Sunday is All Saints Day, one of the great solemnities of the Church. When solemnities of the Lord fall on an Ordinary Time Sunday, they normally take precedence over that Sunday (as All Saints does this year).
As early as the fourth-century, there is evidence that there was a feast of all martyrs. Contemporary accounts show that this feast was celebrated on May 13 in some locations. In others it was celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost and still others on the Friday after Easter.
Around the year 609 Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon (a former pagan temple given to him by the emperor) to the Blessed Mother and all of the martyrs. May 13 was the date of the consecration and reports show that 28 wagonloads of bones were brought to the Pantheon from the catacombs. The Pantheon, of course, still stands today with altars to the saints encircling the rotunda.
In the eighth century Pope Gregory III dedicated a chapel in Old Saint Peter's Basilica to All Saints. At some point (perhaps because of this), All Saints began to be celebrated on November 1. [The source for all this info is The Liturgical Year: Its history and its meaning after the reform of the Liturgy by Adolf Adam (tr. Matthew J. O'Connell).]
One of my favorite Latin motets is O quam gloriosum est by the Spanish priest-composer Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611). The text continues to be part of our liturgy, as the Magnificat antiphon for Evening Prayer II for All Saints Day.
How glorious is that kingdom where all the Saints rejoice with Christ
clothed in white robes, they follow the Lamb wherever he goes.
I hope that you enjoy this rendition!
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