The Origins and Contemporary Practices of All Souls Day

7/28/2019 The Origins and Contemporary Practices of All Souls Day

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orevi Predrag, 3113

British Studies Course, Visual Approach

The Origins and Contemporary Practices of All Souls Day

All Souls Day is one of three holidays (Hallowmas) that serve as a reminder that the souls of deceased

Christians are still a part of the Christian community. Celebrated on 2ndNovember, it is a holiday present

in most, if not all Roman Catholic, Anglican Catholic and Orthodox churches, with minor variations

considering dates and customs peculiar to different areas where the holiday is celebrated. Pope John

Paul II probably best reflected the aim of the holiday in his words:

For the souls in purgatory, waiting for eternal happiness and for meeting the Beloved is a

source of suffering, because of the punishment due to sin which separates them from God.

But there is also the certitude that once the time of purification is over, the soul will go to

meet the One it desires.

Having emerged as a mixture of similar holidays from many different cultures, this complex

custom-laden holiday is somewhat difficult to trace back to its roots. Some Pagan holidays, such as the

Festival of the Dead, undoubtedly served as the basis for this holiday, for these equipped people with

the belief that souls of our ancestors come back to the realm of the living on a particular day, to feast

together with their descendants. The celebration of the holiday was reflected in placing one additional,

empty chair at the table on which people dined, in front of which a plate with offerings, that came to be

known as ofrendas was placed. Ofrendas consisted of many dishes, wine and soul cakes being the

obligatory part of every ofrenda. Prior to the meal, which was usually a dinner (for souls could visit this

world only during night hours), a lit candle would be placed in a window of the house, to guide the soul

to its former home. The meal was spent on recalling of the deceased ones and their deeds. Ofrendas

were left on the table overnight, when, according to tellings, the souls feasted on the abstract aspect of

the food, leaving the physical aspect intact, for the living to feast upon in the morning.

Yet another legend, better suited for predominantly Christian communities emerged in the 10th century

According to the legend, a pilgrim, on his way back home, was caught up in a storm and had to look up

for a shelter. Having found nothing but a small cave, he entered it and met a hermit there. The loner

explained to the traveller that in nearby mountains a hole existed, leading straight to the Purgatory

During night, souls could be heard screaming in the agony of pain, caused by the flames so strong and

high that they even reached this world, through the hole. Having reached his home, the pilgrim informe

Odilo, Abbot of Cluny about his findings, and Odilo, in 998 AD, dedicated a day to praying for thesouls of all dead, therefore building upon a custom that had been observable in some Christian

communities from as early as the 7th century. Several years later, the Roman Catholic Church accepted

the holiday as official, and the day on which it is celebrated is the result of the influence of the Benedic

Monastery in Cluny, for they wanted to keep this holiday close to the holiday when all Saints are

celebrated (All Saints Day, 1st November).


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Prior to this event, centuries of storytelling had created beliefs that depicted souls as revengeful entities

These were capable of coming back to Earth in the form of a witch, toad or goblin, to have their

after-life vendetta upon those who did them wrong during their lifetime. The approval of the holiday

came at the right time, for it reminded somewhat paranoid people that every soul blessed with Gods

grace upon birth (that has been baptised) was after death sent to the Purgatory, where, according to the

popular belief, it was cleansed and purified of all ungodly feelings, prior to being sent to HeavenTherefore, the image of the soul as a revenge-lusting tool of the Devil was weakened and the image of

.the soul as a divine entity of Gods own making was reintroduced 1

Contemporary celebration of the holiday is quite simplified, with minor differences noticeable in th

dates on which the holiday is celebrated. In some churches, the celebration is postponed if the 2 nd of

November happens to be on a Sunday. However, the majority of differences are predominantly those

concerning customs. While the highly developed South, due to the pace of life imposed by the

globalisation, cannot afford to spend an entire day on rituals, and reduces the celebration to a visit to the

grave and a concomitant service in the church, the more traditional regions start the day by a visit to the

grave, where gravestones get cleaned and decorated with flowers, ofrendas get served on the gravesthemselves and a service by a local church is offered either at the graveyard or in the church. If latter is

the case, after the service, during which names of the deceased can be mentioned if the family members

see it fit, six prayers are told by the congregation (Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Bes) for each

deceased member of the family. Between each set of the prayers, it is customary to exit and re-enter the

church. The ofrendas usually contain a cross-decorated soul cake, which is made especially for this

purpose, a glass of water and wine, all served on plates decorated with Marigolds, which came to be

known as the flowers of the dead.

Having being preserved from the pre-Christian era and undergone many a change, this holiday has

deeply rooted itself in the tradition of the people of the Isles, influencing the view an average Brit has onafterlife. Over time, the holiday was rid of some of the unnecessary Pagan customs and was enriched

with many Christian elements, therefore yielding a holiday that is still in practice. By the introduction

the holiday, living obtained hope for their deceaseds souls, but also the hope that they would get an

opportunity to balance out the bad deeds which they could not expiate for during their lifetime.

References:

1 The belief in soul as a revengeful entity has been preserved in many mythologies, such as those that can be found in rural regions of the Balkan Peninsula. Namely,

the cultures present in these regions perceive soul as an entity that remains on Earth for 40 days after the death of the person to whom it belonged. In the meantime,

the family members remain burdened by many customs and rituals that need to be precisely performed in order to please the soul. The myth has it that if any of these

are not carried out according to common rules (which differ to a great extent among different areas), the soul could turn into a vampire, a blood-sucking creature

capable of doing great evils. Equipped with the faculty of metamorfosis, it usually turns into a moth or a bat in order to cross great distances in short time. This

usually happens during night, for it has to remain in its grave during daylight time. The Pagan elements in this myth are undeniable, and can be clearly observed in

the usage of animals connected to night to stand for dark, evil creatures. The Sun, in the role of the purifier of these cursed souls, is another Pagan element. Over time,

the myth got enriched with Christian elements, which are reflected in cross being an obligatory element in the ritual of killing a vampire, which is usually

accompanied by reading prayers from the Bible. This myth is quite accurately portrayed in a 1973 Yugoslav movie Leptirica (The Moth), based on the novel

After Ninety Years written by Serbian writer Milovan Glii.


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1. Letter of His Holiness Pope John Paul II for the Celebration of the Commemoration of all the

Faithfully Departed:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/1998/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_19980602_cluny_e

n.html

2. A BBC article on the holidays of All Saints Day and All Souls Day:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/allsaints_1.shtml

3. An article on All Souls Day, a part of the project of preserving the forgotten legends from Britains

folk history:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/allsaints_1.shtml

4. Origins of All Souls Day and its connections to Paganism:

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0199.html

5. A brief overview of the historical and scriptural basis for All Saints and All Souls days (video):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJBtcgFl0EM

6. Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church : a

user-friendly reference for episcopalians.New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2000.

(Also: http://books.google.rs/books?id=y_RpbmWNfHcC )
http://books.google.rs/books?id=y_RpbmWNfHcChttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJBtcgFl0EMhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholiceducation.org%2Farticles%2Freligion%2Fre0199.html&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHas3ofcLTICxSf_ycdkJHC1pCkZwhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Freligion%2Freligions%2Fchristianity%2Fholydays%2Fallsaints_1.shtml&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHzmqTg2I3gJpQ8A6cIpXFW35S_zghttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Freligion%2Freligions%2Fchristianity%2Fholydays%2Fallsaints_1.shtml&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHzmqTg2I3gJpQ8A6cIpXFW35S_zghttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vatican.va%2Fholy_father%2Fjohn_paul_ii%2Fletters%2F1998%2Fdocuments%2Fhf_jp-ii_let_19980602_cluny_en.html&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFdHh68exAc5Jh5aBi_6OArm5h0TQhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vatican.va%2Fholy_father%2Fjohn_paul_ii%2Fletters%2F1998%2Fdocuments%2Fhf_jp-ii_let_19980602_cluny_en.html&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFdHh68exAc5Jh5aBi_6OArm5h0TQ

Documents

The Origins and Contemporary Practices of All Souls Day