All Souls Day

November 2 

The origins of All Souls' Day (Day of the Dead) in European folklore and folk belief are related to customs of ancestor veneration practiced worldwide, such as the Chinese Ghost Festival or the Latin American Day of the Dead.  The Roman custom was that of the Lemuria.

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, alms deeds and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass.

History Trivia - Thomas Becket flees England after quarreling with King Henry II

November 2

 All Souls’ Day.  

1164 Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, left Britain because of a quarrel with King Henry II.  He fled to Flanders and stayed away from England for 6 years.

1093 Malcolm III MacDuncan, King of Scots, was killed while laying siege to Alnwick in an invasion of England.  He was succeeded by his brother Donald Bane.

1355 English invasion army under King Edward landed at Calais.

1541 Henry VIII was informed that Katherine Howard was involved in two affairs before their marriage.

1570 A tidal wave in the North Sea destroyed the sea walls from Holland to Jutland. More than 1,000 people were killed.