Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/355

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ALL SAINTS
315
ALL SOULS'

desired All Hallows "to be Apostolic, and to cease to exist, as soon as it ceased to be Apostolic." He wislied the professors to labour without stipend, and the students not only to be taught and boarded, but to receive every collegiate convenience, free of charge. The professors of the college throughout its history have been men of capacity and distinction, and men whose lives were according to Father Hand's desire, modelled upon the teaching and the example of M. Olier and St. Vincent de Paul. Amongst those who gratuitously gave their services to All Hallows the following deserve special mention: Dr. Bartholomew Woodlock, Dr. Daniel Moriarty, Dr. Michael Flannery, Dr. Eugene O'Connell, Dr. George Conroy, Dr. James McDevitt, and Dr. Patrick Delany (Hobart), all of whom were elevated in course of time to episcopal rank. To these should be added Dr. Thomas Bennet, Provincial of the Carmelites; Dr. Sylvester Barry, now Vicar-General of Sandhurst; Monsignor James O'Brien, Rector of St. John's College in the University of Sydney; Dr. John McDevitt, author of the "Life of Father Hand"; Father Thomas Potter, and Mr. Henry Bedford, the last two distinguished converts and men of literary eminence. It has been the aim of the directors of All Hallows from the beginning to form missionaries of a practical type, men who would throw themselves with sympathy and zeal into the advancing civilization of the New World. In furtherance of this aim the studies, discipline, and general spirit of the college have been developed along certain definite lines. In an academic course of seven years three are devoted to physics, mental philosophy, languages, and English literature; the remaining four years to Sacred Scripture, history, liturgy, canon law, sacred eloquence, and the science of theology. Throughout the entire period there are classes in elocution and in modern and Gregorian music. Examinations, written and oral, are held twice each year, supplemented by monthly revisions. Prayer, the sacraments, conferences, retreats, and friendly advice are the means used in the formation of character. The students are encouraged to foster and strengthen the spontaneous spirit of piety, which is the heritage of most Irish children. They are also encouraged to develop health and manliness by outdoor exercises and recreations, such as football, hurling, hockey, handball, tennis, cricket, athletic competitions, and long walks. In 1892, in accordance with the wishes of the Irish Episcopate, the Vincentian Fathers undertook the direction of the college, receiving at the same time the co-operation of several of the former professors. Two of these—Dr. William Fortune, President for a quarter of a century, and Dr. Timothy O'Mahony, Dean for almost an equal period—fill respectively the senior chairs of moral and dogmatic theology. The entire teaching staff consists of fourteen professors, some of them Vincentians, some secular priests, and some laymen. From twenty to thirty students are ordained priests each year on the feast of St. John the Baptist, and sent to various parts of the English-speaking world. For instance, last summer (1905) thirteen were ordained for the Australian mission, one for New Zealand, two for South Africa, seven for different dioceses of the United States, three for Canada, and one for England. The diocesan destination of the missionaries varies each decade with the needs and advances of the Church; but, this fact apart, an easy computation shows that, during an existence of upwards of sixty years, All Hallows has sent about fifteen hundred priests to minister to the Irish "of the dispersion" in different parts of the New World. It is worthy of note that this supply of missionaries has been maintained during a period when Ireland herself possessed few educational opportunities, and while her population, under stress of famine and enforced expatriation, was dwindling from eight millions to half that lunnber. At the present time about five hundred All-Hallow's-taught priests, including two archbishops and twelve bishops, are scattered throughout Great Britain, the British Colonies, the United States, and the Argentine Republic.

See All Hallows in All Hallows Annual (Dublin, 1902); McDevitt, Life of Father Hand (Dublin, 18S5).

All Saints, a feast of the highest rank, celebrated on the first of November, having a vigil and an octave, and giving place to no other feast. It is instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year. In the early days the Christians were accustomed to solemnize the anniversary of a martyr's death for Christ at the place of martyrdom. In the fourth century, neighbouring dioceses began to interchange feasts, to transfer relics, to divide them, and to join in a common feast; as is shown by the invitation of St. Basil of Cæsarea (397) to the bishops of the province of Pontus. Frequently groups of martyrs suffered on the same day, which naturally led to a joint commemoration. In the persecution of Diocletian the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each. But the Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a common day for all. The first trace of this we find in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost. We also find mention of a common day in a sermon of St. Ephrem the Syrian (373), and in the 74th homily of St. John Chrysostom (407). At first only martyrs and St. John the Baptist were honoured by a special day. Other saints were added gradually, and increased in number when a regular process of canonization was established; still, as early as 411 there is in the Chaldean Calendar a "Commemoratio Confessorum" for the Friday after Easter. In the West, Boniface IV, 13 May, 609, or 610, consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, ordering an anniversary. Gregory III (731–741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November. A basilica of the Apostles already existed in Rome, and its dedication was annually remembered on 1 May. Gregory IV (827–844) extended the celebration on 1 November to the entire Church. The vigil seems to have been held as early as the feast itself. The octave was added by Sixtus IV (1471–84).

Butler, Lives of the Saints; Lingard, The History and Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church; Baring-Gould, Lives of the Saints; Binder, Allgemeine Realencyklopædie; Binterim, Denkwürdigkeiten; Probst in Kirchenlex., Kellner, Heortologie; Nilles, Kalendarium Manuale untriusque Ecclesiæ.

All Souls College. See Oxford.

All Souls' Day.—The commemoration of all the faithful departed is celebrated by the Church on 2 November, or, if this be a Sunday or a feast of the first class, on 3 November. The Office of the Dead must be recited by the clergy and all the Masses are to be of Requiem, except one of the current feast, where this is of obligation. The theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the Beatific Vision, and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers, almsdeeds and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass. In the early days of Christianity the names of the departed brethren were entered in the diptychs. Later, in the sixth century, it was customary in Benedictine monasteries to hold a com-