Yesterday we did like many other Swedes this time of year. We visited the cemetery with candles and grave decorations. At the same time, I started thinking about the All Saints' Day. All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day, All Saints' Day and Halloween ... how does it all fit together?
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All Saints' Day
According to the Church of Sweden, All Saints' Day is the time of year when we recognise and remember those who have left this life. All Saints' Day falls between 31 October and 6 November and consists of two church holidays: All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.
We met my (Helena's) family yesterday and put candles and decorations on my dad's grave. There were many people in the cemetery and lots of candles. Nice!
How does it all fit together?
I find this whole tradition thing interesting, but when I started reading up on All Saints' Day, it was... really bizarre. All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day fall on two completely different days according to the almanac, and moreover, we seem to have historically distinguished between All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, the latter of which, by the way, was absent from the almanac for several centuries.
Now you can also celebrate Halloween if you want to... Weird? Yes, to say the least! I have tried to clarify the concepts by reading up on the weekend at Church of Sweden, Wikipedia and Holidays and traditions.
All Saints' Day
All Saints' Day is a floating holiday celebrated on the Saturday between 31 October and 6 November. In the early days of the Christian church, various saints and martyrs were celebrated, and when there were too many to have their own day, it was decided to collect all the saints who could not have their own day and celebrate them on "All (other) Saints' Day".
Day of All Souls
All Souls' Day falls on the Sunday after All Saints' Day, and according to the Church of Sweden, this is when we remember and honour our dead loved ones. This tradition was introduced in the 11th century by the Catholic Church and originally fell on 2 November, but ended with the Reformation in Protestant countries.
It was reintroduced in the Church of Sweden in 1983 as "the Sunday after All Saints' Day" and since 2002 it has again been called All Souls' Day. According to Wikipedia, this day falls on the Sunday after All Saints' Day, so as not to "confuse all saints and all the dead".
All Saints' Day
All Saints' Day is a completely different day in the almanac, which always falls on 1 November. Until 1953, this day was called All Saints' Day, but after moving All Saints' Day to a Saturday, 1 November was renamed All Saints' Day in the almanac. So the origin of these days is the same, even though they now fall on different days.
Halloween
In Anglo-Saxon countries, and today in Sweden, Halloween is celebrated on 31 October. The word Halloween comes from the English word All Hallows' Eve, which translates into Swedish as All Saints' Eve...
What are your experiences?
We usually get together as a family during All Saints' Day, and in addition to visiting the cemetery, we often have dinner together. How nice! What are your experiences of this weekend and how do you feel the days fit together? Did you follow ... or do you need to read again?
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Ruth in Virginia says:
What a nice tradition to gather the family and come
remember those who have passed away. Wish we had the great All Saints' Day here.
instead of Halloween.
But Halloween is fun when there are children in the neighbourhood.
04 November 2018 - 6:24
Helena says:
Yes it is nice! Can certainly be nice with Halloween too in its own way. Especially in the US where there is more tradition.
04 November 2018 - 15:19
Matts Torebring says:
Thank you for your exhaustive post. For most of us, the walk to our cemeteries, perhaps on Friday evening, is the biggest part of the weekend. If I remember correctly, there are 39% of us who visit a cemetery during the weekend. That makes All Saints' Day the weekend. when most people go to church. As a family, we have no memory of All Souls' Day. Halloween, we think, is really unpleasant.
04 November 2018 - 8:43
Helena says:
I was hoping you would comment today Matts! It can certainly be true, very many people visit the cemeteries! Interesting that you have no memory of All Souls' Day. Neither do I really, but that's what it says on the Church of Sweden's website.
04 November 2018 - 15:21
Maria/ Magnolia Magis says:
How nice to have a community on that day! We celebrate by lighting a candle at home, unless we are near someone's grave. We have them in different parts of the country ...
We don't celebrate Halloween! I have a bit of a problem with that... If we celebrate Christmas? Yes, but without presents. Or yes to the small children one each. ?
04 November 2018 - 10:59
Helena says:
Yes, it has become a nice and pleasant tradition! But it sounds nice to light candles at home too! When it comes to Christmas, we are like you. No presents, except possibly for a child in the family.
04 November 2018 - 18:15
Emma, sun like sun? says:
Messy is just the beginning! Couldn't they have called them by more distinctive names? Is it not strange that we go to the cemetery to honour those who have gone before on the day when all the saints were lumped together and not on All Souls' Day?
As a child, I thought going to the cemetery was a pain in the arse, boring and cold and messy. Maybe a little scary too. Standing in a cemetery in the dark, people slowly walking the aisles, a lot of lights flickering, going out ...
But now I can look back on it and think it was beautiful.
04 November 2018 - 11:29
Helena says:
But really, isn't it unnecessarily cluttered? I can understand how you felt as a child, but now when I was at the cemetery I thought it was a nice and warm atmosphere with many families and lots of candles.
04 November 2018 - 18:17
Ama de casa says:
It's always complicated... I don't think it helps to read again, I won't understand anyway. Here in Spain they celebrate the 1st of November so much that it is even a national holiday. What is it called? Can't be bothered... 😉
I myself celebrate hello wine. But not this year... But I'm going to take it out retroactively! 😀
04 November 2018 - 11:32
Helena says:
Of course you should celebrate hello wine retroactively! Get well soon!
04 November 2018 - 18:19
Emma, sun like sun? says:
(I suspect she probably celebrated it in advance too...)
04 November 2018 - 18:23
Ama de casa says:
No! Not at all, Emma! Before that, I was busy celebrating the birthday month 😀.
05 November 2018 - 10:30
BP says:
I have never heard of All Souls' Day. The only thing I know is that, at least in Catholic countries, 1 November always falls on 1 November. And it is always a public holiday. So no coddling of saints and souls there.
04 November 2018 - 18:26
TravelAnna says:
Good that more people are clarifying the concepts! I've done the same several times on my language blog (Falkblick), so this year too.
So nice to visit your father's grave together and so beautiful with all the candles.
I have never celebrated Halloween. But we usually visit Helgesta church, which has a special place in our hearts. Since last summer, my father is also buried there. The loss is heavy.
We also attended a memorial service in Strängnäs Cathedral.
05 November 2018 - 7:50
Annette Nilsson says:
I go to the cemetery on the Friday before All Saints' Day. Then I light a lantern and lay a moss wreath on my mother's and father's grave. In years when someone close to me has died, I go to the memorial service they have on All Saints' Day. That's when they light a candle for those who have passed away during the year.
Sure, it's confusing which day is which. But there are many good pages to read about how it works.
All Souls' Day is just a name within the church, just like Palm Sunday. All Saints Day was a very old holiday. From what I have read, the day dates back to the 5th century. Where I read, it was abolished sometime in the middle of the 18th century. It was mainly when Sweden was Catholic.
The day was reintroduced sometime in the 1950s but then became All Saints' Day and always falls on a Saturday. The custom of lighting candles for our loved ones comes from Germany when they started lighting candles on the graves after World War II.
To make matters worse, Halloween 31/10 can fall on All Saints' Day, just as All Saints' Day can fall on All Saints' Day.
That's because Halloween and All Saints' Day are always on the same date. While All Saints' Day is always the same day of the week.
05 November 2018 - 17:13