Understanding the word "Hallow" in Halloween - The Feast of the Saints

 By Juan Rodriguez

“Hallow”, another word for “Holy”, was used before 900 AD; it was an Old English word, “Hālgian”, which described an object, an area, or a person to be “Holy” – “Set Apart.” We use this word in the English language when praying the “Our Father” – “HALLOWED be Your Name”. We can either consider or refer to something that is “Holy”, or, with God’s grace, He can make it “Holy”.

MAKE SOMETHING HOLY - As an example, Catholic youth and young adult ministries throughout New York and abroad are taking "worldly" music and making it holy. Believe it or not, you can take any genre of music and use it for the Lord, no matter if your ears can take it - the music is made to praise God. Same with our gifts and talents – God can use any music, art, writings, transforming our work into instruments of Praise, Glory and Honor.

Simple to think about, but do you think if He can do that with ordinary things, could He do it even with a day? YES!

That’s what happened to this particular feast we call “Halloween”. Long before “Halloween” ever got its bad reputation, the Church had celebrated this Holy Day. “Halloween” is broken down into two words, “Hallow” which we know as “Holy”, and “e’en”, which means “evening” or “night.” The word “Halloween”. This word literally means “All Saints Eve”, or as we call it today, “All Saints Day.” “Halloween” was a word used to describe the feast. For some who do not know the history, easily assume that the word was used to describe a feast to celebrate evil. WRONG!!!

In the old days, Christians celebrated the memory of saints and martyrs in their parishes, and even in their diocese. It was recommended (by the saints themselves) to combine the feast days for the saints and martyrs due to the increase in numbers. One saint in particular was Saint Basil of Caesarea, who in the year 397 A.D. wrote a letter urging the Bishops of Pontus to commemorate all the saints and martyrs for one day, and that way all Christians could celebrate this special feast day as ONE BODY.

Historians have found that this feast day was celebrated by Celts who lived in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Britain. Believe it or not, November 1st was considered “New Year's Day” and the start of cold days, winter. Before November 1st, October 31st, Celts would celebrate the feast of Samhain, which was believed to be the “Lord of the Dead”. In their celebrations, they would put on masks and create great bonfires; they believed that the souls of the dead would follow them on this day. They believed that by putting on masks and creating bonfires, they would chase away the bad spirits.

Later, the Romans conquered their lands and adopted some of their traditions, using it as a way to honor Pomona, the goddess of the harvest. As Rome kept conquering new lands, Christianity started entering these lands, spreading the Gospel of Jesus. And that was how the feast of Samhain and Pomona started to slowly fade as Catholic priests and monks started evangelizing the people, making it possible for this day to become a Holy Day, dedicated to the Saints, whom by their testimony glorified Jesus Christ and not evil.

Better yet – in 835 A.D. – Pope Gregory IV saw this as an opportunity to Christianize Rome again, hence moving the day from May 13th to November 1st, slowly ending pagan practices and giving a Christian significance to this cultural celebration. Pope Gregory IV made this day so the entire Church could celebrate the memory of all the Saints.

Keep this in mind – Catholics who are unfamiliar with this past would claim that Celts believed in demons, but the word “devil” or “demon” was not part of their belief system, nor their culture or vocabulary. These words came with Christian teachings and not from pagan beliefs. 

It is easy for us to judge a foreign culture, especially when we may have little interest in learning about Catholicism of the past, and our personal encounter with the Church of Christ and the Gospel Message. If we forget the past when it comes to “Halloween,” the Honoring of our Saints would fade away. It would be our fault in allowing our society to rob us of our Feast Day. So, TAKE BACK HALLOWEEN!