The Church celebrates all the saints: canonized or beatified, and the multitude of those who are in heaven enjoying the beatific vision that are only known to God. During the early centuries, the Saints venerated by the Church were all martyrs. Later Pope Gregory III set November 1 as the day for commemorating all the Saints. We all have a “universal call to holiness.” What must we to do in order to join the company of the saints in heaven? We “must follow in His footsteps and conform [our]selves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all things. [We] must devote [our]selves with all [our] being to the glory of God and the service of [our] neighbor. In this way, the holiness of the People of God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the life of so many saints in Church history” (Lumen Gentium, 40).
“This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity—this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed—is called ‘heaven.’ Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1024).
All Saints (November 1) is a holy day of obligation to be observed by all Latin Rite Catholics. On holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass (Canons 1246-1248). The schedule of Masses for Downtown Kenosha Catholic parishes is as follows:
Solemnity of All Saints (Vigil): Tuesday, October 31
6:30 p.m. at St. Elizabeth
Solemnity of All Saints: Wednesday, November 1
12:00 p.m. at St. Elizabeth
5:30 p.m. at St. James
7:00 p.m. at St. Elizabeth
NOTE: There will be Eucharistic Adoration at St. Elizabeth from 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. in the church; however, Confessions will not be heard due to the Holy Day Mass schedule.