What’s the difference between All Saints Day and All Souls Day?

Archbishop Tirona led the celebration of the mass at Baao Catholic Cemetery during the blessing of the Capilla de Resurreccion.

All Saints Day, celebrated by the Roman Catholic church (and now other churches) on November 1, is set aside to honor church members believed to have gone to heaven. All Souls Day, November 2, was created to commemorate those who died baptized but without having confessed their sins, and thus they are believed to reside in purgatory. Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that intercessions (prayers) by earthly church members can cleanse these departed souls and prepare them for heaven.

Along with the Feast of All Saints developed the Feast of All Souls. The Church has consistently encouraged the offering of prayers and Mass for the souls of the faithful departed in Purgatory. At the time of their death, these souls are not perfectly cleansed of venial sin or have not atoned for past transgressions, and thereby are deprived of the Beatific Vision. The faithful on earth can assist these souls in Purgatory in attaining the Beatific Vision through their prayers, good works and the offering of Mass.

Archbishop with Fr Gerome Pelagio also blessed the cemetery of Quipayo Calabanga CS.

In the early days of the Church, the names of the faithful departed were posted in Church so that the community would remember them in prayer. In the 6th century, the Benedictine monasteries held a solemn commemoration of deceased members at Whitsuntide, the days following Pentecost. In Spain, St. Isidore (d. 636) attested to a celebration on the Saturday before Sexagesima Sunday (the second Sunday before Lent, the eighth before Easter in the old calendar). In Germany, Widukind, Abbot of Corvey (d. 980) recorded a special ceremony for the faithful departed on Oct. 1. St. Odilo, the Abbot of Cluny (d. 1048), decreed for all of the Cluniac monasteries that special prayers be offered and the Office of the Dead sung for all of the souls in Purgatory on Nov. 2, the day after All Saints. The Benedictines and Carthusians adopted that same devotion, and soon Nov. 2 was adopted as the Feast of All Souls for the whole Church.