The origins of Halloween
By Bishop Ralph Heskett
One of the highlights of the Autumn calendar for many families is Halloween.
It is an opportunity for the children to dress up and to have a party with family and friends. However, the ghoulish celebration that Halloween has become for many is a long way from its Christian origin – the celebration of the Feast of All Saints.
The Feast was celebrated for the first time in 741 on 13 May. It was then celebrated on this day each year until a century later, when the feast was transferred to 1 November, timing it around the harvests to be able to provide food for the pilgrims. It was followed by a day to honour the Church’s “soon-to-be saints,” – the Commemoration of All Souls.
The significance and importance of the feast was acknowledged by the attachment of a vigil to the feast. The evening before the feast would be a time of prayer, preparation and celebration.
Here in England the day became known as “All Hallows Day”. The evening before, or “e’en” before, became known as “All Hallows Eve” or even shorter, “Hallowe’en.”
In the Christian celebrations and practices of Halloween we find an early version of “Trick or Treat” in the begging for “soul cakes”, a traditional English food. People would go from door to door begging for a “soul cake”.
In return for the cake, they would promise to pray for the donor’s departed friends and family.
In many places around the world today – and indeed in Sheffield – our Christian brothers and sisters host alternative Halloween celebrations in an attempt to reclaim the feast once again.
Perhaps a simple and easy way for all of us to be part of this reclamation and recapture of the original spirit would be for us to spend time this Halloween remembering with gratitude our family and friends who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.
O God, Lord of mercies, grant that we and all who have gone before us may be brought to the place of refreshment, the bliss of eternal rest and the splendour of your light.
Amen.
