November 8: Feast of all Holy Land saints

These holy men and women must be fervently praying to God for peace in their land.

There are a number of particular “All Saints Days” in the Church, in addition to the great solemnity of November 1. The Benedictines, Franciscans, Carmelites, etc, have special days to celebrate their saints.

One of these is the feast of the saints of the Holy Land, marked each November 8.

These are the saints who lived in the land where Jesus lived.

The St. James Vicariate For Hebrew Speaking Catholics in Israel notes:

There are those who are mentioned in the Bible, Old Testament and New, beginning with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, their wives and children. There are also the saints of the early Church of Jerusalem, bishops, priests, monks and nuns, martyrs, mothers, fathers and children, who in their lives radiated the light of Christ to their neighbors. We do not know all their names but we give thanks to God for their witness.