Tuesday marks All Saints' Day and is one of the seven principal feasts of the church year. Also known as "All Hallows'," or "Hallowmas" ("hallow" is old-English for "saint"), the feast is celebrated in honor of all faithful saints and martyrs, known or unknown.

So far as the Western Church is concerned, the November feast honoring of all the saints was already widely celebrated in the days of Charlemagne. It was made a day of obligation by a decree of Louis the Pious in 835, issued "at the insistence of Gregory IV and with the assent of all the bishops," which confirmed its celebration on the 1st of November.

The feast of All Saints' was retained after the Reformation in the calendar of the Church of England and in many of the Lutheran churches.

And what takes place on the evening before All Hallows' day? Well, All Hallows' eve, or Halloween... At the beginning of winter, on the eve of the Celtic new year, just as day and night meet, spirits were believed to be able to roam the earth; playing tricks on human beings if they were not appeased with offerings of dainty foods and sweets. Bonfires were lit and people would disguise themselves so as to confuse the mischievous roaming spirits. Highly embellished, survivals of these early, pre-Christian, customs can be found in countries of English (and Irish & Scots) heritage today, such as here in the United States where children go from door to door in costumes demanding, come on now, say it with me, "trick or treat..."

One in a series... "True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness."-Albert Einstein. + "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."-Albert Einstein. + "How wise are thy commandments, Lord. Each of them applies to somebody I know."-Samuel Levenson. + "Atheism: The religion devoted to the worship of one's own smug sense of superiority."-Stephen Colbert. + "You see many stars at night in the sky but find them not when the sun rises; can you say that there are no stars in the heaven of day? Because you behold not God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God."-Voltaire. + "Now, now, my good man, this is no time for making enemies."-Voltaire, on his deathbed, to a priest asking that he renounce Satan. + "It is the test of good religion whether you can joke about it."-G.K. Chesterton.

Martha directed her household and took special pains to make Jesus comfortable. Active in her ministrations, she asked Jesus to direct her sister, the more contemplative Mary, to help her serve him. Christ's reply..? "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her" (Luke 10:38-42). Thus, Christ reminds us that while our active works can often distract us from God, contemplation can often bring us closer.

It was Martha who went out to meet Jesus after the death of Lazarus; "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Adding that she did believe God would grant whatever Jesus asked. In response to this act of faith, she was the first to hear one of Jesus' deepest revelations; "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Martha replied, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God" (John 11:1-44).

According to medieval legend, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus went to France after the death of Jesus and evangelized Provence; where Martha is even credited with slaying the dragon "La Tarasque" at Avignon (you go, girl).

Martha has always been a favorite subject of artists; from early Christian icons to the famous paintings of Fullmaurer, Tintoretto and Vermeer, to Vel�zquez's puzzling "Kitchen Scene with Christ in the House of Martha and Mary." She's commonly portrayed as a housewife with a dragon and an aspergillus (an odd picture, granted). Tradition holds her as "the patroness of housewives, innkeepers, house servants, waiters, and cooks."

Ah, the humble Sunday church bulletin. A tradition practiced by thousands of churches across our great land; informing and entertaining countless parishioners. Let's take a quick glimpse at what others have actually published in their bulletins...

The Reverend spoke briefly, much to the delight of the audience. + Due to the Rector's illness, Wednesday's healing services will be discontinued until further notice. + Our eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the church basement on Friday, the congregation is invited to attend this tragedy. + Potluck supper: prayer and medication to follow. + Don't let worry kill you off; let the church help. + Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community. + Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones. + Miss Mason sang, "I will not pass this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation. + Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale, it's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house, don't forget your husbands. + Morning sermon: "Jesus Walks on the Water." Evening sermon: "Searching for Jesus." + The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.

Tuesday is the Feast of Francis of Assisi, which we celebrate today with our annual blessing of the animals: "Bring your dogs, hogs or husbands..."

It's difficult to imagine an Episcopal church, even in the most Low Church tradition, without a small statue of St. Francis of Assisi somewhere on its grounds; tucked away in some serene setting.

Humble Francis truly loved all of God's creatures; the birds and beasts, the depressed and the outcasts. Living simply, with joy, and with a keen sense of the finite, Francis treated the birds, beasts and all beings as his brothers and sisters; and the simple "A Prayer attributed to St. Francis" (found on page 833 in The Book of Common Prayer) provides for us a mold in which to cast our own life's character. It draws a blueprint upon which to pattern our living; in our thoughts, speech and conduct in our day-to-day relationships with our fellow man, and with all life around us...

"Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life." Amen.