In this episode of The Catholic Talk Show, the guys talk about the true Catholic origins of Halloween including Trick-or-Treating, Costumes, Jack-o-Lanterns, and more!
In this episode, you will learn
• The Catholic meaning of the name “Halloween”
• How Catholic Piety led to the tradition of Trick-or-Treating
• Why does Halloween fall on October 31st?
• How a tale about tricking the devil led to pumpkin carving
• How medieval processions led to Halloween costumes
• The medieval recipe that became the first Halloween candy
• and much more!
Show Links & Resources:
From Poland to Rome: 100 Years of Pope St. John Paul II Pilgrimage: Learn More
Exodus 90: exodus90.com
Covenant Eyes: covenanteyes.com (use code CatholicTalk to get 30 days free)
History (& A Recipe For) SoulCakes:
https://ucatholic.com/blog/soul-cakes/
Hi guys,
Good podcast as usual. Glad it came on a day earlier than usual. Good to know Catholic origins of Halloween as many associate it with devil worship. My Ma was never a fan of Halloween. My dad would tell her to lighten up. HEE HEE
When I grew up, and whenever I wasn’t going to be home to dispense candy, I would leave a humongous bowl or basket out on my front porch filled with full size candy bars and I think most kids were honest and just took one apiece.
These days I typically wear my costume every day. Sigh. I always love the Trick or Treat portion of Halloween because of the candy and kid costumes. Some moms or dads made totally awesome ones for their kids! When I was a kid I loved being out at night which added to the whole goose bumps experience. There was also something empowering about being anonymous to most people. I loved scaring myself by walking by or through a cemetery. Those chills were thrilling ones. I loved all the squealing and screaming that would go on as we scared each other. Sounds of the night.
I threw together my own costumes rather than the store bought ones though I remember being Wonder Woman one year and was a princess at least twice when I had no input into the nature of my costumes and was really small. I don’t remember any particular clever ones or favorites. I had a black cat when I was a kid and he had huge yellow eyes. After I got home from making the rounds I would hold Spooky and hand out candy. The other kids loved it! I got him on Halloween when I was 8 so that was the origin of his name. He loved the attention and always had a way of appearing or disappearing magically in the home. He also liked to swim in the kiddie pool.
When I got older I would take around my young nieces and enjoy the holiday all over again. I liked your shared Halloween stories! I have to say I was a boring kid because I never did any tricks or maybe I never had to, RD. People paid up. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
RD, I always had a list of houses I would go to in order to get the best candy treats. Congrats to your talented sister RS! I hated the clown costumes too. I must have known what Stephen King was going to write about in his novel IT. First time I heard of soul cakes tradition. RS, entertaining folk tale about Jack O’Lantern. I have heard about Samhain, the festival of the dying of the harvest, and the start of winter. A Celtic tradition based on pagan rites.
As I would say each morning of Halloween day to everyone I met – GREAT COSTUMES GUYS! –
P.S.
RS, thank you for the history of costumes which is my particular gene pool history! My Ma always went to Mass on All Souls Day. I have no personal tradition of attending Mass on All Souls Day but do pray for my list of special intentions off and on during the course of a day. When I lived in a younger neighborhood every house was decorated and the kids were up and down the street up until 9PM which was the curfew time for my town. It was one giant party for the kids early in the night and the adults later. Lots of fun!
How crazy is this…. That’s exactly what the devil wants us to think, that this is a normal day and we have to enjoy it, but have you heard the testimonies of those ex-satanists? Have you heard what exactly happens on the 31st of Oct? While we are having so much fun with our kids and we are being entertained with the devil’s glorius ideas, he is having so much fun with our Lord, in the form of the Holy Host. He knows the power of the Host, while we apparently do, but could care less about what happens to his Body, Soul and Divinity in the hands of the devil. Call me crazy, call me a fanatic…..and you do whatever you want, but I want to help with prayers of “Reparation” to our blessed Lord, I don’t want to take part of this tradition. The celebration of all saints day is a wonderful one, let’s keep this going, but let’s stop propagating all horror’s eve and learn what exactly is behind all of this. Catholic tradition, I will think not. Yeah,yeah I am the crazy one, you guys are all good, including you father.
I do not celebrate Hallowe’en any more. I turn off nearly all my lights and either make a holy hour for all souls or pray at home. We need to take back all our holy days and feasts that have been pre-empted by our secular or pagan culture. OR wear clothing, dressed as a saint.
Satanists are not a reliable source.
What about the Spanish catholic heritage of the all Spanish territories and churches?