This coming November 1st we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. It is a Holy Day of Obligation. It is dedicated to all the saints and martyrs of the Church, both known and unknown, throughout the Christian history. While most saints have a particular feast day on the Catholic calendar (usually, though not always, the date of their death), not all of those feast days are observed. And saints who have not been canonized—those who are in Heaven, but whose sainthood is only known to God—have no particular feast day, then this solemnity of all saints is for their celebration also.
Remembering saints and martyrs and dedicating a specific day to them each year has been a Christian tradition since the 4th century. However, it was not until 609 AD that Pope Boniface IV decided to remember all martyrs after he consecrated the Pantheon in Rome. Originally, the 13th of May was designated as the Feast of All Holy Martyrs but later, in 837AD, Pope Gregory IV extended the feast to remember all the saints, changed its name to Feast of All Saints, and changed the date to November 1st. Eventually, it became a Holy Day of Obligation.
Unfortunately, because the eve before All Saints Day is Halloween, it is the one more popularly remembered to be celebrated than all the saints to be honored. You will see homes and their yards decorated with creepy things or children who go door-to-door in costume, trick-or-treating in their neighborhoods. This holiday seemed to lose much of its connection to its religious origins.
It is important to remember these basic facts:
As in the previous years, we will celebrate two masses on November 1st - one at 8:00 A.M. and the other at 7:00 P.M. This provides an opportunity for those who are working to attend mass in observance of the Solemnity of All Saints. On November 2nd, we will also celebrate two masses, being that it is also First Friday. One at 8:00 A.M., our regular scheduled mass, and the other at 7:00 P.M. as the Mass of Remembrance for the deceased members of our parish and our loved ones.
I invite you to join us for any of the masses scheduled for November 1st and 2nd.