Most people know that St. Valentine’s Day is on February 14 and St. Patrick’s Day is on March 17. Do you know what the date is for St. Matthew’s Day? Or Saint Joseph’s Day? Most of the key people in the Bible, and many figures throughout the history of the church have specific dates for their celebration. Most often this is the date of their death. Which ones do we celebrate at Faith Lutheran Church and why?

In his essay on Public Worship in 1523, Luther wrote,

“All the festivals of the saints are to be discontinued. Where there is a good Christian legend, it may be inserted as an example after the Gospel on Sunday. The festivals of the Purification and Annunciation of Mary may be continued, and for the time being also her Assumption and Nativity, although the songs in them are not pure. The festival of John the Baptist is also pure. Not one of the legends of the apostles is pure, except St. Paul’s.”

Growing up we always celebrated the feasts associated with the life of Jesus and also those saints from the Bible, particularly the New Testament.

However in our current hymnal, the Lutheran Service Book, adds more feast days for Saints, including St. Barnabas, St. James of Jerusalem, St. Joseph, St. Mary, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Timothy, etc. The LSB also includes a listing of commemorations for Old Testament saints, and other saints from the history of the church.

For me, there are 3 ways that we remember the saints at Faith Lutheran Church:

1)Thanksgiving, like at our All Saint’s Day Service, when we remember the blessing that these people have been to the church and the world, all thanks and glory goes to God alone.

2) Examples of Mercy – in the saints we see how God used sinners just like us as His servants. Adam, Eve, Moses, David, Peter, Paul and the rest were forgiven for their many failings, and that gives us hope, too.

3) Examples of Faithfulness – God gives us examples to follow through the faith shown by the saints and by their acts of Service. For Example, St. Valentine was a Catholic priest who also worked as a doctor. He lived in Italy during the third century AD and lived in Rome. He was sent to jail for performing weddings for couples during a time when new marriages were outlawed in ancient Rome. He was killed for refusing to renounce his faith.

The role of Saints is never to distract or detract from the work of Jesus Christ, but to give us examples where we can see Him at work through countless saints just like us who have served Him throughout the history of the church.

Blessings to the saints of Faith!

Pastor Don Treglown