The Catholic Origins of Halloween: All Saints Day and All Souls Day

Facts from the original

• 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 Halloween is beginning to creep even towards that of Christmas.
• Halloween has Catholic roots and, as with many holidays in the United States, it became so because it was first a Christian holy day (from which the word holiday derives).
• The contemporary celebrations of Halloween in America are rather disconnected from its Catholic origins.
• The association of Halloween today with witches, goblins, gremlins, etc. is rather recent.
• The association of Halloween with the dead does find its roots in Catholicism.
• All Saints Day is celebrated on November 1st.
• All Saints Day is a great feast day in which we celebrate all the saints in heaven.
• All Saints Day 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.
• Pope Boniface IV did so on May 13th of that year, which became the feast of All Saints to commemorate that consecration.
• In the eighth century under Pope Gregory III, the feast was transferred to November 1st and has been celebrated as such ever since.
• As with any great feast of the Church, the celebration begins on the eve or vigil of that day (as with Christmas Eve).
• Halloween is simply the eve of All Saints Day.
• The name Halloween comes from All Hallows Eve, in which hallows is the Old English term for saints.
• 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 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.
• All Souls Day continues our celebration of all those who have passed on from this life.
• 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.
• All Souls Day comes out of the monastic movement, and its origins may be traced to the abbey of Cluny in A.D. 998, from which it spread throughout the Church.
• 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 the souls in purgatory in this transitory state.