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Author Topic: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?  (Read 3711 times)

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Offline Last Tradhican

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Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
« on: October 28, 2018, 12:16:06 PM »
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  • Does anyone here take or allow their children to go trick or treating?
    The Vatican II church - Assisting Souls to Hell Since 1962

    For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Mat 24:24


    Offline Vintagewife3

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #1 on: October 28, 2018, 12:47:35 PM »
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  • I take them trick or treating, but mostly because it’s my birthday not because it’s halloween. I also usually don’t do it on Halloween because my hometown does store trick or treating on another day during October. So, it’s more of a birthday celebration then Halloween.


    Offline Ladislaus

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #2 on: October 28, 2018, 01:06:36 PM »
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  • I do.  Of course, I control what types of costumes they're allowed to wear, but I don't see it as an inherently pagan practice to go around asking for candy while dressed in costumes.  My kids typically dress up as super heroes or princesses or the like.

    Offline Ladislaus

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #3 on: October 28, 2018, 01:47:26 PM »
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  • History of Halloween is murky.  Name itself derives from the Feast of All Saints ... All Hallows Eve.  It would seem that the Church moved the feast of All Saints from the original time in Early May to November 1, and then also added All Souls on November 2 ... to combat certain pagan practices.  Some link it to Sanheim, others to a Celtic thing where people dressed up as the dead so that evil spirits would live them alone, thinking they were already dead.  Some link it to Guy Fawkes day, where Catholics were persecuted.  And another historical variant is that kids would go around asking for food/treats in exchange for praying for the person's departed relatives.  I think that is the most proximate historical backdrop.  I can see that conflated with dressing LIKE the dead.  I know, in Hungarian culture, we had this custom of sitting there in the dark on All Souls' day and lighting a candle in turn for each of our departed relatives, and then saying prayers for them, one at a time.  This definitely seemed kindof "spooky" to us.  So All Souls, praying for souls in Purgatory, could easily conflate with dressing up like the dead.  I suspect it was another of the Church's attempts to overlay and supplant certain pagan customs with Catholic ones, impose a day commemorating souls in Purgatory over top of an existing pagan custom related to the dead.  As for the phrase, "trick or treat", some people attribute this to certain hooligans who, instead of praying for the dead, would threaten to perpetrate some mischief if they didn't get treats.  But all this is murky and unclear ... with lots of opinions on the subject.  This is just my take on all of it.

    Offline 2Vermont

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #4 on: October 28, 2018, 01:59:29 PM »
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  • I do, only because my husband and his family does.  I wouldn't mind if it were permanently stricken from the calendar.  

    Signed,
    Halloween Grinch.   :P

    Edit:  Oh I responded to a different question. I don't have my own children, but I do go out Trick or Treating with my husband, sister-in-law and niece.  
    For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. (Matthew 24:24)


    Offline jvk

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #5 on: October 28, 2018, 02:09:22 PM »
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  • No...we opted not to.  Instead we make a big deal out of All Saints Day, having the kids make their own costumes and dress up.  We go out to their grandparents for a party, usually after we've gone to church and said our Rosary (which we allow them to do dressed up).  Grandma usually has candy for them, so they get their sugar fix ( :-\). 

    Reason for NOT doing Halloween is that we both consider the modern way of doing things is too close to devil-worship.  And, too, what a diabolical way to detract from the Holy event the next day!  Hence our focus on All Saints, not Halloween.

    Offline Miseremini

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #6 on: October 28, 2018, 02:10:38 PM »
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  • What's in a name?
    Halloween, kids dress up and collect candy.
    All Saints day, "Traditional" kids dress up and collect candy at church.

    Yes this is a trad forum and I understand some objections but the wee ones just want to have fun.
    "Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered: and them that hate Him flee from before His Holy Face"  Psalm 67:2[/b]


    Offline jvk

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #7 on: October 28, 2018, 03:58:30 PM »
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  • Yes, and that's why we encourage ours to dress up and play--have fun. 

    A Catholic should be Catholic in ALL aspects of their life, not just on Sunday.  And to foster in our children a true love of their faith, we try to replace the "world" with holier things, in a manner that's more enjoyable to children than many long lectures and boring talks.  We're trying to teach them that it's not boring to be a good Catholic, and that they aren't missing out on anything.  Because all too soon, the teen years will be starting for us....


    Offline Ladislaus

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #8 on: October 28, 2018, 05:35:30 PM »
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  • We're trying to teach them that it's not boring to be a good Catholic, and that they aren't missing out on anything.  Because all too soon, the teen years will be starting for us....

    Yes, this is a very difficult balance to be found.  I've seen it over and over and over again where Traditional Catholics tried to be so perfect with their kids, that it only ended up creating a resentment regarding all the things other kids do that are forbidden.  Then, as soon as they find some independence, they bolt off and are co-habitating with some non-Catholic woman.  They go nuts with "forbidden fruit" syndrome.  So, unless something is sinful or otherwise harmful, we don't restrict it.  Sometimes the attempt to be "the perfect parents" is driven a bit too much by ego.

    Offline Ladislaus

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #9 on: October 28, 2018, 05:50:26 PM »
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  • In recent years (the past 10 years or so in particular), I've noticed a drop in evil-looking costumes (devils, witches, etc.)  If anything we'll occasionally see some immodestly-dressed teenage girls ... but nothing different than you would find in a grocery store on an average day.  And, here in the north it's usually too cold for them to be too immodest.  We've only had one warm day in the past dozen or so Halloweens where that was a bit of a problem.  I actually had a Novus Ordo neighbor who asked a group of immodest teenage girls if they were dressed up like prostitutes.   :laugh1:  He usually hands out candy on our behalf since we go around with the younger kids ... usually having to carry them about 30 minutes in.

    Offline Vintagewife3

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #10 on: October 28, 2018, 06:03:27 PM »
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  • I’ve got a paw patrol, and a kitty cat this year. Last year I had a mermaid, and another paw patrol 😂


    Offline Ladislaus

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #11 on: October 28, 2018, 06:19:56 PM »
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  • I’ve got a paw patrol, and a kitty cat this year. Last year I had a mermaid, and another paw patrol 😂

    My 10-year-old son insists that he'll grow up to be a superhero.  Now I just need to help guide him along the path of St. Ignatius to understand what true heroism means.

    Offline Neil Obstat

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #12 on: October 28, 2018, 11:26:32 PM »
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  • .
    My mother grew up in North Dakota which is close to the Canadian border. She told me that the way she had been taught by her elder relatives was, that when Catholics were on their way to Church to go to confession the day before All Saints' Day, Protestants (who enjoyed playing pranks on Catholics as part of their taunting them for their faith) would hide in the bushes and jump out pretending to attack them, so as to frighten Catholics. It became more effective to wear scary costumes which in the dim evening autumn light tend to have a more sinister appearance. Catholics were vulnerable because they had an abiding desire to get to confession, lest they would not be able to receive Communion the following day, a Feast Day. The pranksters did things like tip over outhouses with an occupant inside, or demand some kind of "treat" lest they would continue with their mischief, thus the saying, "Trick or treat!" So the Catholics started carrying trinkets or candies that they could offer to the Protestants to satisfy their demands.
    .
    Her recent ancestors (19th cent.) had been in New England but were chased and persecuted by Huguenots (from France apparently) so they moved to Canada. It wasn't a matter of just being chased and harassed one day a year. It was an every day affair, but the end of October was a particularly troublesome time, perhaps having to do with "Reformation Day," which is October 31st, the day Martin Luther had nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenburg Chapel in 1517, which was how the Huguenots got started. There were other Protestants in Canada that made life unbearable so they moved west, and eventually moved south from Canada into North Dakota. So their family history was driven in a large part by religious persecution, and suffering for their faith. Her mother was Irish and English and her father was German, both cradle Catholics.
    .
    I don't have any reason to doubt her explanation. She had 3 brothers and 4 sisters, all of whom told the same story. The eldest sister became a nun, and all 8 siblings remained fervent lifelong Catholics. So were they all making it up? I'm not saying this must have been the entire story of how Halloween developed, but if she said that she had been told this is what had gone on, was someone just making history up to see if they could fool everybody? 
    .
    It's a well-known fact that Halloween is an American phenomenon, and in Europe nobody practices it. Yet there are pagan practices in Europe in which October 31st is a day of prominence because that's the day when the veil of separation between our world and the preternatural world is the thinnest, therefore spells and witch's incantations have a greater effect on that day. Lutherans don't appreciate the association, but it's none the less real.
    .
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    Offline poche

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #13 on: October 29, 2018, 08:46:29 AM »
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  • I celebrate Halloween by going to Holy Mass. 

    Offline Vintagewife3

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    Re: Does anyone celebrate Halloween here?
    « Reply #14 on: October 29, 2018, 11:40:31 AM »
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  • My 10-year-old son insists that he'll grow up to be a superhero.  Now I just need to help guide him along the path of St. Ignatius to understand what true heroism means.
    Yes, sir! I went as Joan if arc one year as a kid!