All Souls Day is a Christian religious observance that is designed to honor the memory of those who died with faith in their hearts and minds. This commonly relates to family and close friends of person that participates in observance. That also frequently applies to eminent historical figures that are somehow related to Christianity as religion or Christian community in general.
In some Christian confessions, such as Catholic Church of the Western hemisphere, which is also known by the name of Latin Church, this holiday bears the self-explanatory title of Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. This day involves countless different rituals and traditions, which vary from commune to commune depending on geographical location and local customs.
So, when is All Souls’ Day in 2019? Recently, Christian Church finally established one steady date for celebration of this glorious day. Still, Western and Eastern Churches observe it differently and that applies to the very date, too. Thus, while Churches of the Western hemisphere observe Commemoration of All Faithful Departed on the second or third of November, depending on local cultural traditions of Christian observances, Eastern parts of Christian population dedicate several discrete dates to the celebration of All Souls.
No matter where you from, if you want to honor the memory of your faithful ancestors then you can attend to celebration yourself. Just clarify the date in your region preventively.
Traditions of observance
Celebration of All Soulsโ Day if often associated with another holiday that is much more popular and well-known worldwide due to its interesting traditions of celebrating. The day referred above is famous Halloween. These two observances usually considered as parts of three-day sacred period of Allhallowtide. Allhallowtide also includes All Saints Day, which is mostly popular among American Christians.
Now then, what do people do on these days? Traditions and rituals of Halloween are so well-known all around the globe that we can skip them without any hesitations. And since this article is dedicated to the celebration of All Souls, not All Saints, we will not focus on this observance either. What is important is to take a close look at the very celebration of the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed and its features.
But first, itโs important to not to forget the question of what day All Souls’ Day in 2019 will be. As was already stated, this particular observance mostly takes place somewhere around the second of November. So, when November, 2nd comes, you will have an opportunity to honor the memory of your departed relatives. Same opportunity is given to all pure-hearted Christians all across the world.
On this day majority of Christian Churches in various countries have special public services, which include musical performances, choral singing and special prayers. All these activities are dedicated to the theme of the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed and do help people to not only honor the memory of the fallen, but also to get through pain and suffer of losing their relatives. Not to mention that such services are helping people to cope with existential crisis and the deep fear of unknown, which often applies to almost animal horror of death. In a way, this is the very point and reason of every religion and every confession that exists or existed.
Usually, Christians spend this day visiting their family membersโ graves. If they donโt have such opportunity due to hard work or any other vital circumstances, they still can attend to evening prayers for the repose and peace of their souls. As was said previously, a lot of churches provide them with such opportunities on All Soulsโ Day.
So if you going through the grief and sorrow of losing your friend or family member, you too can attend to these prayers and find peace in tranquility of sanctuary atmosphere. Just remember the answer to when is All Souls’ Day 2019 and take a part in its observance.
The history and symbolism of All Soulsโ Day
Opinions on the history behind the establishing of All Soulsโ Day are split widely. While some people tend to believe that this observance originates from pagan festivals that are devoted to honoring the memory of the fallen, others do think that this day was originally invented by Christian church from scratch.
When it comes down to fact, truth is that both of these groups are right. Across the history of mankind, humans had numerous traditions and rituals dedicated to commemorating those who died. Major part of those feasts implicated that various rituals did help dead on their afterlife journey.
So, maybe such questions as what is the date of All Souls’ Day 2019 are not related to something new and original, but that does not mean in any way that these questions are not important. As we pointed out before, these observances help not only honor the memory of the fallen, but also to get through pain and suffer of losing their relatives. Not to mention that such services are helping people to cope with existential crisis and the deep fear of unknown, which often applies to almost animal horror of death.
Thus, All Soulsโ Day originates from the France, where former abbot named Odilo, who now canonized, made an important and historically significant decision. He submitted the possibility of settling a discrete holiday on day after All Saintsโ Day that will honor fallen Christians. That was supposed to help them to get through the purgatory.
Even before the question of when is All Souls’ Day in 2019 acquired its answer, which was marked in calendar, there were numerous traditions that involved praying for the souls of dead. One of such customs is so-called โsoulingโ. Poor people walked from door to door among their wealthier neighbors and offered them a prayer for their fallen. Nowadays there are similar traditions in a lot of confessions, too. Mostly they designed for children and youth.