Halloween, Saints and Souls

We are about the enter the strange weekend of ghosts, ghouls, all saints and all souls. How is it that these strange bed fellows are linked?

These three days are collectively called Allhallowtide and are a time when Christians honour all saints and pray for recently departed souls who have yet to reach Heaven.

Friday 31st October Halloween

31st October is the eve of All Saints, or as it used to be called, All Hallows. And this is where our word, Hallowe’en, or All Hallows’ Eve, has come from.

The Allhallowtide custom of baking and sharing cakes for all Christian souls, was possibly the origin of trick-or-treating. The custom dates back at least as far as the 15th century when groups of poor people, often children, would go door-to-door during Allhallowtide, collecting ‘soul cakes’, in exchange for agreeing to pray for the dead, a practice known as "souling". Soul cakes would then be offered to the souls to eat, or the 'soulers' (the poor or the children) would act as the souls’ representatives and eat the cakes themselves. While souling, Christians would carry "lanterns made of hollowed-out turnips", rather like those today made out of pumpkins and symbolising Hallowe’en.

It was believed that the souls of the departed were free to wander the earth until All Saints' Day, to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving onto the next world. So Hallowe’en was their last chance! And so to avoid being recognised by any soul that might be seeking vengeance, people would dress up with masks or costumes, and hide their identity.

Saturday 1st November All Saints

All Saints’ Day, November 1st, is the day we remember all the saints and martyrs of the church, both known and unknown.

From the days of the early church, commemorations have been held for particular saints and martyrs. But as their number grew it became necessary to have a catchup day to remember saints that one had failed to remember or who had simply been too minor to get their own feast day. So by the end of the 12th century, the All Saints’ celebration had become a holy day of obligation and church bells were rung for souls who were still stuck in purgatory.

Here at Salinas we will celebrate All Saints’ Day on Saturday 8th November.

Cick here to see a popular hymn to all saints. 

Sunday 2nd November All Souls

All Saints’ Day is then followed by All Souls' Day, when we remember and celebrate all who have departed this life. Traditions have included lighting candles in people’s windows to serve as a guide for souls wishing to visit their earthly home, as well as placing candles on the graves of one’s loved ones.

This is a particularly important day within the Spanish speaking world, when family and friends gather to pay respects to those they have known and loved, who have now died. This is widely observed in Mexico, where the so-called “Day of the Dead” includes honouring the deceased with home altars called ofrendas and visiting graves of the deceased with their favourite foods and beverages.