All Saints' Day(Latin festum omnium sanctorum) is a celebration celebrated on November 1 in honor of all known and unknown saints and martyrs who have already risen to eternal life. On this day, people are reminded not only of those officially recognized and so proclaimed, but above all of all people whose lives were marked by holiness. It is also a feast for all those whose goal is a life leading to salvation. In practice, we visit the graves of all our loved ones, remember them and, to commemorate them, we burn candles and decorate the graves with flowers.Learnthe history of All Saints' Day , see where this holiday comes from and how it was celebrated over the centuries.
1 November - All Saints' Day
Fig. Katarzyna Matuszak
All Saints' Day - story
The celebrationAll Saintsderives mainly from the veneration of martyrs who gave their lives for Christ and who are not mentioned in the local martyrdoms or in the canon of the Holy Mass. In the 3rd century, the tradition of transferring the whole relics of saints or their parts to other places became popular. In this way, they wanted to emphasize that the saints are the property of the entire Church. When in 610, Pope Boniface IV received from the emperor the ancient pagan temple of the Pantheon, he ordered numerous relics to be placed there and blessed this building as a church dedicated to Our Lady of Martyrs. Since then, all martyrs who died on May 1 have been honored.Pope Gregory III in 731 transferred this ceremony to
November 1 , and in 837 Pope Gregory IV ordered that from now on November 1 should be a day dedicated to the memory of not only martyrs but all saints of the Catholic Church . At the same time, at the request of Emperor Louis the Pious, this holiday was extended to the entire Church.
November 1, All Saints - how do we celebrate today
The next day afterAll Saints(November 2) the memory of the dead is celebrated (All Souls' Day). For Christians, it is a day of prayer for all believers in Christ who have passed away from this world and are now in Purgatory.
November 1 - All Saints' Day- is a day off from work in Poland, which means that many people come to cemeteries to light candles and - if they are believers - pray. It is also a holiday celebrated by some other religious systems, as well as a custom practiced by non-denominational people, intended to be an expression of remembrance and devotion and respect to the deceased. This holiday was also a day off during the People's Republic of Poland, but officially attempts were made to make it secular and it was called the Day of the Dead.
Analogous Orthodox holidays
In Orthodoxy, a similar holiday is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost (Pentecost) or, according to other sources, on the Saturday before Pentecost. Practically in Russia, parts of Belarus and Ukraine, such a holiday (or just All Souls' Day) is identified with the so-called parental day or Radunica, celebrated several times a year, but most often during the Easter period, and it should be Tuesday, less often Monday, of the Thomas week following the Easter week (which begins with Easter Sunday in accordance with the Christian counting the days of the week). However, according to the customs of the Southern Orthodox Slavs, such holidays were celebrated during the Holy Week.
