All Saints' Day

All Saints' Day
a church festival celebrated November 1 in honor of all the saints; Allhallows.
[1570-80]

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In Christianity, a day commemorating all the saints of the church, known and unknown.

It is celebrated on November 1 in the Western churches and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Eastern churches. The first general observance of All Saints' Day was ordered by Pope Gregory IV in 837. In medieval England the festival was called All Hallows, and its eve is still known as Halloween.

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 in the Christian church, a day commemorating all the saints of the church, both known and unknown, celebrated on November 1 in the Western churches and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Eastern churches. Its origin cannot be traced with certainty, and it has been observed on various days in different places. A feast of all martyrs was kept on May 13 in the Eastern church according to Ephraem Syrus (d. c. 373), which may have determined the choice of May 13 by Pope Boniface IV (Boniface IV, Saint) when he dedicated the Pantheon in Rome as a church in honour of the Blessed Virgin and all martyrs in 609. The first evidence for the November 1 date of celebration and of the broadening of the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs occurred during the reign of Pope Gregory III (Gregory III, Saint) (731–741), who dedicated a chapel in St. Peter's, Rome, on November 1 in honour of all saints. In 800, All Saints' Day was kept by Alcuin on November 1, and it also appeared in a 9th-century English calendar on that day. In 837 Pope Gregory IV ordered its general observance. In medieval England, the festival was known as All Hallows, and its eve is still known as Halloween.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • All Saints' Day — • Celebrated on the first of November. Instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful s celebration of saints feasts during the year Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • All Saints' Day — also All Hallows Day 1 November, when Christian churches remember all the ↑saints …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • All Saints' Day — All′ Saints ′ Day n. rel a church festival celebrated Nov. 1 in honor of all the saints; Allhallows • Etymology: 1570–80 …   From formal English to slang

  • All Saints' Day — ► NOUN ▪ a Christian festival in honour of all the saints, held (in the Western Church) on 1 November …   English terms dictionary

  • All Saints' Day — n. an annual church festival (Nov. 1) in honor of all the saints …   English World dictionary

  • All Saints' Day — noun a Christian feast day honoring all the saints; first observed in 835 • Syn: ↑Allhallows, ↑November 1, ↑Hallowmas, ↑Hallowmass • Hypernyms: ↑holy day of obligation • Part Holonyms: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • All Saints' Day — (1 November)    Germany and England began celebrating a feast of all martyrs and saints on 1 November in the 8th century, instead of on 13 May, as was done in Rome; eventually the rest of Western Christendom also adopted the November date.… …   A Dictionary of English folklore

  • all-saints' day — All Hallow, All Hallows, All Hallowmas, Hallowmas, the first of November, All Saints …   New dictionary of synonyms

  • All Saints' Day — noun In Christian tradition, the annual feast day celebrating the life of all saints on the first day of November. Syn: All Hallows Day …   Wiktionary

  • All Saints' Day —    A Feast held on November 1, in commemoration of all saints of the Church who are not commemorated on other days. This Festival is very dear to the hearts of Christians. It is a day full of touching memories, when in the Holy Eucharist we… …   American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia

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