All Souls' Day

For other uses, see All Souls' Day (novel) and All Souls Day (film).
"Holy Souls" redirects here. For other uses, see Holy Souls (disambiguation). "Faithful Departed" redirects here. For the Cranberries album, see To the Faithful Departed.

All Souls' Day
All Souls' Day by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Also called
  • Feast of All Souls
  • Defuncts' Day
  • Day of Remembrance
  • Commemoration of all the faithful departed
Observed by
Liturgical colorBlack, where it is tradition[1] (otherwise violet or purple)[1]or violet
TypeChristian
SignificanceFor the souls of all the faithful departed
Observances
  • Prayer for the departed
  • visits to cemeteries
  • decking of graves
  • special pastries and food
Date2 November
FrequencyAnnual
Related to

All Souls' Day, also called The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed,[2] is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed,[3] observed by Christians on 2 November.[4][5] In Western Christianity, including Roman Catholicism and certain parts of Lutheranism and Anglicanism, All Souls' Day is the third day of Allhallowtide, after All Saints' Day (1 November) and All Hallows' Eve (31 October).[6] Before the standardization of Western Christian observance on 2 November by St. Odilo of Cluny in the 10th century, many Roman Catholic congregations celebrated All Souls' Day on various dates during the Easter season as it is still observed in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Eastern Catholic churches and the Eastern Lutheran churches. Churches of the East Syriac Rite (Assyrian Church of the East, Ancient Church of the East, Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Chaldean Catholic Church) commemorate all the faithful departed on the Friday before Lent.[7] As with other days of the Allhallowtide season, popular practices for All Souls Day include attending Mass offered for the souls of the faithful departed, as well as Christian families visiting graveyards in order to pray and decorate their family graves with garlands, flowers, candles and incense.[8][9][10] Given that many Christian cemeteries are interdenominational in nature, All Souls Day observances often have an ecumenical dimension, with believers from various Christian denominations praying together and cooperating to adorn graves.[11][12]

  1. ^ a b General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 346
  2. ^ "The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls' Day)". Archived from the original on 25 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  3. ^ Bregman 2010, p. 45.
  4. ^ Cross & Livingstone 2005, p. 42.
  5. ^ Ball 2003, p. 33: All Souls' Day: The annual commemoration of all the faithful departed, 2 November.
  6. ^ Bannatyne 1998, p. 12.
  7. ^ "All Souls' Day: History, significance and all you need to know". The Economic Times. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  8. ^ "In South Asia, All Souls' Day is also a tribute to ecumenism". Union of Catholic Asian News. 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  9. ^ "All Saints Day and} All Souls Day". A Lutheran Layman. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  10. ^ Markussen 2013, p. 183.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference TOI2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Vatican2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).