Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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ALL SAINTS

A feast now celebrated on November 1 as a holy day of obligation. It originated in the West in 609, when Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon to the Blessed Virgin Mary. At first celebrated in Rome on May 13, Pope Gregory III (731-41) changed the date to November 1, when he dedicated a chapel in honor of All Saints in the Vatican Basilica. Gregory IV later extended the feast to the whole Church.