All Saints Day
by Hanh Vo

The Saints Day is a Christian holy day celebrated on November 1 by many western churches and on the first Sunday after Pentecost by many of the eastern churches. The day honors all the saints, even those not known by name.

The first All Saints day took place on May 13, 609 (C.E.) when Pope Boniface IV accepted the Pantheon as a gift from the Emperor Phocas. Pope Boniface dedicated the Pantheon as the Church of Santa Maria Rotonda in honor of the Blessed Virgin and all martyrs. During Pope Gregory III's reign, the festival was expanded to include all saints and a chapel in St. Peter's church was dedicated accordingly. Roman Catholics are required to attend Mass and to "abstain from needless servile work” on this day.

The All Saints Day origin lies in the common memorials of martyrs who died in groups or whose names were unknown, which were held on assorted days in different parts of the Church, over time these celebrations came to include not only the martyrs but all saints. During the Reformation the Protestant churches understood “saints” in its New Testament custom as including all believers and reinterpreted the feast of All Saints as a celebration of the unity of the entire Church. In medieval England the festival was known as All Hallows, thus the name Halloween.

All Saints Day is celebrated by Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans. However, because of their opposed understandings of the identity and function of the saints, what these churches do on the Feast of All Saints disagree widely. For Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and to some level, Anglicans, All Saints is a day to remember, thank God for, but also to honor and pray to the saints in heaven for various help. For Lutherans the day is observed by remembering and thanking God for all saints, both dead and living. It is a day to praise Jesus Christ, who by his holy life and death has made the saints holy through Baptism and faith.