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 News from Around the Americas | October 2007 
Ancient Observances From Around the World Have Evolved into Halloween
 BYLINE
Halloween is sacred or sacrilege, mischief or meanness, depending on the who, how and why of its observance.
Churches have taken to subverting the secular emphasis on things that go bump in the night and trick-or-treat in scary costume into a softer version of the Halloween festivals. Better to throw a good party than forbid a bad party, they reason.
The Catholic Church observes All Saints Day, which follows All Hallow's Eve as Christmas follows Christmas Eve. Some Protestant churches that follow the church calendar also observe All Saints Day, honoring those saints who have gone before for their steadfast example of faith.
Fasting by abstaining from meat on All Hallow's Day was more commonly the church's preparation for the observance. From the Middle Ages through the 19th century in England, Oct. 31 was the day when the church bells were permitted to peal in joy as on the eves of Christmas and Easter. Then again, on All Souls Day, the bells tolled mournfully as a call to prayer for the dead.
Folk stories of goblins and ghosts, woven into the fabric of Halloween lore, have resulted in today's multiple festivities, more related in spirit to ancient harvest festivals than to a solemn occasion of worship. But a common assumption that All Saints Day is yet another pagan holiday converted by the church to Christian use is not fully substantiated by research, according to Oxford University Press material on English folklore.
Halloween seems to have grown into prominence more as a confluence of Victorian fashion and custom than ancient lore. The influence of observances such as the Celtic festival of Samhain, the Celtic New Year, percolated into the church's holy day. Samhain was not the source of the church observance, although it may have had something to do with the fixing of the date, which was changed by the church from May to October.
In the Roman Catholic Church, All Saints Day on Nov. 1 is a day of holy obligation.
The observance "commemorates all the blessed in heaven, and is intended particularly to honor the blessed who have no special feasts," according to the Catholic Almanac.
All Saints Day dates back to the fourth century and was first celebrated to honor groups of martyrs on a common day.
Rome's famed pagan temple, the Pantheon, was converted in 609 or 610 into a Christian church honoring the Virgin Mary, referred to as the queen of all saints and the martyrs.
Later, the observance came to be in honor of all saints. It was Pope Gregory IV who in 835 set Nov. 1 as the fixed date.
Following the celebration of the martyrs on All Saints Day, in 998, St. Odilo of the Abbey of Cluny instituted All Souls Day on Nov. 2 to commemorate and encourage prayer for the dearly departed faithful. The observance of All Souls Day began in Benedictine monasteries in about the sixth century as a commemoration at Pentecost of deceased members of the order.
Just as the Irish, Scots and other European immigrants brought the various forms of their Halloween customs and their religion with them, so have the Mexican immigrants brought a celebration from their Aztec heritage. American-style Halloween is just now making appearances in the urban areas, but Mexico has a long tradition of All Saint's Day and an even older celebration of the Day of the Dead.
Mexicans, in a 3,000-year-old Aztec celebration that features visits to graveyards to leave flowers and lighted candles in honor of the dead, also have received from that Aztec tradition a belief that the souls of children visit earth on Nov. 1 and adult souls visit on Nov. 2. The melding of the Catholic observance of All Saints Day and the Aztec tradition is an example of how culture and religion each influence the other.
The first official canonization of a saint was done by Pope John XV in 993, but it wasn't until the 12th century that Pope Alexander III reserved the process of naming saints as a prerogative of Rome. In 1588, Pope Sixtus V set up a formal office to investigate the lives of those proposed as saints. Those named members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints do intensive research, traveling around the world to investigate on behalf of the Vatican. The church has canonized about 500 saints.
In his book, "Voices of the Saints," Bert Ghezzi briefly tells the stories of 365 saints, one for every day of the year. Explaining the church's purpose of naming saints, Ghezzi wrote: "When a pope canonizes a saint, he identifies the person's life message so that we may imitate it."
Only God makes saints, Ghezzi noted: "In fact, Scripture calls all Christians 'saints' because God dwells in us."
Martyrs, men and women who died for their faith, were the first recognized by the early church, Ghezz said. "Christians began to remember the dates of the martyrs' deaths as their birthday into heaven, visit their tombs to ask for their intercession, write their stories and enroll their names on lists called martyrologies."
To comment on this story: beth.pratt@lubbockonline.com or shelly.gonzales@lubbockonline.com |
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