November 1 - All Saints' Day

I grew up as a non-denominational Christian, so I never really got the hang of the whole saint thing. I still don’t really get it, but it is an interesting concept that I wanted to learn more about.

There was a time that the early Christian church would celebrate a particular martyr on the anniversary (sometimes called “birth” day) of their death for Christ. Way back then, so many people were dying for their beliefs, it got to a point when all you’d be doing is commemorating them. So the Catholic church appointed one day for all saints. Hence the name, All Saints’ Day. On May 13, 609 (or 610, no one is sure), the festival of All Saints (as celebrated in the West) came to be. Later, Gregory III (731-741) moved the celebration to November 1.

Nowadays, in the West, All Saints’ Day is to commemorate all of the saints and martyrs. And to “supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints’ feasts through the year.”

Each day of the year is the Feast Day of one or more saints. November 1 is the Feast Day of 21 saints. I would be bummed if I had to share my special day with everyone else.

All Souls’ Day is Nov 2, which is to honor those who have died. You may have heard of Dia de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead. But that is a topic for another day. Like tomorrow.

So, back to the saints for a while. The concept of patron saints has always interested me. One of the patron saints for housewives is St. Martha. I picture her with Martha Stewart’s face. Did you know that the Internet has a patron saint (St. Isidore of Seville)? Yup, I was surprised too.

There is no St. Alyson (not surprised) but there are several St. Joans (my mother’s name). I also found a St. Genevieve (my maternal grandmother’s name) which was interesting, since my grandmother didn’t become Catholic until an adult. See, she and my grandfather wanted my mom to go to parochial school in Chicago, but they weren’t “officially” married according to the church. (They were married in City Hall.) So when my mom was five years old, my grandparents made it official.

One of St. Genevieve’s symbols is a loaf of bread, because she was so generous to those in need. Although I don’t remember my grandmother baking bread, she was certainly known for her talent for cooking, and I remember her for baking wonderful cookies and cakes. At Easter she would make many lamb cakes (sweet cakes in the shape of lambs, not cakes of lamb meat) and give them away to friends and family. I don’t know about her generosity to those in need, but it made me smile to learn that connection.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315a.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints

http://www.catholic.org/saints/stindex.php