The following is a reply to a misinformed ‘post’ on myspace…
You are a loving Christian lady and I respect that… but “Halloween” comes from the term “All Hallows Eve” or “All Saints Eve”. The original celebration of All Saints Eve was in honor of all the Christians that have led exemplary lives and gone before us… you know, the “cloud of witnesses” [Heb. 12:1] that St. Paul speaks of.
Yet, it is true, that satan has taken it over [a Christian practice] and made it something evil. So, I agree that we can find other things to do at that time. For example, there is a Catholic tradition [small ‘t’], that suggests children and even adults dressing up as figures from the Bible and play acting that others can guess who they are supposed to be. This is quite fun as I have done the same myself.
Excerpt from This Rock online magazine
Can Catholics Celebrate Halloween?
Q: Some families in our parish don’t allow their children to celebrate Halloween. Should Catholics celebrate Halloween?
A: The word Halloween is a contraction for All Hallows Eve, which, before the reform of the liturgical calendar following the Second Vatican Council, was the vigil of All Saints and All Souls Days. As such, Halloween can be considered a Christian holiday. As with many Christian holidays, the secular world has attached its own traditions to the day (costumes, trick-or-treating, parties) that are not intrinsically wrong but can become problematic when the religious meaning of the holiday is set aside or forgotten.
For more information:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Halloween/
Christianity has started many traditions that have been handed from one generation to the next. Secular society tries to take them and make them non-Christian, such as we can see with taking “Christ” out of Christmas. Should Christians give in to this approach?
I am sure you would agree that Christians need to, “test everything, holding to what is good”, 1 Thess 5.
Christianity saw a pagan festival and decided to end the practice and replace it with something good and holy. That ‘held’ for centuries, until modern society decided to uproot the good tradition and make it bad… with satan smiling the whole time… as Christians oppose each other.
Christians should not oppose each other on this… just hold fast to what is good. Remember Christ’s prayer for the ‘unity of the believers’ the night before He died. [Jn. 17:21]
I am sorry this is long, but just giving you a small amount of information didn’t seem the right thing to do.
Your friend in Christ;
Philip
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October 12th, 2007 at 7:35 p10
i dont feel like doing the “work” right now on the real origin of halloween, and luckily i dont need to; you have given me all i need right in your own “story”. you express dismay ( to say the least) when certain groups try to ruin “christian” holiday by taking “christ” out of it. And i agree with you on that; if indeed it was an original christian holiday to begin with. problem is not many christian holidays were their original thoughts at all.
What i want to ask is why is it that christians feel it right to be upset when someone or group tries to alter a modern christian event yet they refuse to even acknowledge that they themselves did the same to the holiday(s) in question? And when forced to face the truth of their actions these christians make excuses for what they did saying in general it was for the good etc etc…..
Trouble is far too often through the ages christianity itself has been guilty of this very same deed. Christmas you mention? sorry but that was NOT ORIGINALLY a christian holiday at all; instead it was a pagan celebration (winter solstice, birth of mithras etc.), adapted by the christians to suit their needs. Actually xmas as it is today, is a mismash of quite a few different pagan cultural beliefs all rolled into one. And birth of christ? NO one anymore, actually believes that was his birthday at all; and many deities pre-dating that of christ (mithras for one) were supposedly born on dec, 25th. so NOTHING ORIGINALl in “your” christmas.
Easter - your “rebirth” celebration as it were; the rising of your christ etc., another pagan celebration predating the cgristian holiday. the original reason to celebrate? The sons rebirth also, well almost; you see the “son” reborn is reallty the sun and the rebirth is actually thanks that the sun (and with it life, hope, salvation if you will) has returned after a long cold dark winter.
Ok so i did do the research on halloween and it is :
Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). Celtic new year was Nov. 1st. and they believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred, and ghosts of the dead returned to earth. they caused both fear and hope, fear that the ghosts would damage the crops yet hope because Celtic priests relied on the ghosts to help them “see” what the future held for them. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints’ Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday.
i will spare us both the “pain” of argument by providing no lnks to verify my words. all one need do is google it themselves to find all they want. try googling : “origin of christian holidays”, or “pagan holidays” etc.
i hope this will enlighten some.
sincerely,
“R.O.W”., “righter of wrongs”
(not to be confused with “W.O.W.” the typical christian “writer of wrongs.”) …….. Peace
October 16th, 2007 at 7:35 p10
Thank you for your extensive sharing. I appreciate any thoughtful contact.
That being said, I will not apologize for trying to make the world a more loving place to live in.
Would you actually compare Christianity bringing love, light and compassion into the world with some group taking love out of the world? Is that your argument against Christianity? Really?
Christianity has made the world, by it’s influence, a more tolerable and loving place for mankind to exist. The main teachings of Catholicism are love God completely and love your neighbor as yourself.
While it is true that Christianity has usurped many Pagan Holidays, that was meant to celebrate greed, lust and death, just to name a few of the more lowly attributes of our existence, it is also true, that the Pagan Festivals were replaced with goodness and love.
If you prefer death to life… choose it! I choose life! I ask others to continue to choose life.
The Catholic Church never taught anywhere, at anytime, that Jesus Christ was born on December 25th, so try to get your facts straight. After Christ was born, Christians wanted to celebrate His Birthday. What better day to choose then the day when the darkness gives way to the light?
May the peace of Christ be with you.
For more information on December 25th, as the date for celebrating Christmas.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm
October 24th, 2007 at 7:35 p10
preaching love and life is a noble cause and possibly the “hope” that was brought to pagans was a worthy cause depending on two things. was not their belief already based on “hope”? was there originl beleifs also hopefull? and did your church lie to achieve their goal? in other woyds did your church mislead the pagans into thinking their ways were wrong? No one know IF they were in fact wrong or IF your ways are wrong. you seemingly imply that lying is ok to achieve your goal, when you say “I will not apologize for trying to make the world a more loving place to live in.”
personally i try to deal in reality and truth as best i can. i try to never teach lies, or that which i cannot show evidence for. you may refute my evidence , as i yours; neither of us can know for sure, but in the case above, real in depth OBJECTIVE research, accepting not just what you like, would reveal that what you say is at best a stretch. at worst a ……..
i do thank you for allowing me to assist in bringing the truth and likewise i thank you for not trying to refute the irrefutable.
.