All
Saints' Day, also known as All
Hallows' Day, Hallowmas, the Feast of All Saints, or Solemnity
of All Saints, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all
the saints, known and unknown. Its intent is to
celebrate all the saints, including those who do not, or are no longer,
celebrated individually, either because the number of saints has become so
great or because they were celebrated in groups, after suffering martyrdom
collectively. From the 4th century, feasts commemorating all Christian martyrs
were held in various places on various dates near Easter and Pentecost. In the 9th century, some churches
in the British Isles began
holding the commemoration of all saints on 1 November, and in the 10th century
this was extended to the whole church by Pope Gregory IV.
In Western Christianity,
it is still celebrated on 1 November by the Roman Catholic Church as well as many
Protestant churches. The Eastern Orthodox Church and
associated Eastern Catholic and Byzantine
Lutheran churches celebrate it on the first Sunday after Pentecost. The Church of the East and
associated Eastern Catholic churches celebrate All Saints' Day on the first
Friday after Easter.
Liturgical celebrations
In the Western Christian practice, the liturgical celebration
begins at Vespers on
the evening of 31 October, All Hallows' Eve (All
Saints' Eve), and ends at the close of 1 November. It is thus the day
before All Souls' Day, which commemorates the faithful
departed. In many traditions, All Saints' Day is part of the season of Allhallowtide,
which includes the three days from 31 October to 2 November inclusive, and in
some denominations, such as Anglicanism,
extends to Remembrance Sunday. In places where All Saints'
Day is observed as a public holiday but All Souls' Day is not, cemetery and
grave rituals such as offerings of flowers, candles and prayers or blessings
for the graves of loved ones often take place on All Saints Day. In Austria and
Germany, godparents gift their godchildren Allerheiligenstriezel (All Saint's Braid)
on All Saint's Day, while the practice of souling remains
popular in Portugal. It is a national holiday in
many Christian countries.
The Christian celebration of All Saints' Day
and All Souls' Day stems from a belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond
between those in heaven (the "Church
triumphant"), and the living (the "Church militant").
In Catholic theology,
the day commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in
Heaven. In Methodist theology, All Saints Day revolves around
"giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints", including those who are
"famous or obscure".As such, individuals throughout the Church
Universal are honoured, such as Paul the Apostle, Augustine of Hippo and John Wesley,
in addition to individuals who have personally led one to faith in Jesus, such
as one's grandmother or friend.
History
From the 4th century, there
existed in certain places and at sporadic intervals a feast date to commemorate
all Christian martyrs. It was held on 13 May in Edessa,
the Sunday after Pentecost in Antioch,
and the Friday after Easter by the Syrians. During the 5th century, St. Maximus of Turin preached annually on
the Sunday after Pentecost in honor of all martyrs in what is today Northern
Italy. The Comes of Würzburg, the
earliest existing ecclesiastical reading list, dating to the late 6th or early
7th century in what is today Germany, lists this the Sunday after Pentecost as
"dominica in natale sanctorum" or "Sunday of the Nativity of the
Saints". By this time, the commemoration had expanded to include all
saints whether or not they were martyred.
On 13 May 609 or 610, Pope Boniface IV consecrated
the Pantheon at Rome to the Blessed Virgin and
all the martyrs, ordering an anniversary; the feast of the dedication
Sanctae Mariae ad Martyres has been celebrated at Rome ever since. It
is suggested 13 May was chosen—by the Pope and earlier by Christians in Edessa—because
it was the date of the Roman pagan festival of Lemuria, in which the malevolent and restless
spirits of the dead were propitiated. Some liturgiologists base the idea that
Lemuria was the origin of All Saints on their identical dates and their similar
theme of "all the dead".
Pope Gregory III (731–741) dedicated an oratory in St. Peter's to the relics "of
the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors, of all the just
made perfect who are at rest throughout the world". Some sources say
Gregory III dedicated the oratory on 1 November, and this is why the date
became All Saints' Day. Other sources say Gregory III held a synod to
condemn iconoclasm on 1 November 731, but dedicated the All
Saints oratory on Palm Sunday, 12 April 732.
By 800, there is evidence that
churches in Ireland, Northumbria (England)
and Bavaria (Germany) were holding a feast
commemorating all saints on 1 November. Some manuscripts of the
Irish Martyrology of Tallaght and Martyrology of Óengus, which date to this
time, have a commemoration of all saints of the world on 1 November. In the late
790s Alcuin of
Northumbria recommended the holding of the feast on 1 November to his
friend Arno of Salzburg, Bavaria. Alcuin used his
influence with Charlemagne to introduce the Irish-Northumbrian Feast of
All Saints to the Frankish Kingdom.
Some scholars propose that
churches in the British Isles began celebrating All Saints on 1 November in the
8th century to coincide with or replace the Celtic festival known in Ireland
and Scotland as Samhain. James Frazer represents this school of thought by
arguing that 1 November was chosen because Samhain was the date of the Celtic
festival of the dead. Ronald Hutton argues instead that the earliest
documentary sources indicate Samhain was a harvest festival with no particular
ritual connections to the dead. Hutton proposes that 1 November was a Germanic
rather than a Celtic idea.
The 1 November All Saints Day was
made a day of obligation throughout the Frankish Empire in
835, by a decree of Emperor 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. Under the rule of Charlemagne and his
successors, the Frankish Empire developed into the Holy Roman
Empire.
Sicard of
Cremona, a scholar who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries,
proposed that Pope Gregory VII (1073–85) suppressed the
feast of 13 May in favour of 1 November. By the 12th century, 13 May had been
removed from liturgical books.
The All Saints octave was
added by Pope Sixtus IV (1471–84). Both the
All Saints vigil and the octave were suppressed by the reforms of 1955.
Protestant observances
The festival was retained after
the Reformation in the calendar of the Anglican Church 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 Saturday between 31 October and 6 November. In many Lutheran Churches, it
is moved to the first Sunday of November. In the Church of
England, mother church of the Anglican Communion, it is a Principal Feast and
may be celebrated either on 1 November or on the Sunday between 30 October and
5 November. It is also celebrated by other Protestants of
the English tradition, such as the United Church of Canada, the Methodist churches
and the Wesleyan Church.
Protestants generally commemorate
all Christians, living and deceased, on All Saints' Day; if they observe All
Saints Day at all, they use it to remember all Christians both past and
present. In the United Methodist Church, All Saints' Day
is celebrated on the first Sunday in November. It is held, not only to remember
Saints, but also to remember all those who have died who were members of the
local church congregation. In some congregations, a candle is lit by the Acolyte as
each person's name is called out by the clergy. Prayers and responsive readings
may accompany the event. Often, the names of those who have died in the past year
are affixed to a memorial plaque.
In many Lutheran churches, All
Saints' Day is celebrated the Sunday after Reformation is celebrated (the date
for Reformation is 31 October, so Reformation Sunday is celebrated on or before
31 October). In most congregations, the festival is marked as an occasion to
remember the dead. The names of those who have died from the congregation
within the last year are read during worship and a bell is tolled, a chime is
played or a candle is lit for each name read. While the dead are solemnly
remembered during worship on All Saints' Sunday, the festival is ultimately a
celebration of Christ's victory over death.
In English-speaking countries, services often include the singing of the traditional hymn "For All the Saints" by Walsham How. The most familiar tune for this hymn is Sine Nomine by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Other hymns that are popularly sung during corporate worship on this day are "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God" and "Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones".