Four Things to Know about Halloween as a Catholic

Four things to Know about Halloween as a Catholic:

1. Halloween has been a Christian celebration since the early 8th century. Pope Gregory III first instituted it. However, it is the “true and original substance” of Halloween that is Catholic. The violence, gore, sensuality, occultism, and demonic aspects now associated with Halloween are not, in fact, true to its origins. They aren’t really Halloween at all, although retailers and the entire world of consumerism have made them so for the culture at large. The current version of Halloween is actually a recent development in the context of history. It started out innocently enough: just fun costumes and trick or treating.

It didn’t stay fun and innocent, however. And the results are rather tragic. When we separate something from its religious context, it quickly takes a turn for the worse.

Christians and non-Christians now fail to realize that Halloween is a hijacked holy day. Both are convinced it has pagan origins.

The result is that Catholics react in one of three ways. They either 1) go with the flow, celebrating Halloween in a secular way and not giving the holiday much thought or 2) insist that Halloween should not be celebrated at all or 3) insist that Halloween needs to be “baptized” and turned into a harmless holiday. (Then we can at least enjoy the candy, right?)

But these responses don’t tell us where Halloween came from and why it’s worth rescuing.

So, where does Halloween come from?

2. The word “Halloween”—or “Hallowe’en”—comes from All Hallow’s Eve. All Hallows Eve refers to the night before, the vigil celebration of All Saints Day—also known as All Hallows Day (November 1). The word “hallow” means “holy.” (In the Our Father we pray, “Hallowed be thy name.”) All Saints Day is a Holy Day of Obligation, and a major feast on the Church’s liturgical calendar. All Saints Day honors not only the saints in heaven whom we know by name, but also the countless saints in heaven whose names are unknown to us.

3. Allhallowtide is the three days of All Hallows Eve (Halloween) - October 31, All Hallows Day (All Saints Day) - November 1 and All Souls Day - November 2.  This is s time for honoring the saints and praying for the dead. These three days taken together are the “Days of the Dead,” a triduum of feasts also called Allhallowtide, Hallowtide, or Hallowmas (Hallow meaning holy and mas meaning Mass).

Halloween is, therefore, the first day of Allhallowtide, the time of year when the living (the Church Militant) honor all the dead in Christ: the saints in heaven (the Church Triumphant) as well as all the holy souls detained in purgatory on their way to heaven (the Church Suffering). It is a beautiful celebration of the Communion of Saints!

4. It is possible to celebrate halloween in fun, safe and doctrinally sound way. 

The fact that the day is a Catholic vigil doesn't make it acceptable to practice secular or occult observances of the day.

Typically Catholics observe vigils with:
1. Added prayer, particularly reading of Scripture;
2. Fasting
3. Visits to Church
4. Preparations for the Holy day.

It would be appropriate to dress like Saints, read their lives, put on plays about them, recite poetry or sing songs written by the

saint, pray their Litany, etc.

Candy might be an element... (although it traditionally was a day of fast) but it should be oriented toward the honoring of saints.

"Fun" should be a side effect of honoring the Saints not an end to itself.

How to Celebrate Halloween:

• Try to get to Mass on All Hallow’s Eve.
   
• Pray for the intercession of the saints—especially those who are your patrons.
   
• Have a party with saint-based activities or costumes for kids. Growing up, my mom had connections with the Pauline Fathers at the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Pennsylvania. They agreed to host us and we had the best All Saints / All Hallow’s Eve celebration I’ve ever seen for seven years’ running. (My family eventually moved away and were no longer able to enjoy it!) The priests said Mass for us and let us kids wear our saints’ costumes to Mass. Then we had a party (complete with a Saint Guessing Game) in the cafeteria. A parent brought a guitar and played “When the Saints Come Marching In” and let us kids parade around. There was dinner, candy hunts, and more—and little “saints” running around everywhere, with their costumes looking delightfully disheveled by the end of the night. All of this made a big impression on me as a kid—and was the best day of the year for my childhood life, second only to Christmas.

• Is it okay to dress up and do Trick or Treating? It’s no sin to wear fun costumes and enjoy trick or treating! (The medieval days were full of enthusiasm for dressing up, going door to door to sing to the folks inside, and more!) Just avoid homes that are decorated with hideous or demonic decor. Find a good, family-focused neighborhood to Trick or Treat in. My cousin brings her four kids to a neighborhood street renowned for a communal celebration that is focused on kids and their parents.

• Help your kids pick a saint to dress up as when they Trick or Treat—and don’t just limit yourself to the popular saints. Have fun discovering a little-known saint who has a great story and impressive costume possibilities. When neighbors ask your son or daughter, “Who are you?” and learn about the existence of a certain holy man or woman, it’s a chance for your family to witness to the Faith. If your kids are reluctant and want to be Davy Crockett or Amelia Earhart instead of a saint, help them research that person’s life and teach them to pray for the repose of that soul.

• Want to bring back the tradition of Soul Cakes for your family? Here is a Soul Cake recipe that you can make. Here is a Soul Cake song that can be sung or listened to while making or sharing these cakes.

Much of this information was taken from Good Catholic. Learn more here.