I work in an 21 floor building, and the building powers that be decided to have fun and put a pair of those cute skeletons that stand about 5 feet tall--the guy skeleton has a top hat, a chewedjacket and holds a grotty little rose; the chick skeleton has verdigris hair, a rotted papier-mache dress and a cute little headpiece. I think it's one of those that talk if you press a button, too, but thankfully they have disabled that.
Well, there's always one rotten apple: someone's offended because they're a law firm that specializes in estate law and one paralegal complained that it would upset the clients.
Bah humbug to you too, pal.
Ah, if only people would remember what Halloween was all about...
Among many so-called Christians (usually the extremist kind), there is concern that things have gotten out of hand: doesn't Halloween glorify evil?
It's time to remember what ALL HALLOWS EVE is about: it is to emphasize the saints, whose nearly forgotten feast day is the reason for what we now call "Halloween."
The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Roman Catholic Church. November 1, "All Hollows Day," or "All Saints Day," is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year.
"Hallow" is the same word for "holy"*, and the contraction "e'en" is an abbreviation of "evening."
The word "Halloween," therefore, is a shortened form of "All Hallows Eve," or All Holies Evening, the day before, or the vigil, of All Saints Day.
This holiday, properly understood and celebrated with all of its fun trappings, can also be a way for all of us to deepen our understanding of our faith. The key to this understanding is close at hand for Catholics--and all Christians--in our love of the communion of saints.
Until the ninth century the Church celebrated the popular feast of All Saints on May 13th, during the season of joy after the Resurrection. This is the light in which we see all the faithful who have died, especially those whose witness to Christ is an inspiration. In 835 the date was deliberately changed to November 1 to Christianize the existing pagan time for remembering the dead—to bring light to the darkness, and hope to the most basic of human fears.
For the first 1,000 years of Christianity there was no collective memorial for All Souls. Relatives and loved ones were remembered at Mass on the anniversary of their death, or until they passed out of living memory. However, by the seventh century monasteries were celebrating an annual Mass for all the deceased of their order, an idea which spread to the laity.
About the year 1030, an influential abbot, St Odilo of Cluny, chose November 2 to commemorate All Souls because it was an obvious companion date and extension of the Feast of All Saints. Both days are reminders that all of us, living and dead, are united in a living communion with Christ and one another. From his Monastery it spread throughout the Church.
In effect, All Hallows Eve became one vigil for two feasts celebrated by the whole Catholic Church: the vigil of both All Saints and All Souls feast days.
In the 16th century at the time of the Reformation, most Protestants (alas!) discarded both the doctrine of the communion of saints and the practice of praying for the dead. All Hallows Eve became "hollow" for them, the vigil of an empty feast day.
"I believe...in the communion of saints," we say every Sunday in the Creed. How many Catholics know what this doctrine really means? You can be assured that they don't connect Halloween with that lovely phrase in the Creed--it's just a time to have fun or play pranks.
Then we get the obvious question from the sadly ignorant: Isn't that idol worshipping?
Do we "worship" or "adore" our beloved saints, as some non-Catholics think? No, nyet, nein, não, nr, αριθ! Not at all. Not even close.
We honor them and learn from their example; adoration belongs to God alone. We ask the saints to pray, or intercede for us the same way we might ask a good friend to pray. It’s comforting to have friends always available to pray with you, a whole "cloud of witnesses," in fact! (see Hebrews 12:1).
So, just like saying "Merry Christmas!" is being threatened, do NOT be afraid to wish someone a...
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
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Carve your Own Pumpkin!!!
So where did the carving of pumpkins come from??? From Halloween Online Magazine
Celebrated for centuries by the Celts of old, Witches and many other nature based religions, it is the most magical night of the year...
On this magical night, glowing jack-o-lanterns, carved from turnips or gourds, were set on porches and in windows to welcome deceased loved ones, but also to act as protection against malevolent spirits. Burning lumps of coal were used inside as a source of light, later to be replaced by candles.
When European settlers, particularly the Irish, arrived in American they found the native pumpkin to be larger, easier to carve and seemed the perfect choice for jack-o-lanterns. Halloween didn't really catch on big in this country until the late 1800's and has been celebrated in so many ways ever since!
Pumpkins are indigenous to the western hemisphere and were completely unknown in Europe before the time of Columbus. In 1584, the French explorer Jacques Cartier reported from the St. Lawrence region that he had found "gros melons", which was translated into English as "ponpions," or pumpkins. In fact, pumpkins have been grown in America for over 5,000 years. Native Americans called pumpkins "isquotersquash."
The things you learn! My, my...
Have a blessed and safe HALLOWEEN!!
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* In the Spanish language, "santos" means 'saints,' but equally 'holies'--hence, 'todos los santos,' is All Saints, common name in Hispanic cultures, usually as a middle name. When one sees the name of the city of San Diego, California--translated loosely as Saint James--"san" is the shortened version of "santo"; the California city and Mission of Santa Barbara is from the same root, only the feminine of the appellation. [/end language lesson]
