Posted on 10/28/2020 10:23:41 AM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
...The Church has surrendered the party to the secular culture. It has happened with Halloween. It is happening with Christmas....
I would draw a distinction between the violent, macabre imagery that characterizes the modern appropriation of Halloween as a kind of secular celebration and the more traditional customs that are characteristic of a Catholic cultural ethos. The descent of Halloween into the madness of an annual fright fest is a relatively recent development, but the true substance of Halloween belongs to the Church. Halloween (or “All Hallows Eve”) is the festive precursor to the celebration of the Church’s public commemoration of All Saints Day.
In terms of customs that are specific to Catholicism, it is all pretty much derivative from the kinds of stuff that you find in the public festivities of Catholic culture. In this regard, Mardi Gras is probably the best point of reference...
... The Protestant reformers were concerned about the practices of medieval Christianity that to them seemed contrary to what they believed the Church should be.
There has been an appropriation of the festivities of Halloween by modern pagans, but please understand that modern paganism is precisely modern and should be distinguished from the cults of ancient religions. The origins and practices of the modern paganism do not extend farther back than the late nineteenth century. Also, remember, the term “pagan” is a slippery one...
There is a lot that is unsavory about the contemporary celebration of Halloween. What does the singular focus on violence, horror, and death have to say about our culture? The traditional, Catholic Halloween placed these realities within the context of Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil. The current secularized version of the festival has no salvific content and has been loosed from its theological moorings...
(Excerpt) Read more at wordonfire.org ...
They get candy, I get to check in with the elderly neighbors and see how they are doing.
Win/win
I didn’t realize the church was in conflict with Halloween.
Even as a child, I knew it was secular, and done just for fun. Christmas is enjoyable, but I always knew there was a serious, very important spiritual story at the base of Christmas. Americans like their holidays, for whatever reason. Some fade from fashion, while other holidays endure.
I was born on Halloween and raised Catholic. Trick or treat and Halloween was a tradition.
Halloween started in the Middle Ages as time for caution and reflection (believing that evil is always trying to attack good) on the eve of All Saints Day - one of the most important holy days of the Church.
Halloween wouldn’t exist without the Church, although like everything today, its become completely unmoored from its Christian and spiritual roots.
The Church does...it’s called All Souls Day and All Saints Day.We go to church and pray for those departed and the Saints.
Y’all seem to have it backwards...Samhain is the Celtic Pagan New Year’s Eve, when all the departed souls and spirits could pass through the veil and enter our world for one night. All Saints’ Day was scheduled on Nov. 1 in order to make the previous night one of fasting and abstinence as necesssary preparation, thereby keeping Catholics from the partying and orgy-ing associated with the Samhain celebration. IOW Halloween came first, with the church attempts to suppress it ultimately failing in the past century.
Worst “holiday” evah.
Seems it’s adults who have ruined Halloween in past 40 years.
I’m Catholic. Halloween is a fun thing — mostly given to watching horror movies and a yearly binge watch of the entire series of The Night Stalker (Kolchak rules!) It’s also a time to really indulge my cranky neighbor side and tell kids, “Get off my lawn” because I don’t indulge little shmucks in costumes. They can buy their own candy.
Even before I converted, and was a little secular kid I knew it was just a greeting card holiday with nothing sinister behind it.
Easter, even when I wasn’t a Christian, was my favorite Holiday because even back then, I thought the idea of the resurrection was really awesome.
Looking back, I guess that was just me hearing the ‘Call’. Eventually I (and thankfully all of my siblings including the one who was heavily into Wicca for many years) finally accepted Jesus as my lord and savior.
:)
In my Catholic grade school, I learned the derivation of “Hallowe’en”, and we were taught that it was the night before All Saints’ Day.
Exactly. When I was a child, no adult would even considering dressing in costume for a children’s activity.
Well, sure. We’re all pagans here.
Same here. Many a time I recall going to church for All Saint’s Day on Nov. 1st, with Halloween candy hidden in my side pants pockets.
:)
The nuns dressed up as nuns every year though.
I like to dress up but I don’t like all the candy. The candy is what is truly evil.
Depending on the weather, I’ll wear either the short-sleeve or long-sleeve black velvet dress, with spider earrings and my Day of the Dead skull shawl.
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