Fr. Paul Pecchie
Perhaps you are not familiar with this word, so let me explain. All Souls Day follows after All Saints Day.
But before All Saints Day, we have Halloween. Every good Catholic feast begins the night before, with a vigil. The word “Halloween” comes from contracting the phrase “All Hallows’ Eve” or “All Saints’ Eve”. And so, we have three days in a row that form Hallowtide: Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day. The logic behind them is that the Church Militant (us) commemorates the Church Triumphant (the Saints) and prays for the Church Suffering (departed souls).
On Halloween, we dress up in costumes and poke fun at ghosts, goblins, and ghouls. Why? Because Christ has won victory over them all and they no longer frighten us. We laugh and make a mockery of the scary things around us.
Or we dress as our patron or favorite Saint. Trick-or-treating and carving pumpkins can also have Catholic meanings. Trick-or-treating springs from “souling”, which was a European tradition to go door to door promising prayers for the dead in exchange for pastries. A carved pumpkin contains a light (a soul) trapped inside a gourd (in purgatory). It is a reminder to pray for the dead.
On All Saints Day, we celebrate all the saints of the Church and the unknown
saints as well. It reminds us that a er death, we are destined for glory with
God, to shine like the saints in heaven.
On All Souls’ Day (and for the whole month of November) we focus on the Holy Souls in Purgatory. We pray for them and offer sacrifices on their behalf. There are endless traditions that can be followed each year on these three days. For children, this is a great time to teach them about life and death and to bring our faith into their lives in a real way.
In case you missed it this year, make sure to remember Hallowtide next year!