This Halloween, let’s party with the Saints!

Living liturgically within the domestic church is perhaps one of the best ways to get children excited about the beauty and richness of an intentional faith life. Pairing prayer and learning about the life of Jesus and the saints with food and fun will capture the hearts of little ones and lead them closer to their Heavenly Father. 

Thankfully for us, there is no shortage of wonderful blogs and books detailing crafts, recipes, and party ideas to bring the liturgical calendar to life within the home. The sheer number of feast days’ worth celebrating can feel daunting, but some of the best advice given is to start small and gradually build traditions year after year. 

So, where does one begin? The Solemnity of All Saints is a great feast day to celebrate in an extra special way. Halloween, with deeply Christian roots, has been taken and distorted by secular society, so reclaiming Hallowtide in its entirety is a powerful way to witness the truth of Christ’s victory over death, celebrate the glory of the saints in Heaven, and pray for the souls still waiting to enter the joy of Heaven. 

As Halloween is simply the vigil of All Saints Day, it is rightly ordered to celebrate All Hallows Eve with children while withholding the greatest excitement, most scrumptious treats, and overflowing fun for the Solemnity. Here are a few ideas for how to make the Solemnity of All Saints one of your family’s favorite days of the year. 

Focus on the atmosphere

Children delight in the little things. After they go to bed on Halloween, string up pictures of saints around the house. Be sure to include everyone’s patron or favorite! They will wake up in a flurry of excitement to see their favorite holy men and women surrounding them.  

This is a great time to display prayer cards of the saints around your home! Be A Heart Design is a small business that has an incredible (and free!) All Saints Day guide available every year with pictures and decorations to print out. January Jane Shop has vintage saint photographs available for purchase, which would be perfect to hang on a string with mini clothespins. These decorations can be displayed all through November, along with pictures of deceased family members. 

Save the best treats for the feast

On Halloween night, we remind our children to pace themselves on their candy, because the next day is when they will really get to feast on treats galore! 

All Saints Day breakfast in our home includes waffles or pancakes – anything you can douse in whipped cream, fruit, and syrup! Meals and snacks are an easy way to really go all out on the saint’s theme. A simple Google search will help you turn any snack into a saint snack. Treat your children throughout the day with St. Peter’s fish (Goldfish crackers) or St. Francis’ animals (animal crackers) – and don’t be afraid to get creative and silly! 

There are so many incredible resources, both online and in print, to help choose delicious and faith-inspired meals to serve your family. One beautiful cookbook that was recently added to my shelf is The Catholic Kid’s Cookbook: Holy Days and Heavenly Food by Haley Stewart and Clare Sheaf. Any of these recipes would be wonderful additions to a Solemnity of All Saints menu. 

Don’t just leave the costumes for Halloween

Seeing children walk around in costume on Halloween is not outlandish, but come November 1, people might expect children to be finished donning costumes out and about. Not for those celebrating All Saints Day! 

Letting children choose a saint to dress as for the Solemnity is an integrative way to learn about that saint and discuss their clothing, the time period, the place they lived, and how they followed Jesus. Catholic All Year has many posts rounding up ideas for All Saints Day costumes. Costumes can range from incredibly detailed St. Juan Diego tilmas to jeans and a red hoodie for newly canonized St. Carlo Acutis. Children’s creativity shines, and their love for the saint grows as they strive to imitate them throughout the day. 

Many schools and parishes have a procession of children dressed as saints! If your local parish doesn’t have one yet, consider starting one with the children’s ministry. 

When in doubt, add games

If you plan to host an All Saints Day gathering with a large group, choosing a few games can help provide structure for the party. A few that my children enjoyed last year are Pin the tail on St. Joseph’s Donkey, St. Kateri’s bow-and-arrow challenge (using plastic bows and arrows to knock down cans), and slaying the dragon with St. George (a dragon piñata).

Pray like a saint

The most important component of a well-celebrated All Saints Day is, of course, prayer. Heading to Mass is the most beautiful and powerful way to celebrate with the communion of Saints in Heaven (and it’s a holy day of obligation for Catholics!). 

Additionally, singing a Litany of Saints around the dinner table with family or around a bonfire at a community gathering is a memorable way to end the Solemnity. 

All Saints Day can easily become a highlight of the liturgical year for your family and community with a few celebratory and delicious components. Taking the focus off simply Halloween and celebrating Hallowtide – Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day – will be a mighty witness as your family lives an authentic and joy-filled life of faith within your domestic church. 

All you Holy Men and Women, pray for us!