Happy All Hallows’ Day!
As we covered in the post from yesterday—today, November 1st, is All Hallows’ Day, also known as All Saints’ Day. A much brighter celebration than the typical Halloween festivities the night before, learn what All Saints’ Day is all about. This holiday is meant for us to recognize all the Saints who have been hand-selected by God throughout the past. Let’s take a look at the history behind this holy day.
To Begin With
In today’s world, we all know All Saints’ Day to be set on the first of November, but it in the very beginning, the day took place on the 13th of May. It was Pope Boniface IV who dedicated the Roman Pantheon as a church in honor of the Virgin Mary and all martyrs who are deemed to have been welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven. This day was initially put forward in the year 609 AD.
Let’s Make it Official
Roughly 130 years after Pope Boniface IV started this day to honor the saints, Pope Gregory III rescheduled the date of observance to the familiar November 1st when he dedicated a Roman chapel in honor of all saints. At this point, the celebration was only in Rome. But in another hundred years or so, Pope Gregory IV extended the celebration of All Saints’ Day to the entire Church.
Marching In
While many recognized saints have their own, individual feast days and other days of celebration (such as St. Patrick’s Day, the Feast of St. Stephen, St. Nick’s Day, etc.), not every saint has their own special day. All Saints’ Day is a way to make sure that literally ALL Saints are commemorated on this day of honor.
Enjoy this wonderful holiday and appreciate the saintly figures of our past. If you missed yesterday’s post, you can learn why it’s called Halloween and what it has to do with All Saints’ Day when you click right here. Thanks for joining us today. And, as always, thanks for reading!
- John