All Souls' Day in Lithuania

Date and legal status

The Labour Code lists November 2 as the Day of Remembrance of the Dead (Vėlinės), alongside November 1, All Saints’ Day. It says that work on public holidays is normally restricted: employees may work with their consent, with exceptions for cumulative working-time arrangements and cases set out in collective agreements.[1]

Meaning and origins

In Catholic liturgy, Vėlinės is a day of prayer for the dead. Lithuanian tradition also connects it with Ilgės, an older observance held around late October and early November. After Lithuania’s Christianization, older ways of honoring the dead took on Christian forms; the two dates, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, remain distinct.[2]

The holiday’s Lithuanian customs have changed over time. The National Museum of Lithuania describes 15th- and 16th-century accounts of village gatherings, harvest offerings and food for ancestors’ souls. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, some rural families held a meal with a blessed candle, set aside food for the dead, or brought food to the cemetery; alms-giving and requests for prayers were also part of observances.[4]

Cemeteries, prayer and regional customs

Visiting and tending family graves are central to modern observance. The Lithuanian encyclopedia describes graves being cleaned before Vėlinės and relatives’ graves being visited from All Saints’ Day onward. In Catholic practice, the day includes prayers and Mass; services may conclude with a procession to a cemetery, churchyard or church.[2]

Candles at graves are a familiar part of the observance, though the custom became widespread only in the first half of the 20th century. Regional traditions have differed: historical accounts describe food offerings in parts of Dzūkija and eastern Aukštaitija, while a Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre source reports that communal cemetery bonfires remain a custom in southern Dzūkija.[2][3]

Practical effects

Because November 2 is a public holiday, it affects work schedules across Lithuania; the law does not establish a blanket closure schedule for every shop, bank or transport service. Check individual opening hours and transport timetables before travelling. The calendar rule is fixed at November 2, and the supplied calendar lists no substitute or observed day.[1]