In Church tradition, there are three days known as “the days of the dead”—Halloween (Oct. 31), All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2).
In the article, “It’s Time for Catholics to Embrace Halloween,” Fr. Steve Grunow explained that the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain was a pagan celebration welcoming the end of summer harvest. When All Saints’ Day came to Ireland, some of those traditions came to be included the evening before All Saints’ Day. It was known as All Hallows’ Eve, later morphing into Halloween. The traditional customs associated with Halloween included masquerades, bonfires, feasting and carving scary faces into turnips to frighten away evil spirits.Celebrating Halloween can be done in a Catholic spirit dressing up and trick or treating while avoiding the macabre secular adaptation. The root of this day is celebrating our belief in the communion of saints through Jesus Christ conquering evil.
All Saints’ Day
Early Christians honored the anniversary of those who died as martyrs for their faith. When the number became great, annual feast days for each became too much, so the Church appointed a common day for all.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, mention of a common day is found in a sermon of St. Ephrem the Syrian (373) and in the 74th homily of St. John Chrysostom (407). Initially, only martyrs were honored, but others were added when a regular process of canonization was established.
All Saints’ Day was celebrated on different days in various branches of the Church. Pope Gregory IV (731-741) fixed the anniversary for Nov. 1 for the Universal Church.
“God made us for relationships and those include the saints in heaven,” according to Roxane Salonen, who is co-directing the retreat, “Enlisting the saints to fight for our families' souls” at Maryvale Retreat Center in Valley City Nov. 1-2.
The two-day retreat offers a chance to learn how the saints battled against Satan and how to call upon the saints in spiritual warfare as we ask our heavenly family to pray for us on earth. For more information on the retreat go to maryvalend.org and click on the “retreats” tab. “Those in heaven already are equipped in a special way, being so near to God, to guide us closer to Our Lord,” she explained. “Their examples inspire us and give us something to aim for. We admire many people on the earth who have accomplished great things. How much more should we admire and learn from those who can show us the way to eternal life?”
All Souls’ Day
All Souls’ Day is a day of prayer and remembrance for the dead. The Church holds that the prayers of the faithful on earth can help cleanse the souls in purgatory. It is a place of “purification so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven,” which is experienced by those “who die in God’s grace and friendship, but are still imperfectly purified,” (CCC 1030).
Scripture teaches that nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27). While we may die with our sins forgiven, there can still be temporal punishment due. There are several places in the Bible according to theologians throughout Christian history, where purgatory is referenced. One is Matthew 5:24-25 where prison is referred to where one stays until every penny has been paid. There's also 2 Maccabees 12:44-45, in which the Jewish people pray for the souls of the dead.
Plenary indulgence
The Church gives the opportunity to offer a plenary indulgence for the souls in purgatory to release souls from their temporal punishment to get them to heaven. You can offer one year-round, but the Church recognizes this specific plenary indulgence from Nov. 1-8. It is a partial indulgence following this any other time during the year.
It is possible for the indulgence to release one soul from purgatory per day during this time period. To do this each day from Nov. 1-8, a person seeking the plenary indulgence for a soul must (1) pray at a cemetery; (2) visit a Church or oratory on All Souls' Day (Nov. 2) and recite an Our Father and the Creed. To gain the plenary indulgence, you must also fulfill these three conditions: (1) sacramentally confess your sins; (2) receive Holy Communion; (3) pray for the intentions of the pope (one Our Father and one Hail Mary fully satisfies this). Note, that the person working to obtain this must be detached from all sin. If the soul is not detached, a partial indulgence will be applied.