Vigil of All Saints.
by VP
Posted on Friday October 31, 2025 at 01:00AM in Tradition
Fra Angelico: The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs
Halloween was originally a day of Fasting by Philip Kosloski
"As you desire to partake of the joy of the following solemnity, so prepare yourself this day. Humiliation, self-denial and prayer, are the dispositions required of you, and the surest way to be established in the grace of God. Keep a strict fast, if you are able; and if not, be not wanting, at least, in such other exercises, as are proper for the same end. Suppress all motions of vanity, passion, and self-love. Let nothing appear in you, which could render you displeasing to Almighty God, or betray in you a love more of earth than of heaven. Labor to bring your soul to the resemblance of the saints, that you may obtain that grace, which alone can bring you to their state of bliss. And since fasting is one thing required of us, as a proper means for humbling sinners, and for inclining God to compassion and mercy, beseech him to direct you, and help you in keeping such a fast this day, as may be the punishment of your sins, and be so acceptable to Him, as to remove scourges, and open the treasures of his goodness upon you. Do not deceive yourself with names, or ceremonies, or by following in such a track only as custom has made; but consider what is fast, which God has chosen what is the fast due to your sins, and proper for engaging the divine mercy to you. Let not appetite, inclination, or self-love, have the direction of what you are to eat or drink. For by these you have been too often led into excess and sin, and therefore it cannot be reasonable that they should be the advisers on days designed to punish their disorders. Let repentance determine how far the sinner ought to be punished by fasting, who has so often lifted up his head, and rebelled against his God. On this day bear contradictions in silence, and endeavor to rejoice in contempt, as your due. And in whatever way, at other times, you observe your pride break forth, let it there be your solicitude to apply suitable remedies.' The Catholic Year; Or Daily Lessons on the Feasts of the Church By Rev. Fr. John GOTHER
"LET us prepare our souls for the graces heaven is about to shower upon the earth in return for its homage. To-morrow the Church will be so overflowing with joy, that she will seem to be already in possession of eternal happiness; but to-day she appears in the garb of penance, confessing that she is still an exile. Let us fast and pray with her; for are not we too pilgrims and strangers in this world, where all things are fleeting and hurry on to death? Year by year, as the great solemnity comes round, it has gathered from among our former companions new saints, who bless our tears and smile upon our songs of hope. Year by year the appointed time draws nearer, when we ourselves, seated at the heavenly banquet, shall receive the homage of those who succeed us, and hold out a helping hand to draw them after us to the home of everlasting happiness. Let us learn, from this very hour, to emancipate our souls, let us keep our hearts free, in the midst of the vain solicitudes and false pleasures of a strange land: the exile has no care but his banishment, no joy but that which gives him a foretaste of his fatherland." Dom Gueranger
Some Old Druid is laughing by Rev. Leo E. Gillen
by VP
Posted on Friday October 31, 2025 at 12:00AM 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
