The ancient Celts and Romans believed that the souls of the dead could walk among us. And every year at the end of October they would wear scary masks and build fires to scare them off.
Christians saw that they got it half right. That the dead (just as the living) do have souls and they are just as much a part of the Church as the rest of us. Additionally, Christians recognize that other spiritual beings, good and evil, do in fact exist - many of them seeking your ruin. In the 9th century, Pope Gregory IV moved the celebration of All Saints Day (Martyrs Day at the time) to Nov 1...in effect "baptizing" these ancient pagan celebrations and re-orienting them to the truth. So that made the night before - the end of October - into "All Hallows Eve" (A.K.A. Halloween).
That's what we have to keep doing today as this holiday continues to be further secularized, trivialized and the real value missed. And that's exactly why I love the idea for Back from the Dead.
"Back from the Dead Cemetery Walk" is an engaging and inspiring "evangelization drama" to help teach the Catholic faith about the "Last Things" including teachings on the Communion of Saints, the angels, and the three great virtues: faith, hope and charity.
In other words, they've baptized the haunted house. Which, to me, is ingenious. I hope this catches on and we see these done all over the country. People have a natural curiosity about "the dead." They love haunted houses. How much cooler (and scarier) is it, then, to learn which parts of all that freaky stuff are actually real and which are made up? And to learn something real about spirituality and be reoriented back toward God and the hope of becoming a saint in the process.
I know some Christians are completely against any celebration of Halloween. And I recognize there are a lot of distortions of it that are harmful. But I think we just need the right perspective, which not only involves "baptizing" the Christian aspects of it and reorienting it toward the truth, but it also includes recognizing it as a big opportunity for evangelization.
There's a reason why we dress up as ghouls and goblins on the night before we celebrate the feast of All Saints Day, and, despite the claims of supposed Satanists and Wiccans and anti-Halloween Christians, it's actually a Christian reason: We believe in a world that extends beyond the one that we can see, a world in which angels and demons do contest for the souls of men, and the Prince of Lies grows in power by convincing people that he does not exist. If for no other reason than the fact that it reminds us that, as Hamlet tells his friend, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy," Halloween is worth celebrating. - Scott Richert
It's also a great reminder and preparation for the celebrations of All Saints Day and All Souls Day that immediately follow. Happy Halloween, y'all. Here's a recent interview with Fr. Brian Nolan, the creator of Back From The Dead:
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Yes we do believe in a spiritual world this is why we be careful in how we celebrate the season. We should honor the saints and the dead, but not by dressing up in demonic outfits and engaging in the occult, which is common during halloween.
Thanks! Great idea to reclaim our holy day.
Locally, we have folks dressed in period costumes in the Catholic cemetery portraying the deceased who are buried there.Some are known historical figures.You can pay a small donation to take the evening tour & hear about each figure’s life & faith. The funds raised go towards maintenance of the cemetery grounds.
“Demonic costumes” right. Because nothing is worse and demonic than mocking the devil with creepy costumes and little children who scream boo. God forbid the children should ever see the demons as beatable (and well beaten by the Cross). Nope, let’s just make sure kids stay terrified of theor dragons.
I have found the same people who go around saying costumes are in themselves demonic (or tearing the skulls right off my halloween costume because even skulls must be evil. Thanks, Saint Whatsits! Now maybe could you guys offer Latin and more than 1 hr a week for Confession?) Arre the same people who think Dia De Los Muertos is “demonic”.
Or they ignore it because they’re convinced only white people are Catholic enough, and don’t realize that they’re just doing a good job of copying the greater anglosaxon Protestant culture.
Either way, quit knocking costumes. I like the visiting cemetary idea, and I like costunes and candies. Joy isn’t a sin. Costumes aren’t ouiji boards.
*are in themselves demonic (sorry that was a typo).
angela I’m mexican american and can tell you that dia de los muertos is not Catholic, it goes back to the pagans cultures of Mexico. So don’t give me this not white enough stuff because am probably darker than you are.
Greg, many of the most cherished Catholic rituals and holidays date back to the pagan cultures of Europe or more often were grafted onto existing pagan celebrations.
Christmas itself is celebrated in late December because once Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire the church leaders decided to celebrate Jesus’s birth during the huge pagan holiday of Saturnulia, not because Jesus was born at that time. Scholars agree he was probably born in the spring.
Looks like someone is a wee bit sensitive with an axe to grind… yikes, Angela!
well I did manage to have some fun last night. Every time one of those devil worshiping kids came around my pitt took care of them. No one was hurt but they had the living scared out of them. :) I may in time learn to like this holiday.
Jennifer- sensitive yes. Axe to grind, maybe. Just tired of people seeing evil in everyhting. I live in an area that is overwhelmed with people terrified of pedophiles, pedophiles everywhere, and when they’re not freaking out about that they’re attacking Halloween, Christmas, Easter, and even some think Thanksgiving is suspect. (Its the Indians/ Native Americans taking part. Really.)
Then you have the issue where the Catholics are so outnumbered we have forgotten a lot of our heritage and have taken on too much of the culture around us. I used to be one of those Catholics afraid to celebrate hardly anything, just because I bought into the lies and half truths of people who called it demonic and pagan. Then I noticed the more joyful countries are the ones where people…celebrate and do not see a demon behind everything.
Greg, good job negating my opinion because of what you think the color of my skin is. Maybe its diffrerent in your area, but my area gets suspicious even of Poles, which is weird. Los Dias De Los Muertos is as pagan as Christmas trees, mistle toe, that demonic clucking Easter bunny, and anything else you can think of. But hey, I will let my relatives know they should quit setting up their ofrendas and cleaning up the cemetary and praying novenas, being the pagans they are. Should I also tell them to quit worshipping Mary and just pray to Jesus directly?
How about instead of condemning Halloween as the product of Old Goat Legs (darned be his evil irreversible will and being), why don’t we “reclaim” it for what it is: the Eve of All Hallows?! You know, dress up like saints and holy people. You know, how some have “reclaimed” the rainbow from homosexual activists? Besides, it gives you an excuse to carry around things like swords and stuff. How can you lose?
Dia de los Muertos may have started out pagan but like the Christmas tree and things like that, Holy Mother Church took it and re-oriented it and made it Christo-centric in its essence. Therefore, while in historical conception you are right, in the present reality (barring the few exceptions where it is still ancestor worship), thou hast been disproven most verily.
Oh, and never trust Poles ... they eat pickled herring and they use A LOT of consonants in their (awesome) language. lol *points to self* I am Polish.
Posted by angela r. on Thursday, Nov 1, 2012 2:14 PM (EST):Jennifer- ... But hey, I will let my relatives know they should quit setting up their ofrendas and cleaning up the cemetary and praying novenas, being the pagans they are. Should I also tell them to quit worshipping Mary and just pray to Jesus directly?”
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Yup, if they’re actually “worshipping” the Blessed Mother, you might want to have a palabra or two with them…
:)
First as Kathleen pointed out we do not worship Mary, we honor her as the mother of God. Novenas have been part of the Catholic culture for a while also, nothing pagan about them. I am a roman catholic and you seem to confusing me with a protie. The problem with transitional perionds from cultures adopting catholicism lays with replacing pagan customs with catholic ones, we should not tolerate anything that is left over from false religions, nor adopt the errors of the proties. So, to answer your question angela, if your relatives are still engaging in noncatholic customs, the answer is a Fat YES tell them to stop.
Stop celebrating christmas then. Whatever you do, don’t eat any cranberries. And stop referring to our Lady of Guadalupe as Our Lady of Guadalupe since that’s just a Spanish version of an Aztec word that does have a possible pagan meaning. Whatever you do, don’t read the actual legend about it- too many pagan words being used, and supposedly by the Virgin Mary, who appeared with that pagan cord around her pregnant belly.. Don’t decorate Easter eggs, don’t tell stories of Santa Clause or Black Peter, get rid of the Christmas tree and lights, don’t make Jack-o-lanterns, don’t sing Christmas Carols. Stop celebrating mardis gras, don’t even think about valentine’s day, stop letting baby boys wear blue, and if you had a traditional ceremony get rid of that lazo that was placed over your and your wife’s head. It doesn’t matter if it was in the form of a rosary, its still a pagan custom.
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In addition, throw out all the statues that are painted from our churches and get rid of anything remotely Greek or Roman. Make sure that the Japanese throw out any statue of Mary that looks more like one of the goddesses of Shinto (who cares if that was the only way to express Christian belief.) Get rid of their spirit houses that have hidden crosses in them, because spirit houses are pagan. Chide them for having an antique shrine with bhuddha in front and a hidden compartment for Jesus in back.
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I almost forgot, throw out anything remotely related to Aristotle and his line of pagan thought. Forget Stoicism, Socrates, and don’t let your kids read the Aenid, the Iliad, and the Odyssey. Even Dante is suspect. Don’t take part in any corn mazes or labrynths either. Make sure you don’t neglect to tell Native Americans not to do drum circles.
Nah Greg, I am not saying you’re a “protie” (you mean Protestant, right? Unless you also mean to start calling all Catholics Papist) I am saying you’re doing a great impression. We owe a lot to pagan culutre, and throwing out everything pagan means throwing out everything. Actually, I take that back. You don’t sound like a Protestant. You sound like a Jehovah’s Witness. Jmaybe you should quit referring to Tuesday as such, since it means Mars’ day. Ohhh no, pagan! Its a little more clear with Spanish, “martes”. But I don’t know how familiar you are with the language.
In case the sarcasm wasn’t clear I *am* a Catholic. The last I knew Lutherans weren’t into Latin, lace, smells and bells. As far as my relatives go they are deeply religious and of course they don’t see Mary as a goddess. But the pagan dump usually includes at least ambivalence towards Mary if not outright hostility.
Ofrendas are only as pagan as you make them so. However they are as culturally Mexican as it gets, just like the Eastern Europeans are crazy Eastern when they make their Easter eggs, the Germans when doing their beautiful Christmas trees, and the Irish when they brooght over pumpkin carving. Heck, Rock and Roll, blues, and Jazz all have their roots in pagan African music, some of which actually was voodoo trance music. Does that mean we shouldn’t listen to modern music since it all has whiffs of pagan custom?
If Angela is right and a lot of Catholic customs have pagan/non-Christian roots then I have to get a dumpster for all my Thomistic (and basically any other mediæval theologian) Theology books, my statues, my holy cards, my medals, and all my other Papist accoutrements!
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Imagine the carbon footprint!
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One of the beautiful things about Catholicism is that we have such a smorgasbord of traditions and customs! We have the statues! We have the medals! We have the different holy days! We have the rich tapestry of the different cultures to which the Church’s children belong.
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To make such a myopic and ignorant statement that Halloween and things like the Dia de los Muertos is something of Beelzebub is wholly farcical. It’s only as diabolic as you allow it to be. If you worship your ancestors, then you are a bloody heathen that needs the Truth of Christ. If you visit a cemetery to visit the graves of your loved ones, pray for their souls, and leave mementos, then you probably are not a pagan ancestor-worshipper.
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I mean, there are some Catholics who bake an Infant Jesus into a loaf of Christmas bread and whoever gets the Baby Savior is said to be in store for a year of peace and joy. Of course we don’t believe that the image of the Divine Child is a talisman but it’s a pious custom.
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There is a difference between doctrine/dogma and pious custom. Doctrine informs pious custom not vice versa. So long at the pious practice is rooted in solid doctrine (in the case of the Dia de los Muertos, solid Catholic eschatology) then you’re fine. The second the doctrine gets all heterodox and stuff, then you are in trouble.
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Besides, who isn’t looking for an excuse to burn incense?
I went on Back from the Dead Cemetery Walk this past weekend. I was not expecting much and I thought it was going to be really lame. I was also worried that it might somehow encourage the darkness of Halloween that often our culture is fascinated by. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was so impressed and very deeply touched by the evangelizing and catechetical experience this really was.
It offered a beautiful catechesis on:
The intercession of the saints
The communion of saints
The lives of the saints
Purgatory
Hell
Heaven
Sin
Grace
God’s Love
Vocation
The beauty of story-telling, and even Catholic story-telling is something that we have lost in our culture. Yet it is something that engages everyone. This cathecetical experience engages the whole person and all of their senses and puts them into the lives of the saints that they encounter as if they were really there. Teens and adults would love it. The whole parish can get involved. All you need are a few committed actors and a few tour guides who know where the actors will be in a graveyard to then to guide groups through the graveyard to encounter them. We have such a treasury of catechesis from the lives of the saints and this is one way to bring it all to life.
This is a beautiful and holy way to reclaim our holy day of All Saints and All Souls. This is something I would really encourage every parish and youth group to seriously consider doing. It’s like going to a interactive play on the lives of the saints. You can switch it up every year by introducing new saints and new stories. I really look forward to next year and to hear and learn more - this next time I’m bringing some family and friends!
Angela, you need to take a chill pill.
I know right? For realz. lol
I know a place in the Western Isles of Scotland, where corn dollies are still, occasionally, hung from trees, usually near a spring or pool. I suspect, too, that the saucers of milk they put out at night are not always for the cat. On a winter’s evening, one can still hear old tales told in village pubs of the fairies or “Little People”; tales of bewitchings, changelings and murrain in the flocks. And I have heard such tales interrupted, by those who consider any mention of “na Sithein” as unchancy. On Hallowe’en, Hallow fires are still lit and“samhnag” or lighted lanterns, often hollowed-out neeps (turnips) put in windows and over the doors of byres and granaries.
Michael Paterson-Seymour ,
Which part of Scotand exactly? There’s an extremely small Catholic presence in the area you’re talking about & a pretty strong Calvinist one.
Kathleen
South Uist in the Outer Hebrides and, yes, the population is almost entirely Free Church, with a sprinkling of Church of Scotland.
Nevertheless, the old superstitions survive, ministerial disapproval notwithstanding
Michael Paterson-Seymour ,
Thank you so much for your reply. That’s very interesting.
I read a BBC article recently about the Free Church(I think) holding out against modernization & use of musical instruments. In the States we still have a few denominations(Primitive Baptist, & some of the Presbyterian churches in the South)that do not allow musical instruments during the service.Sacred Harp hymns come from that tradition.It’s beautiful music, much like Eastern Chant. I hope it survives in Scotland.
God bless!
Kathleen
The Free Church (the “Wee Frees”)use only the psalms and biblical canticles in worship.
There is a wonderful tradition of Gaelic psalmody, using a metrical version: each line is sung by the precentor and repeated by the congregation. There have been some excellent recordings made - They have even appeared on You Tube
Michael Paterson-Seymour,
Very cool. We have that same tradition in the South where the preacher “lines” out a verse in song & the congregation repeats it.
I thought it was originally to accomodate illiterate folk but I see the tradition goes back to the old country,too.
I’ll have to check u tube.(Guess you could do the same for our version-maybe start @ “fasola” on google for the Sacred Harp music)
Thanks so much & God bless!
Ok, I have been behaving like a jerk sorry
Your post seems to tackle issues about Halloween and Christianity. Liquid Church in NJ also have discussed about the similar issue in their web show. They also discussed the Biblical responses about the said topic. Here is the link for the video : http://www.timlucas.tv/can-christians-celebrate-halloween/
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