Following Halloween, Catholics on and off campus celebrated All Saints’ Day on Friday.
All Saints’ Day is a Christian holy day many Western churches observe Nov. 1 and Eastern churches on the first Sunday after Pentecost.
The first All Saints’ Day occurred in May 609, when Pope Boniface IV accepted the Pantheon as a gift from the Emperor Phocas. Boniface dedicated the gift as the Church of Santa Maria Rotunda in honor of the Virgin Mary and all Christian martyrs.
The holy day took a step forward during Pope Gregory III’s papacy. He expanded the day’s festival to celebrate all saints and dedicated a chapel in Rome’s Saint Peter’s Basilica to honor them.
Not made an official holy day until Pope Gregory IV’s reign in 837, the day now honors all saints of the church, even those not known by name.
For most Roman Catholics, mass is required on All Saints Day and they should refrain from “servile” work.
“It’s important to celebrate All Saints’ Day because it gives us a chance to celebrate our spiritual heroes,” said Father Than, a priest at Christ the King.
Christ the King Catholic Church and Student Center celebrated its regular mass at noon and added a second celebratory mass at 7 p.m.
“All Saints’ Day is a time when we can thank God for people who are good to the church and to humanity,” said Jill Douglass, a nursing sophomore. “It’s nice to honor those people who have gone before you and been a blessing to so many people.”