All Saints Day

All Saints Day is a feast of the Catholic Church observed on November 1. It celebrates the saints collectively. Pope Gregory III recognized the holiday around 731. Halloween, shortened from All Hallow's Eve, got its name as the day before All Saints' Day. In Ireland, All Saints Day was called Samhain.

In several countries, All Saints Day is celebrated together with All Souls Day (Nov. 2) as the Day of the Dead. This holiday is known as Dia de Muertos in Spanish and Dia dos Finados in Portuguese. Cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada (1851 - 1913) popularized a macabre version of the holiday in Mexico.

Patriarch John Chrysostom (d. 407) put All Saints' Day on the Sunday after Pentecost. The Orthodox Church still celebrates on this date.

History[edit]

The early church remembered saints and martyrs collectively on various dates. Ephrem the Syrian mentions a feast held on May 13 at Edessa around 359. Pope Bonifice IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to "Saint Mary and all the martyrs" on this date around 609.^[1]

Gregory III dedicated a chapel in St. Peter's Basilica to "all the apostles, martyrs, confessors, and all the just and perfect who are at rest throughout the whole world" on November 1 around 731. The Northumbrian monk Bede (d. 735) promoted the new date in his Martyrology. Around 835, Gregory IV asked Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious to proclaim a feast on this date.^[2]

All Saints' Day is mentioned by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in its entry for 1083.^[3]

References[edit]

1. ↑ Smith, C., "All Saints' Day," New Catholic Encyclopedia (2003).
   In classical times, the Romans observed Lemuria on May 9, 11, and 13. A lemure is a restless spirit, similar to a vampire.
2. ↑ Strayer, Joseph R., "All Saints' Day," Dictionary of the Middle Ages, (1983).
   Cross, F. L., and Livingstone, E. A., "All Saints' Day", The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (1997).
   Smith, C., "All Saints' Day," New Catholic Encyclopedia (2003).
   Some authorities suggest that Gregory IV moved All Saints' Day from May 13 to November 1 to thin out Easter-related crowds in Rome. But May 13 continued to be observed as "All Martyrs' Day" until the 11th century.
3. ↑ 1083: O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) Translated as "And in this same year departed Matilda, queen of King William, on the day after All-Hallow-mass." See "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Eleventh Century".

Sources[edit]

• The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989.
• Dia de Muertos UNESCO In the Spotlight: Education and Culture. (Spanish-English)