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All Saints' Day, observed each year on 1 November in Western Christianity, is a public holiday in Luxembourg.
This Christian holiday, known as "Allerhellegen" in Luxembourgish, offers a sombre occasion for people to remember their loved ones who have passed away. As part of this long-standing tradition, people in Luxembourg visit cemeteries to honour the deceased by laying flowers and candles on their loved ones' graves. Official religious ceremonies are common, with mass and the blessing of the graves, and families often have lunch and spend time together on this day of remembrance.
Ahead of All Saints' Day in Luxembourg is "Mantelsonndeg" (coat Sunday) when many people take to the shops to buy a new coat to don on the holiday itself (and to keep them warm in the winter ahead).
Already in the 4th century, feasts were held in honour of Christian martyrs in certain places at different times. Around 609/610, Pope Boniface IV proclaimed an official anniversary dedicated to all the martyrs, and in the early 700s, Pope Gregory IV set the date of All Saints' Day as 1 November.
Today, the holiday is observed in Luxembourg but also in neighbouring Belgium, France and parts of Germany and Switzerland, among other Christian countries.
