifice for his people and his nation, a slain warrior whose, due to the vagaries and confusion of war, whose name had been lost along with his life. The mortal remains of this man was placed in the tomb as a representative of all those who had suffered a similar fate. And often these tombs are inscribed with this poignant few words: known only to God.
The secular world began this practice only a little more than a hundred years ago. It is something that the Church has done for many, many centuries. Today is the Sunday of All Saints, the Sunday when we remember, to use the words of Saint Paul, ‘so great a cloud of witnesses’, the saints of the Church most of whose names are ‘known only to God’. Why known only to God? Consider here what we mean by the term saint. A saint is any Christian whose journey through this life ends in heaven in the next. And not only do we know who those might be, apart from those who have been recognised by the Church as saints, but also because there are simply too many for us to number.
Martyrs are an obvious example. We know the names of some, but of the vast majority we have no record. Think of the terrible persecutions suffered by the faithful in the first centuries of the Church. Consider, for example, the first assault on the Christians which took place under the emperor Nero in AD 64. Historians and the Fathers tell us of the many thousands killed in that persecution, dying horrible deaths such as being fed to the wild beasts in the arena or being covered in pitch and set on fire so that they might be used as literal human torches to light the night for the amusement of this cruel tyrant. Yet of their names we know precious few, with Saint Peter being possibly one of those who died at that time.
We do not, however, simply remember the unknown saints because they suffered cruel deaths. Many of those who are unnamed would have died quite ordinary deaths. They are saints because they lived lives of fidelity to the faith, saying their daily prayers, attending the Liturgies of the Church, worthily receiving the Sacred Mysteries, doing their work honestly, being upright members of their communities, being faithful husbands and wives, struggling mightily to be good neighbours, and struggling even harder to raise their children in the faith.
These too are saints of the Church. And, indeed, do we not hope and pray that our parents, grandparents, godparents, relatives and other loved ones, spiritual fathers, and many others are now, or one day will be, numbered among them?
It is important to remember them not only because they are saints in heaven who may intercede for us before God with their prayers but also because they are as much a part of the Church as we are. We are part of a community that consists not merely of those who happen to be alive at this moment, but also all those who have gone before us in the faith. And we affirm this every time we say the Creed when we say that we believe in the communion of saints.
They are the ones of whom our Lord speaks of in our Gospel today, the ones who acknowledged Christ before men and whom He now acknowledges before His Father in Heaven, these are the ones who were faithful to Christ in this life and because of it inherited eternal life in the next. Christ holds them up as an example to us, the unknown saints along with the known. And if we are to follow their example, we must hold and live the same faith that they did. That faith, as that great Father of the Church Saint Vincent of Lérins tells us is what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all. What the great cloud of witnesses believed is what we must believe if we are to be part of the same Church they were part of and are part of.
We should take great comfort from knowing about these many, many unknown saints. For few indeed are they that will lead lives of such heroic holiness that all the world will know that they are truly saints. But many more will hear from our Lord at the final judgement the words ‘well done, good and faithful servant’. They may be saints whose names are known only to God, but they are saints nonetheless. Saints who we remember and venerate this Sunday; and saints, God willing, whom we will be numbered among when our days on this earth are done. Amen.
The Holy Orthodox Order of St George the Great Martyr works tirelessly to help those in need. We focus particularly on our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in the Holy Land and those who suffer because of their Christian faith. However, we strive to help all in need. Funds are desperately needed at this time to help those facing the horrors of war in Gaza and Lebanon. Please help if you can by making a donation to the Order. And please keep all those who suffer in your prayers. Thank you and may God bless you.
