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All Hallows’ Day, Hallowmas, Solemnity of all Saints, or what we simply call All Saints’ Day is observed every 1st of November.
All Saints’ Day is also called Feast of all Saints because it is during this day that we commemorate all the known and unknown saints, especially those who do not have a particular feast day. The celebration was established to have a common feast to honor all martyrs who died for their faith, and because there is not enough days to honor all of them.
All Saints Day dates back to 609 A.D. when Pope Boniface chose to remember all martyrs. It was originally celebrated on May 13 and was called as Feast of all Holy Martyrs; but on 837 A.D., Pope Gregory IV extended it to also remember all saints, renamed it to All Saint’s Day, and changed the date to November 1.
All Saints’ day in the Philippines is mistakenly interchanged with All Souls Day. All Souls Day is observed during November 2, it is a day to pray for all souls, and most of the prayers are offered for the souls that are in the purgatory waiting to enter the Kingdom of God. All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day are associated to one another, but they are two seperate occasions.
All Saint’s Day is a holy day of obligation which means we are expected to attend a mass, however when it falls on a Saturday or Monday then the obligation is revoked. Regardless of the day it falls under, during All Saints’ day, we are reminded to pray and called to live like a saint, to live like a son of God.
