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1. Research on the topics Halloween, All Saints Day, All Souls Day and Communion of Saints.

What is Halloween?

Halloween is a holiday celebrated each year on October 31. The word "Halloween" comes from
All Hallows' Eve and means "hallowed evening. The tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival
of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.

The custom of Halloween came to America in the 1840s with Irish immigrants fleeing a potato famine.
At that time, the favorite pranks in New England included tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence
gates.

How Does Halloween Celebrated?

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume

from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or
treat?

What is All Saints Day?

All Saints’ Day is a Christian holiday dedicated to honor and commemorate the saints. It is also
known as All Hallows’ Day or the Feast of All Saints. It is observed yearly on November 1 by the Western
Churches and on the first Sunday of the Pentecost by the Eastern Churches.

In many traditions, All Saints' Day is part of the season of Allhallowtide, which includes the three
days from 31 October to 2 November inclusive, and in some denominations, such as Anglicanism,
extends to Remembrance Sunday.

There are 3 Facts about All Saints Day.

1. It is celebrated on the first Sunday of the Pentecost by Eastern Orthodox Churches.

2. It is an official public holiday in Catholic Countries and It is not an official public holiday in the
US, the UK, Canada, and Australia.
3. Other Names for it are All Hallows’ Day, Feast of All Saints, Solemnity of All Saints, and
Hallowmas.

What is All Souls Day?

All Souls Day is a holy day set aside for honoring the dead. The day is primarily celebrated in the
Catholic Church, but it is also celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and a few other denominations
of Christianity. The Anglican Church is the largest protestant church to celebrate the holy day.

According to Catholic belief, the soul of a person who dies can go to one of three places.

 The first is heaven, where a person who dies in a state of perfect grace and
communion with God goes.
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 The second is hell, where those who die in a state of mortal sin are naturally
condemned by their choice. The intermediate option is purgatory, which is
thought to be where most people, free of mortal sin, but still in a state of lesser
(venial) sin, must go.

Purgatory is necessary so that souls can be cleansed and perfected before they enter into
heaven.

What Does Catholic do on All Souls Day?

Roman Catholic doctrine holds that the prayers of the faithful on earth will help cleanse these
souls in order to fit them for the vision of God in heaven, and the day is dedicated to prayer and
remembrance. Requiem masses are commonly held, and many people visit and sometimes decorate the
graves of loved ones.

What is the Difference between All Saints Day and All Souls Day?

All Saints’ Day is celebrated on November 1st to remember all saints and martyrs during Christian
history. It is followed by All Souls’ Day on November 2 nd to commemorate those who have passed within
the faith.  

What is the Communion of Saints?

The communion of saints is the spiritual solidarity which binds together the faithful on earth,
the souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven in the organic unity of the same mystical body under
Christ its head, and in a constant interchange of supernatural offices.

In Catholic terminology, the communion of saints exists in the three states of the Church, the
Churches Militant, Penitent, and Triumphant.

What is the communion of saints’ prayer?

The collect of the Mass reads: “Almighty and ever-living God, by whose gift we venerate in one
celebration the merits of all the saints, bestow on us, we pray, through prayers of so many intercessors,
an abundance of the reconciliation with you for which we earnestly long.”
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2. Make a detailed report on the significance of the celebrations of All Saints Day and All Souls
day for Christians especially for Catholics.

All Souls Day

 All Souls Day is a solemn celebration in the Roman Catholic Church commemorating all of those who
have died and are now in Purgatory, being cleansed of their venial sins and the temporal
punishments for the mortal sins that they had confessed, and being made pure before entering into
the presence of God in Heaven. The importance of All Souls Day was made clear by Pope Benedict
XV (1914-22) when he granted all priests the privilege of celebrating three Masses on All Souls Day:
 one for the faithful departed
 one for the priest's intentions
 one for the intentions of the Holy Father

 On All Souls Day, we not only remember the dead, but we apply our efforts, through prayer,
almsgiving, and the Mass, to their release from Purgatory. There are two plenary indulgences
attached to All Souls Day:
 one for visiting a church
 and another one for visiting a cemetery

 Praying for the dead is a Christian obligation. In the modern world, when many have come to doubt
the Church's teaching on Purgatory, the need for such prayers has only increased. The Church
devotes the month of November to prayer for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and participation in the
Mass of All Souls Day is a good way to begin the month.

All Saints Day

 All Saints Day is a special feast day or a holy day of obligation on which Catholics celebrate all
the saints, known and unknown. While most saints have a particular feast day on the Catholic
calendar. It is a surprisingly old feast. It arose out of the Christian tradition of celebrating the
martyrdom of saints on the anniversary of their martyrdom. When martyrdoms increased during
the persecutions of the late Roman Empire, local dioceses instituted a common feast day in
order to ensure that all martyrs, known and unknown were properly honored.
 By the late fourth century, this common feast was celebrated in Antioch, and Saint Ephrem the
Syrian mentioned it in a sermon in 373. In the early centuries, this feast was celebrated in
the Easter season, and the Eastern Churches, both Catholic, and Orthodox, still celebrate it then,
tying the celebration of the lives of the saints in with Christ's Resurrection.
 The current date of November 1 was instituted by Pope Gregory III when he consecrated a
chapel to all the martyrs in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. Gregory ordered his priests to
celebrate the Feast of All Saints annually. This celebration was originally confined to the diocese
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of Rome, but Pope Gregory IV extended the feast to the entire Church and ordered it to be
celebrated on November 1.

3. Show a diagram of the relationship of the different states of the Church in the Communion of
Saints.