Autumn is full of memorial days. Starting with Reformation Day on October 31st, followed by All Saints Day on November 1st and All Souls Day on November 2nd. Some federal states even have these days off, but at least they know the meanings and differences.
While for a long time only the residents of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia were able to enjoy a free Reformation Day, since 2018 the holiday has also been valid in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and Bremen. The background to Reformation Day is the posting of Martin Luther’s theses, which celebrated its 500th anniversary in 2017. On October 31, 1517, he is said to have posted his 95 theses on penance and indulgences on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. The remission of sins in exchange for money criticized therein was intended to finance the renovation of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Luther saw the sale of indulgences as an abuse and called for a return to the biblical foundations of the gospel.
Evangelical Christians celebrate October 31st as the beginning of church renewal through Martin Luther. In Latin, Reformation means renewal, hence the name Reformation Day.
The date is now almost more famous because of another custom: Halloween. The festival, brought to the United States by Irish immigrants, has its origins in a Celtic custom. In their mythology, the dead return from the realm of the dead on this day and move around with ghosts and demons.
In the USA, parades, scary pranks and parties have long been part of the holiday. Until a few years ago, Halloween was hardly known in Germany. In the meantime, many children in costumes are demanding trick-or-treating at the doors.
Just one day later, people in Baden-Würtemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland can rejoice: November 1st is a public holiday here. The reason for this is the Catholic memorial day of All Saints. With the festival, the Catholic Church not only remembers women and men who have been canonized, but also those people who lived their faith in a rather unspectacular way.
All Saints’ Day, originally celebrated as a spring festival after Pentecost, has been celebrated on November 1st since the 9th century.
Another Catholic day of remembrance takes place on November 2nd. In Germany, however, All Souls’ Day is not a public holiday. The festival is the actual day of remembrance of the dead of the Catholic Church. Believers place “soul lights” on graves and pray for souls in purgatory that the church believes have not yet achieved full communion with God. They make intercessions and decorate graves. The day was introduced in 998 by Odilo, the abbot of the Cluny monastery (France).
Watch the video: Ugh spider! This exclamation is probably not entirely appropriate for these cute and delicious spider muffins. The sweet muffins are sure to enchant everyone at your Halloween party.
