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Is Halloween the Devil’s Day? Catholic Perspective from Dr Taylor
Is Halloween the Devil’s Day? Let’s break it down and see how Satan is trying to steal our Catholic holidays. Ready?
As you know, Halloween is short for All-Hallows-Even. “Even” or “Eve” refers to the evening before the day.
Christmas Eve is the night before December 25. Similarly, Hallows Eve is the night before November 1, the Catholic festival of All Saints.
This holy day of obligation was once known as “All Hallows” since “hallow” is a more ancient form of “holy.” For example, “hallowed by thy name” means “holy is thy name.”
[callout]Don’t forget to read my 10 Tips for a Catholic Halloween by clicking here.[/callout]
All Saints = All Hallows. In fact, November 1 was once called “Hallowmas.” For those linguists out there, hallowed comes from the Old English word haligra which fell out of use before AD 1500. Those who know German will recognize it’s similarity to heiliger.
Is Halloween the Devil’s Day? Is it Evil?
There are some Christians who have written off Halloween per se as some sort of diabolical black mass. This interpretation usually includes a legend of how the Catholic Church conspired with druids to corrupt Europe, or some other nonsense.
To be clear, it’s the vigil of a Christian holy day: All Hallows’ Eve or All Saints Eve. Has it been corrupted by our culture and consumer market? You bet. But they have also attempted to redefine “marriage,” Easter, Christmas, St Valentines, and increasingly Ash Wednesday.
Yes, Christmas has also been derailed by the culture. Does that mean that we’re going hand over Christmas? No way! Same goes for Halloween. The Church does not surrender what rightfully belongs to her – she wins it back!
Hell is on defense since Jesus Christ came. It’s the “gates of hell.” Gates are defensive. We are supposed to be storming the gates of hell. The sacrament of Confirmation commissions us as soldiers.
Pandaemonium: Here’s your Greek word of the week
The word Pandaemonium derives from Greek “παν”, meaning “all” and “δαιμόνιον”, meaning “little devil.” Pandaemonium means “All Devils.”
John Milton imagined Pandaemonium as the capital city of Hell in Book I of his Paradise Lost (1667).
[callout]Milton was an Arian, but his Paradise Lost is a pretty cool book. If you’re a Member of NSTI, you should read it and let me know if you think his Arianism bleeds through the pages. Also, check out Milton’s Satan Trinity.[/callout]
The Devil would love to take over the feast day “All Saints” and rebrand it as “All Devils” or “Pandaemonium.” Are we going to let him? Hell no [pun intended]. All the Saints are ready for battle.
[callout]Watch Dr. Taylor’s Youtube Video: Dracula vs. the Eucharist.[/callout]
[callout]How do All the Saints hear us from Heaven? Free mp3 from Dr Taylor answering this question: Click here to listen (mp3).[/callout]
Let’s take back the entire “Hallow Triduum” of:
- Halloween (Oct 31)
- All Saints Day (Hallowmas Nov 1)
- All Souls Day (Nov 2)
Celebrate Hallows Eve, but clarify “We don’t celebrate it by glorifying the demonic.” Dress your children as saints and be counter-cultural. Be leaven in the lump. Salt in the world. Be hallowed.
Oh, and don’t forget All Hallows (Nov 1) is a Holy Day of Obligation. It’s a mortal sin not to attend Holy Mass on this day (unless it is lawfully transferred by the bishops).
Don’t forget to read my 10 Tips for a Catholic Halloween by clicking here.
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