Andrew Simpson: All Saints Day ...... that day of remembrance

Mine wasn’t a religious upbringing.

Remembering the dead, 2026

Father on occasion might hum an old Scottish Protestant marching song while mother came close to becoming a Catholic.

Gathering in the growing dusk, 2026

But nether sought to impose any religion on any of us and my religious knowledge was pretty much confined to school assemblies and what I picked up from doing O level RE and even that was nothing more than a nod from the teacher that it might be an easy exam to do.

And indeed, it was easy.

I had to study a set number of texts from the New Testament which I enjoyed.

It was essentially a test in memory and comprehension and appealed to someone who was already learning how to interrogate historical sources.

The upshot was that I passed, and still today retain a heap of memorable lines from the Bible which can still be used to make a point.

All of which is an introduction to All Saints Day that day when many around the world remember family members who have died.

According to Dr Michael Carter of English Heritage All Saints Day "was originally a commemoration of martyrs, people who died for their faith, but was later expanded to include all saints, as the name suggests”.

To which was added All Souls' Day by the “The Abbott at Cluny in the late 10th/11th century is very concerned indeed about souls languishing in purgatory being tormented by demons.

The new feast becomes established on the 2nd of November and is for the faithful departed who have yet to be purged of their sins so they can go to heaven.

Lights in the night, 2026

And it spreads throughout Europe. Once again, it has special church services, especially the saying of prayers and masses for the dead and the ringing of bells as a prompt for people to say prayers for the dead and to give comfort to souls in purgatory.”

I first came across it in Naples with the Festival of the Dead and was drawn to the idea of that special day to remember the family.

And more especially the tradition of visiting the cememetry with candles and family members brought together by the common act of rememberannce.

So I was pleased when our Julia in Warsaw messaged me with "We had All Saints here on Sunday and I took some pictures which I am sending over".

The collection are from the local cemetery and yesterday along with our Saul Julia lit candles at the grave of her great grandfather, grandfather and parents.