November Holy Days

The month of November contains several special Holy and Feast Days for Catholics to celebrate. Perhaps most notably, the first day of November is All Saints Day, followed by All Souls Days. Here is a deeper look at some of the important days in November.

All Saints Day is a solemn Holy Day celebrated each year on the first of November. On this Holy day of obligation, Catholics attend Mass to honor all the Saints who have entered the Kingdom of Heaven.

Dear God, thank you for the example of the Saints. I desire to join in their company, worshiping You forever in Heaven. Please help me follow their footsteps, and Yours, Jesus Christ. Please help me to conform myself to Your image, seeking Your will in all things, as the Saints did. Please help me to devote myself, and all that I do, to Your glory, and to the service of my neighbors. Amen.

On this somber day, also known as “The Commemoration of All Faithful Departed”, Catholics pray for all their fellow faithful who have died and are awaiting full sanctification and moral perfection before entering the kingdom of heaven. Most Catholics use this day to remember and honor family members and friends who have died through prayer and reflection.

Jesus, dear Savior, on this day we prayerfully remember all our loved ones who have died. Please give them comfort and hope and may they be at peace, knowing that they will rest in God’s arms eternally. Thank You for our memories of them and for the good times we shared. We ask You please, through their intercession to deepen our faith, strengthen our hope and increase our love that we, too, may someday stand before You, ready to enter Your Holy Kingdom. Amen.

Though many people may believe that St. Peter’s Basilica is the official Church of the Pope, it is actually the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran! Located in Rome, this Basilica has always been the official Church of the Pope. The dedication of a Church is a feast for all its parishioners, and because this is the Pope’s Cathedral it is the Parish Church of all Catholic’s.

Visit this historical Church on Tour 97 

This feasts day celebrates both the dedication for St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City and the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. Both Basilicas were built by the Emperor Constantine the Great in the 4^th Century and are popular pilgrimage sites. Both St. Peter and St. Paul are worshiped as Saints who shaped the early Church, thus, their statues prominently stand at the base of the steps in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Saint Peter is famous for holding keys in his hands, which represent holding the “keys to the kingdom of heaven”. St. Paul holds a book, representing his epistles in the New Testament, and the sword, representing a reminder to all of the means of his martyrdom. 

Visit these Basilicas on a tour of Rome

Saint Andrew was born in 6 B.C. in Galilee and was called, to become the first disciple of Jesus and a “fisher of men.” Andrew was an Apostle, present at the Last Supper and was martyred by Crucifixion on November 30^th, 60 A.D. in Patras, Greece. Relics of St. Andrew are now housed in the Basilica of Saint Andrew in Patras, Greece; in the Duomo di Sant’Andrew in Amalfi, Italy; in St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland; and in the Church of St. Andrew and St. Albert in Warsaw, Poland, among others. St. Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland and as such, his feast day November 30^th is the National day of Scotland – he is also the Patron Saint of Greece, Russia, Amalfi, Barbados, singers, fisherman, maidens, and women longing to become mothers.

Visit relics of Saint Andrew on these tours: