All Saints’ Day: the Pope invites us to look up. And introduces a remarkable woman

Do you ever think of saints as people beyond your reach? Halos, endless patience, an answer to every question. Then you look at your own day, the message you answered badly, the things you left unfinished, and wonder where you fit in. Leo XIV’s invitation ahead of All Saints’ Day offers another starting point.

On Wednesday 28 October 2026, at the end of his general audience in Saint Peter’s Square, the Pope looked ahead to the feast on 1 November. Speaking to Italian pilgrims, he presented the saints as a sign pointing towards the life to come. It is an invitation we can take into our ordinary days.

Hope has something to say to today

The Pope connected that future life with Christian commitment and witness here on earth. Looking at the saints can help us ask how they loved, faced difficulties and spent their time caring for others.

For us, a simple question follows: what room can I make for goodness today? Before the perfect moment arrives, before every problem is solved. With this diary, these responsibilities and these people around me. That is our reflection on the audience, something each reader can bring into her own circumstances.

Perhaps there is a phone call we keep postponing. Or someone we listen to while already preparing our answer. Paying attention can be a beginning. Love becomes concrete in the time we agree to give someone.

A name worth getting to know

Greeting Polish pilgrims, Leo XIV remembered the year dedicated to Blessed Elżbieta Róża Czacka. He spoke about her courage in accepting her disability and the works she established. She founded the Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Cross, and is remembered for her care for blind people.

There is something striking about remembering a woman through what she made possible for others. The Pope also recalled her congregation’s spiritual mission, connecting it with Christian witness and helping others encounter God’s salvation.

A disabled person’s story deserves attention to its full reality. It should never be reduced to a moving slogan. The audience gives us a place to begin: her courage, her work and her care. A name we have just encountered can become an invitation to learn more.

On 2 November, bringing a name into prayer

In his German greeting, the Pope also recalled prayer for the departed, especially during November. The Holy See’s official text includes an Italian translation and describes this prayer as a spiritual work of mercy.

If you miss someone more deeply at this time, you can bring that person into prayer. You do not need beautiful words. Gratitude may sit beside sadness, anger or unfinished conversations. Entrusting someone you love to God can begin with saying their name.

On 1 November we celebrate all the saints; on 2 November we pray for all the faithful departed. The two observances are close, with different meanings. In 2026 they fall on Sunday and Monday respectively. CHIARA!’s separate guide to All Saints’ Day explores that distinction further.

Where does faith meet life?

Before the greetings, the catechesis addressed faith and culture, continuing the series on the documents of the Second Vatican Council. Leo XIV reflected on Gaudium et spes and on faith entering human environments, including language, the arts, study and research.

This touches anyone who thinks her everyday life is too ordinary to matter to God. The questions we ask, what we read and how we work and communicate belong to our lives. They can become opportunities to learn, meet others and take responsibility.

We can take one of those questions seriously this week. Perhaps a book has challenged us, or a conversation has left us unsure. Seeking a thoughtful answer can itself be part of growing in faith.

A small proposal for All Saints’ Day

Choose a saint whose story you barely know. Read without immediately searching for a sentence to share. Explore the time they lived in, their choices and the people they encountered. Then ask what actually stayed with you.

You can also watch the audience video embedded on this page. Listening to a speech in context helps us go beyond a headline. It may leave you with a question to bring to a friend, your parish or your prayer.

All Saints’ Day can be an opportunity to get to know someone who came before us in faith and return to our own day with renewed attention. There is a life to live here, and good we can still make room for.