Kingdomtide: The All Saints Project

Tomorrow, 25 October, is the Sunday of Christ the King in the Pre-Vatican II Ordo – the “Extraordinary Form” – for the Roman Church and also in the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate, which last also uses the older calendar as well.  On the Novos Ordo calendar this feast is the last Sunday before Advent starts, this year that is 22 November. The ROCOR Western Rite folks use the Novos Ordo calendar to calculate this feast, for some reason. ROCOR, of course, calculates the Nativity feast on the Julian Calendar, so their Advent starts much later: their Calendar commemorates Christ the King Sunday on the 6th of December (NS) which is 23 November on the Julian Calendar.

If we (Orthodox, Old Calendar and New, together with the Roman Catholics on both the EF and Novus Ordo) count everything, we might see the time, this year, from 25 October – 6 December (23 November OS) as “Kingdomtide.”

There is no “Christ the King” on the ER calendar and All Saints Sunday is linked with the paschal cycle, usually falling in May or June.  But I pray the Eastern Rite folks (Orthodox and ByzCath) will join in this project!

If you are inclined to yell “Ecumenism!” please lay aside, for a moment, all superfluity of snarkiness: I want us to take over the internets with saints.

Christ the King Sunday – proclaiming the Kingship of Christ not only in the next world and “in our lives” but also in this world, now, here – is tied to All Saints Day and All Souls Days in the calendars in order to link, liturgically, the idea of Christ reigning as King of all his people in Heaven, on Earth, and in the Afterlife.

In Secular Culture, Christ is not King and All Saints & All Souls Days are not even a time to remember our dead, but to indulge in horrifics and gore. Screen names in social media are being “spookified” and user icons and avatars are being replaced with skulls, jack-o-lanterns, witches, and worse.  It is too easy to hurl labels at this – and perhaps worth doing so – but that’s the not the point of this project:

Let us to take over the internet with saints and proclaim the kingship of Christ!

First off:  All Saints Day is not stolen from the pagans.  Read this.  Let’s reclaim our holiday and our season. 

Here’s my suggestions:

  1. Replace all your social media avatars/user icons with an image of your patron saint; failing that, of Christ the King.
  2. Don’t opt for the “spookification” process. Last year I was “Boo! Richardson”.  Rather, if possible, put your patron saint there.  “William Francis”, “Huw Raphael”, or  “Susan Elizabeth”, etc.
  3. When discussing this, tweeting, facebooking, or blogging about it, use the hashtags #ChristusRex and #AllSaints
Please do this from tomorrow to, at least, 2 Nov… but I would think we could do all of Kingdom Tide this way, from now until at least the start of Advent (on whatever calendar you use, ER/WR OC/NC).
Forgive me for the late start. I know we mightn’t get much done. But we’re laying the ground work for next year!

Author: Huw Raphael

A Dominican Tertiary living in San Francisco, CA. He is almost 59. He feeds the homeless as a parochial almoner and is studying to be a Roman Catholic Deacon. He is learning modern Israeli Hebrew and enjoys cooking, keto, cats, long urban hikes, and SF Beer Week.

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