Halloween

[Johnny777]

All Hallow's day is November 1st. I don't understand concept of observing a day for saint's who have died since they are already in heaven. They are saints who are merely men just like us. The purpose of All Hallow's day was to remember the dead which including saints and all the faithful departed believers. However, All Hallows' Eve which is October 31st was a feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals but with pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain.

 

[jayem]

This comes up every year.

Halloween is the eve of All Hallow's (or Saint's) Day. Which is syncretic. It's a Catholic adaptation of an old Celtic/pagan celebration. But Halloween is now a purely secular event and Christians can celebrate it if they like.

Should Christians celebrate Christmas? That's also a syncretism.

 

[JustMeSee]

Some Christians should celebrate, some should not.

Dressing up as imaginary and real characters and creatures means a great deal or is irrelevant. It is what you make of it. Trick or treating and costume parties are pretty harmless, but some see something evil. So, they are free not to celebrate.

It is what you make of it, rather than its origin or what other people tell you.

 

[OlduvaiGeorge]

It is a holiday to dress up in funny costumes and eat too much candy. If that bugs you please shut up or leave the country.

 

[Johnny777]

Halloween is the eve of All Hallow's (or Saint's) Day.

All Hallow's day is November 1st. I don't understand concept of observing a day for saint's who have died since they are already in heaven. They are saints who are merely men just like us. The purpose of All Hallow's day was to remember the dead which including saints and all the faithful departed believers. However, All Hallows' Eve which is October 31st was a feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals but with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain.

 

[SepiaAndDust]

All Hallow's day is November 1st. I don't understand concept of observing a day for saint's who have died since they are already in heaven. They are saints who are merely men just like us. The purpose of All Hallow's day was to remember the dead which including saints and all the faithful departed believers. However, All Hallows' Eve which is October 31st was a feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals but with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain.

If you have an axe to grind, I wish you'd get to it. You don't understand the concept, and that's fine, but it doesn't leave much to discuss or debate.

 

[Kalevalatar]

Here in Finland we observe All Saints' Day, which is a national public holiday. Since we are a Lutheran majority country, we don't worship saints and our All Saints' Day is first and foremost a quiet, solemn day of remembrance of those who've passed away. Families bring candles to gravesides and parishes hold church concerts and vespers in which the names of the members of the congregation who've passed away since last November are read out. It's one of the most popular days for Finns to attend religious services.

November is the beginning of polar night and the darkest time of year. It makes the visit to a candlelit cemetry especially profound, I think.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

It is a holiday to dress up in funny costumes and eat too much candy. If that bugs you please shut up or leave the country.

I think that's a little harsh with someone with a Christian logo. I'm sure many Christian people don't celebrate it, because they believe it's satanic or isn't something Christians shouldn't celebrate.

 

[LovebirdsFlying]

MOD HAT ON

This thread has been moved to General Theology. Please continue your discussion.

MOD HAT OFF​

 

[Rhamiel]

All Hallow's day is November 1st. I don't understand concept of observing a day for saint's who have died since they are already in heaven. They are saints who are merely men just like us. The purpose of All Hallow's day was to remember the dead which including saints and all the faithful departed believers. However, All Hallows' Eve which is October 31st was a feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals but with pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain.

well we celebrate other men with days of remembrance?

are you an American? I am an American so I am only familiar with American holidays
we have President's Day that focus on Washington and Lincoln

we have Veterans Day and Memorial Day for the living and dead of the armed forces

we have Martin Luther King Jr. Day
we just had Columbus Day

if we have so many days to remember worldly heroes
maybe it is good to have a day to remember those who are in Christ who came before us?
we owe so much to them, they preserved the teachings of Jesus, spreading the Word of God

 

[PaladinValer]

All Hallow's day is November 1st. I don't understand concept of observing a day for saint's who have died since they are already in heaven.

...are they?

They are saints who are merely men just like us.

...does that make them any less more alive than we the biologically living?

The purpose of All Hallow's day was to remember the dead which including saints and all the faithful departed believers. However, All Hallows' Eve which is October 31st was a feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals but with pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain.

Um...no.

Pretty much all the key feasts of the Church have a vigil the night before. Here are three examples:

• The Great Paschal Vigil before Pascha
• The Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord before Christmas Day ("Christmas Eve")
• Twelfth Night before the Theophany/Epiphany of the Lord to the Gentiles.

All Saints' is no different. It has a vigil associated with it. And the other name for All Saints' is All Hallows'. Thus, the vigil was often called All Hallows' Even...Halloween.


And while the Celts certainly celebrated Samhain during the same time, All Saints' had already been being celebrated before the West moved the day of its celebration, so there's no connection.

 

[seeingeyes]

I'm gonna be a cop, and my husband is gonna be a gorilla.

Just sayin'.

 

[PaladinValer]

I'm gonna be a cop, and my husband is gonna be a gorilla.

Just sayin'.

Perhaps you should dress as Ann Darrow from King Kong? It would be a nice matching set is all.

 

[tz620q]

And while the Celts certainly celebrated Samhain during the same time, All Saints' had already been being celebrated before the West moved the day of its celebration, so there's no connection.

I once attended a liturgy talk by a Byzantine Catholic professor. In their calendar, All Saint's Day is celebrated right after Pentecost. I couldn't help but get a big smile on the appropriateness of celebrating saintly lives right after celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit onto his followers (church).

 

[seeingeyes]

Perhaps you should dress as Ann Darrow from King Kong? It would be a nice matching set is all.

I considered that. Then I thought about how freezing Ann Darrow must has been.

Perhaps I'll be Animal Control instead.

 

[seeingeyes]

My husband and I chillin' in front of the tube.

 

[topcare]

Halloween is a wonderful holiday

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

This type of discussion seems to pop up every October. hey LLoJ give me a thread count on how many have cropped up over the years.

 

[iluvtheSims]

I do not celebrate Halloween, I celebrate Hallelujah Night!

 

[Gnarwhal]

This type of discussion seems to pop up every October. hey LLoJ give me a thread count on how many have cropped up over the years.

Yep, and I dread the day when Eph starts another "Christmas is pagan" thread, should be any day now I'm sure.

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