All Saints’ Day, also known as “All Saints’ Day”, is a holiday with which Christians, Catholic and Orthodox, celebrate the saints for whom there is no specific day in the calendar. The festival, which occurs every year on November 1st, originates from the cult of saints, attested since the first century AD and, to a more complete extent, from the fourth century, when the veneration of martyrs became established.
The first celebration of All Saints’ Day, which originally fell in May, is also attested in the 4th century: the date of November 1st was instead chosen in the 8th century by Pope Gregory III. Since then, the celebration has gained great popularity and today in many Catholic countries it is also a civil holiday. The traditions linked to the celebration derive largely from the fact that the anniversary is contiguous to the Commemoration of the Dead, which falls on November 2nd. For this reason, the most widespread custom on November 1st is to visit your relatives in the cemetery.
Why All Saints Day is celebrated: the meaning
The cult of saints is widespread in Christianity and, in different forms and measures, is also present in other religions, such as Judaism and Islam.
In Christianity, the cult of saints is very ancient: already in the 1st century AD, shortly after the birth of the new creed, the cult of the apostles established itself alongside the cult of Jesus. In the following centuries the veneration of martyrs spread. As we know, in the first centuries Christianity was an “illegal” religion and the faithful suffered numerous persecutions by the Roman authorities. Those killed for their faith, known as martyrs (literally meaning “witnesses”), became objects of veneration. The cult established itself starting from the 4th century, when Christianity was legalized (by the Edict of Milan of Constantine, 313 AD) and later proclaimed the sole religion of the empire (Edict of Thessalonica of Theodosius, 380 AD). Since it was no longer necessary to hide the Christian cult, the Church was able to encourage the cult of the martyrs. More specifically, Pope Damasus I, in office from 366 to 384, ordered the catacombs (i.e. the underground places where Christians were buried in the first centuries) to be restored and the tombs of the martyrs to be traced. As the years passed, the cult of saints who had not been martyred, but had distinguished themselves for their profession of faith or other qualities also became established.
The Catholic Church, however, only allows the veneration of saints, and not adoration, which is reserved for God.
Why All Saints Day is celebrated on November 1st: the origins
The celebration of All Saints, also known as All Saints’ Day, falls on November 1 and is observed in Catholic countries and in those where some other Christian denominations, such as the Orthodox, are prevalent. It is not recognized in Protestant countries. It celebrates all the saints, both canonized (officially recognized) and anonymous ones, who lived in daily holiness and are already saints in Heaven, even if no one knows them by name. The idea of dedicating a day to the celebration of saints and martyrs emerged as early as the 4th century: the first celebrations of the anniversary are attested in Antioch, a city in Syria, as reported by two authors, Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Ephrem the Syrian, according to whom the celebration was held on the Sunday following Pentecost. The celebration spread to a greater extent in the following centuries.
On 13 May 609 (or 610, according to other sources) the Pantheon of Rome was consecrated as a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin and all the martyrs, with the name of Sancta Maria ad Martyres. In the following decades, the anniversary of the consecration may have become the occasion to remember all the saints. Later, Pope Gregory III (731-741) moved the celebration to November 1, the date of the consecration of an oratory in the old St. Peter’s Basilica which housed numerous relics. The choice also responded to the desire to replace ancient pagan cults: on that very day, in fact, San Cesario di Terracina was celebrated, a figure associated with the Roman emperors and traditions that the pope intended to overcome.
The fact is that, since then, the celebration of All Saints’ Day has gained great popularity. In the 9th century the ruler of the Franks, Louis the Pious, ordered that it be considered a feast of obligation, that is, a day on which all the faithful are required to participate in mass, as it still is today; in the 15th century Pope Sixtus IV gave the anniversary an octave, that is, he established that the following eight days were to be considered holidays. The octave was abolished by the Second Vatican Council, but the celebration of the anniversary has not lost its importance.
How All Saints’ Day is celebrated in Italy and around the world: the traditions
Today the feast of All Saints is popular throughout the Catholic world and also in some countries where other Christian denominations prevail. In several Catholic countries, including Italy, it is considered a civil holiday, with schools and offices closed.
The traditions of All Saints’ Day are connected to All Souls’ Day, which falls on November 2. In Italy and other countries it is tradition to visit the deceased in cemeteries, often taking care of embellishing the tombs with flowers and votive lamps. The tradition is widespread throughout Catholic Europe and in many countries on the American continent. In Mexico, for example, November 1st is considered the first day of commemoration of the deceased and is dedicated to children who died at an early age (while November 2nd is dedicated to the commemoration of deceased adults).
In the United States and Canada, the Christian celebration of All Saints’ Day partly influenced the birth of the name of the Halloween holiday, which however has its origins in the more ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the beginning of winter. Over time, the anniversary took on an above all secular and popular character. In Italy, November 1st is also the name day of those who bear a name adespota, that is, not linked to a saint on the calendar.
