A History Of Allhallowtide.

Triumph of The Church,

The Church Militant, and The Church Triumphant

Alternative title:

Allegory of The Active Church

and The Triumphant Church

and The Dominican Order.

Artist: Andrea di Bonaiuto (14th-Century).

Description: The Way of Salvation fresco is in the Spanish Chapel (Cappella Spagnuolo, or Guidalotti Chapel, after the Patron). The Black-Cloaked figures are Dominican Priests (The Black Friars, The Order of Preachers, O.P.), and the Black-and-White Dogs are their symbol. (Founded by Saint Dominic to Preach against heresies, they were referred to as "Domini Canes", The Hounds of God.)

Date: 1365-1367.

Collection: Basilica of Santa Maria Novella.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Allhallowtide.

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This Article is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

Allhallowtide, Hallowtide, All-Saintstide, or, The Hallowmas Season, is The Triduum [Editor: Three Days] encompassing the Western Christian observances of All Saints' Eve (Halloween), All Saints' Day (All Hallows’) and All Souls' Day, which last from 31 October to 2 November, annually.

Allhallowtide is a “time to remember The Dead, including Martyrs, Saints, and all Faithful Departed Christians.” The present date of Hallowmas (All Saints’ Day) and thus also of its Vigil (Hallowe’en) was established for Rome perhaps by Pope Gregory III (731 A.D. – 741 A.D.) and was made “Of Obligation” throughout The Frankish Empire by Louis the Pious in 835 A.D.

Elsewhere, other dates were observed even later, with the date in Ireland being 20 April. In the Early-11th-Century, the modern date of All Souls’ Day was popularised, after Abbot Odilo established it as a day for the Monks of Cluny and associated Monasteries to Pray for The Dead.

The word Allhallowtide was first used in 1471, and is derived from two words: The Old English word “Halig”, meaning Holy, and the word “Tide”, meaning “Time”, or, “Season” (cf. Christmastide, Eastertide). The latter part of the word Hallowmas is derived from the word “Mass”. The words Hallow and Saint are Synonyms.

The Christian attitude towards the death of Martyrs is first exemplified in the New Testament, which records that, after the beheading of Saint John the Baptist, his disciples respectfully buried him. Saint Stephen was, likewise, “given a Christian burial by his Fellow-Christians after he had been stoned to death by a mob.”

Two of the Post-Nicene Fathers, Ephrem the Syrian, as well as John Chrysostom, both wrote about the importance of honouring the dead; the Theologian Herman Heuser, writes that, in the Early Church, The Feast Days of the Martyrs were “Local Observances”, with Churches being built on those sites where their blood was shed. Frances Stewart Mossier explains that this changed during the Persecution of Christians in The Roman Empire, saying that:

This arrangement worked very well at first, but, soon, there were more Martyrs than there were days in the year, and so one day was set apart in honour of them all, and it was called All Saints’ Day. This took place about 610 A.D.

The Christians of those times were in the habit of spending the night before All Saints’ Day in thinking over the good and helpful lives of those in whose honour the day was kept and in Praying that they might be like them. Services were held in the Churches, and Candles and Incense burned before the Pictures and Statues of the Saints. It was to them (Editor: The people] one of the Holiest and most significant days of all the year.

Following the establishment of All Hallows’ Day, and its Vigil, All Hallows’ Eve, in the 8th-Century A.D., Abbot Odilo of Cluny popularised the day to Pray for All Souls, forming the third day of The Triduum of Allhallowtide.

The Octave of Allhallowtide, lasting “eight days”, was established by Pope Sixtus IV, in 1430, for the whole Western Church. The Octave, however, was eliminated in the 1955 Reforms of the Catholic Church, although it continues to be observed by many Anglicans.

The Faithful may still obtain a Plenary Indulgence by visiting a Cemetery and Praying for The Dead during the Octave of All Hallows.

In the United Kingdom, the Church of England, Mother Church of the Anglican Communion, extended All Saints-Tide to include Remembrance Sunday in the 20th-Century.