Everything about All Saints Day totally explained
All Saints' Day,
All Hallows,
Hallowmas is a feast celebrated on
November 1 in
Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after
Pentecost in
Eastern Christianity in honour of all the
saints, known and unknown. In terms of
Roman Catholic theology, the feast commemorates all those who have attained the
beatific vision in
heaven, while the next day,
All Souls' Day, commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet been
purified and reached heaven.
History
In the
early Church, Christians would celebrate the anniversary of a
martyr's death for Christ (known as the saint's "birth day") by serving an
All-Night Vigil, and then celebrating the
Eucharist over their tomb or the shrine at their place of martyrdom. In the fourth century, neighbouring
dioceses began to
transfer relics, and to celebrate the
feast days of specific martyrs in common. Frequently, a number of Christians would suffer martyrdom on the same day, which naturally led to a joint commemoration. In the
persecution of Diocletian the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day couldn't be assigned to each. But the Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a common day for all.
A commemoration of "All Martyrs" began to be celebrated as early as the year
270, although no specific month or date is mentioned in existing records. The first trace of a general celebration on a specific day is attested in
Antioch on the Sunday after
Pentecost. There is mention of a common day in a sermon of
St. Ephrem the Syrian (373), and the custom is also referred to in the 74th Homily of
St. John Chrysostom (†407), who speaks of a "feast of martyrs of the whole world." As early as
411, there's found among the
Chaldean Christians a general commemoration of all
Confessors (
Commemoratio Confessorum), celebrated on the Friday after
Easter.
This usually fell within a few weeks of the
Celtic holiday of
Samhain, which had a theme similar to that of Lemuria, but which was also a harvest festival. The Irish, whose holiday Samhain had been, didn't celebrate All Hallows Day on this
1 November date, as extant historical documents attest that the celebration in Ireland took place in the spring: "...the
Felire of Oengus and the
Martyrology of Tallaght prove that the early medieval churches [inIreland] celebrated the feast of All Saints on
20 April."
A November festival of all the saints was already widely celebrated on
1 November in the days of
Charlemagne. It was made a day of obligation throughout the
Frankish empire in 835, by a decree of
Louis the Pious, issued "at the instance of
Pope Gregory IV and with the assent of all the bishops," which confirmed its celebration on
1 November. The octave was added by
Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484).
[
The festival was retained after the Reformation in the calendar of the Church of England and in many Lutheran churches. In the Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden, it assumes a role of general commemoration of the dead. In the Swedish calendar, the observance takes place on the first Saturday of November. In many Lutheran Churches, it's moved to the first Sunday of November. It is also celebrated by other Protestants of the English tradition, such as the United Church of Canada and the Wesleyan Church. (External Link]
)
In the United Methodist Church, All Saint's Day is on the first Sunday in November. It is held to remember all those that have passed away from the local church congregation. A candle is lit by the Acolyte as each person's name is called out. Then, a liturgical prayer is offered for each soul in Heaven.
Customs
In Portugal, Spain and Mexico, ofrendas (offerings) are made on this day. In Spain, the play Don Juan Tenorio is traditionally performed. In Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain people bring flowers to the graves of dead relatives.
In Poland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Croatia, Austria, Romania, Hungary and Germany, the tradition is to light candles and visit the graves of deceased relatives.
In the Philippines, this day, called "Undas", "Todos los Santos" (lit., "All Saints"), and sometimes "Araw ng mga Namayapa" (approx.- "Day of the deceased") is observed as All Souls' Day. This day and the one before and one after it's spent visiting the graves of deceased relatives, where prayers and flowers are offered, candles are lit and the graves themselves are cleaned, repaired and repainted.
In English-speaking countries, the festival is traditionally celebrated with the hymn "For All the Saints" by William Walsham How. The most familiar tune for this hymn is Sine Nomine by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Further Information
Get more info on 'All Saints Day'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://all_saints.totallyexplained.com">All Saints Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
