Many of the customs and traditions associated with the Halloween celebration find their roots in the ancient Celtic and Saxon harvest festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-en), where the prevailing theme was giving thanks and honoring family and friends who died in the past year. Samhain, which means Summers End, was an ideal evangelizing instrument for the Christian missionaries in Northern Europe and Britain.
Capitalizing on an opportunity to advance the cause of Christ, the Church incorporated Christian ideology into the various harvest festivals throughout Europe and changed the day of honoring saints and martyrs to correspond with the celebrations of the autumn months.
Halloween's Ecclesiastical History
Traditionally, All Hallows Eve is a vigil for the observance of All Saints Day and All Souls Day, which fall respectively on the first two days of November. The name itself means holy evening. The night is marked within the Church with prayers, hymns, fasting, and the reading of various scriptures in preparation for the celebration of the faith of the saints and martyrs the following day.
All Hallows Eve falls on the 31st of October, which also happens to be the day for the Protestant celebration of the Reformation. Pope Gregory IV set the date for All Saints Day in the early ninth century to specifically interact with the Celtic festival Of Samhain.
The prevailing belief within the Church Catechism was that "a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. Between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things," (#1475).
All Hallows Eve and Autumn Celebrations
Despite the Church's success in establishing a Christian foundation for All Hallows Eve, many of the ancient customs and traditions associated with Samhain were still practiced by the population. The carving of gourds and the wearing of costumes and masks to scare away malevolent spirits are typical of the superstitions carried over from these celebrations into the All Hallows Eve observance.
The custom of trick-or-treating has its origins in a ritual wherein the elders of a village or town would go from house to house and receive offerings of food and gifts for the souls of dead friends and relatives thought to visit on this night. This practice evolved during the Middle Ages, when beggars would travel from village to village and beg for soul cakes. Villagers would offer prayers along with the cakes to those who had died in the past year for their transition to heaven.
Honoring the Dead on All Hallows Eve
Many countries around the world have some type of celebration during the Autumn Equinox that gives thanks for the harvest and pays tribute to those who have died. The concept of death among various cultures around the world, many of them Christian, is treated as a natural part of the process of life.
Honoring relatives and friends who have "gone home to be with the Lord" is often viewed as a privilege that is believed to be pleasing to God. Numerous Christians in Europe, Mexico and South America find comfort in the belief that those who have gone before them are among the cloud of witnesses praying and interceding for them.
Some believe that the United States is one of the few nations in which the concept of death is still socially uncomfortable and viewed as a taboo subject by many. Whatever the prevailing view amongst churches, for many Christians, Catholic and Protestant, All Hallows Eve continues to be observed as a time of faith and hope. Remembering those who lived their Christian faith and served God with all their hearts, even to the point of giving their lives, provides inspiration and perseverance for those who still remain
Sources:
Arnold, Bettina. Halloween Customs of the Celtic World, University of Milwaukee, 2001.
Catholic Culture.Org, Soul Cakes, 2009
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