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November 02, 2004
Celebrating all the saints
Yesterday was All Saints Day and today is All Souls. In churches of the Catholick and Orthodox persuasion Masses today will be said for the Souls of all the faithful departed and those whose faith is known to God alone. It is meant to be a season in which we think about those whose faith has influenced the Church and Christians through the ages, and about those who have influenced our lives, faith, and belief. A pity then, that, like Christmas and Easter, it is slowly being buried in a sea of commercially driven and fed superstition with the increasing spread of a substitute called "Halloween".
Most of those who don't have any grounding in faith don't even recognise that this is a corruption of "All Hallow's Eve" and comes from the preparation, in the Catholick and Orthodox wings of the church, of making special preparation on the day before All Saints for the celebratory feast that accompanies it. It is also sparked by the fact that the Churches "day" began at sunset the day before! Therefore, sunset on the 31st October is the "Eve of All Saints, and the evening of the 1st November is the "Eve of all Souls" The old English word for someone or something "holy" being "hallow" or "hallowed" and all "Saints" becomes All "Hallows". The tradition of the dead wandering abroad and the devil having a free hand at this time comes from Eastern European and Spanish traditions and can best be seen in the celebration held in Mexico and other South American states these days.
The "tradition" of "Halloween" as we now have it is a very modern one - and has little, if anything, to do with its original meaning. As I said, it is a pity, even though it may be fun for the kiddies, that it actually now masks the real meaning and importance of the festival that it now overshadows.
I shall continue to celebrate the real All Saints and remember the souls of those who have been special and important to me and my development in faith at All Souls. May they rest in the peace of Christ, and rise in glory when all shall be gathered into God.
Posted by The Gray Monk at November 2, 2004 11:05 AM