What is All Saints Day?
All Saints Day is a Christian day of observation. It is most commonly associated with the Roman Catholic Church, but is also an important day in Eastern Orthodox churches, and many other Christian sects like the Methodist and Anglican churches. It can be a little confusing to understand All Saints Day because it may be celebrated by different churches at different times, and it may have slightly different meaning from sect to sect. In Roman Catholicism, All Saints Day is celebrated on November 1 and is a holy day of obligation. This means that Catholics would typically attend mass on this day. To many catholic school children this has been a delight, since the holiday usually means catholic schools close the day after Halloween. The initial call for this celebration, which to Catholics commemorates those who are in heaven, including saints and martyrs, occurred in the very early church. In earliest records of the church, any martyr or saint had his or her own “day” but there were quick
CBN.com The still night in the fall stands out in my mind. My family was living in an area that was miles away from any blacktopped road in Guatemala, Central America. Our calendars showed a religious holiday called All Saints’ Day. Unlike the American tradition of Halloween, there were no children carrying bags headed for trick-or-treating. Instead I stood in the starlit night in a cemetery stirring with activity. Many of the local people had gathered at the cemetery for an all-night vigil at the graves of their family members. The gravestones and monuments were covered with food. The people brought food to eat, and alcohol to drink. After the celebration, they left some of the food and drink on the graves. This experience marked my introduction to the holiday of All Saints’ Day. It was only the beginning of my learning about the origin of this holiday. According to Microsoft Encarta’s Online Encyclopedia, All Saints’ Day, or Allhallows or Hallowmas, is a festival celebrated on Novemb
