All Saints' Day
| All Saints' Day | |
|---|---|
 The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs by Fra Angelico | |
| Also called | All Hallows' Day Hallowmas Feast of All Saints Feast of All Hallows Solemnity of All Saints |
| Type | Christian |
All Saints' Day is a mandatory religious holiday in Catholicism which honors the saints in heaven. Catholics celebrate this holiday on November 1. They following day, they celebrate All Souls' Day, which focuses on praying for the dead (especially souls in Purgatory). Both days are considered important and are integrated with each other.
Some other Christians also celebrate All Saints' Day (though not necessarily on November 1). The festival was retained after the Reformation in the calendar of the Church of England and in many Lutheran churches.
In the past, All Saints' Day was called All Hallows or Hallowmas.[1]
Customs
[change | change source]
All Saints' Day customs differ around the world.
People make ofrendas (offerings) to the saints in Portugal, Spain and Mexico. In Spain, the play Don Juan Tenorio is traditionally performed. In Spain, Portugal, Italy and France, people bring flowers to the graves of dead relatives.
In Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Croatia, Austria and Germany, the tradition is to light candles and visit the graves of deceased relatives. Filipinos do the same, but often in a picnic-like atmosphere.
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.
References
[change | change source]Other websites
[change | change source]- American Catholic - Saints FAQs, All Saints and All Souls Day Archived 2009-05-04 at the Wayback Machine
- All Saints' Day article in the Catholic Encyclopedia
- All Saints Sunday Orthodox England
- All Saints Church, Barbados Archived 2007-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
