Many Christian churches in Canada annually mark All Souls’ Day on November 2. All Souls’ Day is a time for many Christians to remember deceased family members or friends.  All Souls’ Day was first instituted at the monastery in Cluny in 993 CE and quickly spread throughout the Christian world. People held festivals for the dead long before Christianity. It was Saint Odilo, the abbot of Cluny in France, who in the 10th century, proposed that the day after All Saints’ Day be set aside to honor the departed, particularly those whose souls were still in purgatory. All Souls’ Day is marked on November 2 in many church calendars in Canada.