M
magisterfaust
Guest
According to Catholic Parent Magazine,(going back a few years). It claims that Halloween is NOT a pagan festival. I don’t even know where to start. Yes, Whatever “hack” wrote this journalistic revolutionary masterpiece. Halloween was named so by the early Christians, but it was hijacked like many other non christian rituals. Halloween= Samhain… A pre christian Ritual.
We’ve all heard the allegations: Halloween is a pagan rite dating back to some pre-Christian festival among the Celtic Druids that escaped church suppression. Even today modern pagans and witches continue to celebrate this ancient festival. If you let your kids go trick-or-treating, they will be worshiping the devil and pagan gods.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The origins of Halloween are, in fact, very Christian and rather American. Halloween falls on October 31 because of a pope, and its observances are the result of medieval Catholic piety
Absolute rubbish
It’s true that the ancient Celts of Ireland and Britain celebrated a minor festival on October 31–as they did on the last day of most other months of the year. However, Halloween falls on the last day of October because the Feast of All Saints, or “All Hallows,” falls on November 1. The feast in honor of all the saints in heaven used to be celebrated on May 13, but Pope Gregory III (d. 741) moved it to November 1, the dedication day of All Saints Chapel in St. Peter’s at Rome. Later, in the 840s, Pope Gregory IV commanded that All Saints be observed everywhere. And so the holy day spread to Ireland.
The day before was the feast’s evening vigil, “All Hallows Even,” or “Hallowe’en.” In those days Halloween didn’t have any special significance for Christians or for long-dead Celtic pagans.
As for that last bit about no special significance for long dead celtic pagans is at best misguided, at worst… arrogant. The article goes on…and on…and on.
Halloween was celebrated at the end of the harvest season, a very big deal for the pagans.
It is no coincidence that All saints day just happens to be the following day.
Why is it that so many Christian rituals just happen to be on aor around the same times as pagan rituals?
We’ve all heard the allegations: Halloween is a pagan rite dating back to some pre-Christian festival among the Celtic Druids that escaped church suppression. Even today modern pagans and witches continue to celebrate this ancient festival. If you let your kids go trick-or-treating, they will be worshiping the devil and pagan gods.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The origins of Halloween are, in fact, very Christian and rather American. Halloween falls on October 31 because of a pope, and its observances are the result of medieval Catholic piety
Absolute rubbish
It’s true that the ancient Celts of Ireland and Britain celebrated a minor festival on October 31–as they did on the last day of most other months of the year. However, Halloween falls on the last day of October because the Feast of All Saints, or “All Hallows,” falls on November 1. The feast in honor of all the saints in heaven used to be celebrated on May 13, but Pope Gregory III (d. 741) moved it to November 1, the dedication day of All Saints Chapel in St. Peter’s at Rome. Later, in the 840s, Pope Gregory IV commanded that All Saints be observed everywhere. And so the holy day spread to Ireland.
The day before was the feast’s evening vigil, “All Hallows Even,” or “Hallowe’en.” In those days Halloween didn’t have any special significance for Christians or for long-dead Celtic pagans.
As for that last bit about no special significance for long dead celtic pagans is at best misguided, at worst… arrogant. The article goes on…and on…and on.
Halloween was celebrated at the end of the harvest season, a very big deal for the pagans.
It is no coincidence that All saints day just happens to be the following day.
Why is it that so many Christian rituals just happen to be on aor around the same times as pagan rituals?