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This page last updated 9 November 2015  

Letters to AO

EVERY WEEK WE PUBLISH a selection of letters we receive in response to something you've read at Anglicans Online. Stop by and have a look at what other AO readers are thinking.

Alas, we cannot publish every letter we receive. And we won't publish letters that are anonymous, hateful, illiterate, or otherwise in our judgment do not benefit the readers of Anglicans Online. We usually do not publish letters written in response to other letters. We edit letters to conform with standard AO house style for punctuation, but we do not change, for example, American spelling to conform to Canadian orthography. On occasion we'll gently edit letters that are too verbose in their original form. Email addresses are included when the authors give permission to do so.

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Letters from the week of 2 - 8 November 2015

Like all letters to the editor everywhere, these letters express the opinions of the writers and not Anglicans Online. We publish letters that we think will be of interest to our readers, whether we agree with them or not. If you'd like to write a letter of your own, click here.

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Saints, souls, and something in between

In recent years Halloween has been promoted in Australian stores for commercial gain but with limited success. The customs belong to the northern hemisphere's approach to winter, not to our late springtime.

As for All Saints' and All Souls' (the latter observance absent from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer but included in most alternative books), the BCP can help us here. Its Collect for All Saints' Day seems to me to distinguish between all "in the mystical body" of our Lord, that "one communion and fellowship", and on the other hand God's 'blessed Saints' whose example of 'virtuous and godly living' we pray that God's grace will enable us to follow.

There is no sharp dividing line and while our Calendars include some of the latter (and some who hardly qualify!) most are 'known only to God'. They are celebrated on All Saints' Day. All the former are commemorated on All Souls'.

John Bunyan
St John the Baptist's, Canberra; St Stephen's Uniting, Sydney; King's Chapel, Boston
Campbelltown, NSW, Australia
bunyanj@tpg.com.au
5 November 2015

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Earlier letters

We launched our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All published letters are in our archives.

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