Is Halloween Catholic?

‘Halloween’ is very Catholic!

The Feast Days of All Saints and All Souls Day were instituted by the Catholic Church and are completely independent of any pagan or cultural celebration on 31st October using the name of ‘Halloween’. Let’s check out the history behind it…

HISTORY

Please note that in this Reflection I will interchange the word Christian with Catholic as all Christians were actually following the Catholic faith until the Reformation.

After the legalisation of Christianity in 313 AD, which followed the persecution of Christians and the martyrdom of a great number of them under Emperor Diocletion (284-305 AD,) the Church rightly wanted to give honour to the martyrs by giving each of them a feast day. But there weren’t enough days in the church calendar, so they were appropriately given a common feast: a feast day to commemorate all martyrs and all saints, known and unknown!

Catholics in different parts of the world chose to celebrate this common feast day on different days. The Christian city of Edessa celebrated this feast day on 13th May, while not too far away, in Antioch, it was celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. The Christians in Syria, however, celebrated it on the Friday after Easter.

It was the institution of a new church building in Rome that began to ring in the changes. In 609 AD, Pope St. Boniface IV was presented with the amazingly engineered Roman structure called the Pantheon which was used as a pagan temple. He transformed it into a church and called it ‘St. Mary and All Martyrs’. This church was consecrated on May 13th and because of this Pope St. Boniface IV gave the date of 13th May as the celebration for ‘All Saints Day’ in Rome. Then, under Pope Gregory 3rd (731-741 AD) the feast day changed from 13th May to November 1st. This change of date in Rome had far reaching effects and eventually by the 9th and 10th centuries it was firmly on the Catholic liturgical Calendar throughout the world.

BACK TO THE PRESENT…

The 31st October became the Vigil of All Saints Day, and this began the 3-day celebration known in old English as ‘Allhallowtide’. As all Catholic vigils start in the preceding evening, 31st October soon got its name of ‘All Hallows Eve’ and this eventually morphed into the term ‘Halloween’.

November 1st is ‘All Saints Day’ and a Day of Obligation , when we celebrate the known and unknown saints who have made it into Heaven. From left to right: Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati, Saint Pedro Calungsod, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, St. Therese of Liseux, Pope Saint John Paul II.

November 2nd is ‘All Souls Day’ where we cheer on and pray for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Unless a soul has been made a ‘Canonised Saint’ by the Church, like St. Pio, we don’t know where any particular soul is situated! So, on this day we pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory so that they will soon be released into the glory of Heaven.

Druid Perspective

So that you are informed, there are various accounts about 31st October being a religious day for druids and neopagans. But when looking at the so-called evidence for this, Catholic Joe Heschmeyer believes that the evidence is not tangible. Joe Heschmeyer is a Catholic author, apologist for Catholic Answers, ex - Seminarian, previous Attorney and blogger. 31st October was possibly a harvest celebration. Whatever some cultures did on 31st October that was up to them, but in no way does it affect the liturgical Catholic celebration of Halloween/ All Hallows Eve. It has nothing to do with it! People use the Catholic term of Halloween and attach it to whatever they are doing on that day.

Satanic Perspective

According to ex-satanist, Riaan Swiegelaar, now a Protestant Christian Pastor called Pastor Emmanuel, the 31st October is probably the most important day on the satanic calendar. Satanists call this day ‘samhein’. It is considered a ‘high day’ and it is the day when satanists make the greatest number of human sacrifices and engage in occult practices. Here he talks about his conversion. About 2 mins long.

Though he is not Catholic, I think it is important to hear his insights as an ex-satanist so that you can make an informed choice as to how you will celebrate this feast day while spiritually protecting your child. This is a 12-minute video.

Another ex-satanist convert to Christianity is John Ramirez and he speaks out about how the ‘candy’ used at cultural celebrations of Halloween of trick or treating may have been ‘prayed over’ by witches. 5 minutes long.

In my opinion. and I am not alone; there are occult forces at work throughout October and especially on 31st October. Any man, woman or child that engages in these cultural festivals such as Trick or Treat are opening doors to the occult whether they realise it or not. You only have to listen to the converted satanists above to become aware of this.

If I had a child, I would completely avoid ‘trick or treating’ and only engage in Catholic celebrations.

So, How Can We Celebrate Halloween In A Truly Catholic Way?

Halloween 31st October – the vigil to celebrate all the Saints and Martyrs-known & unknown

The Cor et Lumen Christi Catholic Community based in Chertsey, Surrey, England has initiated ‘The Night of Light’ to celebrate Christ and His Saints on ‘All Hallows Eve’ or ‘Halloween’. ‘The Night of Light’ has been endorsed by the Council of New Evangelisation in the Vatican. To see how the ‘Night of Light’ works, take a look at the video below. It’s 8 minutes long.

All Saints Day 1st November – celebrates all the Saints and Martyrs-known & unknown. A Day of Obligation.

• As a Day of Obligation, we must celebrate Mass.
• Read stories of the saints to your children. Perhaps buy and wrap up a new book for them each to open.
• Allow your child to dress up as the saint they were last evening (get the most out of those costumes!) and have a party at home together. Here are some ideas from a Catholic mum. It’s 14 minutes long.

All Souls Day 2nd November– celebrates the holy souls in Purgatory

Please take a look at this 2-minute video.

So, on All Souls Day we remember our loved ones.

• You might visit the cemetery of your loved one and take a lit lantern. Place it next to or on the grave, symbolising that you are bringing light to them through your prayers. Then you could pray the ‘Eternal Rest’ prayer or ‘The Saint Gertrude’ prayer for their soul.
• You might not be able to visit the cemetery of your loved ones as they might be in another country or just too far away. Instead, you could light a candle at home in front of a picture of your beloved person. Maybe you have a family altar where you pray together as a family? That would be an ideal place to rest your photo. Then you could pray the ‘Eternal Rest’ prayer or ‘The Saint Gertrude’ prayer for their soul.

• In Medieval times in the British Isles, it was common practice for the poor, children and adults, to go ‘souling’ during ‘Allhallowtide’. This encompassed All Saints Eve on 31st October, All Saints Day on 1st November and All Souls Day on 2nd November. The ‘soulers’ went from house to house, knocking on the doors of the rich of the parish. They would sing songs and promise to pray for the Holy Souls of that family. In return they were given a Soul Cake…sometimes along with a script of the specific deceased person whom they were to pray for. Perhaps you could bake these and eat one after you have prayed for your deceased loved ones?

 Making Soul cakes

Basically, these were small cakes made of wheat or oatmeal with dried fruits, spices and even alcohol. These varied from region to region in the British Isles. For example: In Yorkshire they were square with carrots in the centre. In Lancashire and Herefordshire, they were made with oatmeal, fat, ginger and brown ale. They taste a bit like spiced shortbread.

It’s important to encourage your child to help you make these.

I found the recipe below on YouTube which uses wheat, spices and it doesn’t use alcohol - so very child friendly. They don’t give a written recipe with measurements – so please use mine below. The video is 5-minutes long.

 Traditional Soul Cakes

Makes 8 cakes

Preheat oven to 350 F/ 175 Celsius.

Roll out dough to ½ inch/12.7mm thick

Cook for 15-20 mins

Traditional Soul Cakes Ingredients:

170g/ ¾ cup butter

150g /3/4 cup sugar (I used 75g honey)

3 egg yolks

1 teaspoon ground mixed spice

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

375g/3 cups all-purpose flour (I used wholegrain Einkorn flour)

½ cup /120g currants for decoration or put straight into the mixture (I did the latter!)

Add enough milk – pour slowly - so that it forms a dough as in the video.

Delicious Soul Cakes go well with tea or hot chocolate!