Hallowmas…
30/10/05
Tuesday marks All Saints' Day and is one of the seven principal feasts of the church year. Also known as "All Hallows'," or "Hallowmas" ("hallow" is old-English for "saint"), the feast is celebrated in honor of all faithful saints and martyrs, known or unknown.
So far as the Western Church is concerned, the November feast honoring of all the saints was already widely celebrated in the days of Charlemagne. It was made a day of obligation by a decree of Louis the Pious in 835, issued "at the insistence of Gregory IV and with the assent of all the bishops," which confirmed its celebration on the 1st of November.
The feast of All Saints' was retained after the Reformation in the calendar of the Church of England and in many of the Lutheran churches.
And what takes place on the evening before All Hallows' day? Well, All Hallows' eve, or Halloween... At the beginning of winter, on the eve of the Celtic new year, just as day and night meet, spirits were believed to be able to roam the earth; playing tricks on human beings if they were not appeased with offerings of dainty foods and sweets. Bonfires were lit and people would disguise themselves so as to confuse the mischievous roaming spirits. Highly embellished, survivals of these early, pre-Christian, customs can be found in countries of English (and Irish & Scots) heritage today, such as here in the United States where children go from door to door in costumes demanding, come on now, say it with me, "trick or treat..."
So far as the Western Church is concerned, the November feast honoring of all the saints was already widely celebrated in the days of Charlemagne. It was made a day of obligation by a decree of Louis the Pious in 835, issued "at the insistence of Gregory IV and with the assent of all the bishops," which confirmed its celebration on the 1st of November.
The feast of All Saints' was retained after the Reformation in the calendar of the Church of England and in many of the Lutheran churches.
And what takes place on the evening before All Hallows' day? Well, All Hallows' eve, or Halloween... At the beginning of winter, on the eve of the Celtic new year, just as day and night meet, spirits were believed to be able to roam the earth; playing tricks on human beings if they were not appeased with offerings of dainty foods and sweets. Bonfires were lit and people would disguise themselves so as to confuse the mischievous roaming spirits. Highly embellished, survivals of these early, pre-Christian, customs can be found in countries of English (and Irish & Scots) heritage today, such as here in the United States where children go from door to door in costumes demanding, come on now, say it with me, "trick or treat..."