All Saints’ Day is a solemn holy day of the Catholic Church celebrated annually on November 1. The day is dedicated to the saints of the Church, that is, all those who have attained heaven. All Saints’ Day observances tend to focus on known saints –that is those recognized in the canon of the saints by the Catholic Church. All Saints’ Day is a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation, meaning all Catholics are required to attend Mass on that day. All Saints’ Day was formally started by Pope Boniface IV, who consecrated the Pantheon at Rome to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs on May 13 in 609 AD. Boniface IV also established All Souls’ Day, which follows All Saints.
1101 All Saints 2p SMC 8.5 x 11 R1R
Prayer for All Saints Day
We give you thanks, O God, for all the saints who ever worshiped you
Whether in brush arbors or cathedrals,
Weathered wooden churches or crumbling cement meeting houses
Where your name was lifted and adored.
We give you thanks, O God, for hands lifted in praise:
Manicured hands and hands stained with grease or soil,
Strong hands and those gnarled with age
Holy hands
Used as wave offerings across the land.
We thank you, God, for hardworking saints;
Whether hard-hatted or steel-booted,
Head ragged or aproned,
Blue-collared or three-piece-suited
They left their mark on the earth for you, for us, for our children to come.
Thank you, God, for the tremendous sacrifices made by those who have gone before us.
Bless the memories of your saints, God.
May we learn how to walk wisely from their examples of faith, dedication, worship, and love.
Prayer for All Saints Day
Dear God, thank you for the example of the Saints. I desire to join in their company, worshiping you forever in Heaven. Please help me follow their footsteps, and yours, Jesus Christ. Please help me to conform myself to Your image, seeking Your will in all things, as the Saints did. Please help me to devote myself, and all that I do, to Your glory, and to the service of my neighbors.
Amen.
Collect Prayer
Almighty ever-living God, by whose gift we venerate in one celebration the merits of all the Saints, bestow on us, we pray, through the prayers of so many intercessors, an abundance of the reconciliation with you for which we earnestly long. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
Petition for the Prayers of the Saints
Oh all ye saints and angels, who see Him face to face, Whom I here receive under these humble veils, and thou, most especially, ever blessed Virgin Mary, in whose sacred womb He was conceived and borne for nine months–I most humbly beg the assistance of your prayers and intercession, that I may in such a manner receive Him here in this place of banishment, as to be brought, one day, to behold Him with you in our true country, and there to praise and bless Him for ever and ever.
Amen.
Prayer for the Solemnity of All Saints
We praise you, O God, and we honor all your holy ones. We ask the help of those men and women who struggled against evil and stood firm, who loved one another, who worked for justice and peace, who healed the sick and fed the hungry. We on earth and they in heaven sing one song of praise. We in grace and they in glory form one communion in Christ, Your Son. Make us and all those we love worthy to be called your saints. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Prayer
May all the saints look after us, and lead us safely home. May they guide our steps in goodness, befriend us in loneliness, refresh us in weariness, and strengthen us in danger. We ask this in the name of Jesus, who is our Way, our Truth, and our Life, now and forever. Amen.
Litany of the Saints
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us
Holy Mother of God, pray for us
Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us
St. Michael, pray for us
St. Gabriel, pray for us
St. Raphael, pray for us
All you holy Angels and Archangels, pray for us
All you holy orders of blessed Spirits, pray for us
St. John the Baptist, pray for us
St. Joseph, pray for us
All you holy Patriarchs and Prophets, pray for us
St. Peter, pray for us
St. Paul, pray for us
St. Andrew, pray for us
St. James, pray for us
St. John, pray for us
St. Thomas, pray for us
St. James, pray for us
St. Philip, pray for us
St. Bartholomew, pray for us
St. Matthew, pray for us
St. Simon, pray for us
St. Thaddeus, pray for us
St. Matthias, pray for us
St. Barnabas, pray for us
St. Luke, pray for us
St. Mark, pray for us
All you holy Apostles and Evangelists, pray for us
All you holy Disciples of the Lord, pray for us
All you holy Innocents, pray for us
St. Stephen, pray for us
St. Lawrence, pray for us
St. Vincent, pray for us
Sts. Fabian and Sebastian, pray for us
Sts. John and Paul, pray for us
Sts. Cosmas and Damian, pray for us
Sts. Gervase and Protase, pray for us
All you holy Martyrs, pray for us
St. Sylvester, pray for us
St. Gregory, pray for us
St. Ambrose, pray for us
St. Augustine, pray for us
St. Jerome, pray for us
St. Martin, pray for us
St. Nicholas, pray for us
All you holy Bishops and Confessors, pray for us
All you holy Doctors, pray for us
St. Anthony, pray for us
St. Benedict, pray for us
St. Bernard, pray for us
St. Dominic, pray for us
St. Francis, pray for us
All you holy Priests and Levites, pray for us
All you holy Monks and Hermits, pray for us
St. Mary Magdalen, pray for us
St. Agatha, pray for us
St. Lucy, pray for us
St. Agnes, pray for us
St. Cecilia, pray for us
St. Catherine, pray for us
St. Anastasia, pray for us
All you holy Virgins and Widows, pray for us
All you Holy Men and Women, Saints of God, make intercession for us.
Be merciful, spare us, O Lord.
Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord.
From all evil, deliver us, O Lord.
From all sin, deliver us, O Lord.
From your wrath, deliver us, O Lord.
From sudden and unprovided death, deliver us, O Lord.
From the snares of the devil, deliver us, O Lord.
From anger, and hatred, and all ill-will, deliver us, O Lord.
From the spirit of fornication, deliver us, O Lord.
From lightning and tempest, deliver us, O Lord.
From the scourge of earthquake, deliver us, O Lord.
From plague, famine, and war, deliver us, O Lord.
From everlasting death, deliver us, O Lord.
Through the mystery of your holy Incarnation, deliver us, O Lord.
Through your Coming, deliver us, O Lord.
Through your Nativity, deliver us, O Lord.
Through your Baptism and holy Fasting, deliver us, O Lord.
Through your Cross and Passion, deliver us, O Lord.
Through your Death and Burial, deliver us, O Lord.
Through your holy Resurrection, deliver us, O Lord.
Through your admirable Ascension, deliver us, O Lord.
Through the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, deliver us, O Lord.
In the day of judgment, deliver us, O Lord.
We sinners, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would spare us, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would pardon us, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would bring us to true penance, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would deign to govern and preserve your holy Church, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would deign to preserve our Apostolic Prelate, and all orders of the Church in holy religion, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would deign to humble the enemies of Holy Church, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would deign to give peace and true concord to Christian kings and princes, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would deign to grant peace and unity to all Christian people, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would deign to call back to the unity of the Church all who have strayed from the truth and lead all unbelievers to the light of the Gospel, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would deign to confirm and preserve us in your holy service, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would lift up our minds to heavenly desires, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would render eternal blessings to all our benefactors, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would deliver our souls and the souls of our brethren, relations and benefactors, from eternal damnation, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would deign to give and preserve the fruits of the earth, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would deign to grant eternal rest to all the faithful departed, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
That you would deign graciously hear us, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
Son of God, We beseech you, hear our prayer.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Our Father, etc. (inaudibly).
V. And lead us not into temptation.
R. But deliver us from evil.
Psalm 69:
Deign, O Lord, to rescue me; O Lord, make haste to help me.
Let them be put to shame and confounded who seek my life.
Let them be turned back in disgrace who desire my ruin.
Let them retire in their shame who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
But may all who seek you exult and be glad in you, and may those who love your salvation say ever, “God be glorified!”
But I am afflicted and poor; O God, hasten to me!
You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, hold not back!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.
V. Save your servants.
R. Who trust in you, O my God.
V. Be a tower of strength for us, O Lord,
R. Against the attack of the enemy.
V. Let not the enemy prevail against us.
R. And let not the son of evil dare to harm us.
V. Lord, deal not with us according to our sins.
R. Neither requite us according to our iniquities.
V. Let us pray for our Sovereign Pontiff, Pope N.
R. The Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.
V. Let us pray for our benefactors.
R. Deign, O Lord, for Your name’s sake, to reward with eternal life all those who do us good. Amen.
V. Let us pray for the faithful departed.
R. Eternal rest give to them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them.
V. May they rest in peace.
R. Amen.
V. For our absent brethren.
R. Save your servants, who trust in you, my God.
V. Send them help, O Lord, from your sanctuary.
R. And sustain them from Zion.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come to you.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.
Let us pray
O God, whose property is always to have mercy and to spare, receive our petition, that we, and all your servants who are bound by the chains of sin, may, by the compassion of your goodness, be mercifully absolved. Graciously hear, we beg you, O Lord, the prayers of your suppliants, and pardon the sins of those who confess to you, that in your bounty you may grant us both pardon and peace.
In your clemency, O Lord, show us your ineffable mercy, that you may both free us from all our sins, and deliver us from the punishments which we deserve for them.
God, who by sin are offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of your suppliant people, and turn away the scourges of your anger, which we deserve for our sins.
Almighty, everlasting God, have mercy upon your servant N., our Sovereign Pontiff, and direct him according to your clemency into the way of everlasting salvation, that by your grace he may desire those things that are pleasing to you, and perform them with all his strength.
O God, from whom are holy desires, good counsels, and just works, give to your servants that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts be set to keep your commandments, and that, being removed from the fear of our enemies, we may pass our time in peace under your protection.
Burn our desires and our hearts with the fire of the Holy Spirit, O Lord, that we may serve you with a chaste body, and with a clean heart be pleasing to you.
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of your servants and handmaids the remission of all their sins, that, through devout prayers, they may obtain the pardon which they always desired.
Direct, we beg you, O Lord, our actions by your holy inspirations, and carry them on by your gracious assistance, that every prayer and work of ours may begin always with you, and through you be happily ended.
Almighty and everlasting God, you have dominion over the living and the dead, and you are merciful to all who you foreknow will be yours by faith and good works; we humbly beg you that those for whom we intend to pour forth our prayers, whether this present world still detain them in the flesh, or the world to come has already received them our of their bodies, may through the intercession of all your Saints, by the clemency of your goodness, obtain the remission of all their sins. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come to you.
V. May the almighty and merciful Lord graciously hear us.
R. Amen.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
R. Amen.
Prayer in Praise of the Saints
How shining and splendid are your gifts, O Lord
which you give us for our eternal well-being
Your glory shines radiantly in your saints, O God
In the honour and noble victory of the martyrs.
The white-robed company follow you,
bright with their abundant faith;
They scorned the wicked words of those with this world’s power.
For you they sustained fierce beatings, chains, and torments,
they were drained by cruel punishments.
They bore their holy witness to you
who were grounded deep within their hearts;
they were sustained by patience and constancy.
Endowed with your everlasting grace,
may we rejoice forever
with the martyrs in our bright fatherland.
O Christ, in your goodness,
grant to us the gracious heavenly realms of eternal life.
Unknown author, 10th century
Prayer to the Saints and Angels Before Mass
Angels, Archangels,
Thrones, Dominions,
Principalities, Powers,
heavenly Virtues,
Cherubim and Seraphim;
all Saints of God,
holy men and women,
and especially my patrons:
intercede for me
that I may be worthy
to offer this Sacrifice to almighty God,
to the praise and glory of His name,
for my own welfare
and also that of all His holy Church.
Amen.
