All Saints' Day

All Saints' Day
All Saints' Day
Celebrated on the first of November. Instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year

Catholic Encyclopedia. . 2006.

All Saints' Day
    All Saints' Day
     Catholic_Encyclopedia All Saints' Day
    [The vigil of this feast is popularly called "Hallowe'en" or "Halloween".]
    Solemnity celebrated on the first of November. It is instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year.
    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, neighbouring dioceses began to interchange feasts, to transfer Relics, to divide them, and to join in a common feast; as is shown by the invitation of St. Basil of Caesarea (397) to the bishops of the province of Pontus. 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. But the Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a common day for all. The first trace of this we find in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost. We also find mention of a common day in a sermon of St. Ephrem the Syrian (373), and in the 74th homily of St. John Chrysostom (407). At first only martyrs and St. John the Baptist were honoured by a special day. Other saints were added gradually, and increased in number when a regular process of canonization was established; still, as early as 411 there is in the Chaldean Calendar a "Commemoratio Confessorum" for the Friday after Easter. In the West Boniface IV, 13 May, 609, or 610, consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, ordering an anniversary. Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November. A basilica of the Apostles already existed in Rome, and its dedication was annually remembered on 1 May. Gregory IV (827-844) extended the celebration on 1 November to the entire Church. The vigil seems to have been held as early as the feast itself. The octave was added by Sixtus IV (1471-84).
    FRANCIS MERSEMAN
    Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas In Gratitude to St. Joseph

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • All Saints' Day — also All Hallows Day 1 November, when Christian churches remember all the ↑saints …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • All Saints' Day — All′ Saints ′ Day n. rel a church festival celebrated Nov. 1 in honor of all the saints; Allhallows • Etymology: 1570–80 …   From formal English to slang

  • All Saints' Day — ► NOUN ▪ a Christian festival in honour of all the saints, held (in the Western Church) on 1 November …   English terms dictionary

  • All Saints' Day — n. an annual church festival (Nov. 1) in honor of all the saints …   English World dictionary

  • All Saints' Day — noun a Christian feast day honoring all the saints; first observed in 835 • Syn: ↑Allhallows, ↑November 1, ↑Hallowmas, ↑Hallowmass • Hypernyms: ↑holy day of obligation • Part Holonyms: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • All Saints' Day — a church festival celebrated November 1 in honor of all the saints; Allhallows. [1570 80] * * * In Christianity, a day commemorating all the saints of the church, known and unknown. It is celebrated on November 1 in the Western churches and on… …   Universalium

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  • All Saints' Day — noun In Christian tradition, the annual feast day celebrating the life of all saints on the first day of November. Syn: All Hallows Day …   Wiktionary

  • All Saints' Day —    A Feast held on November 1, in commemoration of all saints of the Church who are not commemorated on other days. This Festival is very dear to the hearts of Christians. It is a day full of touching memories, when in the Holy Eucharist we… …   American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia

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