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A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Revd Dr Mark Clavier, canon theologian for the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon.

Good morning. Today, many churches celebrate All Saints, the day when men and women who have been special models of faith and virtue are commemorated. It’s one of my favourite holy days, because it feels a little like a family reunion.

Although I know many dismiss a lot of medieval saints’ lives for being almost comically unbelievable, I personally don’t see why they’re any more incredible than half the things we believe about celebrities. I find it no harder to accept that otters kept St Cuthbert warm in the North Sea or St Denis carried his lopped-off head to his burial site than to believe that our world can be saved or improved by billionaires.

The saints model virtues such as faith, sacrifice, humility, and love: virtues that we’re disinclined by nature to desire for ourselves. I understand why some aspire to be rich and famous; I find it miraculous that some should want to be humbler or more sacrificial. Even so, those who venerate saints have an advantage over those who adore celebrities. They may enjoy nothing like the lifestyles of the rich and famous, but they can share some of the virtues of the saints. You or I may not be successful in practising those virtues, but that doesn’t mean we can’t aspire to be more like the saints. With a dollop of grace and love, we may even become like them where it most counts: in the lives of those around us.

Let us pray.
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those inexpressible joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you. Amen.