All Saints and All Souls

When: Every year on November 1 (All Saints) and November 2 (All Souls)

On November 1 many Christians remember the saints, people who loved God and other people well. On November 2 many remember everyone who has died, including family and friends. Both days are about remembering with love and hope.

Where it came from

From very early on, Christians remembered the martyrs, people who were killed for their faith. They gathered at the martyrs' graves on the day of their death. By the 300s and 400s, churches in the East kept a day for all the martyrs and saints together.

In Rome, around the year 609 or 610, a great old temple called the Pantheon was given to the church and set apart for Mary and all the martyrs. Later, Rome came to keep All Saints on November 1, and over the next centuries the day spread across the western church.

All Souls Day grew out of the old Christian habit of praying for the dead. In the year 998, Abbot Odilo of Cluny, in France, asked all the monasteries in his care to remember the dead on November 2. Other churches followed. So November 1 and 2 came to belong together.

How it is kept around the world

• Poland. On November 1 whole families visit cemeteries and light candles on the graves. At night, the cemeteries glow.
• Spain and Italy. Families bring flowers, often chrysanthemums, to graves. Bakeries make special sweets, such as marzipan “saints' bones” (huesos de santo) in Spain.
• France. On La Toussaint, people place chrysanthemums on graves. Because of this, these flowers are not usually given as gifts there.
• Mexico and Latin America. Families remember the dead with altars, food and marigolds. See the page on Día de Muertos.
• The Philippines. Families clean the graves, light candles, share food and spend the day together at the cemetery. See the page on Undas.
• Many Protestant churches. Churches keep All Saints Sunday, often the first Sunday of November. They give thanks for believers of every age and often read the names of members who died in the past year.
• Orthodox churches. The Sunday after Pentecost is the Sunday of All Saints. Orthodox Christians also keep “Souls Saturdays” during the year to pray for the dead.

Christians differ

Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican Christians honour the saints, ask them to pray for them, and pray for the dead. Most Protestants honour the saints as examples of faith and give thanks for them, but do not pray to them. Many Protestants use the word “saints” for all believers, as the apostle Paul does in his letters.

Some Christians do not keep these days at all, and some Protestants keep Reformation Day on October 31 instead. Christians also differ about what happens after death and about whether prayers for the dead help. Families can share what they believe, and listen kindly to others.

Do it together

Ages 0 to 2

• Look at a photo of someone your family loves and say their name out loud.
• Light a battery candle together (never a real flame near little hands) and say “thank you” for people who love us.
• Sing a quiet song. The words do not matter; the calm does.

Ages 3 to 5

• Draw a picture of someone kind in your family or church. Tell a grown-up why you chose them.
• Visit a garden or a family grave with a grown-up. Leave a flower and say what you remember.
• Make a “people who helped me” page and add a name each day for a week.

Ages 6 to 8

• Learn the story of one saint, such as Nicholas, Lucy, Francis or Patrick, and tell it to someone.
• Make a paper lantern for the evening. Say one thing you are thankful for as you light it (battery lights are safest).
• Ask a grandparent about someone they remember and write down one story.

Ages 9 to 12

• Interview a grandparent or an older friend about someone who has died, and write a short “remembering” card.
• Find out if your church, town or school is named after a saint, and why.
• Read Hebrews 12:1 about a “great cloud of witnesses” and talk about who is in yours.

Ages 13 to 17

• Read about one person from the last century whom many Christians honour, such as Óscar Romero, Maximilian Kolbe or Dietrich Bonhoeffer. What did they stand for? What did it cost?
• Notice the different ways Christians treat these days. What do you think each tradition is trying to protect?
• Write a letter you will not send to someone you miss.

A short prayer

God, thank you for the people who loved us and have died. Keep them in your love. Help us to love well today. Amen.

Mark as done

Where this comes from

• Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 946 to 962 (the communion of saints) and 1032 (prayer for the dead)
• F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2005), entries “All Saints' Day” and “All Souls' Day”
• Ronald Hutton, The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (Oxford University Press, 1996), on 1 and 2 November
• The Book of Common Prayer (Episcopal Church, 1979), the feast of All Saints and the Burial Office
• The Dougy Center for Grieving Children and Families, guidance on talking with children about death

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.