November: Silence and Saints
November arrives softly, with mist over the fields, bare branches, and a hush that follows the riot of autumn. The Church begins the month with All Saints’ Day (1st November) and All Souls’ Day (2nd November), a time to remember the great cloud of witnesses and the ordinary faithful who have gone before us. This is a month of remembering, not with fear, but with hope.
The year leans toward darkness now. Light fades early; evenings stretch long. But this darkness is not empty. It is waiting, expectant, like soil holding seeds, like a womb, like the quiet before Advent dawns.
November invites us to honour grief without losing sight of resurrection. To speak the names of those we miss. To give thanks for lives that shaped ours. To rest in the mystery that love does not end at the grave.
From the Earth
The land grows quiet. Frost silver-coats the grass in early mornings, and mist curls in hollows and over hedgerows. Fallen leaves mulch into the soil, feeding what will come next. Bare trees stand against soft grey skies, their structure revealed.
In fields, the last of the stubble is ploughed back into the earth. Flocks of starlings gather in murmuration, a swirling shadow over harvested land. The world feels both empty and deeply held, as if the earth itself is praying.
Those Who Went Before
St Hilda of Whitby (Feast Day: 17th November)
St Hilda, abbess of Whitby in the 7th century, was a wise and steady leader in the early English Church. She founded a double monastery for men and women on the cliffs of Northumbria, where prayer, study, hospitality, and community were held in balance.
Kings, bishops, and peasants alike sought her counsel. Under her care, an ordinary cowherd named Caedmon discovered he had been given the gift of sacred poetry in a dream: the first recorded English hymn was born in her monastery.
Hilda is a saint for November: thoughtful, attentive, rooted in place yet open to mystery. She reminds us that holiness often looks like quiet wisdom, shared life, and the courage to listen.
A Prayer in Action
This month, create a small space of remembrance in your home: a candle, a photograph, a handwritten name, a stone, or a sprig of rosemary (for memory).
Light the candle and pray:
“Lord, thank you for those who have gone before me. May light perpetual shine upon them. Teach me to live faithfully, as they did.”
Leave the candle unlit on other days as a quiet symbol of presence and hope.
“Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders… and run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
