All Saints' Day in Canada

Some churches in Canada have special All Saints' Day masses where people can engage in prayer and singing of hymns. ©iStockphoto.com/Zsolt Nyulaszi

What do people do?

People of different church denominations, especially the Catholic Church, observe All Saints' Day throughout Canada. For those who observe All Saints' Day, this event gives people a moment of reflection on the lives of saints, as well as a chance to pray for friends or family members who are deceased.

Some Canadians feel that All Saints' Day is an underrated event that is not observed by many people because it falls on the day after Halloween. Those who do observe All Saints' Day try to keep traditions alive by attending church services that focus on the day. Some churches hold special All Saints' Day masses with choirs, organ music and incense and hymns to celebrate the event.

Public life

All Saints’ Day is not a public holiday in Canada. However, some unions try to not to schedule union events around holidays such as All Saints' Day.

Background

According to some sources, the idea for All Saints' Day goes back to the fourth century when the Greek Christians kept a festival on the first Sunday after Pentecost (in late May or early June) in honor of all martyrs and saints. Other sources say that a commemoration of “All Martyrs” began to be celebrated as early as 270 CE but no specific month or date is recorded. Pope Gregory IV made All Saints' Day an authorized holiday in 837 CE. It is speculated that the chosen date for the event, November 1, may have been an attempt to supplant the pagan Festival of the Dead (also known as Samhain or the feast of Saman, lord of death). All Saints' Day is closely tied with All Souls' Day, which was first instituted at the monastery in Cluny in 993 CE and quickly spread among Christians.

Symbols

Symbols commonly associated with All Saints’ Day are:

• A sheaf of wheat.
• Rayed Manus Dei (hand of God).
• The crown.
• Symbols (including images) of individual saints.

 The liturgical color is white on All Saints' Day.

About All Saints' Day in other countries

All Saints' Day Observances

Related holidays

• Halloween–Saturday, October 31, 2009
• All Souls' Day–Monday, November 2, 2009

Other holidays in November 2009 in Canada

• Daylight Saving Time ends (Sunday, November 1, 2009)
• All Souls' Day (Monday, November 2, 2009)
• Remembrance Day (Wednesday, November 11, 2009)
• Eid-al-Adha (Saturday, November 28, 2009)
• First Sunday of Advent (Sunday, November 29, 2009)

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