As you prepare to celebrate All Saint’s Day, ponder about your own journey of faith. Remember His faithfulness in your past, ponder His movement in your present, and visualize all your dreams and hopes for the future. And prepare to celebrate all that you are as a saint of God and prepare on giving God earnest gratitude.
All Saint’s Day and also known as Hallows Day is a Christian celebration, a Christian holiday and a national holiday and is a holy day of obligation and a feast of all saints both known and unknown and even the locally venerated saints, and it is celebrated every 1st of November. It celebrate the faith, devout life, and death of whether martyrs and all the saints who have attained heaven, and even those who have no appointed feast day in the Roman Catholic calendar to remember saints. And next to Christmas and Holy Week, All Saint’s Day is also an important liturgical celebration. The devotees ask guidance and pray for the intercession of saints in their daily struggle.
In the Philippines, All Saint’s Day is more than a Holy obligation and it is also known as “Undas“, which is a day to remember the deceased relatives through prayers, flowers, candles, vigils, and food. And all the family members flock together at the memorial parks and cemeteries where they celebrate the life, bond and share memories and stories, and pray for the souls for the faithful departed.
To celebrate All Saint’s Day is one of the greatest feast day on the calendar where you can live out your faith. And it is also an important part in your faith to remember those who has an impact in your lives, those who have gone before, and those who are still with you. And here are the things on how to celebrate all saint’s day.
A few weeks or days before the All Saint’s day, some of the family members takes time to clean and prepare the grave of their dead relatives. They also repaint the tombstone, clean the vicinity, and remove all the stray plants and weeds.
On all saint’s day, the graves of their departed relatives was decorated with flowers and light candles. And the graves of the kids were decorated with their memorabilia and toys sometimes.
On a white envelope, the family writes all the names of their departed loved ones and it is enlclosed with a money. And before the mass, it will be handed to the commentator so the written names will be mentioned during the mass and included in prayers of the local church congregation.
In other rural communities, every eve of all saint’s day, there are groups that go from door to door and from house to house to sing with most familiar tune and ask for prayers and alms. And these groups portrays the malevolent and restless spirits that stuck in purgatory that needs prayers to help them get to heaven.
To give way to the remembrance of the dead, the government declared November 1 as a special non-working holiday. Families gather together and hold an impromptu reunion, and in between prayers, they celebrate the life and to show earnest gratitude for their late family member with games, stories, attend mass, and singing along sometimes.
Take time to talk about things between Halloween and All saint’s day with your kids by reading a special scriptural readings, saint story, and explain the Christian church ‘s teaching on the communion of saints.
It will also be fun to work on with saintly crafts with your kids, and here are some saintly crafts and games you’ll love to try with your kids.
All Saint’s Day and All Souls Day are traditional Catholic holidays, and aside from commemorating all the saints and dead souls that the church celebrates, it is also part of a Filipino tradition to prepare and cook native filipino foods to celebrate our loved ones who have gone before us and to enjoy the presence of the family. Malagkit or Glutinous Rice is the main ingredient of this season.
Ginataan is a native filipino snack with a lot of vitamins and nutrients and made with gata (coconut milk), Bilo-bilo (sticky glutinous rice balls), saging na saba (Cardave Banana), langka (Jackfruit), kamote (sweet potato), and sago (Tapioca pearls).
You may find Arroz Valenciana in a lot of carenderias in the Philippines and this dish is great for any occasions such as Weddings, Fiestas, Birthdays, Christmas, and Family gatherings.
Kutsinta is a brown or orange rice cake and it is perfect with shredded coconut on top. And this kakanin is a perfect merienda for your friends and family.
This kakanin is usually cook in a clay pot with banana leaves, and to add a satisfying flavor, it is topped with salted egg slices, butter, and shredded coconut. And bibingka is usually best paired with a hot chocolate or with salabat or ginger tea.
This kakanin is made out from cassava and it is an all time favorite because of its simplicity in both ingredients and procedure but complexity in flavors.
This dessert is another kakanin that is made out from rice flour, and each layer has different colors and it is steamed before adding the next layer.
The origin of the All saint’s day in the Christian history cannot be tracked when was it is originally celebrated, and it has also been observed on different days in different places. According to Ephraem Syrus, the feast of all Christian martyrs and all the saints was kept on May 13, the early Christian times, the eastern orthodox church that associated eastern catholic churches, and the eastern christianity, which may also have lead and determined Pope Boniface IV ‘s choice when he dedicated the Pantheon in Rome as church in honor of all the holy martyrs and the Blessed Virgin Mary on the same day in 609. The first evidence of the feast and the celebration on November 1 date occurred during Pope Gregory III ‘s reign and he dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s Rome on November 1 in honor of all the saints. And in 800, All Saints’ Day was kept by Alcuin on November 1.and in 837, Pope Gregory IV ordered it general commemoration and observance.
While All Souls Day is a day for commemoration for all of the departed faithful. It is observed from the period from October 31 to November 2, and it is a day dedicated to remembrance and prayer. A lot of people visit, light candles, and decorate the graves of their loved ones during the All souls day. The doctrine of the Roman Catholic church believes that the prayers of the faithful on earth will help to cleanse the souls to fit them for the mission of God in heaven.
As you prepare to celebrate All Saint’s Day, ponder about your own journey of catholic faith. Remember His faithfulness in your past, ponder His movement in your present, and visualize all your dreams and hopes for the future. And prepare to celebrate all that you are as a saint of God and prepare on giving God earnest gratitude.
Being prepared is important in every aspect of your lives and in every season of your lives. Prepare your dream home as much as you prepare other things that you need with Brittany, that offers luxury properties in the Philippines and its major developments are Crosswinds Tagaytay, Brittany Sta. Rosa, and Vista Alabang that you can find your dream home!
Suggested Read: Transportation Schedules For All Saint’s Day
Suggested Read: 7 Most Beautiful Churches To Visit in Laguna
Suggested Read: Essentials For A Stress-Free All Saint’s Day
Suggested Read: Up and Coming Tagaytay Artists
