The Forgotten Feasts
Catholics have feast days, some famous, some not so much. These are special days when we celebrate special things. You know some of them: Christmas and Easter to name a couple. But there are two particular feast days that I want to share with you today. We celebrate All Saints Day on November 1st commemorating all of the saints or “holy ones” in heaven. These are our brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone before us, showing us the way, leading faith-filled lives (and even deaths). They are real role models, living examples of what Jesus called us to be. All Souls Day comes the day after where we pray for all the dead and the souls in Purgatory. These feast days used to have a much stronger significance in the Church, but today—as I mentioned above—we’ve lost touch with our roots.
So what does this have to do with Halloween? Well, the name actually derives from All Hallow’s Eve—the eve of All Saints Day. Just like we have Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, we have All Hallow’s Eve—Hallow being the old English word meaning “to make holy.”
All Hallow’s Eve… All Hallow Even… All Hallow E’en… Halloween.
Costumes and Candy and Crazies… Oh My!
Just like the name evolved and changed over the centuries, so have the ways we celebrate it. These days we know Halloween night for the children dressing up in costumes and going door-to-door trick-or-treating, collecting as much candy as they can carry. Seems harmless, right? Of course, there are the not so harmless members of society who use this night and it’s notoriety to do evil—rom witchcraft and voodoo to drink, drugs, and violence. There are always people who take advantage of any opportunity they can to do bad things, but we can’t let them hi-jack our holidays.
Like it or not, Halloween is a Christian celebration that has been taken over and exploited for material gain and the greater evil. But don’t give up on it just yet. There is lots to learn about the history of Halloween, but I’m not going to go into all the details. Do your research. Educate yourself, then educate your children.
Don’t Take My Word for It
There are many informational articles out there explaining what I have above in much greater detail. If you are questioning or have been questioned about being a Christian and celebrating Halloween, I recommend you read these: