Following on the heels of Halloween, All Saints Day on November 1st as well as All Souls Day on November 2nd honor all of Christ’s followers who have died: Specifically, Roman Catholics celebrate All Saints Day, or even more officially, they recognize November 2nd as “Solemnity of All Saints Day”, a time to honor canonized saints, while reformed (Calvinist or Presbyterian), Lutheran, Episcopal or Anglican, and Methodist Churches memorialize all deceased believers, who, of course, can also be called ”saints”, in prayer on that day. On All Souls Day, Roman Catholics pray and light candles for souls still in Purgatory.
In Scandanavia and Slavic Europe, as well as Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Spanish-speaking countries and communities around the world, families tend the graves of loved ones, placing candles and flowers there. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans celebrate El Dia de Muerte, constructing elaborate altars, or “ofrendas”, outfitted with photographs of departed family members, candles to light their way to Heaven, marigolds, the Aztec flower of the dead, not to mention their loved ones’ favorite food. In southern Louisiana, relatives also clean and decorate the above-ground masoleums.
All of these festivities began when Pope Gregory III moved All Saints Day from May 13th to November 1st to coincide with the Celtic holiday of Samhain (which is Gaelic for “Summer’s End”). These holy days also have been celebrated since the time of Charlemagne in Continental Europe.
Image by Klearchos Kapoutsis via Flickr
Thus, the first two days of November set aside an afternoon to tidy up the family plot while familiarizing children and teenagers with the past lives of family members who have come before them. Secular society focuses on Halloween, or All Hallow’s Eve, but it conveniently forgets that Halloween, or literally Hallows Even, falls before a time to honor Christian heroes and beloved–but now gone–family members. Christians who follow the liturgical calendar should pause to participate in this hallowed time of year.
