Irondequoit Catholic Communities
Halloween

Celebrating 100 years

Halloween, All Hallows Eve

The evening before the feast of All Saints was known in the early Church as "All Hallows Eve." Hallow comes from a world meaning "holy" or sacred. All Hallows was an expression used for All Saints. The feast of All Saints is a major feast in the Church. In the past, major feasts of the Church were celebrated with pomp and splendor. Festivities began the evening before the actual holy day. On All Hallows Eve, a parade was often a part of the festivities. People celebrated by dressing up in costumes depicting various saints. On the next day, All Saints' Day, a solemn Mass was the highlight of the celebration.

The Halloween that we know today has changed from the Christian celebrations of the past. We have pumpkins, haystacks, and cornstalks because the feast is in autumn. Goblins and ghosts, symbolic of the dead, are now meant to be funny or scary.

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Page last modified on October 13, 2007, at 11:34 AM