All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day: When the Lights Burn in the Cemeteries

Hungary Today 2021.11.01.

On November 1 and 2, on All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, people commemorate the deceased. In Hungary, All Saints’ Day has been considered an official holiday since 2000, and a holy day of obligation for local Catholics since 2013. The following day, All Souls’ Day, has gradually moved from being a church festival to a general day of remembrance.

This article was originally posted on our sister-site, Ungarn Heute.

According to Hungarian folk customs, the week on which the two holidays fall was called the Week of the Deceased.

All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day Traditions from Hungarian Folklore

All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day, the 1st and 2nd of November respectively, are the days when Hungarians traditionally remember their loved ones by lighting candles in cemeteries. However, besides the candles, there are some almost forgotten traditions in Hungarian folklore from these days, which we have collected in this article. All Saints’ Day – […]Continue reading

On All Souls’ Day, many people go to the cemeteries to decorate the graves, clean them up, as well as light candles for the souls of the deceased.

A cemetery, when full of relatives of the deceased, does not seem to be a frightening place at all.