I am married to someone who is not as traditional as I, I had convinced her to leave the novus ordo 5 yrs ago.....now Halloween is coming up and I don't want any part of it..but the wife is still stuck in her pagan ways, meaning the kids are going trick or treating...is there anyone who has any experience with this type of dilemma? my wife doesn't accept that the man has the authority..short of starting a big fight I'm thinking of alternatives..
The Year and our Children is a great book that we use throughout the year. For trick or treaters coming to your door, you could make soul cakes wrapped with a short description of their Catholic origin.
Harmless. In fact, more than likely to be helpful to souls.
We no longer "trick-or-treat." This has nothing really to do with Hallowe'en, but everything to do with anti-Catholicism. Trick or treating is not universal. This, as far as I know, was never a common practice in any European Catholic country. It has become more popular, now, as Americans take their customs abroad.
Without going into a long diatribe about the good and bad of Hallowe'en, I believe that each person must decided what is best and appropriate for their own family.
In my opinion, modern Catholics have allowed the candy collecting to take precedence over the religious significance of this day. We decided, as a family, to take that back. We have a party at home where we focus on the lives of the saints and our passed away family members. We play games and bob for apples. The kids do dress up as their favorite saints. Then we say a rosary together, and prepare our altar for November with photos of the grandparents and candles that we have made.
This year, I think we are going to go over the Catholic cemetery and light as many candles as we can while we say prayers for their souls.
My little kids don't even know what trick or treating is. My older ones don't miss it.