You may have heard of All Saints day, which is widely practiced in the West on November 1st (the day after Halloween). It’s sometimes called All Hallows’ Day. However, in the East, it is our Tradition to celebrate All Saints Day the Sunday following Pentecost.

Last year, the Bishop assigned my husband to All Saints Orthodox Church in Raleigh, NC! Ever since we found out about our assignment, I’ve envisioned celebrating this day! This feast had taken on a whole new meaning for our family and our community. I’ve seen this idea of dressing up as a Saint elsewhere on Pinterest, and I thought this would be the perfect activity for this special feast day!

After a little brainstorming, rummaging our costume collection and linen closet, and taking down some curtains 😂, our saint costumes were complete! I think they turned out great considering we used only what we had on hand. Every year, I plan to challenge myself to use what is around the house while keeping the costumes as simple as possible. I would encourage you to do the same!

Here are our DIY Costumes for All Saints Day!

We started with a white dress, added a white pillow cover as her head covering, and then used a pink curtain over her to match her St Elizabeth icon.

We started with her princess Aurora costume (since St Adelaide was an Empress), added a white pillow case head covering and a crown, and we added a pink curtain over it to copy her icon

We dressed Daniel in his Lion costume since his Patron Saint Daniel the Prophet it often referred to as the Lion Tamer.

Our friend Maeve was with us this week so she dressed as her patron Saint too! We started with an Ana costume from Frozen which we turned inside out. Then we printed a St Brigid cross and cut it out, and she’s wearing a green skirt from my closet!

I added our St Lucia costume here from the St Lucia guide since this is an easy costume to put together in a pinch!

Have Your Children Dress as Their Favorite Saint too!

This is a super fun way to teach your children about the Saints. Challenge yourself to make an outfit from what you have on hand, it’s just more fun that way!

More about All Saints

Sunday of All Saints is the Sunday following Pentecost which is dedicated to All Saints, both those who are known to us, and those who are known only to God. There have always been saints, and they have come from every corner of the earth. They were Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, Hierarchs, Monastics, and Righteous, and all were perfected by the same Holy Spirit. By the descent of the Holy Spirit, it is possible for us to rise above our fallen state and to attain sainthood, fulfilling God’s directive to “be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16). So, it is fitting to commemorate All Saints on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Guided by the teaching of the Divine Scriptures and Apostolic Tradition, we honor all the Saints, the friends of God, for they are keepers of God's commandments, shining examples of virtue. Of course, we honor the known Saints especially on their own day of the year. But since many Saints are unknown, and their number has increased with time, and will continue to increase until the end of time, the Church has appointed that once a year a common commemoration be made of all the Saints the Sunday following Pentecost.

From the Scriptures - In Hebrews chapter 11-12, St Paul tells a beautiful story of the Righteous who have gone before us, Saints since the beginning of time, starting with Abel and includes the many righteous decendents of Christ, “And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus”

Other Activity Ideas for All Saints

Symbolic Snack Ideas

Saintly Halos - want a simple symbolic way to remember the saints? Buy and serve a can of sliced pineapple rings and serve to your kids as a snack. They remind us of the halos of uncreated light around the saints!
Buy or make Donuts - it may be a bit of a stretch, but why not serve donuts with a hole in the middle as a symbolic food! The circle of the donut reminds of the halo of uncreated light and the hole symbolizes the “holiness” of the saints!

Throw an All Saints’ Day Party - I look for any excuse to have a party, and certainly a Feast Day celebrating All Saints is a perfect excuse! Have your guests dress up as their favorite Saint, serve special foods like “Angel Food Cake”, pray together, and feast with one another!

Serve the poor, sick, suffering, and lonely - I can’t think of a better way to honor the Saints than to serve the needy in their honor. Each and every Saint was a human just like me and you. Jesus says “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matt 25:26) Some ideas include: volunteer at a food bank, bring donuts to shut-ins, care for the sick, write a card to someone far away.
Ask for the Saints to Pray for us - What is this great feast day all about? The gift of our friends in heaven who pray and help us. Ask for the intercessions from your favorite saints! St John Chrysostom says "We should seek the intercessions and the fervent prayers of the saints, because they have special 'boldness', before God."

Book Recommendations :

Read a Saint Story (or two!) - My favorite way to teach anything (especially the faith) is through stories. You can read the lives of the Saints in the Synaxarion is a compilation of the lives of the saints. Patristic Nectar Publications has recorded hundreds of stories which you can listen to and access HERE.
(Coming Soon) God’s Saintly Friends by Parker End Books - this brand new picture book is the first in the ‘God’s Saintly Friends series’ created by Kathryn Reetzke and Abigail Holt. Pre-Order now!
My Synaxarion “A Saint for Every Day” by Potamitis Publishing - is a brand new series of books, with each book covering the Saints' lives commemorated each month. Currently January and September are available!