The four purposes of this feast day according to Jacobus de Voragine‘s Golden Legend
“The Feast of All Saints was instituted for four purposes. The first was connected with the dedication of a certain temple; the second was to supply for the omission of many saints from the calendar; the third was to atone for neglect in honoring the saints; the fourth was to make it easier to obtain the favors for which we pray.“
Jacobus de Voragine: The Golden Legend. Readings on the Saints, Princeton University Press 1993, p. 658
The origin of this feast day according to the Golden Legend
“The feast was indeed instituted in connection with the dedication of a certain temple. When the Romans were masters of the whole world, they built a very large temple, in the middle of which they set up their idol. Then around the perimeter they arranged the statues of the gods of the provinces, the faces turned to the idol of Rome and the eyes fixed upon it. If from time to time a province rebelled, at once, they say, by some trick of the devil, the statue of that province turned its back on the Roman idol, as if to give notice that the province no longer accepted Roman rule. What happened next was that the Romans quickly dispatched a large army and subjugated the rebellious state. The Romans, however, were not satisfied with having only the images of all the provincial gods in the capital, and temples were built to most of them in Rome itself to show that the gods had made the people of Rome conquerors and masters of all the provinces. But because there were too many idols for each to have its own temple, the Romans pushed their insane display to the point of erecting a temple higher and more marvelous than the rest in honor of all the gods, and called it the Pantheon, which means ‘all gods‘ and comes from pan, meaning all, and theos, meaning god. To complete the people‘s delusion, the priests of the idols pretended that they had been advised by Cybele, whom they called the mother of all the gods, that if they wished to obtain victory over all nations, they should build this magnificent temple to all her children.
Jacobus de Voragine: The Golden Legend. Readings on the Saints, Princeton University Press 1993, p. 658-659
The foundation of this temple was laid in a circle to signify the eternity of the gods. (…)
In the reign of the emperor Phocas, about the year 605, long after Rome had accepted the faith of Christ, the emperor ceded the temple described above to Pope Boniface IV, the third pope after Saint Gregory the Great. Boniface had the statues and everything connected with the cult of the idols removed, and, on the twelfth day of May 609, consecrated the building in honor of Blessed Mary and all the martyrs. He gave it the title of Sancta Maria ad Martyres, but now it is popularly known as Santa Maria Rotonda. At that time no feast days were solemnized in honor of sainted confessors, but the crowds that came for this particular feast were so great that food ran out and the people could not stay for the celebration. A later Pope Gregory therefore moved the May feast to the first day of November, when supplies were ample after the harvest and the vintage was finished. He also decreed that the new feast was to be celebrated throughout the world, and that this day should be solemnly observed in honor of all the saints. Thus the temple that had been built for all the idols was now dedicated to all the saints, and where a horde of false gods had been worshiped, a multitude of saints was now praised.“
To honor the saints not canonized
“The second purpose of the feast is to supply for omissions. We have in fact omitted many saints, not celebrating feast days or making memorials for them. Indeed we could not have feasts for all the saints. For one thing the number of them has multiplied until it is almost infinite. Besides that, we are weak and because of our weakness could not put up with so many celebrations. And then there is not enough time in the year (…). Therefore the Church with good reason has ordered that since we cannot solemnize the saints one by one, we shall at least honor them generally and all together.“
Jacobus de Voragine: The Golden Legend. Readings on the Saints, Princeton University Press 1993, p. 659
Making amends for our negligences in honoring the saints
“The third reason for the institution of the feast of All Saints is to make amends for our negligences. Granted that we do observe the feasts of a relatively small number of saints, even then we often do so carelessly, and through ignorance or negligence omit many things. If therefore we have been neglectful in the celebrations we have performed, in this general solemnization we can make up for our omissions and purge ourselves of negligence.“
Jacobus de Voragine: The Golden Legend. Readings on the Saints, Princeton University Press 1993, p. 661
Obtaining the intercession of all saints
“The fourth and last reason for the institution of the feast of All Saints is to make it easier for us to have our prayers heard. On this day we honor all the saints universally in order to have them interceding for us all together, and thus to obtain the mercy of God more readily, because if it is impossible for the prayers of many not to be heard, it is surely impossible that with all the saints praying for us their prayers would not be granted. (…) The saints intercede for us by their merits and by their good will. Their merits help us and they desire the fulfillment of our wishes, but this only when they know that what we wish for is in accordance with God‘s will.
Jacobus de Voragine: The Golden Legend. Readings on the Saints, Princeton University Press 1993, p. 665-666
That on this day all the saints come together to intercede universally for us was shown in a vision which, we are told, occurred a year after the institution of the feast. On this day the warden of the church of Saint Peter devoutly went around to all the altars and implored the help of all the saints. When he got back to Saint Peter‘s altar he rested for a short while and was rapt in ecstasy. In a vision he saw the King of kings seated on a high throne, surrounded by all the angels. Then the Virgin of virgins came forward, wearing a gleaming diadem and followed by an innumerable multitude of virgins and the continent. The King rose immediately to meet her and placed a throne beside his own for her to be seated. Then came a man clad in camel skins, whom a large number of ancients followed, and after them another man wearing pontifical vestments and accompanied by a chorus of men similarly attired. Next a great army of soldiers advanced, and then a vast throng of men and women of every race. All gathered before the King‘s throne and knelt to adore him. The man in pontifical robes then intoned matins, and the rest joined in the chant.
The angel who was guiding the aforementioned warden now explained the vision to him. The Virgin at the head of the procession, he said, was the mother of God with her train of virgins, the man in camel skins was John the Baptist with the patriarchs and prophets, the one in the robes of a pontiff was Saint Peter with the other apostles, the soldiers were the martyrs, the rest of the crowd, the confessors. All these people had come before the King to thank him for the honor done them by mortals on this day, and to pray for the whole world. Then the angel led the warden to another place and showed him people of both sexes, some reclining on golden beds, others at tables enjoying delicious viands, still others naked and needy, begging for help. This place, the angel said, was purgatory. Those enjoying abundance were the souls for whom their friends provided plentiful aid, whereas those in need had no one who cared for them. The angel therefore commanded the warden to make all this known to the supreme pontiff, and to inform him that he was to establish after the feast of all the saints a day of commemoration for the souls of all the departed, on which day those who had no one to pray for them would at least share in the general commemoration.“
Post scriptum: The saints on the holy souls in purgatory
“One of the holiest works, one of the best exercises of piety we can practice in this world is to offer sacrifices, alms, and prayer for the dead.“
Saint Augustine of Hippo
“Let us help and commemorate them. If Job‘s sons were purified by their father‘s sacrifice (Job 1: 5), why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.“
Saint John Crysostom
“And when the days of their feasting were gone about, Job sent to them, and sanctified them: and rising up early offered holocausts for every one of them. For he said: Lest perhaps my sons have sinned, and have blessed God in their hearts. So did Job all days.“ (Job 1: 5)
“The holy souls in purgatory are our friends. If everyone had to adopt a holy soul to pray for, purgatory would be emptied in no time.“
Saint Gertrud the Great
“To assist the souls in purgatory is to perform the most excellent of the works of mercy.“
Saint Francis de Sales
Read on about the feast day of All Souls: