November 1st

November 1st is also known as All Saints' Day, and is sometimes called Hallowmas. It is a feast day in the Roman Catholic church. All Saint's Day is an opportunity to remember all saints and martyrs throughout Christian history. As part of this day of obligation, followers are expected to attend church and to not work.


Remembering saints and martyrs and dedicating a day to them each year has been a Christian tradition since the 4th century AD, but it wasn't until 609AD that Pope Boniface IV designated May 13th to remember all martyrs. In 837AD, Pope Gregory IV extended the festival to remember all the saints and designated November 1st as the date, to continue a church policy of scheduling feast days around pagan festivals, in an attempt to make assimilation easier. ("I'm not celebrating the Halloween harvest festival, I'm just starting a little early on All Saint's Day, I swear!")



Mexicans celebrate November 1st (and 2nd) a little differently. They call it Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Mexican writer Octavio Paz observed once that Mexicans have no qualms about getting up close and person with death, and he writes that he ""...chases after it, mocks it, courts it, hugs it, sleeps with it; it is his favorite plaything and his most lasting love." Mexicans celebrate Día de los Muertos with reunions at family burial plots, they eat special foods, watch fireworks, and adorn themselves and their homes with images of skeletons.




























I acknowledge November 1st merely as the official end of the best month I have ever experienced. In the month of October I spent eight days traveling to Ireland, from Ireland or in Ireland; nine days drinking/partying with friends, ten days working, two days teaching and two days on flight call doing nothing. Oh, and then there was that whole getting married thing. Not bad for a Norwegian. Not bad at all.
I can never remember actually celebrating or making a big deal of All Saint's Day. I don't know if it is just such a letdown after Halloween that people just don't care, or if Americans just that aren't into saints. I know Billy Joel preferred to laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, but I can't really remember why. Perhaps the sinners are much more fun. I will have to research this further.