Better than the werewolves: Reclaiming All Hallows’ Eve

It’s the season for fall family walks, and your 4-year-old has stopped in front of a rubber hand clawing out of a foam grave. She is shocked by the spooky scene. You are shocked by how a feast of the Church ended up becoming an excuse for excessive amounts of fake blood and fun-size candy.

The name gives the history away. “Halloween” comes from a Scottish contraction for All Hallows’ Eve, the night before the feast of all the saints. Pope Gregory III dedicated an oratory in St. Peter’s to the saints on Nov. 1 in the eighth century, and Pope Gregory IV later set that date for the whole Latin Church. The date also fell on Samhain, the start of the Celtic winter, and Christians in Ireland and Britain carried some older customs into the new feast.

Many Catholic parents debate between keeping their children home, or letting them take part in the hyper-commercial celebration. We can’t deny the fun of running around the neighborhood collecting candy while dressed up. But this year, instead of debating between fun and not fun, consider how to create a better night. Monsters and potions might hold a child’s attention, but a friar who bore the wounds of Christ in his hands provides a real-life shocker. Padre Pio’s stigmata will fascinate a 9-year-old at least as much as a werewolf, and the story has the advantage of being true.

The saints are stranger than anything in the costume aisle. St. Joan of Arc led an army as a teenager. St. Lawrence, as the old story goes, joked with his executioners from the gridiron. Tell your kids these stories and they’ll be more captivated than by anything commercial Halloween can offer. 

Soul cakes

Medieval English families handed small spiced cakes to the poor who came to their doors, and the poor promised to pray for the family’s dead in return. The Church encouraged the custom to replace the older practice of leaving food out for wandering spirits. Find a recipe with currants, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and let the kids press a cross into each one. Set a plate aside for a neighbor and tell them the story when you drop it off. Extra points if you actually share it with the homeless.

Dress up as saints

Have each child choose a saint and read about him or her. A toddler can wear a paper crown and a bathrobe as St. Joseph. A 10-year-old can craft St. George’s shield from cardboard. Ask teenagers to find a saint nobody in the family knows. At dinner, each child gives three clues while everyone else guesses which saint it is. “I was a queen. I fed the poor. My husband caught me carrying bread, and it turned into roses.” A child who has to explain St. Elizabeth of Hungary to her siblings will remember her for years.

Open the porch

If you participate in the neighborhood’s trick-or-treats, your saints can join too, and a St. George with a cardboard shield will collect as much candy as any vampire. If you’d like to take the opportunity to evangelize, tuck a saint prayer card into each bag you hand out. A kid in a dinosaur costume may carry home the first sacred image he has ever owned, and his mother may read the prayer on the back while she sorts the loot. Make sure it is something approachable to people of all walks of life. 

Keep the vigil

Turn off the lights, light a few candles, and pray the Litany of the Saints together. This creates a special family moment that your kids will forever remember. Let each child invoke the saint he or she dressed as this year. The intentionality behind gathering around candles introduces children to a vigil in a joyful and intentional way. 

November 2: Remember and visit

All Hallows’ Eve opens Allhallowtide, the three days that run through All Souls’ Day. This is a good time to set out photos of family members who have died. It is also worth considering who around you has passed away recently or simply including a friend who recently lost someone and make this occasion a time to pray for the person. 

Much of the candy will end up in the trash and forgotten by Thanksgiving, but children will remember dressing up as a saint, the candlelit prayers, and the walk and prayers through the cemetery. Bring the same intentionality to fun and celebration that commercial Halloween has, but build the night around the saints, and the neighboring families who stop at your porch will catch a glimpse of it too.