PORTLAND — A listing of All Saints’ Day Masses at Maine churches for Monday, Nov. 1, is available at portlanddiocese.org, including a Mass celebrated by Bishop Robert Deeley at 12:15 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.

All Saints’ Day is traditionally a holy day of obligation. In 2021, however, the obligation to attend Mass is dispensed because the solemnity falls on a Monday.

“All Saints’ Day is truly a moment of hope, of faith triumphant, of life lived well in service to the Gospel,” said Deeley, according to a news release from the Roman Catholic Diocese of  Portland. “Even the premise of the feast is itself a sign of hope. We believe in eternal life. It is the gift that Jesus won for us by his own suffering and death on the cross. It is the promise which guides our own lives. As such, the Feast of All Saints puts a bright face on a dark day and season. It gives us hope. The Lord is with us. Dark as it might be, his presence is our true light.”

Many parishes and schools hold special events where children can dress as their favorite saint. For instance, the third-grade students at All Saints Catholic School in Bangor will dress as their favorite saint for a schoolwide Mass at St. John Church on Nov. 1.