Halloween decorations are still up on the porch, and a lot of Christians are asking the same question this weekend: what do the days after October 31 actually mean? This year the calendar lines up neatly. Today, Sunday, November 1, is All Saints’ Day, and tomorrow, Monday, November 2, is All Souls’ Day.
The short answer: All Saints’ Day celebrates those believed to be with God in heaven, while All Souls’ Day remembers and prays for all the faithful who have died. Below you’ll find where each day came from, how Catholics and Protestants understand them, and some verses for anyone grieving this season.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV).
All Saints’ Day (November 1): a celebration
In the Catholic Church this is a solemnity, one of the highest-ranking days on the calendar, and its mood is joyful. It honors the famous saints along with the countless unknown believers who never got a feast day of their own.
The roots go far back. Christians were remembering martyrs together in the early centuries. In the West, November 1 gained ground when Pope Gregory III dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s to all the saints in the 8th century, and by the 9th century the feast had spread through the Latin Church. Orthodox Christians also keep an All Saints’ feast, on the first Sunday after Pentecost.
The Gospel read at Mass today is the Beatitudes from Matthew 5, which works as a portrait of what a holy life looks like: humility, mercy, hunger for justice, peacemaking.
All Souls’ Day (November 2): remembrance and prayer
The next day is quieter. The custom of setting aside the day after All Saints to pray for the dead is usually credited to St. Odilo, abbot of Cluny, around the year 1000. From there it spread across Europe.
In Rome, Pope Leo XIV will celebrate the All Souls’ Mass tomorrow at 4 p.m. local time at the Verano Cemetery and bless the graves afterward, according to the schedule reported by EWTN News on October 28, 2026.
Where Halloween fits in
The word itself is the giveaway. “Halloween” comes from “All Hallows’ Eve,” the night before All Hallows, an old English name for All Saints. Christians disagree about how much to engage with today’s version of the holiday, and sincere believers land in different places. The name, though, points straight to tomorrow’s feast.
The differences at a glance
- Date: All Saints’ is November 1; All Souls’ is November 2.
- Who it’s for: All Saints’ honors those believed to be in heaven; All Souls’ remembers all the faithful departed.
- Tone: the first is a feast, the second is prayerful and sober.
- In U.S. Catholic practice: All Saints’ is normally a holy day of obligation; All Souls’ is not.
How Catholics and Protestants see these days
There are real differences here, and each deserves a fair hearing.
Catholics see the saints as both models and intercessors. Asking a saint to pray is understood as being like asking a fellow believer to pray for you, without taking anything from Christ as the one Savior. On All Souls’ Day the Church prays for the dead because of its teaching on purgatory, a final purification before seeing God. A text often cited is 2 Maccabees 12, part of the Catholic Bible.
Most Protestants point out that the New Testament calls all believers “saints.” Paul writes “to the saints” at Ephesus and Philippi, and those were ordinary living people (Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1). Evangelical churches generally don’t pray to saints or for the dead, and they often cite verses like this one:
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5, KJV)
That doesn’t mean Protestants ignore the day. Many Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopal, and other congregations keep All Saints Sunday on the first Sunday of November, which is today. Often they read aloud the names of members who died in the past year, sometimes ringing a bell or lighting a candle for each one.
There’s a bit of history here too. Martin Luther made his 95 Theses public on October 31, 1517, the eve of All Saints, which is why many Protestants observed Reformation Day yesterday.
What unites us is bigger: the hope of Christ’s resurrection, and the conviction that death doesn’t get the last word.
6 Bible verses of hope for anyone grieving
“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25)
Jesus said this to Martha while her brother lay in the tomb, and soon afterward He wept with the family. Faith and tears belong in the same scene.
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
Paul doesn’t forbid grief. He describes a grief with hope inside it.
“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)
It’s part of today’s Gospel reading. Mourning doesn’t put you far from God.
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” (Psalm 116:15)
No life goes unnoticed by God, and neither does its ending.
“For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:8)
This one is worth reading out loud at a graveside.
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.” (Revelation 21:4)
This is where the story is headed: a day when grief ends.
How to spend these two days
- Tell the stories. Share a memory of someone you’ve lost with the younger people in your family. Remembering is a way of giving thanks.
- Say their name in prayer. In any tradition you can say, “Thank You, Lord, for this life.”
- Check on someone. A widow down the street or a parent who has lost a child may feel this week deeply. With Thanksgiving coming, the first empty chair is on many people’s minds.
- Get support if you need it. If your grief has stayed heavy for a long time, talk with a counselor or doctor as well as your pastor or priest. Asking for help isn’t a lack of faith.
Keep reading: today’s Daily Word on the cloud of witnesses, 12 Bible verses for hard days, and the meaning of Psalm 91.