Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day
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Today, Halloween has become one of the biggest holidays of the year in America. The amount of money spent, decorations put out, and overall attention given to it is beginning to creep even towards that of Christmas. So, where did this annual fright fest come from? Well, it actually has Catholic roots and as with many holidays in our country, it became so because it was first a Christian holy day (from which the word holiday derives). Yet, the contemporary celebrations of Halloween in America are rather disconnected from its Catholic origins. The association of Halloween today with the likes of witches, goblins, gremlins, etc. is rather recent. But the association of Halloween with the dead does find its roots in Catholicism.
In order to understand the Catholic roots of Halloween, we must first look at All Saints Day, which is celebrated on November 1st. This great feast day, in which we celebrate all the saints in heaven, has its roots in the seventh century. In A.D. 609, Pope Boniface IV consecrated the ancient Roman Pantheon to the saints of the Church, especially to all the martyrs. He did so on May 13th of that year, which became the feast of All Saints to commemorate that consecration. It was then in the eighth century under Pope Gregory III that the feast was transferred to November 1st and has been celebrated as such ever since. So what about Halloween? Well, as with any great feast of the Church, the celebration begins on the eve or vigil of that day (just think of Christmas Eve, for example). Halloween, then, is simply the eve of All Saints Day. In fact, this is where we get its name. The name Halloween comes from All Hallows Eve, in which hallows is the Old English term for saints. Thus, Halloween was originally the beginning of the celebration of all the saints and, as with any Catholic feast, was intended to be a great, holy party that culminated in worship in Mass. What we see today is quite different from the original, intended purpose of this holiday. As Catholics, we should, therefore, celebrate Halloween but strive to bring it back to more of its intended purpose
The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (or All Souls Day) follows after All Saints Day on November 2nd and continues our celebration of all those who have passed on from this life. While on All Saints Day we remember those who are in heaven, on All Souls Day, we remember those who are in purgatory and pray for them. This particular feast comes out of the monastic movement. Specifically, its origins may be traced to the abbey of Cluny in A.D. 998, from which it spread throughout the Church. But the practice of praying for the dead dates back to the beginning of Christianity and is even evidenced in the Old Testament (see 2 Maccabees 12:42-46). On All Souls Day, we commemorate those who have left this life with the sign of faith but who have not yet been fully purified of sin and, thus, entered into heaven. All the souls in purgatory will go to heaven after their final purification and preparation. Our prayers can assist them in this transitory state.