諸聖日前夕（All Hallows’ Eve）
何謂聖徒？聖徒（Hallow）即指神聖之人，正如《主禱文》所言（「願祢的名被尊為聖」），故「聖徒」即為神聖之人——聖者。因此萬聖節前夕（All Hallows' Eve）實為諸聖節（All Saints' Day）的前夜——這一天教會追念所有在教會歷史中為我們樹立聖潔典範的男女信徒。諸聖節之後緊接的是11月2日的諸靈節，這天教會追念所有信徒已逝者——即所有曾以基督之名生而死的人，無論教會是否正式封聖。逾百年來，教會將萬聖節前夕定為守夜儀式，藉此守望並迎接這兩大聖日。這些聖日旨在紀念那些已成為《希伯來書》12章1節所言「雲彩般的見證者」的親友與英勇聖徒——當我們奔跑生命賽程時，他們正從天上為我們喝采助威。萬聖節前夕與聖誕夜相似，皆是我們懷著殷切喜樂之心，歡慶迎接即將來臨的聖日。
What is a hallow? Hallow simply means holy, as the Lord’s Prayer suggests (“hallowed be thy name”), so a “hallow” is a holy person—a saint. All Hallows’ Eve, then, is the eve of All Saints’ Day—the day the church remembers all the women and men who have modeled holiness for us throughout the history of the church. All Saints’ Day is followed by All Souls’ Day on November 2, the day the church recognizes all the faithful departed—that is, every person who has ever lived and died in Christ, whether the church officially recognizes them as a saint or not. For over a century, the Church has observed All Hallow’s Eve as an evening vigil to watch and wait for these two holy days that honor the friends, family, and heroic saints who are now part of the “cloud of witnesses” spoken of in Hebrews 12:1, cheering us on from heaven as we run the race set before us. All Hallows’ Eve is similar to Christmas Eve in that we are eagerly and festively anticipating the holy day that follows.
