All Saints' Day
The vigil of this feast is popularly called "Hallowe'en" or "Halloween" = hallowed eve of.
The solemnity celebrated on the first of November is for all the martyrs (saints) of the Catholic Church. The Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, initially appointed a common day for all. Thus November 1st was instituted to honor all the saints, known and unknown, according to Urban IV (1261-64).
In the early days the Christians celebrated individual days corresponding to the martyr's death - and at the place of martyrdom. But in the persecution of Diocletian the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each, thus one day was assigned to represent all. Enter November 1st.
This idea of one day is old though - mentioned in a sermon of St. Ephrem the Syrian (373), and in the 74th homily of St. John Chrysostom (407).
Why this history lesson? Only because my mind wandered ... [it does that a lot lately] LOL
Today is my son's birthday and I am always reminded that it is All Saints Day when I recall a trip to Germany several years ago. Three of us decided to go to Newschwanstein Castle that day - only to find it closed because of the religious holiday. We did get to see the older castle, which was cool. I do love anything medieval!
We also got lost on the way, ended up in Austria - but I digress :)
So Jaime, Happy Birthday and I'll be calling you soon.
And Happy Birthday to all the November Ones out there too!
Tags: "Nov 1" "All Saints Day" Birthday
