Faith and Mission

All Saints Day

Every year on November 1, many Roman Catholics and other Christians around the world observe All Saints Day, which honors all saints of the church deemed to have attained heaven. Pope Boniface IV formally started what would later be known as All Saints Day on 13 May in 609 AD when he dedicated the Pantheon in Rome as a church in honor of the Virgin Mary and all martyrs. The current date of 1 November was established by Pope Gregory III during his reign (731-741 AD) when he dedicated a chapel in Rome's St. Peter's Basilica in honor of all saints.

While many canonized saints are celebrated with their own individual feast days (such as St. Patrick), saints that have not been canonized have no particular holiday. All Saints' Day recognizes those whose sainthood is known only to God. Even so, Catholic observances tend to focus on known saints, those canonized by the Catholic Church. 

All Saints’ Day is an opportune time to consider the example saints offer us today and to reflect on how we can imitate their holiness. As Pope Benedict XVI remarked in 2011, All Saints’ Day calls us “to see the Church… as Christ wanted it, that is, as the communion of saints”.

Leo McInerney 

Assistant to the Principal - Faith and Mission