November 1, All Saints
November 1, All Saints ' Day, is an important date in the Christian tradition dedicated to honoring all the saints and martyrs. Its origins date back to the early centuries of Christianity. At first, the Church celebrated separately the martyrs who had been persecuted and killed because of their faith. As the number of martyrs increased, it became difficult to celebrate them all individually, so around the 4th century, some dioceses began to dedicate a day to honor them all collectively. The date was officially established as "All Saints' Day" in the year 609 or 610 AD, when Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to the Virgin Mary and all the martyrs. Later, in the 9th century, Pope Gregory IV extended the commemoration to include not only the martyrs, but all the saints, known and unknown, and fixed the date as November 1.
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