All Saints' Day

Today is All Saints' Day. I only know this because of group of our residents asked to go to the mass this morning. I am not Catholic so I didn't know about the holiday. I had to google it to find out more. What in the world did we do before google?!?

Here is what I found: All Saints' Day is celebrated in many areas of the United States, including where there are large Roman Catholic populations. According to some sources, the idea for All Saints' Day goes back to the fourth century when the Greek Christians kept a festival on the first Sunday after Pentecost (in late May or early June) in honor of all martyrs and saints. Other sources say that a commemoration of “All Martyrs” began to be celebrated as early as 270 CE but no specific month or date is recorded. Pope Gregory IV made All Saints' Day an authorized holiday in 837 CE.

This got me thinking about the different saints throughout the ages. I did a search and there are over 10,000 saints recognized by the Catholic church! Most I have never heard of. If I am being honest, I haven't heard of almost all of them.

The word saint means "a person of great holiness, virtue, or benevolence." I would love to be a saint! I am a Christian but to be recognized for great virtue & holiness would be wonderful.