Today, November 1, we celebrate All Saints Day or Hallowed (holy ones) Day. A time when we remember all the people who have gone before us living truly holy lives and now are saints in heaven with our Savior. Some of these saints are canonized like Mother Teresa or St. Francis, but many are not.
Then tomorrow we celebrate All Souls Day, which is all the souls who have passed away. They lived good lives, but because of the stain of sin are in purgatory where they are being made pure. Many people go to mass tomorrow and pray for family members and friends who have died. Offering a mass or simply remembering someone who is dead in your prayers shortens their stay in purgatory.
If today is All Hallows Day, last night was All Hallows Eve or Halloween, which comes from Celtic tradition. In their tradition all those who died come back on All Hallows Eve as ghosts and goblins. The Celtic people who put on masks to scare them away. They also went door to door collecting treats.
As Catholics we take these days to celebrate the Communion of Saints. The Communion of Saints consists of three parts: those living on this earth (Church Militant), the saints in Heaven (Church Triumphant), and the pour souls in purgatory (Church Suffering) with Christ at it's head. Church Militant is in the struggle on Earth to save souls while the Church Triumphant is praying for those in the struggle and those suffering.
The next time you think Halloween is getting way to commercialized remember it's Christian roots. Also, you can check out some of the Mexican traditions surrounding this holiday.
Side note: Evan's costume idea this year came from pinterest and ended up being a scavenger hunt around the farm to find piece to put it together. A scrap piece of plywood in the barn, a piece of old hose, some plumbers tape, and left over paint. Meanwhile the mouse costume was modified from a puppy pattern Grandma had.
