Should we celebrate Halloween or condemn it as a manifestation of all that is evil since it was (supposedly) based on the Gaelic holiday Samhain? First, let’s get our origins straight. The word Halloween comes from “All Hallows’ Eve” which is another way of saying, “The Evening Before All Hallows’ Day.” What does “hallow” mean? It is from the Germanic word meaning a holy person or Saint! Thus Halloween is a shortening of “All Hallows’ E’en (Evening)”, the night before All Saints’ Day. Thus, it is NOT based on the Gaelic holiday of Samhain. November 1 was first celebrated as All Saints’ Day by Pope Gregory III (731-741) when he dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica to all the saints and set it as a feast day. So Halloween is like Christmas Eve, the night before Christmas.
So should we celebrate it? Why shouldn’t we celebrate all the saints? We probably have many family members in heaven that the Church has not canonized as saints, but they are saints nonetheless! What about all the spooky and scary and yes, evil things associated with Halloween. Here is where prudence comes into play. We don’t celebrate and glorify evil! Evil can be associated with many things that are good and holy, such as Good Friday, when Christ was crucified. However, God’s grace can bring great good out of terrible evil. Christ’s death on the cross was the sacrifice that brought about our salvation. How we commemorate Halloween can be an expression of joy for the memory of all the saints. It is also a secular holiday that can be enjoyed for the pleasure of treating children. We can add our own Catholic twist to it by blessing the children who come to our doors. May all the Saints pray for us!
Child care, or babysitting as it is also known, is not seen as a glamorous job in our society. Taking care of little kids, who may be screaming and running and hitting and throwing temper tantrums, can be difficult. Nonetheless, today’s Blessed started her saintly career by teaching little ones the faith. As she was quite good at it, their mothers and then fathers and then the clergy, came to listen to her. Her teaching became preaching, which then drew crowds, and she became one of the most famous preachers in Italy at the time.
Bl. Maddalena Panattieri (1443-1503) lived in northern Italy and, at the age of twenty, became a Third Order Dominican, much like her hero, St. Catherine of Siena. That allowed her to be affiliated with the religious order while still living in the world. She received many spiritual gifts as well, including visions, transportation spiritually to the Holy Land, prophecy, and the stigmata, which she kept secret. She also served the poor and the sick and was known for her ascetic life. She was beatified by Pope Leo XII in 1827 after confirming her cultus, or the following of those who were devoted to her through the centuries.
The teaching of children in the faith, catechesis, is a noble endeavor and allows the Church to help the children grow in faith: “Train the young in the way they should go; even when old, they will not swerve from it” (Prv. 22:6). However, there is another grace-filled benefit to teaching children, teaching their parents. When we teach children the faith, they carry that home to connect with what their parents say and do. If parents do support the faith, they will grow in their own faith along with their children.
Bl. Maddalena Panattieri, pray for us!
