All Saints’

November 01, 2023

Last night was Halloween, or the day American’s traditionally put out candy and expect small, costumed visitors eager to accept their gifts.  I have had varying approaches to this day of celebration.  There were years, especially when my son Alex was small, where I would go all out.  I would dress in costume, roam the streets with him, and then have a bowl full of candy ready for fellow trick-or-treaters when we got home.  I continued to provide candy later but found it made a difference where you live on how much candy you could be expected to provide.  For several years I lived in areas where there were no small children and I found myself forced to eat the leftover candy myself (a sacrifice I woefully undertook).  Eventually, I got to where I no longer participated in the house to house festival and instead participated in Trunk-or-treat events (cars gathered in a parking lot).  Now I am more likely to take the third option of turning off my lights, closing the blinds, and hoping the doorbell does not ring.  I do keep “some” candy on hand “just in case”.  My focus has shifted from All Saint’s Eve (Halloween) to All Saint’s Day and even Allhallowtide.

When I looked online, I found All Saints’ Day (also known as All Hallows’ Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas) is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honor of all saints of the Church, whether they are known or unknown.  A solemnity is a feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, his mother Mary, his earthly father Joseph, or another important saint.  The word comes from postclassical Latin sollemnitas, meaning a solemnity, festival, celebration of a day.  The observance begins with the vigil on the evening before the actual date of the feast.  This vigil has morphed into what we now celebrate as Halloween.  Unlike feast days of the rank of feast (other than feasts of the Lord) or those of the rank of memorial, solemnities replace the celebration of Sundays outside of Advent (4 weeks before Christmas), Lent (7 weeks before Easter), and Easter.

From the 4th century CE, feasts commemorating all Christian martyrs were held in various places and on various dates around Easter and Pentecost.  In the 9th century, some churches in the British Isles began holding the commemoration of all saints on November 1st and the celebration was later extended to the whole Catholic Church by Pope Gregory IV (9th century).  In Western Christianity All Saint’s Day is still celebrated on November 1st by the Roman Catholic Church and many Protestant churches like Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist traditions.  The Eastern Orthodox Church and associated Eastern Catholic and Eastern Lutheran churches celebrate the day on the first Sunday after Pentecost.  The Syro-Malabar Church and the Chaldean Catholic Church (both in communion with Rome) as well as the Church of the East, celebrate All Saints’ Day on the first Friday after Easter Sunday.  The Coptic Orthodox tradition celebrates All Saints’ Day with the Feast of the Martyrs (Nayrouz) on September 11th.  This day is the start of the Coptic new year, and the first month (Thout) of the Coptic calendar year. 

Thoughts:  All Saint’ Day is part of a liturgical celebration called Allhallowtide which includes the three days from October 31st through November 2nd.   Allhallowtide is a “time to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints, and all faithful departed Christians.”  Christianity is not the only faith system that remembers martyrs, saints, and all ancestors.  Neither is remembrance of the people and events of the past confined to faith traditions.  Atheist philosopher George Santayana is quoted, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  This day (and time) is about more than just costumes and candy.  It is a reflection on our past as an instruction for our future.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.