All Souls' Day

All Souls' Day is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed by Christians on 2 November. 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 and All Hallows' Eve. 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 commemorate all the faithful departed on the Friday before Lent. 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. 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.

In other languages

Known in Latin as Commemoratio Omnium Fidelium Defunctorum, All Souls' Day is known

in other Germanic languages as Allerseelen, Allerzielen, Alla själars dag, and Alle Sjæles Dag ;
in the Romance languages as Dia de Finados or Dia dos Fiéis Defuntos, Commémoration de tous les fidèles Défunts, Día de los Fieles Difuntos, Commemorazione di tutti i fedeli defunti, and Ziua morților or Luminația ;
in the Slavic languages as Wspomnienie Wszystkich Wiernych Zmarłych or Zaduszki, Vzpomínka na všechny věrné zesnulé, Památka zesnulých or Dušičky, Pamiatka zosnulých or Dušičky, Spomen svih vjernih mrtvih, and День всех усопших верных or День поминовения всех усопших
in the or Visų Šventųjų Diena
in
and in.
Background

In Evangelical-Lutheranism and Anglicanism, the "faithful" refers to "all true believers on earth and in heaven, both living and dead" and during Allhallowtide, the "faithful departed" are revered. In Evangelical Lutheranism, "the whole people of God in Christ Jesus" are seen as saints and All Souls' Day commemorates those believers who have died as the 'faithful departed'.
In the Catholic Church, "the faithful" refers essentially to baptized Catholics; "all souls" commemorates the church penitent of souls in purgatory, whereas "all saints" commemorates the church triumphant of saints in heaven. In the liturgical books of the Latin Church it is called the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. The Catholic Church teaches that the purification of the souls in purgatory can be assisted by the actions of the faithful on earth. Its teaching is based also on the practice of prayer for the dead mentioned as far back as 2 Maccabees 12:42–46. The theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the Beatific vision, and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers, alms, deeds, and especially by the sacrifice of the Holy Mass.
The United Protestant tradition emphasizes "the Christian belief in bodily resurrection and eternal life" in observances of All Souls' Day.
All Souls' Day is seen by many Christian leaders are one in which ecumenism is celebrated, given that believers from various denominations collectively visit Christian cemeteries that are interdenominational in nature. Christians from the Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Methodist and Baptist denominations often come together to clean, repair and then decorate graveyards together. The use of candles by Christians symbolized the light of Christ and the use of lamps at the tombs of Christian martyrs dates back to the early Christian period. Ecumenical prayer services are often held at Christian cemeteries on All Souls' Day.

Observance by Christian denomination

Western Christianity

History

In Western Christianity, there is ample evidence of the custom of praying for the dead in the inscriptions of the catacombs, with their constant prayers for the peace of the souls of the departed and in the early liturgies, which commonly contain commemorations of the dead. Tertullian, Cyprian and other early Western Fathers witness to the regular practice of praying for the dead among the early Christians.
In the sixth century, it was customary in Benedictine monasteries to hold a commemoration of the deceased members at Whitsuntide. In the time of St. Isidore of Seville who lived in what is today Spain, the Monday after Pentecost was designated to remember the deceased. At the beginning of the ninth century, Abbot Eigil of Fulda set 17 December as commemoration of all deceased in part of what is today Germany.
According to Widukind of Corvey, there also existed a ceremony praying for the dead on 1 October in Saxony. But it was the day after All Saints' Day that Saint Odilo of Cluny chose when in the 11th century he instituted for all the monasteries dependent on the Abbey of Cluny an annual commemoration of all the faithful departed, to be observed with alms, prayers, and sacrifices for the relief of the suffering souls in purgatory. Odilo decreed that those requesting a Mass be offered for the departed should make an offering for the poor, thus linking almsgiving with fasting and prayer for the dead.
The 2 November date and customs spread from the Cluniac monasteries to other Benedictine monasteries and thence to the Western Church in general. The Diocese of Liège was the first diocese to adopt the practice under Bishop Notger. 2 November was adopted in Italy and Rome in the thirteenth century.
In the 15th century the Dominicans instituted a custom of each priest offering three Masses on the Feast of All Souls. During World War I, given the great number of war dead and the many destroyed churches where Mass could no longer be said, Pope Benedict XV, granted all priests the privilege of offering three Masses on All Souls' Day.

Roman Catholicism

If 2 November falls on a Sunday, All Souls' Day is observed on that day. In the Liturgy of the Hours of All Souls' Day, the sequence Dies irae can be used ad libitum. Every priest is allowed to celebrate three holy Masses on All Souls' Day.
In Divine Worship: The Missal, used by members of the Anglican Ordinariates, the minor propers are those used for Renaissance and Classical musical requiem settings, including the Dies Irae. This permits the performance of traditional requiem settings in the context of the Divine Worship Form of the Roman Rite on All Souls' Day as well as at funerals, votive celebrations of all faithful departed, and anniversaries of deaths.
In the ordinary form of the Roman Rite, as well as in the Personal Ordinariates established by Benedict XVI for former Anglicans, it remains on 2 November if this date falls on a Sunday; in the 1962–1969 form of the Roman Rite, use of which is still authorized, it is transferred to Monday, 3 November.
According to the sacred tradition of the Catholic Church, from 1 to 8 November it is possible to gain a plenary indulgence for the benefit of the souls of the departed who are in Purgatory. According to the Enchiridion of Indulgences, a plenary indulgence applicable only to the souls in purgatory is granted to the faithful who devoutly visit a cemetery and pray for the dead. The plenary indulgence can be gained between the second and ninth days of Allhallowtide ; a partial indulgence is granted on other days of the year. In order to gain the plenary indulgence, the Christian must have received confession and absolution and the eucharist twenty days before or after visiting the graveyard, in addition to praying for the intentions of the Pope.
A plenary indulgence, applicable only to the poor souls, can be obtained by visiting a church, chapel or oratory on All Souls' Day and praying the Lord's Prayer there, along with the Apostle's Creed, Athanasian Creed or Nicene Creed. Alternatively, Christians can pray the Lauds or Vespers of the Office of the Dead and the Eternal Rest prayer for the dead.

Evangelical-Lutheran Churches

All Souls Day is observed in the Evangelical-Lutheran Churches. During Luther's lifetime, All Souls' Day was widely observed in Saxony; ecclesiastically in the Lutheran Church, the day was merged with and is often seen as an extension of All Saints' Day, with many Lutherans still visiting and decorating graves on all the days of Allhallowtide, including All Souls' Day. In the Lutheran Churches, "the whole people of God in Christ Jesus" are seen as saints and All Souls' Day commemorates those believers who have died as the 'faithful departed'. Just as it is the custom of French people, of all ranks and creeds, to decorate the graves of their dead on the jour des morts, Germans come to the graveyards on All Souls' Day with offerings of flowers and special grave lights. In Sweden, an Evangelical-Lutheran country, "people gather in churches lit with candles and decorated with wreaths to remember their loved ones" and "also visit cemeteries and leave special lanterns on people's graves that burn well into the night." An Evangelical Lutheran prayer said on All Souls' Day is as follows:

Anglican Communion

In the Church of England it is called The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed and is an optional celebration; Anglicans view All Souls' Day as an extension of the observance of All Saints' Day and it serves to "remember those who have died", in connection with the theological doctrines of the resurrection of the body and the Communion of Saints.
In the Anglican Communion, All Souls' Day is known liturgically as the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed, and is an optional observance seen as "an extension of All Saints' Day", the latter of which marks the second day of Allhallowtide. Historically and at present, several Anglican churches are dedicated to All Souls. During the English Reformation, the observance of All Souls' Day lapsed, although a new Anglican theological understanding of the day has "led to a widespread acceptance of this commemoration among Anglicans". Patricia Bays, with regard to the Anglican view of All Souls' Day, wrote that:
As such, Anglican parishes "now commemorate all the faithful departed in the context of the All Saints' Day celebration", in keeping with this fresh perspective. Contributing to the revival was the need "to help Anglicans mourn the deaths of millions of soldiers in World War I". Members of the Guild of All Souls, an Anglican devotional society founded in 1873, "are encouraged to pray for the dying and the dead, to participate in a requiem of All Souls' Day and say a Litany of the Faithful Departed at least once a month".
At the Reformation the celebration of All Souls' Day was fused with All Saints' Day in the Church of England or, in the judgement of some, it was "deservedly abrogated". It was reinstated in certain parishes in connection with the Oxford Movement of the 19th century and is acknowledged in United States Anglicanism in the Holy Women, Holy Men calendar and in the Church of England with the 1980 Alternative Service Book. It features in Common Worship as a Lesser Festival called "Commemoration of the Faithful Departed ".