Halloween

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laurakelly

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Hi everyone,

I’m new to the forums here. I hope this is the correct one for this question.

I am struggling with how to explain to other (Catholics) why we do not celebrate Halloween. Is there an offical church teaching on this?

Thanks,
Laura
 
laurakelly said:
Hi everyone,

I’m new to the forums here. I hope this is the correct one for this question.

I am struggling with how to explain to other (Catholics) why we do not celebrate Halloween. Is there an offical church teaching on this?

Thanks,
Laura
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But we do celebrate Halloween:)
 
We used to celebrate the Catholic Feast of All Saints. Halloween (All Hallows’ Eve) was instituted to draw people away from pagan practice. The modern practice is reversing this.

Get your parish to have an All Saints party where children come dressed as their favourite saint.
 
Karin said:
But we do celebrate Halloween:)
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Us too!
We celebrate the FUN of KIDS dressing up and knocking on doors for candy… there’s nothing wrong with that!

I did this as a kid too! I don’t remember once being draw into pagan worship… all I remember is the costumes and the candy… what a great memory to treasure!

There’s nothing morally wrong with it whatsoever! 🙂
 
Dress your kids up with a Christian theme if it is a problem for you.

Idea for boy: St. Michael the Archangel -who will scare the pants off the evil one! Get a really big Shield and Sword, there ya go.

Idea for girl: St. Therese the little flower?

Idea for yourself: Padre Pio with stigmata marks and all

Another idea: Until you know all the things Catholics believe/do , dont try to explain anything till you do.
 
Damascus said:
Dress your kids up with a Christian theme if it is a problem for you.

Idea for boy: St. Michael the Archangel -who will scare the pants off the evil one! Get a really big Shield and Sword, there ya go.

Idea for girl: St. Therese the little flower?

Idea for yourself: Padre Pio with stigmata marks and all

Another idea: Until you know all the things Catholics believe/do , dont try to explain anything till you do.
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I cant dress up as Padre Pio…since I am a woman:D some may take offense at that one!
 
:rotfl:
Karin said:
I cant dress up as Padre Pio…since I am a woman:D some may take offense at that one!
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I think we can figure something out for you! How about a Nun with a scary ruler in her hand at the ready?
 
Though this was a retreat (we all wore full body, wool scapulars) it could very well serve for a group outfit for just such an occasion.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
I agree with the poster who suggested an All Saints celebration instead. Halloween is just too commercial and faaaaaaar from its original meaning for our tastes. We’re not into Santas and reindeer at Christmas, and we’re not into pumpkins and spiders on the vigil of All Saits Day. But we love how the stores have so much more candy at this time of year 😃 We usually celebrate Halloween by going to the All Saints vigil Mass.

I don’t think the OP meant that Catholics as a whole don’t celebrate Halloween, since she was asking about how to explain why she doesn’t celebrate it to other Catholics. But I may be mistaken…
 
Karin said:
Do I get to have cig. hanging out of my mouth?!?!😃
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Umm, well- you’d have to keep it at a distance from the crowds - that would limit your fun. I guess so, since in the

HHH (have happy halloween manual) I see it here:

654:

If you dress as a nun, you may smoke a cigarette as long as you do not preach to the Masses while doing it.

You must also remember that you could be getting more chocolate if you did not.

So, as you can see here in the handy HHH, its okay.
 
Damascus said:
Umm, well- you’d have to keep it at a distance from the crowds - that would limit your fun. I guess so, since in the

HHH (have happy halloween manual) I see it here:

654:

If you dress as a nun, you may smoke a cigarette as long as you do not preach to the Masses while doing it.

You must also remember that you could be getting more chocolate if you did not.

So, as you can see here in the handy HHH, its okay.
Click to expand...
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
 
My church has a Saint’s day celebration on Halloween. We went last year and ended up staying quite late. My original plan was to go and then take the kids trick or treating afterwards…well, we left so late that we didn’t have time. My 9 year old was devastated. I ended up driving to a few houses that still had the lights on so she could trick or treat. This year we will not be going to the Saints day party at church. We will be trick or treating with friends who are also Catholic…We won’t be worshipping Pagan gods or anything.😛 . I wish my Parish would have an early dinner for the families with kids all dressed up so I could leave afterward and do both the church thing and CANDY!
 
Let kids be kids. Halloween is part of that. While it may have had pagan beginnings centuries ago, it is just a kid’s fun day now, nothing more, nothing less.
 
We explain to our kids that the secular world has no clue about most of the celebrations that they participate in (Xmas, StPat, StVal, Easter, Thanksgiv, and Halloween).

On Halloween we focus on how non Christians are scared of death and the dead so they make up a lot of ‘rituals’ to deal with their fear. We also try to show how comforting the Christian understanding of death can be.
 
We have an All Saints celebration at our parish also but personally I don’t think there is anything wrong with jack 0’laterns, scary costumes, candy and trick or treat. But then again, I like Santa and Reindeers too.
 
<< Us too!
We celebrate the FUN of KIDS dressing up and knocking on doors for candy… there’s nothing wrong with that!

I did this as a kid too! I don’t remember once being draw into pagan worship… all I remember is the costumes and the candy… what a great memory to treasure!

There’s nothing morally wrong with it whatsoever! 🙂 >>

I love Halloween and I think part of my love for it comes from remembering when I was in grade school (a Catholic grade school) and how we went to a Halloween party near the end of the school day on Halloween. It was held in our cafeteria and they had a “haunted house” just outside the cafeteria that the older kids put on for the younger ones. I think that if Halloween fell on a Saturday or Sunday, the party was held on a Friday.
It was just so much fun and I can still remember the excitement and anticipation of the party and planning to go home to dress up for a spooky night of fun and getting candy, or better yet, these awesome popcorn balls one of my neighbors made for the trick or treaters every year. :bounce:
 
<< We have an All Saints celebration at our parish also but personally I don’t think there is anything wrong with jack 0’laterns, scary costumes, candy and trick or treat. But then again, I like Santa and Reindeers too. >>

I collect Santas. Mostly Old World Santas and folk art Santas.
 
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