Deacon’s Corner

The Catholic Roots of Halloween

In the modern world, and especially in English speaking countries, Halloween has become one of the most important holidays of the year, with millions of children and adults dressing up as their favorite heroes, superstars, ghouls, and goblins.

While some people connect Halloween to earlier pagan celebrations of the new year, Halloween actually has significant Catholic roots. The name itself comes from All Hallow’s Eve, that is, the Vigil of All Saints’ Day, when Catholics remember those who went before us to enter our heavenly home. Immediately afterwards, on November 2nd, the Church commemorates all the faithful departed still detained in Purgatory, and prays in suffrage for them.

The word Halloween refers to the Feast of All Saints (a holy day of obligation). The word itself is taken from an older English term, “hallows,” meaning “holy”; and “e’en”, a truncation of the word evening, in reference to the Vigil of the feast. In reality, Halloween is the celebration of the feast of All Hallows. It is a day when Catholics celebrate the triumph of the Church in heaven, and the lives of the saints on earth.

The roots of the holiday go back to the 8th century, when Pope Gregory III dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica to all saints and moved All Saints’ Day to November 1st. The dedication of this chapel to all the saints on November 1st marked the origin of the holiday. So, the date of Halloween and the Feast of All Saints are actually connected to Rome.

The modern focus on the eerie or mysterious also has a Catholic aspect. When we think of Halloween, we often think of ghosts and goblins, and ghoulish faces, but even these, in the Catholic tradition, are meant to be reminders of death and of ‘the last things’.

Let us make this year’s celebration an act of true devotion to God, whose saints give us hope that we too may one day enter into the Kingdom prepared for God’s holy ones from the beginning of time.

Blessings,
Deacon Mike