Every year when Halloween comes around, I come across articles in Christian blogs and magazines asking the same questions: Can Christians join in the celebrations? Isn't this really a pagan holiday? Can a Christian let their kids go trick-or-treating in good conscience? Aren't the costumes too gory, or scary, or demonic, or occult? Isn't the culture surrounding the holiday too dark?
Every year, the same articles are written, the same lines drawn in the sand, the same questions of culture and Christ asked again and again. To a certain extent, it's a good thing that we ask these questions. They're important. It matters what children do or see. It matters what we decide to celebrate. Christians are not supposed to simply accept everything from the culture around us. We're supposed to "[t]est everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil." (1 Thess 5:21-22)
So where should we stand on celebrating Halloween?
To me, the answer is in the name of the holiday itself. Halloween is a short way of saying All Hallows' Eve. It's a Catholic vigil, like the vigil of Christmas when we go to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. All Hallows' Eve is the vigil of the feast of All Hallows' Day.
You've heard the word "hallow" before - we say it every time we pray the Our Father. "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." "Hallowed" means holy. So in the Our Father, we're really saying to God the Father, "Your Name is holy; may we keep it holy, according to Your commandment." What does "hallow" refer to when we use it in "All Hallows' Day?" The hallows are the holy ones - the saints. All Hallows' Day is All Saints' Day, the day when we celebrate every single saint all at once in one great festival of praise to God for their lives and witnesses.
Halloween is a Catholic holiday. Of course we should celebrate it! But we should celebrate it appropriately. We should work just as hard to attend Mass on All Saints' Day as we work to hold Halloween parties, make costumes, or take kids trick-or-treating.
To read more about Marians and their Helpers reclaiming Halloween for Christ, see here.
