Daily Devotional • October 31
A Reading from Revelation 12:7-17
7 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,
‘Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Messiah,*
for the accuser of our comrades* has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
11 But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
12 Rejoice then, you heavens
and those who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
for the devil has come down to you
with great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short!’
13 So when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued* the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent poured water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.
Meditation
I have heard these next three days — All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints, and All Souls — referred to as the ‘mini triduum.’ It is a small echo of the Paschal Triduum, which is Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, which culminates in the Great Vigil of Easter and the celebration of the first Eucharist of the Resurrection. These small three days give us an opportunity to pause and reflect on the great Paschal mystery around which all time is oriented.
Today’s reading on All Hallows’ Eve takes us back to the beginning of Satan’s story, when he rebelled against God. Saint Michael led the holy angels in a war in which Satan and his rebellious followers were banished from heaven and thrown down to earth. From then on, Satan was a slave to the temporal realm, scrounging around in the dark places of human hearts in order to gain a foothold amongst the powers and principalities of a perishing world. Indeed, he found such a foothold in the heart of Judas Iscariot. On Maundy Thursday, we hear how in the Upper Room, after Judas partook of the Last Supper and the first Eucharist, “Satan entered into him” (John 13:27).
Halloween can serve as a reminder of the true terror of an unredeemed world. As we see the horrible ghouls parading around our darkened streets this night, we may momentarily suspect that we do fear the dragon and that some monsters are, in fact, real. We may realize that the devil is here even now in our thoroughly modern world and in great wrath because he knows that his time is short.
And yet, for the Christian, Halloween is an opportunity for joy. The devil is here but he has been rendered ridiculous in his schemes by the body and blood of the Passover Lamb. Tonight, let us rejoice with the heavens and to the Prince of Darkness (last-minute costume idea?), we may say, “Oh death, where is thy sting?”
Sarah Cornwell is a laywoman and an associate of the Eastern Province of the Community of St. Mary. She and her husband have seven children and they live in Wheaton, Illinois.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Karnataka North – The Church of South India (United)
St. Paul’s Bloor Street, Toronto, Ontario
