One of the many Churches I visited during my time living in Europe was the Capuchin Church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccin in Rome. What is remarkable about this Church is that the crypt contains the skeletal remains of 3,700 bodies of Capuchin Friars.
When I brought my parents on a visit there, my enthusiasm was shattered by their impression it was just macabre. No, I explained, these relics remind not just of our mortality but also of our telos, our destination to be with God in Heaven.

In medieval times, churches often displayed the bones and relics of their saints on All Hallow’s Eve – that is, the Vigil of All Saints’ Day. The name itself derives from the Old English ‘hallowed’ meaning holy or sanctified to what is now colloquially referred to as Hallowe’en. Halloween therefore more precisely reminds us of our universal call to holiness, 

“Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 5:48

In the 8th century, on 1st November, Pope Gregory III dedicated a chapel to all the saints in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The 1st November has consequently become All Saints’ Day for the western Church.

Evening vigils on the day before a major feast or solemnity are customary in the Church. All Hallows begins a celebration of the Churches beautiful tradition of our unity with the communion of Saints. As Catholics “we believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, the living those who are pilgrims on earth (i.e. the Church Militant), the dead who are being purified (i.e. the Church Suffering), and the blessed in heaven (i.e. the Church Triumphant), all together forming one Church. CCC962. We believe that in this communion, we can pray to Our Lord and through the intercession of the Saints in heaven but also intercede for the souls of the faithful departed in purgatory.

We are reminded that our lives are not merely for this earth but that we have an eternal or eschatological destination to be forever with God in heaven. The Church’s great tradition of canonising Saints gives us many examples of people living sometimes extraordinary, but more often than not the simple ordinary path to holiness. A most recent example is Carlo Acutis, who died of Lukemiena at the age of 15 but who used the internet to help spread the faith.

Like other religious feast days that have been somewhat hijacked by secularism, it is important to remember the origins of Halloween to avoid superstition and the negative influence of the occult. In England “soul cakes” are traditionally served at this time. People would go begging for a “soul cake” and promise to pray for the donor’s departed friends and family in exchange for the treat, this has consequently evolved to Trick or Treating.

On this All Hallows Eve let us rejoice in the gift of the communion of all the faithful and invoke their intercession for our needs.  

~ Anne-Maree Quinn

Anne-Maree Quinn is a graduate of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family Melbourne Campus with a Masters in Bioethics. She also has Pontifical Licentiate in Moral Philosophy from Milltown Institute in Ireland.
Anne-Maree currently works as an Occupational Therapist in Melbourne.