Happy (Almost) Hallowtide

Yes, Halloween is a Christian Holi-day

On Thursday, October 31st, the West begins once again its entrance into the season of All Saints. Most of you reading this will have immediately associated that date with Halloween, and that’s exactly what I’m talking about. Believe it or not, Halloween is in fact a Christian holiday (holy day). Now, let’s be clear: What I’m not saying is that everything people do on Halloween is Christian. Like Christmas, like Easter, like Mardi Gras, secularization and commercialization have done much damage to the perception we have of Halloween and to the ways in which we choose to celebrate it. Alas, for the most part, no one is actually observing the Christian holiday of Halloween when they’re celebrating Halloween.

And yet, Halloween is itself a Christian holiday. The name Halloween comes to us from a pair of older English words which might not be familiar to us as much as it used to be to others. Hallow as a noun literally means holy person or saint — most of you would recognize this from the older English translations of the Lord’s Prayer that uses ‘hallow’ in its verb form:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…

Literally, holy-ed (consecrated, set apart-ed) be His name. Secondly, the second part of the name (Halloween) is a shortening of evening. Evening becomes even like morning can become morn, then there’s a further shortening from even to e’en, similar to how we might shorten over to o’er. So, Halloween (Hallow e’en) literally means Saint-Evening which makes no sense until you connect the fact that 1) Eve (as in Christmas Eve) is a shortening of evening, and it refers to the day (properly speaking, the evening) before an event or particular occasion, and 2) November 1st is the Feast of All Saints, a.k.a. All Hallows. Thus, it makes perfect sense: Halloween simply means All Saints Eve.

But enough of that…

The season is one of a favorite of mine out of the several we find on the Church Calendar. And within this season, there’s a day I find myself especially drawn to year after year: the Day of All Souls on November 2nd, known through popularized Mexican culture as Dia de los Muertos. Paired with the Feast of All Saints, it makes for a wonderful time of commemoration where we remember those who have fallen asleep in the Lord in a way that holds in tension glorious triumph and mournful loss, the attainment of divine inheritance and the begging for it my imploring God’s divine mercy.

I’ve long wanted to write some sort of reflection or poetry on this hauntingly beautiful season of All Hallows that means so much to me, but have not had the occasion or appropriate muse for it yet. However, I did write a short reflection on All Saints and All Souls a couple years back, and I figured a quick re-post wouldn’t be out of place in lieu of any original writing about the holy season. I myself find myself re-reading the piece several times throughout each year since I wrote it — I am still moved by this holy time, and my writing helps me enter into that space of contemplation on the wonder of it all.

So, if you’re interested, check it out! Happy Hallowtide!

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