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Saint Gertrude Parish - Lasne
November 1, 2025
On this page you will find:
The readings for Mass, the Mass leaflet with the choice of hymns
A sample universal prayer available for download , in PDF and editable Word formats.
A meditation on the Sunday Gospel , a spiritual text and a commentary by Marie-Noëlle Thabut
Solemnity of All Saints
Jubilee of the Synodal Teams
On November 1, 2025, the solemnity of All Saints, on the occasion of the Jubilee of the World of Education, at 10:30 a.m., on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica, the Holy Father Leo XIV will preside over the Eucharistic celebration and the rite of proclamation of Saint John Henry Newman as "Doctor of the Church".
Rejoice,
Be joyful,
because your reward
is great in the heavens!
Matthew 5:1-12a
Readings from the Mass
Mass leaflet
Universal Prayer
Lectio Divina
Consult this page for a prayerful preparation for the liturgy and then read the meditations below.
Meditation by Pope Francis
The Feast of All Saints, which we celebrate today, reminds us that the goal of our existence is not death, but Paradise! The Apostle John writes: “What we will be has not yet been revealed. But we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). The saints, the friends of God, assure us that this promise does not disappoint. During their earthly lives, they lived in profound communion with God. In the faces of their least and most despised brothers and sisters, they saw the face of God, and now they contemplate him face to face in his glorious beauty.
The saints are not superhuman, and they were not born perfect. They are like us, like each of us; they are people who, before attaining the glory of heaven, lived normal lives, with joys and sorrows, hardships and hopes. But what changed their lives? When they experienced God's love, they followed Him with all their hearts, unconditionally and without hypocrisy; they dedicated their lives to serving others, they endured suffering and adversity without hatred, responding to evil with good, spreading joy and peace. Such is the life of the saints: people who, out of love for God, did not impose conditions on Him in their lives; they were not hypocritical; they dedicated their lives to serving others; they suffered many adversities, but without hatred. The saints never harbor hatred. Understand this clearly: love comes from God, but hatred, where does it come from? Hatred does not come from God, but from the devil! And the saints turned away from the devil; the saints are men and women who have joy in their hearts and who share it with others. Never harbor hatred, but serve others, especially those most in need; pray and live in joy; this is the path to holiness!
Being holy is not the privilege of a select few, as if someone had received a large inheritance; all of us, in baptism, have the inheritance of the ability to become holy. Holiness is a vocation for everyone. We are therefore all called to walk the path of holiness, and this path has a name, a face: the face of Jesus Christ. He teaches us to become holy. In the Gospel, he shows us the way: the path of the Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:1-12). Indeed, the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who do not place their security in things, but in the love of God; to those who have a simple, humble heart, who do not think they are righteous and who do not judge others, to those who know how to suffer with those who suffer and rejoice with those who rejoice, who are not violent but merciful and seek to be instruments of reconciliation and peace. The holy person is the instrument of reconciliation and peace. He always helps people to reconcile and he always helps so that peace may reign. That is what holiness is beautiful about; it is a beautiful path!
Today, on this feast day, the saints share a message with us. They tell us: have faith in the Lord, for the Lord never disappoints! He never disappoints; He is a good friend, always at our side. Through their witness, the saints encourage us not to be afraid of going against the grain or of being misunderstood and ridiculed when we speak of Him and the Gospel. They demonstrate through their lives that those who remain faithful to God and His Word experience the comfort of His love on earth, and then a hundredfold in eternity. This is what we hope for and ask of the Lord for our departed brothers and sisters. Wisely, the Church has placed the Feast of All Saints and the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed in close succession. Our prayer of praise to God and veneration of the blessed spirits is united with the prayer of intention for those who have preceded us in the passage from this world to eternal life.
We entrust our prayer to the intercession of Mary, Queen of all saints.
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SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS
POPE FRANCIS
ANGELUS
Saint Peter's Square
Friday, November 1 , 2013
Big splits?
Father Olivier Praud
No doubt, upon hearing Jesus' words once again, a subtle sense of unease will grip listeners. First, there's the discrepancy between what is proclaimed as a blessing and what common sense considers curses. Who could be happy to be poor, to weep, to fight for justice, to show mercy? Who could be happy to be persecuted or slandered because of Jesus? The conclusion adds to this paradox: "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven!" Isn't there a risk of seeking a holiness of heroism, even of taking pride in being the last of the Mohicans in a world hostile to the Gospel? Yet this is the very opposite of the holiness to which God calls us. It is rather the human reflection of his divinity, that is, the way in which a human life is transfigured by God's saving love. Poverty of heart, the service of peace, and the practice of mercy thus become the visible signs of a heart beating in rhythm with the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, this gap reveals itself as the one that runs through all human existence, between desires, successes, and failures. It reflects the hope that dwells in everyone's heart, the hope of leading a good life and seeking what is good. This distance between what we hope for and what we experience is then understood as a time of maturation and learning. If lived in faith, it transcends the quest for moral perfection to become the learning of our identity according to God's heart: to be children like the Son. Finally, when Jesus proclaims his Beatitudes, he has before him the poor, the persecuted of his time, the fearful or the hesitant, the insulted, or those starving for everything. He is not speaking to the air or from on high to lecture. On the contrary, it inscribes the invitation to find the happiness promised by God amidst the vicissitudes of our time. This happiness is no longer for an unattainable tomorrow, but for today, insofar as we accept our dependence on another. Christ himself lived this gap, not as separation or condemnation to endless failure, but as an eternal covenant and communion with God.
The sanctity of the next door
Between 2013 and 2025, Pope Francis alone canonized 929 saints and beatified no fewer than 1,540 blessed! Like his predecessors, Pope Leo XIV was committed to inscribing the perfection of Christian life into the fabric of everyday life. It then becomes an accessible path to console, uplift, reconcile, and love. The gap is then bridged by this holiness of the neighbor.
Better understanding the Gospel
with Marie-Noëlle Thabut
They are there and you don't see them
Why do you search so far for what is right in front of you, even within reach? Right there, close to you on your street, perhaps even in your building, are extraordinary people. They live their sanctity within the confines of everyday life, amidst the dust of daily banality. They are there, sometimes heroic in their suffering, tenderly accompanying a person wounded in body and soul, as if buried in illness.
There are witnesses right near you. Witnesses of charity: they give without shouting from the rooftops. Witnesses of forgiveness: they forgive in silence. It is an immense multitude, as Saint John says: "From every nation, tribe, and people that no one can count."
Look closely, they live under the tree of modesty and humility, but their works shine like a precious stone in the eyes of God.
And one day you might say: they were there and I didn't know it.
Robert Riber
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