1
November. 1662 Book of Common Prayer: All Saints Day
Severance, Dianna. “All Saints
Day.” Christianity.com. Apr 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/601-900/all-saints-day-11629742.html. Accessed 28 May 2014.
Dressed as Dracula or as devils, neighborhood
children were happily "trick or treating" last night in the United
States and some other countries. But would it surprise you to know that
"Halloween" (by that name) started out as a holy Christian
celebration?
Hallow, in Old English, means
"holy" or "sacred." Therefore, "Hallows' Eve," or
"Halloween" simply means "the evening of holy persons" and
refers to the evening before All Saints Day, which is this
day, November 1 on both Anglican and Catholic calendars. Halloween is a
mixture of Celtic religious ideas and Christian martyrology.
In the early years when the
Roman Empire persecuted Christians, so many martyrs
died for their faith, that the Church set aside special days to honor them. For
example, in 607 Emperor Phocas presented to the pope the beautiful Roman
Pantheon temple. The pope removed the statues of Jupiter and the pagan gods and
consecrated the Pantheon to "all saints" who had died from Roman
persecution in the first three hundred years after Christ. Many bones were brought
from other graves and placed in the rededicated Pantheon church. Since there
were too many martyrs for each to be given a day, they were lumped together
into one day. In the next century, All Saints Day was changed by Pope Gregory
III to today's date--November l. People prepared for their celebration with a
night of vigil on Hallows' Eve -- Halloween (possibly because of the strong
holdover influence of the Celtic Samhein festival which many Christians in
Ireland, Britain Scotland and Wales had continued to observe).
In the 10th century, Abbot Odela
of the Cluny monastery added the next day--November 2nd--as "All
Souls" Day" to honor not just the martyrs, but all Christians who had
died. People prayed for the dead, but many unchristian superstitions continued.
People in Christian lands offered food to the dead--as it had been in pagan
times. The superstitious also believed that on these two days, souls in
purgatory would take the form of witches, toads, or demons and haunt persons
who had wronged them during their lifetime. As happens so often in Church
history, sacred Christian festivals can absorb so many pagan customs that they
lose their significance as Christian holidays.
But think of it positively. Who
are your favorite heroes in Christian History? Can you think of any whose
example has inspired you? Why not use All Saint's Day to think of and give
thanks for as many Christians from the past as you can remember, whether they
are famous or not, especially if their lives and teaching contributed something
to yours.
Bibliography:
2. "Celtic Mythology" and "Halloween." Encyclopedia
Americana, 2005.
3. "Celtic Religion" and "Halloween." Encyclopedia
Britannica, 2002.
4. Hatch and Douglass. The American Book of Days. New York: H.
W. Wilson, 1948.
5. Hutton, Ronald. The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles.
Oxford, England and Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1991.
6. Primiano, Leonard Norman. "Halloween" in Encyclopedia
of Religion. Detroit: Macmillan Reference, 2005.
7. What Life Was Like Among Druids and High Kings: Celtic Ireland, AD
400-1200. by the editors of Time-Life Books. Alexandria,
Virginia : Time-Life Books, c1998.
Last updated July,
2007.
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