Some Old Druid is laughing by Rev. Leo E. Gillen
by VP
Posted on Thursday October 30, 2025 at 11:00PM in Documents
"Jack O'Lanterns peer fire-eyed from windows. A black cat arches its
back. And costumed children go begin trick-or-treat from door-to-door.
The frost is on the pumpkin and it's Halloween.
The holiday may have come from the Roman festival of Pomona (a harvest
festival). But probably the Druids in pre-Christian Ireland and Scotland
hold a clearer historical background for it.
The Celtic Year ended on Oct. 31 the eve of Samhain. The Samhain was
partly an agrarian celebration. The end of summer was a time of
threshing and of food preparations for the winter season.
The festival of the dead was another part of the celebration. The
spirits of the departed were believed to visit kinsmen in search of
warmth and good cheer as winter approached. Bonfires were lighted on
hilltops to guide the spirits and ward off the witches.
Magical practices of divination were practiced during the Samhain. Who
would die, who would marry whom, and who would be given good fortune in
the coming year, these were the questions that the people asked.
The Samhain was also a time of fairies, witches and goblins who terrified travelers, destroyed crops, and stole cattle.
Pope Gregory III instituted the feast of all Saints in 843 to
Christianize this feast of Samhain. Instead of a festival of the dead,
he wanted all Christians to honor saints. Hence the name Halloween (holy
evening) the vigil of All Saints. Sometimes the term, hallow-mass was
used; this was a contraction al All hallow-Mass.
In 998, Odilo, abbot of Cluny, established the feast of All Souls on
Nov. 2. Again, this was an attempt to supplant the feast of the dead.
It is rather significant, as we look at the modern celebration of
Halloween, that we follow the old rite of the Druids, rather than the
feasts instituted by Pope Gregory or Odilo.
Some old Druid is laughing at our attempt to Christianize the pagan rite
of Samhain. The Druid's witches and goblins are still with us at
Halloween; and little, if any, thought is given to the saints."
source: The Catholic Advocate, Vol 20, #43, 28 Oct. 1971 page 11
St. Serapion of Antioch, Bishop and Confessor.
by VP
Posted on Thursday October 30, 2025 at 04:00AM in Saints
"An eminent bishop of Antioch, of the second age. He was zealous in maintaining the doctrines received from the apostles,
and in opposing all those who taught contrary to what had been
delivered: so that no new opinion any where began to appear, but it
certainly found him an adversary. This his zeal, as Eusebius observes,
was very remarkable in his condemning a book recommended to the faithful under the title of St. Peter's Gospel; being a sacrilegious artifice made use of by some false zealots, for the more plausible recommendation of their errors. But such titles prevailed not with him, who regarded truth alone.
Be zealous for the truth; and fear not only apocryphal gospels, but likewise being imposed upon by the mistaken sense of such as are canonical. But let your zeal be not only in regard of faith, but likewise of such other practical truths, as have been taught by Christ and his apostles. Assert the necessity of taking up the cross of self-denial, of mortifying the flesh, of living by the spirit of Christ, that is, by the spirit of charity, humility and patience. For the faith of Christ will not carry any one to heaven, if there be not due endeavors to live according to the life of Christ. But those who will hazard all for the sake of Jesus, and to order their lives according to His life, will find all worldly comforts supplied in the possession of Him, and that in losing all, they have gained all. This is the doctrine of self-denial; this is the command of forsaking all for Christ's sake, and of loving nothing more than Him, which is so often inculcated in the Gospel, and laid down for the foundation of a Christian life. Whoever has not learned this, has not yet begun to be a true disciple. But how great grace is necessary for us in this state of our weakness, to follow these lessons of the Gospel. Beg then of God to help you in his mercy, and not to let His grace be wanting, by which you may not only purpose, but effectually walk in it all your lives." (The Catholic Year; Or Daily Lessons on the Feasts of the Church by Rev. Fr. John GOTHER)
