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Happy All Saints’ Day - All Souls’ Day!

Dear Friends in Christ, greetings! The following excerpt summarizes how I would describe All Saints’ Day - All Souls’ Day! I hope you would all enjoy and engage in this short read in anticipation of this early November celebration. 

Ever wondered about the origin or meaning of any or all of these holy/holi-days? What’s the connection and what’s the difference between these late October – early November celebrations? Britannica online provides the following background:
Halloween is a contraction of All Hallows’ Eve, a holiday observed on October 31, the
evening before All Saints’ (or All Hallows’) Day. The celebration marks the day before the
Western Christian feast of All Saints and initiates the season of All Hallowtide, which lasts three days and concludes with All Souls ‘Day. In much of Europe and most of North America, observance of Halloween is largely nonreligious….

Halloween had its origins in the festival of Samhain among the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. On the day corresponding to November 1 on contemporary calendars, the new year was
believed to begin. That date was considered the beginning of the winter period, the date on
which the herds were returned from pasture fall. Music can bring on some very deep thoughts.
Listening to a musical called “The Last Ship” by Sting is one of them. A bit of background about him and land tenures were renewed. 

During the Samhain festival the souls of those who had died were believed to return to visit their
homes, and those who had died during the year were believed to journey to the other world. People set bonfires on hilltops for relighting their hearth fires for the winter and to frighten away evil spirits, and they sometimes wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by the ghosts thought to be present. It was in those ways that beings such as witches, hobgoblins, fairies, and demons came to be associated with the day….
In the 7th century CE Pope Boniface IV established All Saints’ Day, originally on May 13, and in the following century, perhaps in an effort to supplant the pagan holiday with a Christian observance, it was moved to November 1. The evening before All Saints’ Day became a holy, or hallowed, eve and thus Halloween. By the end of the Middle Ages, the secular and the sacred days had merged. The Reformation essentially put an end to the religious holiday among Protestants, although in Britain especially, Halloween continued to be celebrated as a secular holiday.

All Saints’ Day is one of seven principal feasts observed in the Anglican Church; in addition,
to its designated date of Nov. 1, All Saints may also be celebrated on the Sunday following, which is our practice. It originated as a celebration of martyrs and has broadened to include all the saints (those living on earth and in heaven) of every age.

All Souls’ Day is a lesser commemoration of all the faithful departed, including those near
and dear to us. As God’s beloved children, we are all chosen and called to reveal God’s
nearness and grace; thus, we too may lay claim to the status of saint.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every
weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set
before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

 (Hebrews 12:1-2) - CREDIT: Jennifer Sisson

With gratitude and blessings,

The Reverend Wilson Akinwale