All Saints
1 November · Solemnity · White
A holy day of obligation in the United States, except when it falls on a Saturday or a Monday.
All heaven is crowded into the air, and one man stands on the ground: Dürer himself, at the lower right, in his best clothes beside a tablet bearing his name. Above him God the Father holds out the Cross with the Son upon it, and the Holy Spirit hovers over both as a dove; around them, tier on tier, angels, saints and believers of every time adore the Trinity. Matthäus Landauer paid for it, the Kunsthistorisches Museum records, for the chapel of a house he founded for old and destitute craftsmen. The feast it shows grew out of the persecution of Diocletian, when the martyrs became so many that a separate day could not be found for each, and the Church appointed a common day for all. Its first trace is at Antioch, on the Sunday after Pentecost; a sermon of Saint Ephrem the Syrian and a homily of Saint John Chrysostom both mention the common day. Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs on 13 May 609 or 610; Gregory III consecrated a chapel in Saint Peter's to all the saints and fixed the anniversary on 1 November; Gregory IV (827–844) extended the feast to the whole Church. Its vigil is the evening still called Hallowe'en. Dürer painted himself small, on the ground among us, looking out at whoever stands before the altar; the feast puts us in the same place, under that heaven.
Francis Mershman, “All Saints' Day”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (1907): newadvent.org
Albrecht Dürer
1511, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
About this painting
The Scripture of the feast
9After this, I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. 10And they cried with a loud voice, saying: Salvation to our God, who sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb.
1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set down, his disciples came unto him. 2And opening his mouth he taught them, saying: 3Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land. 5Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 6Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. 7Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8Blessed are the clean of heart: they shall see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: 12Be glad and rejoice for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.
Apocalypse 7:9–10 · Matthew 5:1–12, Douay-Rheims (Challoner)
In painting
Albrecht Dürer
1511, The Cleveland Museum of Art
About this painting
The day in the next three years
| 2026 | Sunday 1 November: the solemnity takes the place of the Sunday. |
|---|---|
| 2027 | Monday 1 November: in the United States the obligation to attend Mass is lifted this year. |
| 2028 | Wednesday 1 November: a holy day of obligation. |
The feasts of the year · The saints · The Rosary
Written and checked by the Monstrance editors; sources cited. Scripture in the Douay-Rheims (Challoner). Every painting is in the public domain, and each caption follows the record of the institution that holds it.
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