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Can Halloween be Christianized Again? </h1>
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<span> By </span> <span><a href="https://www.returntoorder.org/author/editor/" title="View all posts by John Horvat II" rel="author" target="_blank">John Horvat II</a><br></span></div><div><a href="https://www.returntoorder.org/2018/10/can-halloween-be-christianized-again/?pkg=rtoe0781" target="_blank">https://www.returntoorder.org/2018/10/can-halloween-be-christianized-again/?pkg=rtoe0781</a><br><span></span> </div>
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<div id="m_534426120224942487gmail-attachment_19026" style="width:310px"></div>".........<br>..... There is no denying
that <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Halloween</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>is rooted in the Celtic fall festival of Samhain. It
involved many superstitions and occult ceremonies directed toward the
Druid lord of Death. </b></span>Some historians claim<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> the Druids practiced human or
animal sacrifice and even occult orgies</b></span> to mark special festivals. In
this case, dressing up as evil spirits and demons was part of the
celebration.
<h5 style="text-align:center;margin:16px auto" align="center"><a href="https://www.returntoorder.org/2017/05/saint-thomas-aquinas-say-marriage/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><b><span style="color:rgb(0,0,255)"></span></b></a></h5>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>The ghastly and even toxic aspects of the pagan feast </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>certainly stood
in need of</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>being baptized.</b></span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> Indeed, the Church responded to such
opportunities to overturn <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the idols <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">and rid peoples of </span>superstitions. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">
</span></span></b><b>Many times, missionaries would</b></span> take advantage of the habit of
celebrating special pagan feast days to<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> institute Christian feasts or
holy days in <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">their</span> stead.</b></span></p>
<p><b>Halloween, a Feast of Charity to the Poor</b></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>This is exactly what the Church did to Halloween. In the ninth
century, </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>this pagan festival</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>was replaced by a double day celebration
remembering all the dead that are saved. All Saints Day remembers those
who are uncanonized in heaven </b></span>so that they might have their feast too. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315b.htm" target="_blank">All Souls Day</a> remembers the poor souls who are saved from <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the eternal fires of hell</span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">yet are suffering for a time</span> in purgatory.</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>On the eve of these two feasts, the bells would ring, and town criers
would remind all to pray for the poor souls. Thus, on All Hallows Eve,
later Halloween, children from poor families would go door-to-door,
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><u>receiving food and sweets in exchange for praying for the souls of the
dead. </u></span></b><u><b>This “souling” as it was called, gave rise to <a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/recipes/view.cfm?id=1378." target="_blank">canvassing for “soul” cakes</a> which became part of the tradition.</b></u></span> Harmless pranks awaited the stingy givers.</p><p>
<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>The revelers would sing:</b></span></p><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>
</b></span><p><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>Soul! Soul! Soul-cake!<br>
Please good Missis, a soul-cake!<br>
Apple, pear, plum or cherry,<br>
Any good thing to make us all merry.<br>
One for Peter, two for Paul<br>
Three for Him who made us all.</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Halloween was thus a feast that benefited the poor on earth and those
who were so much poorer in purgatory. It was a time of mirth but also
great charity.</b></span></p>
<p><b>The Church as Mother</b></p>
<p>While there are times of penance and fasting in the liturgical year,
there are also times of joy. The Church as a true mother provides the
faithful with festive days of feasting and merrymaking. Thus, the Church
has no problem with merrymaking in which people dressed up in costumes
to visit their neighbors.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>In medieval Europe, it was very popular for people “to go <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mummer" target="_blank">mummering</a>,”
the practice of visiting neighborhoods while dressed up in disguises.
The revelers would sing, feast and play tricks in return for
refreshment, money or good wishes. Such mummering was very popular on <a href="http://www.lordsandladies.org/middle-ages-holidays.htm" target="_blank">major feast days</a>,
</b></span>of which there were many, in the Middle Ages. They did not degenerate
into rowdy or bawdy festivals like those which plague today’s
de-Christianized Mardi Gras or other such feasts.</p>
<p><b>Protestant Prohibition and Eventual Acceptance</b></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>In Protestant Europe and America, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Halloween</span> was on the prohibited
index </b></span>of religious practices<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> in colonial times</b></span>, a list that some radical
sects <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/89733/when-americans-outlawed-christmas" target="_blank">extended to Christmas</a><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>.
It was not observed until </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Irish Catholic immigrants in the nineteenth
century brought the custom with them to <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">their new homeland</span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">.</span> </span>In the
twenties, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">a secularized version of</span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Halloween </span>was introduced with the
practice of trick or treating. It gradually gained traction and
acceptance by the fifties.</b></span></p>
<div id="m_534426120224942487gmail-attachment_19027" style="width:310px"><img src="https://www.returntoorder.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/candle-1868640_1920-300x200.jpg" alt="Can Halloween be Christianized Again?" width="300" height="200"><p id="m_534426120224942487gmail-caption-attachment-19027">The modern focus of Halloween is increasingly focused on a fascination with evil, horror, and gore.</p></div>
<p>However, the more recent celebrations have stressed its pagan origins
with its preternatural and ghoulish overtones. It has combined with <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=slasher" target="_blank">slasher</a>
and horror films and zombie-themed parties and events to make it a
festival of darkness embracing the evil side of the spiritual world.</p>
<p>Thus, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Halloween has returned to its pagan origins and abandoned <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">those
of </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Christian charity.</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> It no longer belongs to</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the poor</b></span> but to those
engaging in amusement and self-indulgence. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Once the feast of innocent
little children,</b></span> it now includes reveling adults. Those who celebrate do
not pray for the salvation of poor souls but harbor instead a
diabolical glee over damned souls.</p>
<p><b>Can Halloween be Re-Christianized?</b></p>
<p>The question remains if Halloween can be re-Christianized in today’s world.</p>
<p>Resourceful clergy and parents have found alternatives that capture
the imagination of children. Many of these include parties in which
children dress up as saints or religious figures as a way of celebrating
All Saints Day. These alternative events can be helpful in imparting
some Catholic culture to children. But they can only go so far.</p>
<p>Such celebrations cannot compete with the super-charged media
promotion of today’s neo-pagan Halloween. Children will be exposed to
the ghoulish Halloween in stores, schools or the house decorations in
their neighborhood. Like other aspects of modern culture, they cannot be
ignored, or Benedict Optioned out.</p>
<p>Arranging a peaceful co-existence between Catholic and pagan
celebrations of Halloween is bound to fail since it does not address the
need to fight against evil. It prepares the child for defeat later in
life, since all must eventually confront the reality of evil without the
help of others.</p>
<p><b>Re-Christianizing Halloween</b></p>
<p>That is why the only real way to re-Christianize Halloween is to
reject any peaceful co-existence in these cultural matters. This will
happen when clergy and parents teach children to confront the world they
cannot ignore or avoid. They must delve deeply into the Faith.<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> <b>Children
must be fortified by sacramental life and prayer to engage in<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> this
battle</span> in a manner appropriate to<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> their age.</span></b></span></p>
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<p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Thus, any Christianized celebration of Halloween needs to reinforce</span> </b></span>
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the idea that there is a cultural battle going on between the forces of
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">good</span> and evil. </b><b>Hell</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> exists</b></span>,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> and its fires </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>must be avoided</b></span>. What better
way to demonstrate these truths than to point out the macabre
manifestations of evil that appear everywhere during Halloween.</p>
<p>It could also serve as an occasion to point out the victory of the
saints over the evils of their day. The eve of the Church’s two holy
days might even return to be a time to make merry and eat sweet soul
cakes while praying for the poor souls suffering in purgatory.</p>
<p><i>A Soul Cake recipe can be found </i><i><a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/recipes/view.cfm?id=1378." target="_blank">here</a></i>.</p>
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