How Catholic Is Halloween?
Short answer – VERY!
Contrary to popular belief, Halloween is NOT the devil’s day.
It is a part of Christian and Catholic tradition, which has been stolen and then perverted by the secular very much the same way that the LGBT movement stole and perverted the Rainbow symbol, which was originally given to us by God as a promise that He would never again destroy the earth by flood.
The irony is that God, fed up with depravity, degeneracy and sodomy of humans, destroys the world with the Great Flood, then gifts us the rainbow as a symbol that He would not do that again and what happens? The LGB-freakingT movement steal the rainbow symbol, use it as their personal flag and practise sodomy with increased impunity!
Something similar has occurred with Halloween and it is time that we Catholics reclaim back this holy tradition, to restore the Hallow in Halloween, and to make Halloween Catholic again.
Just as we have a Triduum at Easter, from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, known as the Paschal Triduum, so also, we have a Triduum in Autumn, known as the Triduum of Death or AllHallowTide.
The AllHallowTide Triduum consists of 3 days:
- Halloween or All Hallows E’en, which falls on the 31st of October
- All Saints’ Day, which falls on the 1st of November, and
- All Souls’ Day, which falls on the 2nd of November.
And yes, Halloween IS an important part of the Triduum and should not be neglected.
About Halloween and Hallowtide
Hallowtide or AllHallowTide – is a Triduum of the dead, initiated by Pope Gregory III and consists of Halloween, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day.
This is a period in the liturgical year to mock death and to both remember and celebrate the dead, including martyrs, saints, and all faithful departed Christians.
Halloween was originally called All Hallows Even, meaning the eve or evening marking the celebration of all the hallowed souls of the dead. Hallowed is another word for “holy”, and Halloween itself is the eve or evening before the celebration of the holy souls eg the saints.
This is why All Saints’ Day follows after All Hallows’ Even or Halloween.
Over time, All Hallows Even was then contracted to All Hallows E’en and finally Halloween.
But why the scary costumes? Isn’t it demonic?
Not quite.
The tradition of wearing scaring costumes or dressing up as scary monsters on Halloween is a Catholic tradition and it was done to mock the impotence of evil in the face of the victory of Christ’s Cross, as a reminder that evil and death has no power over Christ and His Church, as a reminder of the horrors of Hell so we can do well to avoid it, and also to scare away demons so that All Saints’ Day can be properly celebrated.
Halloween Traditions For Catholics
Casa di Paige is very much a Catholic home and here are some the Catholic traditions for Halloween that we practise annually. Feel free to use any one or more of these in your own Halloween celebrations.
Costumes
Seeing as it IS Catholic tradition to wear scary costumes to mock evil, um HELL YEAH (pun intended), the kids just love to dress up in the scariest costumes they can put together.
They wear the costumes when they go out trick-or-treating with their friends.
However, they also love wearing costumes based on the saints too.
So each year, they alternate between wearing a monster costume or a saint’s costume for Halloween night.
If a scary costume is worn for Halloween events, then they would insist on wearing saints’ costumes for Mass on All Saints’ Day.
Personally, I just think kids love an excuse to dress up, but I don’t mind as long as it helps them to learn and live out our family’s Catholic faith, by getting actively involved in the traditions of the liturgical year and of AllHallowTide.
Jack-O-Lanterns
This too is a part of AllHallowTide traditions, so we enjoy family time together, carving out the pumpkins.
Designs we use vary from year to year, from regular Jack-O-Lanterns to Church-themed lanterns.
You can get ideas for pumpkin designs HERE.
Trick or Treating
This tradition has English origins. Remember, England was once a very Catholic nation and the English begged from door to door for “Soul Cakes,” promising to pray for the departed loved ones of those who gave them treats— this was origin of trick-or-treating.
And what child does not enjoy going trick or treating? It’s no different here at Casa di Paige and it IS part of Church tradition.
All Saints’Day And HallowMass
HallowMass is the Mass for the saints, held on All Saints’ Day.
All Saints’ Day itself is a Holy Day of Obligation, so we attend Mass together as a family on this day.
We also pray the Litany of the Saints and back home, we remember our family’s patron saints with prayers and candles.
For Hallowmass, I prefer to wear a black mantilla or infinity veil – see below
Praying The Rosary
A Rosary is said as a family on All Souls’ Day for the souls in purgatory, as well as our family ancestors.
Laying An Empty Space
While this is not strictly a Catholic practise, it is a visible way to remember the dead.
If a family member has passed within the past 12 months, an empty space for them, along with their picture is laid at the dining table and extra prayers are said for them.
Visit A Loved One’s Grave
This is the time of the year when we visit the graves of loved ones and family members who have died. Headstones are cleaned, flowers re-potted, candles lit, prayers said and general gravesite maintenance practised.
Having the children connect with family members they may have never met is also a good way for the kids to learn about their family history, their aunts, uncles and so on.
Visiting the cemetery and praying for the Dead beats Halloween Haunted House Tours any day, but there’s nothing wrong with a Halloween House Tour as long as you keep in mind that we are not celebrating evil, but that although monsters can give us a fright, we can laugh about it afterwards because we do have victory over death, in Christ.
So feel free to go to a Haunted House tour, if you wish, but right after being scared witless, be sure to laugh it off.
Things We DO NOT do
Trick-or-Treating, Haunted house tours and scary costumes are all fine and part of Church tradition.
Using Halloween as a time to indulge in occult practices such as tarot reading, psychic readings, Ouija boards and so on is NOT fine.
These are dangerous and diabolical practices that can leave you at risk of demonic influence, oppression or even possession.
Do not do it!
Don’t fall for the evil one’s trick of blurring the lines between Hallowed ie Holy traditions and demonic activities. Halloween is not known to be the night for diabolical mischief and trickery for no reason!
As you can see, Halloween despite being perverted by secular society isn’t just a kids’ holiday or a time to wear unnecessary costumes and go out annoying people.
It is very much a part of the Church’s liturgical year and should be celebrated and reverenced as such.
The Halloween Triduum also marks the start of the month (November) dedicated to the Souls in Purgatory.
Refusing to celebrate Halloween because you believe it is “too commercialised and simply silly” is like saying you don’t want to celebrate Christmas because it is now commercialised by secular society.
We are not to allow evil to win.
Reclaim the traditions of the Church and celebrate the Halloween Triduum of AllHallowTide.
If you have children, carve pumpkins together, take them out trick or treating on Halloween, to Mass on All Saints’ Day and remember the souls of loved ones on All Souls’ Day.
Don’t have kids or perhaps your children have outgrown the trick-or-treating phase?
Then carve a pumpkin or get a plastic one, lit it and place by your front doors and windows to welcome young trick-or-treaters, and hand out candy.
Be sure to also go to Mass the following day, say a Rosary for the dead, pray the Litany of the Saints.
There is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday.
There is also no HallowMass or All Saints’ Day without Halloween, so don’t leave out Halloween from your AllHallowTide celebrations.
All ye holy saints, pray for us.
Queen of all saints, pray for us.
MORE RESOURCES
Origins and Traditions of Halloween In The Church
The Catholic Meaning Behind Halloween Symbols
The Church’s Forgotten Season of AllHallowTide
More On HallowMass and Praying To The Dead
ad Jesum per Mariam
🌹🙏🌹
Traditional Catholic Femininity 🌹🙏🌹 
Dear Paige,
I found this post in my search for Catholic Halloween teachings and practices. I read what you wrote about the rainbow and LG BT and thought that I would share something I overheard someone say:
The LG BT rainbow only has 6 color. 6. Whose number is that?
God’s rainbow has 7, His number. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
My daughter loves coloring and drawing rainbows, but I encourage her to use all 7 colors. God’s created rainbow.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I absolutely loved this! And I agree how unfortunate that the rainbow is now seen as something else than a beautiful rainbow of colors to signify hope.
Ugh! Growing up we didn’t celebrate Halloween, no trick or treating, decorating the house, no costumes, etc. My mother always said it was the devils day.
Today with my own family, I’m still on the fence but I do allow my little ones to wear non-scary costumes and we go trick or treating to a local plaza, very safe and family friendly. However, my mother still disapproves from afar.
A priest sent out a statement saying how celebrating Halloween even if it is for just one day, is celebrating the devil.
Thank you for your post. It gives a lot to think about.
LikeLiked by 1 person