OCTOBER 2022

RELIGION
All Saints Day
BY SARAH KITTLE
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Every year on November 1, Catholics
of all walks celebrate All
Saints Day, a day set aside for
the observance of saints. It closely follows
Halloween, a huge holiday in the
United States. Would it surprise you to
know that Halloween, an evening when
kids dress up as ghosts and ghouls, was
originally a Christian holiday?
“Hallow” in Old English means
“holy” or “sacred.” Halloween, also
known as All Hallows Eve, simply
means “the evening of holy persons.”
According to Christianity.com, Halloween
as observed in the U.S. today is
a mixture of Celtic religious ideas and
Christian martyrology.
The origin
In 607 A.D., the Eastern Roman
Emperor Phocas gifted
Pope Boniface IV a Roman
Pantheon and granted
permission to turn it into a
Christian church. According
to Bede’s Ecclesiastical
History, Boniface IV had the
pagan temple ritualistically
purified and, “once its company
of devils had been cast out,” it was
renamed the church of Saint Mary of the
Martyrs (or the St. Maria Rotunda).
As a result, the ancient temple of
all the Roman gods was repurposed
into a Christian church that venerated
martyrs and saints. Those who trace
the history of All Saint’s Day attribute
this building with the beginnings of the
observance. In the eighth century, Pope
Gregory III changed the date to November
1 when he dedicated a chapel at the
Vatican in honor of all the saints.
What is a saint?
What makes one a saint? The United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops
defines saints as “persons in heaven
(officially canonized or not), who lived
heroically virtuous lives, offered their
life for others, or were martyred for the
faith, and who are worthy of imitation.”
Saints are people we look to for
inspiration, whom we model our lives
after. But canonized saints aren’t the
only ones we remember on All Saints
Day, explains Father Ayala, Director of
Liturgy at the Basilica of the National
Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
“When we pray the Apostles’ Creed,
we say, ‘I believe in…the communion of
saints,’” says Fr. Ayala. “The communion
of saints is made up of men and
women who have placed their hope in
Jesus Christ and through Baptism, are
his adopted sons and daughters.”
How we celebrate
One great tradition and practice associated
with the Solemnity of All Saints
is going to Mass – it is, after all, a Holy
Day of Obligation! Every time we go to
Pope Boniface and Emperor Phocas
in front of Roman Pantheon.
Mass, we remember the saints in a special
way in the Eucharist. All Saints Day
comes from a conviction that there is
a spiritual connection between those
in Heaven and on Earth. During Mass,
the Beatitudes are read and prayers are
said for the saints. Many people visit
gravesites of loved ones and relatives
to pay tribute and remember those who
have passed on to heaven.
Other traditional activities for All
Saints Day come as no surprise: reading
and learning about the saints, praying to
the saints – especially one’s confirmation
saint – and asking for their intercession
so that we, too might become saints.
To illustrate the point, Fr. Ayala
shared one of his favorite quotations,
from Saint (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta:
“holiness is not the luxury of a few people,
but a simple duty for you and me.”
As Halloween approaches this
year, remember the reason for the
holiday (holy day) and say a little
prayer to the souls of those we have
loved and lost.
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OCTOBER 2022 CHALDEAN NEWS 17