La Toussaint & Le Jour des Morts

Happy November! This past week, we celebrated Halloween, All Saints Day (or La Toussant in France), and Le Jour des Morts (All Souls' Day). While Halloween is becoming increasingly popular with the globalization of American holidays and traditions, La Toussaint and Le Jour des Morts are both French through and through.

Halloween in France is celebrated similarly to Halloween in America (when it's actually celebrated); however, many French have boycotted the holiday since there really is no French tradition of celebrating the day in its current form. Only gaining popularity in the last few decades, Halloween was originally promoted by shops and businesses, with the intention being to visit the shops of course. Now, the tradition is celebrated by children going house to house "trick-or-treating" to receive candy and other goodies just as in America.

Celebrated the day after Halloween, on November 1st, La Toussaint is an authentically French holiday. (No American roots here). With origins dating back to the 5th century, La Toussaint began with the Celts celebrating Samhein at the beginning of November. Adapted into the church calendar, it wasn't officially celebrated in its current form, until Pope Gregory IV moved the holiday from May 13th and dedicated the day for the celebration of saints. Marked by the lighting of candles in cemeteries and decorating graves with chrysanthemums, La Toussaint is a day set apart for honoring the mother of God and all of the saints.

Then, the evening of La Toussaint also marks the eve of Le Jour des Morts, or the Day of the Dead, a day set apart for honoring the deceased. During this time, French churches are draped in black and people will commonly visit the graves of deceased loved ones to pray or sing. Additionally, some French will even host parties in remembrance which are highlighted with a special feast at midnight.

If you ever get a chance to be in Paris over La Toussaint, make sure you set aside time to visit the Pere-Lachaise Cemetary, which is one of the most famous cemeteries in all of France. Established by Napoleon I in 1804, it is the final resting place of many famous and historical figures worldwide and encompasses 110 acres of Parisian real estate.

However, don't be surprised if it's quite crowded, as La Toussaint and Le Jour des Morts are both French National holidays and fall during the time French children have a multi-week holiday off of school.

Have you ever celebrated All Saints Day, the Day of the Dead, or a similar holiday? We'd love to hear about it in the Comments' section below.