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All Saints' Day is a
Christian holy day
observed by many Western
churches on November 1
and by Eastern churches
on the first Sunday
after Pentecost. The day
now honors all saints of
the church, even those
not known by name.
All Saints' Day is
celebrated by Roman
Catholics, the Orthodox,
Anglicans, and
Lutherans. However,
because of their
differing understandings
of the identity and
function of the saints,
what these churches do
on the Feast of All
Saints differs widely.
For Roman Catholics, the
Orthodox, and to some
extent, Anglicans, All
Saints is a day to
remember, thank God for,
but also to venerate and
pray to the saints in
heaven for various
helps. For Lutherans the
day is observed by
remembering and thanking
God for all saints, both
dead and living. It is a
day to glorify Jesus
Christ, who by his holy
life and death has made
the saints holy through
Baptism and faith.
In the sixth century,
Pope Boniface IV
accepted the Pantheon as
a gift from the Emperor
Phocas and proclaimed
May 13, 610 Feast of All
Holy Martyrs held. He
dedicated it as the
Church of Santa Maria
Rotonda in honor of the
Blessed Virgin and all
martyrs.
During Pope Gregory
III's reign, the
festival was expanded to
include all saints and a
chapel in St. Peter's
church was dedicated
accordingly. In 835,
Pope Gregory IV changed
the date to November 1
and the name to Feast of
All Saints.
In the early days the
Christians were
accustomed to solemnize
the anniversary of a
martyr's death for
Christ at the place of
martyrdom. In the fourth
century, neighboring
dioceses began to
interchange feasts, to
transfer relics, to
divide them, and to join
in a common feast.
Frequently groups of
martyrs suffered 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
could not be assigned to
each. The Church,
feeling that every
martyr should be
venerated, appointed a
common day for all.
The first trace of
this is found in Antioch
on the Sunday after
Pentecost. There is also
mention of a common day
in a sermon of Saint
Ephrem the Syrian, and
in the 74th homily of
Saint John Chrysostom of
Constantinople.
At first only martyrs
and Saint John the
Baptist were honored by
a special day. Other
saints were added
gradually, and increased
in number when a regular
process of canonization
was established. As
early as 411 there is in
the Chaldean Calendar a
Commemoratio confessorum
for the Friday after
Easter.
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