OGNISSANTI (festum omnium Sanctorum). – The feast of O. (1 November) is intended not only to honor the saints in the strict sense, but, in the Church’s understanding, it also includes all the faithful departed in grace who have attained the definitive glorification of Paradise. This idea is fundamentally expressed already in Sacred Scripture, especially in the Apocalypse, in its many descriptions of the glory of the saints, that is, of the Christifideles who have reached the heavenly Jerusalem. In the Middle Ages, this feast was intended in some way to make up for everything that might have been lacking in the particular feasts. Indeed, Urban IV, in a canon approved by the Council of Vienne (1311–12) and subsequently inserted into the Clementines (can. Si Dominum: de reliquis et veneratione Sanctorum, III, 16 in Clem.), expressly says: « ut in hac ipsorum celebratione communi quod quod in propriis ipsorum festivitatibus omissum existeret, solveretur ».
From the Middle Ages onward, the feast of O. was regarded as being of such high rank that no other feast, not even the dedication of one’s own church, could surpass II. It has a common octave, which, however, at present takes second place because of the octave of the dead.
I. HISTORY AND VARIOUS DATES OF THE FEAST
Originally, this feast was intended above all to honor all the martyrs, and each Church chose a particular date for this purpose. The principal dates are:1) 6 Apr. In the Strait Martyrology (ed. H. Lietzmann, Die drei ältesten Martyrologien, 2nd ed., Bonn 1911, p. 10), written at Edessa in 411–12, there appears, under the date 6 Apr. and with the specification “Friday after Easter,” a commemoration of all the martyrs: the coincidence between these dates and the Friday after Easter occurred in the second half of the 4th century (the date of origin of the aforementioned Martyrology) in the years 367, 378, 389, and 400, which suggests that the said commemoration originated in one of those years in the city of Nisibis indicated in the entry.
2) 17 and 20 Apr. In certain Irish and English liturgical books, in the 9th–10th centuries, the double date of 17 and 20 Apr. appears: on the first date, the feast of all the holy martyrs; on the second, that of all the saints of Ireland, Britain, and Europe (Martyrology of Oengus and Tallaght, cf. Martyr. Romanum, p. 489). The origin and duration of these celebrations remain completely obscure.
3) 13 May. Whereas 6 Apr. became customary in eastern Syria for the celebration of all the martyrs, in western Syria it is known from St. Ephrem (d. 378) that the feast “of all the martyrs of the earth” took place on 13 May (cf. G. Bickell, Carmina Nishena, Leipzig 1886, p. 23; id., in Theol. Quartalschr., 48 [1866], p. 467). On this same day, in 609, Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon of Rome, which had been ceded to him by the emperor Phocas, transforming it into “ecclesiam b. Mariae semper virginis et omnium martyrum” (Lib. Pont., I, p. 313; R. Valentini-G. Zucchetti, Codice topografico della città di Roma, II, Rome 1942, pp. 251–50; O. Bertolini, Roma di fronte a Bisanzio e ai Longobardi, Bologna 1941, pp. 292–94). The choice of this day, which in 609 fell on a Tuesday, for the aforementioned dedication was perhaps influenced by the Syrian feast, since at that time the dedication of a church regularly took place on a Sunday.
Bede the Venerable, in the Historia Anglorum (II, 4: PL 95, 88), draws a comparison between the Pantheon as “simulacrum omnium deorum” and as the church of all the martyrs, “ut exclusa multitudine daemonum, multitudo ibi Sanctorum memoriam haberet,” an idea subsequently repeated by all medieval authors, from Paul the Deacon (Historia Langobardorum, IV, 37: PL 95, 570) to Durandus, Belet, and Siccardus. In his notes to the Roman Martyrology, Baronius says that on this occasion the Pope had twenty carts loaded with the bones of martyrs transported to the Pantheon; but this report has no foundation.
As was customary, the anniversary of the dedication of the Pantheon was celebrated annually; and, if later reports are to be believed, this celebration became so famous that the great influx of pilgrims sometimes created serious difficulties in provisioning, as will be said below.
4) 17 May–20 June, that is, the 1st Sunday after Pentecost. Another important date in the complex history of the feast of O. is that of a solemnity in honor of the martyrs, to be celebrated on the 1st Sunday after Pentecost, which could fall between the two dates indicated above. The first certain evidence of a liturgical celebration of all the martyrs on this Sunday is found in St. John Chrysostom, who delivered on it the Laudatio Sanctorum omnium qui martyrum toto terrorum orbe passi sunt (PG 50, 705–12), in which he connects the remembrance of all the martyrs with the descent of the Holy Spirit. The κυριακή τῶν ἁγίων πάντων is in fact also found later in various Eastern calendars, and even in the Würzburg Lectionary (6th century) and that of Murbach (8th century), in which the Sunday after Pentecost is entitled Natale Sanctorum or In natali sanctorum (cf. G. Morin, Le plus ancien Comes de l'Eglise romaine, in Rev. bénéd., 27 [1910], p. 41 ff.). This indicates, since these are strictly Roman liturgical books, that at least for a certain period the custom of celebrating the saints (martyrs) during the octave of Pentecost had also become established at Rome (or in some Roman basilica). On the other hand, the evidence of these two lectionaries left no lasting trace, and the practice soon disappeared.
5) 20 May. The celebration of the holy martyrs during the octave of Pentecost later also passed in Byzantium to a fixed date, namely 20 May, as is shown by the Synaxary of the Church of Constantinople (Syntax Eccl. Const., col. 608).
6) 1 Nov. From the Carolingian period onward, this became the date of the feast of O. for the Latin Church and also for many Eastern Churches. In truth, it is difficult to establish clearly the origin and development of this feast date. The various celebrations so far reviewed were almost all devoted to the memory of the martyrs, whereas the feast of 1 Nov. immediately became the celebration of all the saints without distinction. The Hieronymian Martyrology, the ancient Roman lectionaries up to the 8th century, and the Gregorian, Gelasian, and Old Gelasian Sacramentaries of the 8th century all have on 1 Nov. only the feast of St. Caesarius of Terracina, a feast introduced at Rome between the years 538 and 603 (cf. Martyr. Hieronymianum, p. 581; Th. Klauser, Das römische Capitulare Evangeliorum, Münster in W. 1935; E. Donckel, Ausserrömische Heilige in Rom, Luxembourg 1938; P. de Puniet, Le Sacramentaire romain de Gellone, in Ephemerides liturgicae, 52 [1938], pp. 158–59); the Statuta quaedam s. Bonifacii, who died in 754; V. Hefele-Leclercq, III, II, p. 923); the well-known liturgist Amalarius, in the time of Charlemagne, and the list of feasts published at the Council of Aachen in 809 (ibid., p. 1131) make no mention whatsoever of this feast. Yet it is precisely in the 8th century that the first evidence appears of the feast of O. on 1 Nov. Bede the Venerable (d. 753), in his Poetic Martyrology (PL 94, 608), devotes a distich to the feast, and speaks of it in his Historical Martyrology (PL 94, 1087), where he adds the history of the dedication of the Pantheon (the references to Gregory IV and Louis the Pious are later additions). At this same time, that is, under Pope Gregory III (731–41), an event of considerable importance for the history of the feast of O. took place: the Pope erected and dedicated in the Vatican Basilica an Oratory “in quo recondidit in honore Salvatoria Sanctaeque eius Genetricia reliquias Sanctorum apostolorum vel omnium sanctorum martyrum ac confessorum, perfectorum, iustorum toto in orbe terrarum requiescentium,” also instituting special liturgical services to be performed by the monks of the three monasteries existing around the Basilica (Lib. Pont., I, pp. 421–22; Valentini-Zucchetti, op. cit., II, pp. 263–64). Unfortunately, the year and precise day of this dedication are unknown; had it taken place on 1 Nov., it would constitute the foundation of the present solemnity. In any event, Archbishop Arno of Salzburg, at the celebrated Synod of Riesbach, in Aug. 798, prescribed the solemnity of O. on 1 Nov. as a day of obligation throughout southeastern Germany (Hefele - Leclercq, III, II, p. 1108). Alcuin (d. 804), in his Lectionary, notes the feast of O. and its vigil (cf. A. Wilmart, Le Lectionnaire d'Alcuin, in Ephém. liturg., 51 [1937], p. 161). In the historical Martyrologies of Ado and Usuard, and in the additions to that of Bede, there is found the strange report, also recalled by Sigebert of Gembloux (d. 1112) in his Chronicon (PL 160, 159), that Gregory IV (827–44) requested and obtained from the emperor Louis the Pious (814–40), specifically in the year 835, two years after the memorable encounter between
the two authorities near Colmar, the universal introduction of the feast of O. and its celebration on the date established by Gregory IV himself, namely 1 November. Beletè (d. 1165) reports an event that cannot be corroborated by other sources: namely, that Gregory IV, observing the difficulties of provisioning the numerous pilgrims who customarily gathered in Rome for the celebration on 13 May, transferred the feast of all the saints to after the harvest, specifically to 1 November. But, as has been seen, this date was already known for more than a century. Be that as it may, from the ninth century onward the feast of O. on 1 November became universal and penetrated deeply into Christian piety.
II. VIGIL, OCTAVE, PARTICULAR LITURGICAL FEATURES
The Lectionary of Alcuin is thus far the first liturgical text to record the vigil of O. (cf. A. Wilmart, art. cit., pp. 161, 173); it then spread rapidly with the general acceptance of the feast on 1 November, as a penitential vigil with fasting and abstinence, a regulation that was still retained after the CIC (can. 1252 § 2).The octave of the feast is likewise mentioned in very ancient texts, but became obligatory for the entire Church only under Sixtus IV, who prescribed it after Otranto fell into the hands of the Turks (1480), in order to obtain the protection of the Church through the intercession of all the saints. Radulfo di Rivo, the staunch defender of the Roman liturgy against various influences and laxist tendencies, insists strongly that the feast of O. is of Roman papal institution, and that therefore, when it falls on a Sunday, according to ancient Roman practice, two Masses should be celebrated, one of the feast and one of the Sunday, and the Creed should be recited «according to Damasus» (v. Radulfo, Liber de off. eccl., c. 16; De can. observ., prop. XXIII: ed. K. Mohlberg, II, Paris 1915, pp. 28, 156). From Durandus and other liturgists it is known that until Pius V the antiphons and lessons were arranged so that the first referred to the Most Holy Trinity, the second to the Madonna, the third to the angels, the fourth to the prophets, the fifth to the Apostles, the sixth to the martyrs, the seventh to the confessors, the eighth to the virgins, and the last to all the saints. The lessons were recited, beginning with the first, by the bishop or prelate, then by the dean, and successively by the others, finally the eighth by the pueri, in white garments, often by a choir of at least five, before the altar of the Madonna, with lighted candles and great solemnity. St Pius V changed the Office and Mass, removing their emphasis on the Most Holy Trinity, but various references to the Madonna and the Angels remained. Under Bl. Pius X the responsories for the octave were revised. The sermon of Bede (sermo 18 de Sanctis) is not his: it also appears under the names of St Augustine, Rabanus Maurus, and Walafrid Strabo, and is probably by Abbot Elissacar of St Maximins of Trier. The sermon of St John Chrysostom for the seventh day of the octave is likewise not his, but is the work of an unknown Latin author (cf. G. Morin, Etudes, textes, découvertes, I, Maredsous 1913, pp. 498-99).
Finally, it should be noted that with First Vespers of the feast of O. the choir dress is changed, the winter garments being donned, with fur-lined capes. This custom is attested, for the Pontifical Chapel and the cardinals, at least from the time of Paris de Grassis and Burcardo (around 1500), but in ancient times and even after 1500, outside the Papal Chapel, this change was a particular feature of the feast of St Martin (11 Nov.).
III. CUMULATIVE FEASTS OF THE SAINTS
The same idea that led to the introduction of a collective feast, first for all the martyrs and subsequently for all the saints, also found particular applications in churches and communities, beginning in the Middle Ages.It is enough to indicate some of these feasts. Many dioceses, especially the older ones, with many ancient and medieval saints, have a feast omnium sanctorum episcoporum, sacerdotum, ceterorumque ecclesiae N. sanctorum (or with similar titles), fixed on various dates, e.g., on the Sunday within the octave of O., on the 1st Sunday of Aug., or on fixed dates. Other dioceses have a feast of all the patrons venerated in them; in Ireland there is a feast of all the Irish saints (the Sunday within the octave of O.); the Benedictine Order celebrates on 13 Nov. the feast of all the saints of its own Order, as do the Jesuits on the Sunday within the octave of O., or the three Franciscan Orders on 29 Nov. Of the same type is the
very widespread feast of all the holy Apostles, celebrated as a commemoration on the feast of ss. Peter and Paul, or the other very widely observed feast of all the supreme pontiffs, often held in July. Along the same lines is the very widespread feast of all the holy relics of a church or diocese, generally within the octave of O.
Recently, on the occasion of the International Congress of Religious, held in Rome (1950), the idea was launched of a feast Omnium ss. Fundatorum, for religious alone, in order to commemorate worthily all these saints who gave the Church a new family. Others, however, not without reason, propose, for the whole Church, not only a cumulative feast of all founders but also, e.g., of all the ss. Doctors of the Church, in view of the fact that the state of the Sanctorale is by now extremely precarious, under the continual and almost irresistible pressure of so many saints who, according to ordinary practice, ought to be entered in the Calendar of the universal Church. It is enough to recall that the Doctors of the Church alone (n. 29) require almost an entire month of the year, while in 1950 and 1951 alone, 10 founders or foundresses were entered in the catalogue of the saints.
Be that as it may, the institution of cumulative feasts for groups of saints with an identical character has long been in use and could perhaps constitute a useful means of remedying the overcrowding of ecclesiastical calendars.