Saturday, November 1^st, is All Saints’ Day and Sunday is All Souls’ Day. In Old English, the word for “saints’ was “hallows.” Thus, the Eve of All Hallows was called “All Hallows Eve.”

It still is a holy day, however, like so many other religious events; it has become something very commercialized and increasingly macabre.

Honoring the saints and remembering the dead (who are essentially the same people) is dishonorable when it becomes an event which evokes fear in place of hope.

“All Hallows-tide,” a British (or, more precisely a Scottish) was a three- day religious event confined mostly to the Celtic countries of Scotland and Ireland. Until relatively recently, they were days of no meat. So, it was a tradition to bake small cakes rather than meat dishes. Poor children, on All Hallows Eve would go from door to door asking for those “soul cakes” in exchange for praying for the dead.

It was such a religious event, and a Catholic one at that, that the Puritans of New England banned the practice. They also banned the celebration of Christmas for similar reasons.

In many cultures, respect for the memory of the dead is an integral part of their society. Even today, on All Saints Day, or in Spanish Day of the Dead – Dia de los Muertos- is observed by visiting cemeteries and enjoying a pick-nik meal among the graves.

The custom of wearing costumes – or in particular – face masks evolved from a belief that the dead return once a year to seek revenge on their enemies. The mask was intended to disguise the living in order to confuse the dead as to who were the enemies.

In recent years, there has developed a perversion of Halloween to the point where more and more parents accompany their children on their trick or treating, gather in safe public spaces or homes and avoid what in many places can be dangerous, especially at night and especially for children.

At the same time, there is something positive to say about using humor and ridicule to confront the power of death.

As it has become, even in my own lifetime, Halloween is not what it should be.

Young people should feel safe and their safety is the responsibility of everyone. Toward that end, we can keep our sights on the true meaning of the upcoming days. People talk about keeping Christ in Christmas. We can also talk about keeping those who have died in Halloween in a way that remembers them as our beloved and departed friends in heaven.

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