Brother John Raymond
October 26, 1997
November 1 is the Feast of All Saints. Being interested in how this feast came about I turned to "Days of The Lord: The Liturgical Year" Volume 7 entitled "Solemnities and Feasts" to find out. Here I learned that as early as the fourth century, the saints were commemorated in the Eucharistic Prayer. Their cult grew in all the rites from the fourth and fifth centuries .At first commemoration was made of the martyrs of the local Church, then of others who were particularly famous. After the early Christian persecutions ceased, saints who were not martyrs were joined to the names of the martyrs. Lists were drawn up. Even though they included names of saints who had not been martyred, these lists were called "martyrologies." A feast of All the Saints is found in the fifth century in certain Eastern Churches, Antioch, Edessa and some others. From there it spread to Rome. There All Saints was celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. But when Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) assigned the Ember Days (days of fast and abstinence) of spring to this week, he transferred to November 1.
The date was moved once again, however. On May 13, 610, Pope Boniface IV (608-615) transformed the Roman pantheon into a church, which he dedicated to Mary and the martyrs and made this day the feast of All Saints. In 835 Pope Gregory IV (827- 844) had the emperor of the West, Louis the Pius (814-840), promulgate a decree that fixed November 1 as the feast of All Saints. From that time on, what had first become a local celebration in Rome and in a few Eastern Churches rapidly became a common solemnity throughout all of Western Europe, and the feast of May 13 disappeared.
Litany of the Saints
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, pray for us.
Holy Virgin of virgins, etc.
Saint Michael,
Saint Gabriel,
Saint Raphael,
All you holy angels and archangels,
All you holy orders of blessed spirits,
Saint John the Baptist,
Saint Joseph,
All you holy patriarchs and prophets,
Saint Peter,
Saint Paul,
Saint Andrew,
Saint James,
Saint John,
Saint Thomas,
Saint James,
Saint Philip,
Saint Bartholomew,
Saint Matthew,
Saint Simon,
Saint Thaddeus,
Saint Matthias,
Saint Barnabas,
Saint Luke,
Saint Mark,
All you holy apostles and evangelists,
All you holy disciples of Our Lord,
All you holy innocents,
Saint Stephen,
Saint Lawrence,
Saint Vincent,
Saints Fabian and Sebastian,
Saints John and Paul,
Saints Cosmas and Damian,
All you holy martyrs,
Saint Sylvester,
Saint Gregory,
Saint Ambrose,
Saint Augustine,
Saint Jerome,
Saint Martin,
Saint Nicholas,
All you holy bishops and confessors,
All you holy doctors,
Saint Anthony,
Saint Benedict,
Saint Bernard,
Saint Dominic,
Saint Francis,
All you holy priests and brothers,
All you holy monks and hermits,
Saint Mary Magdalen,
Saint Agatha,
Saint Lucy,
Saint Agnes,
Saint Cecilia,
Saint Catherine,
Saint Anastasia,
All you holy virgins and widows,
All you holy men and women, saints of God,
Intercede for us.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Spare us, 0 Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, 0 Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Our Father, etc.