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All Saints

Solemnity, Holy Day of Obligation

Feast Day
November 1

The Solemnity of All Saints honors all the blessed in heaven, both those formally canonized by the Church and the countless faithful whose holiness is known to God alone. The feast traces its origins to the early Church's veneration of martyrs, with a common commemoration of all martyrs observed in the East as early as the fourth century. In Rome, Pope Boniface IV in 610 dedicated the Pantheon as the Church of Saint Mary and the Martyrs, transferring the relics of many martyrs from the catacombs. Pope Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in Saint Peter's Basilica in honor of all the saints, and Pope Gregory IV in 837 extended the feast to November 1 throughout the universal Church.

The solemnity celebrates the Communion of Saints, the bond uniting the Church Militant on earth, the Church Suffering in purgatory, and the Church Triumphant in heaven. The Gospel proclaimed at Mass is the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12), Christ's portrait of holiness fulfilled in the saints. In the United States, November 1 is a Holy Day of Obligation when it does not fall on a Saturday or Monday; in 2026 it falls on a Sunday and the obligation is observed.

All Saints reminds the faithful that holiness is the universal vocation of every baptized Christian. The saints are not distant heroes but elder siblings in Christ, witnesses that grace truly transforms human nature. The feast is a theological act of hope: what the saints have become through grace, the Church on earth is called to become.

From All Saints

"See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are."
— 1 John 3:1, Second Reading at Mass on All Saints

Catholic Churches Named After All Saints

20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share All Saints's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:

Sources