By Luke Luedy
Staff Writer
We buy chocolates and flowers for Valentine’s Day, we go crazy for the color green on St. Patrick’s Day, we buy truckloads of candy for Halloween, but we do none of this for All Saint’s Day.
This is largely due in part to large corporations seeing easy money. In every store across the nation you’ll hear Christmas music playing during December, or see decorative Easter bunnies during April. As such, we tend to focus more on the bigger holidays and forget the smaller ones.
Unfortunately, All Saints’ Day falls under this category. For many, it’s simply a holy day of obligation, a one and done Mass. Since the holiday is sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas, people’s attentions are usually focused on those celebrations instead.
Yet, as with most things in the Catholic faith, All Saints’ Day is more important and deeper than we realize.
This year, as is tradition, All Saints’ Day took place on Nov. 1. Christians across the globe have observed the holiday for centuries, with its origins dating back to the fourth century. All Saints’ Day recognizes the countless saints of the faith and their associated relics.
The holiday is actually part of a triduum (three-day religious observance) known as Allhallowtide. All Hallow’s Eve comes before on October 31st, and All Souls’ Day after on November 2nd. The former would eventually morph into the Halloween that we know today.
As such, there’s some slight thematic overlap between Halloween and All Saints’ Day, although the religious sentiment has been diluted over time. In Western Europe, it was common for Christians on All Hallow’s Eve to go door-to-door asking for soul cakes for the commemoration of departed souls. This may have been the origins of trick-or-treating.
All Saints’ Day focuses on the souls of saints who have reached heaven, while All Souls’ Day remembers all who have died.
According to Catholic Online, an online website specializing in Catholic information, the tradition started in Rome. Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to Mary, as well as all the Christian martyrs in 609 A.D. In addition, he also established All Souls’ Day.
Interestingly, Boniface’s Christian dedication to a pagan site begun a similar trend across the Mediterranean. According to EWTN Global Catholic Network, one of the largest religious media networks in the world, churches were built over pagan sites. St. Peter’s Basilica, located in Vatican City, is a prominent example of this. It was constructed over the remains of a Roman circus.
Centuries later, Pope Gregory III established the holiday as a time to honor the saints. He also bumped up the holiday’s date to where it is currently, Nov. 1. All Saints’ Day, originally, was celebrated around May 13.
But what of its importance? How is the holiday relevant to us?
Today, it’s incredibly easy to be discouraged. The state of the world, our nation, or even just our own lives can weigh heavy on us.
And while, certainly, things aren’t exactly sunshine and roses currently, we must never lose hope. In the darkest of times can we shine the brightest. All Saints’ Day reminds us of that hope.
If you’re in need of an example, look no further than some notable saints.
St. Joan of Arc was called on by God to protect her French homeland from the British during the Hundred Years’ War. St. Lawernce was executed when Roman officials ordered him to relinquish the Church’s treasures but he instead gave them to the needy. St. Maximilian Kolbe was given a lethal injection after selflessly offering to take the place of a prisoner at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
We are called to be like Christ, to transcend our limitations to perform His will, to spread His love. This may seem like a daunting task, but it’s not.
As over 10,000 saints across Catholicism’s existence had done so, there’s a chance that we may be added to that number one day. We just have to hold our heads up high, and never give up hope.