Allhallowtide,[1] Hallowtide,[2] Allsaintstide,[3] or the Hallowmas season[4][5] is the Western Christian season encompassing the triduum of All Saints' Eve (Halloween), All Saints' Day (All Hallows') and All Souls' Day,[6][7][8] as well as the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (observed on the first Sunday of November) and Remembrance Sunday (observed on the second Sunday in November) in some traditions.[9][10][11] The period begins on 31 October annually.[12] Allhallowtide is a "time to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints, and all faithful departed Christians."[13] The present date of Hallowmas (All Saints' Day) and thus also of its vigil (Hallowe'en) was established for Rome perhaps by Pope Gregory III (731–741) and was made of obligation throughout the Frankish Empire by Louis the Pious in 835.[14] Elsewhere, other dates were observed even later, with the date in Ireland being 20 April.[15] In the early 11th century, the modern date of All Souls' Day was popularized, after Abbot Odilo established it as a day for the monks of Cluny and associated monasteries to pray for the dead.[16]
Just as the term "Eastertide" expresses for us the whole of the church services and ancient customs attached to the festival of Easter, from Palm Sunday until Easter Monday, so does All-hallowtide include for us all the various customs, obsolete and still observed, of Halloween, All Saints' and All Souls' Days. From the 31st of October until the morning of the 3d of November, this period of three days, known as All-hallowtide, is full of traditional and legendary lore.
Hallowtide covers the three days – 31 October (All-Hallows Eve or Hallowe'en), 1 November (All Saints) and 2 November (All Souls).
Together, the three celebrations-the eve of All Saints' Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day-were called Hallowmas.
The relics related to departed saints were placed on display during the Hallowmas season and special blessings were often promised for the veneration of these relics. In those towns and villages that were too small or poor to host a display of relics, a tradition arose which honored the lives of devoted believers by dressing like and impersonating them. Among some contemporary Christians, similar efforts have been used for the sake of appreciation rather than veneration or worship.
All Saints' Day is the centerpiece of an autumn triduum. In the carnival celebrations of All Hallows' Eve our ancestors used the most powerful weapon in the hoomans arsenal, the power of humor and ridicule to confront the power of death. The following day, in the commemoration of All Saints, we gave witness to the victory of incarnate goodness embodied in remarkable deeds and doers triumphing over the misantrhopy of darkness and devils. And in the commemoration of All Souls we proclaimed the hope of common mortality expressed in our aspirations and expectations of a shared eternity.
The custom of visiting and cleaning the graves of one's ancestors is still practiced in Poland today on All Hallows (All Saints) Day, 1st November, part of a triduum in the Catholic Church of commemorations of the dead.
The celebrations on the eve of All Saints, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day (the three were referred to as Hallowmas) spread throughout Europe. From the British Isles to France to Poland and Italy, the religious remembrance of the ancestral dead became an annual celebration of major importance.
Take, for example, another November classic, għadam tal-mejtin: a layer of marzipan sandwiched between sweet pastry and topped with white sugar icing. Its name, literally "bones of the dead," is a (rather sweet) reminder of the beginning of Allhallowtide, the Christian liturgical season encompassing the triduum of All Saints Eve, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day, followed by the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (which is observed on the first Sunday of November) and the subsequent Remembrance Sunday (observed on the second Sunday in November).
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was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Dyroff
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Thus Pope Boniface IV created All Saints Day, known as "All Hallomas" in old English, which was celebrated on November 1. Since Samhain was the day before, it became known as "All Hallows Eve," the origin of the word, "Halloween." The Church furthered its control of All Hallows Eve in the year 1000 A.D. by designating November 2 as All Souls' Day, which was celebrated very similarly to Samhain, with bonfires, parades and costumes. Soon all three holidays became one celebration known as Hallowmas.
Halloween or Hallowe'en, is the yearly celebration on October 31st that signifies the first day of Allhallowtide, being the time to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints and all faithful departed Christians.
the Felire of Oengus and the Martyrology of Tallaght prove that the early medieval churches [in Ireland] celebrated the feast of All Saints on 20 April