Halloween and the Church

Halloween is a Church festival! In midieval Europe it was called ALL Hallows Eve, the night before All Saints Day. All Saints Day was a huge festival that has been all but forgotten in most Churches. It was an entire day set aside to honor those whose life on this earth had ended and had gone on to be with the Lord in heaven. To prepare the town for the festival, it was necessary to rid the town of all evil that would be lurking to spoil All Saints Day. People put on masks as gruesome as they could find and go through the town to scare evil away. Midieval Churches had gargoyles (ugly faces) carved in stone around their churches for the same purpose of scaring evil away.

Today, Halloween is still the night before All Saints, but has taken a life of its own. No longer is it a festival of the church, but a time of parties, costumes, masks, and candy. If All Saints day falls on any day but Sunday, most people pay no attention. Liturgical Churches like St. Martin's celebrate All Saints on the Sunday closest to November 1. This year, All Saints falls on a Sunday. Today people spend a lot of time protecting their children from the evil that might lurk on the streets of our cities by taking their children to supervised and safe parties or by walking with them in local neighborhoods.

It is appropriate to take time on All Saints Day, Sunday or not, to remember those who have lived their lives on this earth and for who " from all their labors, rest."