All Saints' Day

All Saints' Day is celebrated by Catholic Christians on November 1. In France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, people bring flowers to the graves of dead relatives. In Austria, Croatia, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia the tradition is to light candles and visit the graves of deceased relatives. In the Philippines, the day is spent visiting the graves of deceased relatives, where they offer prayers, lay flowers, and light candles.

All Saints' Day at a cemetery in Gniezno, Poland By Diego Delso

The English word "saint" comes from the Latin "sanctus". The word translated the Greek "hagios" meaning "to set apart", "to sanctify", or "to make holy."

In the New Testament, "saint" did not denote the deceased who had been recognized as especially holy or emulable, but rather the living faithful who had dedicated themselves to God.

By the 7th century the commemoration of martyrs for the faith had become widespread and on May 13, 609 Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon at Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, dedicating it to the Virgin Mary and all martyrs. The feast of the dedication Sanctae Mariae ad Martyres has been celebrated at Rome ever since. 

As time went on these celebrations came to include not only the martyrs but all saints. During the late 8th century, lay religious scholar Alcuin of York used his influence with Charlemagne to introduce the Irish-Northumbrian celebration of the Feast of All Saints to the Frankish Kingdom.

In 837 Pope Gregory IV established the first celebration of All Saints' Day , also known as All Hallows' Day on November 1st to honor the saints, choosing the first day of November to counter a Celtic festival of the dead, known as Samhain celebrated the night before. However the Celtic festival did not die out and in medieval Britain it became known as All Hallows (All Saints) Eve, and later Halloween became more widely used.