Today, October 31, 2011, our country and other parts of the world celebrate Halloween again. This festival has been observed every October 31 for several years now and it seems to be getting more and more fun-filled and decorous as lots of houses are adorned with spooky ornaments like skeletons, witches, black cats, spider webs and pumpkins cut out to reflect the happy, smiling faces of ghosts. The idea is to have as much fun as the decorations become spookier and scarier. Indeed the celebration looks more festive this year because the day has been officially declared as a non-working holiday.
Initially, it was conceived in western countries for children to have fun in a Halloween game called “tricks or treats”. But now it is observed by people from all walks of life, young and old, rich or poor to spread cheers among the less fortunate ones, by the sharing of blessings in the form of “giveaways” that are slightly better than candies and sweet treats.
Obviously this kind of celebration is not a Filipino tradition. Indeed, it even runs counter to the accepted Filipino concept of this occasion as the eve of “undas” during which we remember and pray for, or pray to, our dearly departed relatives and friends. Naturally, the occasion calls for a more somber and serious mood.
Actually the original Halloween celebration is not a religious festival. It has its roots in the “Roman harvest festival of Pomona and of Druidism”. The occasion however shows clearer connection with the religion of the Druids in pre-Christian Ireland and Scotland where the year ended on October 31, the eve of “Samhain” which was “both the end of summer and the festival of the dead”.
It was a period when “the spirits of the departed were believed to visit their kinsmen in search of warmth and good cheer as winter approached … for threshing and food preparation for the winter season. It was also an occasion when fairies, witches and goblins terrified the populace by allegedly stealing infants, destroying crops and killing farm animals. On the eve of “Samhain” bonfires were lighted on hilltops “to guide the spirit of the dead to the homes of their kinsmen or to kill or ward off witches” This ceremony persisted as late as the 19th century particularly in Scotland.
These Halloween customs were brought to the U.S. by immigrants from Great Britain and Ireland but it did not become popular there until the latter part of the 18th century when a large number of people from Ireland immigrated to the U.S. and introduced these traditional Halloween folk practices. Apparently these are the customs evolving into the present Halloween celebration observed the world over.
But Halloween is also celebrated as a religious occasion for Roman Catholics. The word is derived from “hallow” meaning to make holy or to consecrate. Hence October 31 is the vigil of the Hallowmas or the eve of the feast of all “holy” people or all saints which is November 1, observed in the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches. It was Pope Gregory III (731-741) who assigned this date for celebrating the feast when he consecrated a chapel in St. Peter’s basilica to all the saints. Gregory IV extended the feast to the entire Church in 1834. The vigil or eve of All Saints day which constitutes Halloween in the church calendar is therefore as old as the feast of all saints on November 1.
“All Saints day” is the feast of all the people who died and who are now in heaven. They are the unknown saints in the sense that they have not been canonized by the Church. The known saints are the canonized ones who are venerated and emulated by all the faithful and honored during their feast days usually coinciding with their death which is considered the beginning of their eternal life in heaven. They are the “holy people who are already in glory contemplating in the light of God” (Catechism for Filipino Catholics (CFC) Section 1429).
But there are also “holy people” who are still being purified and awaiting the day when they will join the company of the saints. We, who are still “pilgrims on earth”, commemorate their feast on November 2 designated as “All Souls Day”. Thus the Church is the communion of holy people who are already in the glory of God (Church triumphant), with those who are still being purified (Church suffering) and with us who are still pilgrims on earth (Church militant, CFC, 1429).
For us therefore, spending Halloween or the vigil of All Saints Day, “All Saints Day” itself and “All Souls Day“ is not so much about madly rushing back to our hometown and going to the cemetery where our beloved dead are laid to rest. The better way to celebrate these occasions is to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This is the most powerful “public, social and liturgical worship, more powerful than the prayers of individuals or associations”. Taking part in this liturgical ceremony makes us united with the whole church which is what “communion of saints” is all about.
Perhaps we have not realized it but every time we attend the mass, the greatest miracle happens which has been described as a “work greater than the creation of the universe”. This is the miracle of the bread and wine becoming the body and blood of Christ during the consecration. This is the moment when the priest echoes the words of Christ at the last supper when he said: “This is my Body which will be given up for you and this is my Blood which will be shed for you and for all men so that sins may be forgiven”. If we have a deeply rooted and intense faith we will realize that this is the greatest miracle because at this very moment, the sacrifice of the Cross in Mt Calvary that brought us redemption, is happening all over again.
Offering the Holy Mass is therefore the best way to remember and pray for our beloved dead.