In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

It is no coincidence that the day dedicated to all saints is placed on the first Sunday after Pentecost: the very first thing we remember after the Church’s founding is holiness. This shows that saints are the fruit of the Church’s work in the world. Church and holiness are inseparable: without the Church there can be no holiness, yet the Church itself is inconceivable without saints. Were there no saints, it would mean that the Holy Spirit is not active in her and that the Lord’s words spoken already in the Old Testament—“Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev 11:45)—are not being fulfilled. If the Church has no saints, then it is not the Church of Christ. That is why, immediately after Pentecost and the remembrance of the Holy Spirit’s descent upon the apostles, the Church honors all the saints. What further proof could one need that the Orthodox Church is truly Christ’s Church?

Many people do not believe in holiness or venerate the saints—sadly, some of them even call themselves Christians. Such disbelief is madness: how else can one explain ignoring the obvious fact that thousands who believed in Christ as God and Savior left everything to follow Him? And how could people who sacrificed everything—even their own lives—for God not become saints?

By honoring the saints, we proclaim again: the Church is holy, the Holy Spirit dwells in her, and where the Spirit is, there are saints. To the very end of the world, despite every test and temptation, holiness in the Church will never fail.

Holiness cannot be reduced simply to “not doing evil.” Around us are many who are neither thieves, murderers, nor swindlers—but that alone does not make them saints. Refraining from great sins is not yet holiness; even doing good is no guarantee, for many do good only when circumstances permit. Let a disaster strike, and lofty intentions may vanish as a person thinks only of self-preservation.

So what is holiness? Scripture and the Fathers show that holiness is, above all, life in God. A saint is not someone who never once sinned or even thought of evil; a saint is one who lives wholly for Christ, in Christ, with Christ—whose every moment is devoted to doing God’s will, for God’s will is the beginning, foundation, and fulfillment of holiness. Only one who seeks the very source of holiness—God—can be holy. Seeing souls who long to keep His commandments and be united with Him, the Lord condescends and joins them to Himself. Thus holiness is born.

In today’s Gospel reading we heard words that may trouble even church-goers: “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Mt 10:37). Parents and children are a person’s dearest treasures—how are we to understand this? Christ is not telling us to stop loving our relatives. The Old Testament already commands “Honor your father and your mother,” the only Decalogue command with a promise: “that it may go well with you and you may live long on the earth” (Deut 5:16; cf. Eph 6:2-3). The Savior’s words point to a correct hierarchy of values: first God, then everyone else—parents, children, loved ones, and so on. Moreover, only by truly loving God can we learn to truly love our neighbor. Love of God never cancels love for family; it purifies it, cleansing it from every admixture of sin, passion, or flaw. That is the meaning of today’s Gospel.

We remember how Adam’s fall began: he preferred love for Eve over love for God. History shows that many crimes have been committed supposedly “for love” of husband, wife, or children. Love, far more than hatred, can blind a person and drive terrible deeds—jealous, irrational, or false love. But when we sincerely love God, we recognize something higher than merely human affection. If crimes arise from distorted love, divine love alone will never let us break love’s true law. “If you love Me,” Christ says, “keep My commandments” (Jn 14:15).

Thus, commemorating all the saints today, we see that a saint is one who lives for God. A saint loves everyone, yet clings to no one and nothing, for his heart is wholly given to the Lord. Saints were not identical grey-haired ascetics; they were as diverse as we are. St Seraphim of Sarov greeted visitors with “My joy, Christ is risen!”, while St John the Forerunner, whom Christ calls the greatest born of women, addressed some as “brood of vipers.” Both served God, loved people, and are glorified as saints. Holiness cannot be confined to human categories. As St Paul writes, “The spiritual man judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no one” (1 Cor 2:15): only another saint can truly comprehend a saint. Therefore the Church says holiness cannot be grasped in theory—one can only partake of it.

Saints have always unsettled the worldly-minded, because they do not fit ordinary ideas of righteousness. In that sense the saints, like the Church herself, become a stumbling block for those who love the world and its values. Here Christ’s words ring true: “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of Me.” (Mt 11:6).

So, on this feast of All Saints, the Church once more proclaims her greatest mystery: any person—even the most notorious sinner—can become a saint in Christ’s Church. No sinner is beyond repentance; no sin is beyond God’s forgiveness; no human being is rejected by the Church. The millennia-long experience of holiness confirms this truth with the countless saints who glorify God forever and ever. Amen!