The Origins of Halloween

Did you know that Halloween’s origins are from the Catholic faith? It only changed into a spooky night with kids wearing costumes and getting candy when the refugees from all over the world colonized the United States and made it into what we know as Halloween today.

Halloween is a Scottish short phrase, “All hallows-even,” or the English phrase, “All Hallow’s Eve,” which literally means “All Holy Evening.” This was an evening to celebrate the vigil for November 1st, “All Saints Day.” In the past there was a Catholic vigil Mass on this day (October 31st) and was meant to lead the faithful to know their roots as they are called to be Holy, like the Saints, and their Souls are to be directed to God. Unfortunately, with different traditions and immigrants, the celebration of Halloween spread throughout the country during the early 20th century and quickly became a secular community activity devoid of its Christian origins.

Knowing this, the images above that I share with you are from a haunted house I created with young adults at my previous parish. We decided to intermingle our Catholic faith with the secular culture calling it the “Haunted House of Seven Deadly Sins”. We made a haunted house specifically focusing on the seven deadly sins to show the faithful that we can overcome sin by praying for our own souls, the souls of others, and directing our full attention on Christ who helps us overcome evil.

A few of the sections of the seven deadly sins were in a dark place with smoke machines clouding the area (I also made a scary music track but called the saints to pray for us). The second room was a bit brighter than the first. In there was a video of Jesus repeatedly stepping on a snake (a song in the background playing “This is where the healing begins” by Tenth North Avenue). The third room was even brighter. This is the “Dia de los Muertos” (Day of the Dead) room, where we recognized those who have gone before us and prayed for their souls (“Remember Me” music video, from Disney’s Coco, is playing in the background). The fourth room led us to heaven where we encountered angels and saw a video of St. John Paul II repeating to us, “Do not be Afraid.” And lastly, before exiting, we encountered the statue of Jesus where He says, “I am with you until the end of time.” As the families exited the haunted house, they came to a table outside where we passed out rosaries and reminded everyone to pray.

Where is the Holy on this night of Halloween? What has happened to the origin of “Holy Evening?” Even though Halloween is a fun night to pass out candy for children in cool costumes, let us remember this night for who we are called to be – Holy, Saints, with souls directed to God. After all, we will go back to God in the end, and what better way to remember this night than to refocus on the origin of “Holy evening” to overcome sin in the world and imitate the Saints whom we celebrate.

Peace be with you,

Fr. John