Halloween a Catholic holiday?
All Saints' Day also sometimes known as All Hallows' Day is celebrated on the 1st of November. Sometimes the prayers started on the eve of the day, that is why over the years Halloween is celebrated on the evening of October 31st. It came from t Feast of All Holy Martyrs, which was on the 13th of May. Pope Gregory IV, in 837AD extended the festival to remember all the saints. When its name became the Feast of All Saints, and the date was moved to the 1st of November.
All Souls Day follows All Saints Day and is on the 2nd of November or the 3rd if the 2nd is a Sunday. It is a day for people to pray for the dead, and for the souls of people who are in Purgatory.
So is Halloween a Catholic holiday, yes, however it has been co-opted by a consumer society and stripped of its religious meaning. But Halloween or All Hallows day is a Catholic holiday and there is nothing wrong with celebrating it. Especially if you do a bit of sneaky re Catholicising of it.
There are some who state that Halloween is in fact a pagan holiday originally. This is historically false, it is true that in recent history, some neo pagans have pushed this disinformation. There may be some legitimate confusion here, because peoples of the past, all around the world, used to have celebrations or festivals at the start and end of the seasons. With the end of summer or harvest time being one of the largest, most of the people who bring this up tend to use either certain Celtic or Germanic culture groups as proof of this, but again all cultures have this. The Celtic and Germanic historically had no overt religious meanings to these celebrations. If anything the timing was more likely that 1st of November was chosen to be after these celebrations so as not to ’spoil’ or lessen either event.
So feel free to enjoy Halloween just remember what is really all about. Stay away from some of the modern aspects, like Ouija boards, witchcraft and other demon led activities. Dressing up can be fine, so is trick or treating and pumpkin carving. So this is a holiday where you can let your children join in for the most part.
Check out this video for some more information.
The Catholic Talk Show: The Catholic Origins of Halloween.