All Souls' Day

At 11:30 on the morning of All Souls' Day, clergy and staff from the Synod Office and All Saints’ Anglican Cathedral gathered in a quiet ceremony to remember those in Alberta who have died of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. 320 glowing candles represented 320 lives cut short in this ongoing pandemic.  

All Souls' Day is traditionally a time to honour the “lives of the faithful departed” and to pray for the comfort of those who grieve the loss of their loved ones. Bishop Jane Alexander and Dean of the Cathedral, the Very Rev. Alex Meek, felt it was important to take this opportunity on All Souls' Day, because, “as time goes on and the numbers go up, and people get tired of battling this pandemic, it’s too easy to forget that each one of these people was a mother, a husband, a friend… a person with a life and people who loved them.”  

“It was important to pause,” said the bishop, “to take some time and pray for them.”  

Cathedral Music Director and organist, Jeremy Spurgeon, opened the service playing “Fidelis” by Percy Whitlock. For a time of reflection in the midst of the prayers, he played “Es ist ein Ros’ Entsprungen” (A Rose has Sprung Up) by Johannes Brahms. The service ended with “Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadow” by Flor Peeters.