What is the significance of all saints day

In eastern churches, such as the Eastern Orthodox and some Catholic churches, this day of celebration is on the Sunday following another Christian holiday called Pentecost. Rather, all people who have lived exemplary lives or lives of holiness are honored as saints. Christians were then inspired to live their lives like the holy saints. It reminds Christians of their connection with one another and purpose in life.

There is a wide diversity of canonized saints in the Roman Catholic church. In the list of over 10,, saints for archers, lovers, taxi-drivers and more are recognized.

Sainthood isn't given by a group of religious leaders. It's granted by God Himself to any common, salt-of-the-earth person who simply trusts Christ 1 Corinthians Words matter. And sowing confusion about good, biblical words like "saint" is not from God.

The gospel message is that God the Son came to earth, lived a perfectly obedient life, died on the cross to pay for our sins Romans , and rose again proving His atoning work was complete Romans Saints are those who give up the anti-faith alternative of trying to please God by their good deeds and, instead, trust Christ alone. Scripture says that the person of faith actually becomes the very righteousness of God 2 Cor. Through the channel of human faith the means of salvation we become united to Christ the source of salvation and we are saved from God's judgment as well as from the futile way of life that we naturally follow 1 Peter In other words, we are granted sainthood!

Think about this: if God calls the worldly, sinning believers in Corinth "saints"—and He does in 1 Corinthians —couldn't He call you a saint as well? Friend, anyone who trusts in Christ alone for salvation is a saint in God's sight. Dressed as Dracula or as devils, neighborhood children were happily "trick or treating" last night in the United States and some other countries. But would it surprise you to know that "Halloween" by that name started out as a holy Christian celebration?

Hallow, in Old English, means "holy" or "sacred. Halloween is a mixture of Celtic religious ideas and Christian martyrology. In the early years when the Roman Empire persecuted Christians, so many martyrs died for their faith, that the Church set aside special days to honor them. For example, in Emperor Phocas presented to the pope the beautiful Roman Pantheon temple. The pope removed the statues of Jupiter and the pagan gods and consecrated the Pantheon to "all saints" who had died from Roman persecution in the first three hundred years after Christ.

Many bones were brought from other graves and placed in the rededicated Pantheon church. Since there were too many martyrs for each to be given a day, they were lumped together into one day. People prepared for their celebration with a night of vigil on Hallows' Eve -- Halloween possibly because of the strong holdover influence of the Celtic Samhain festival which many Christians in Ireland, Britain Scotland and Wales had continued to observe.

In the 10th century, Abbot Odela of the Cluny monastery added the next day--November 2nd--as "All Souls" Day" to honor not just the martyrs, but all Christians who had died.

People prayed for the dead, but many unchristian superstitions continued. People in Christian lands offered food to the dead--as it had been in pagan times. The superstitious also believed that on these two days, souls in purgatory would take the form of witches, toads, or demons and haunt persons who had wronged them during their lifetime.

As happens so often in Church history, sacred Christian festivals can absorb so many pagan customs that they lose their significance as Christian holidays. But think of it positively.

All Saints really means ALL saints. While many canonized saints are celebrated with their own individual feast days such as St. Patrick , saints that have not been canonized have no particular holiday. All Saints' Day recognizes those whose sainthood is known only to God. Even so, Catholic observances tend to focus on known saints, those canonized by the Catholic Church. A holy obligation.