Reflection on the Sunday of All Saints of North America

Today marks the feast of all saints of North America, and our churches joyfully ring out with hymns in honor of this land’s saints: Herman, Innocent, Tikhon, Alexis, Nikolai, Alexander, John, Yakov, Sebastian, Mardarius, Barnabas, Seraphim. May today’s feast inspire us to celebrate also these saints’ individual feast days, so that the whole year becomes filled with the triumph and intercession of our local saints. Indeed, it would behoove us daily to beseech the supplications of these heroes of our American Church, asking for their aid in building up the Orthodox Church in America, our dioceses, our parishes. And we should also seek their prayers in our own lives, both in times of joy and sorrow: they are our loving fathers in the faith, and we should be the devoted children of our saints.