Should you celebrate Halloween as a Catholic family? Here’s what I think. I have also included a free printable, All Hallowtide Colouring and Prayers for Catholic Kids which is perfect for Sunday School.
What is All Hallowtide?
All Hallowtide is a 3-day (triduum) celebration in the Catholic faith. The Hallowtide Triduum is a three-day celebration that begins with All Hallows’ Eve (October 31), continues to All Saints’ Day (November 1), and ends with All Souls’ Day (November 2).
Halloween is a shortened version of All Hallows Eve. The “eve” in All Hallows’ Eve means the vigil before All Saints’ Day, just like Christmas Eve indicates the vigil of Christmas Day.
The term “All Hallows” is derived from the Old English “hallowed,” meaning “holy” or “consecrated.”
The feast of All Saints’ Day has its roots in early Christianity.
In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1st as a day to honor all saints and martyrs, replacing a pagan festival at that time.
In the 9th century, the celebration was extended to the whole Catholic Church by Pope Gregory IV.
In the 10th century, St. Odilo, the Abbot of Cluny, began the practice of commemorating all the faithful departed on November 2nd, the day after All Saints’ Day. This day became known as All Souls’ Day.
Where does the Spooky Side of Halloween come from?
The skeletons and gravestones side of Halloween can also be traced back to Catholic roots. The Phrase “Memento Mori,” Latin for “Remember your death” is a biblical-based meditation on our own mortality.
A lot of the spooky imagery, like skeletons, around Halloween comes from this idea.
Medieval people liked to dress up and make a mockery of things like death! Nowadays, many Catholic parents are not comfortable with this sort of imagery.
In our family, I try to keep things tasteful, but I am okay with a bit scary!
The cool thing about death is that we belong to a Saviour who conquered it, totally. So we don’t need to be afraid!
The Celtic and Medieval Roots of Halloween
Much of our current Halloween traditions stem from Celtic and Medieval traditions.
For example, trick-or-treating comes from a medieval tradition of ‘guising, or going around in disguises.
The Catholic Church purposefully replaced pagan or secular events with related religious feasts.
Links to Learn More about the history of all hallowtide:
- EWTN Article on the True Origins of Halloween here
- A secular article that explains the ties with Samhain
- An article explaining where some traditions come from
Ideas for Celebrating the Triduum of All Hallowtide as a Catholic Family
Halloween (Oct 31)
- Discuss the 3 parts of the Church: Church Militant (us on earth), Church Triumphant (those in heaven), and Church Suffering (the souls in Purgatory, who will one day be in heaven).
- Go trick-or-treating dressed up as something fun or spooky
- For older kids, its a good time to discuss our culture’s glorification of the occult and why we can make light of spookiness without engaging in sinful behaviours.
- Remind children: Hallow means holy. E’en is a short form for evening, or eve. This is the eve of the feast of all hallows or all the Holy Saints.
All Saints Day (Nov 1)
- Dress up as a Saint
- Attend Holy Mass
- Attend or throw an All Saints Day Party!
- Pick a patron saint for the upcoming year. Here’s a Saint generator if you don’t have any ideas.
- Obtain a plenary indulgence for the dead (available Nov 1-8th every year) – more on this below.
- Play Saint Match or Saint Bingo
All Souls Day (Nov 2)
- One of the Spiritual Acts of Mercy is to pray for the living and the dead. On this day we especially remember the Church Suffering, and pray for all the Poor Souls in Purgatory.
- Pray the Eternal Rest Prayer (this is a good one to pray every day, but especially in November).
- Visit a Graveyard to obtain a plenary indulgence (Nov 1-8). Here is a guide from Catholic All Year.
- Make Soul Cakes (recipe below!)
- Look at your family tree and pray for specific deceased family members
- Pray the Office for the Dead, a specific set of prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours that all priests and religious must pray on this day. Learn about it here.
All Week (Nov 1-8):
- In our family, my kids are allowed to select a Halloween treat to eat if they pray for the dead. They are allowed to do this a reasonable amount of times per day (1-3 depending on age).
- Continue to obtain plenary indulgences for the Poor Souls! Here’s a how-to and here are the general conditions for obtaining a plenary indulgence.
Free All Hallowtide Colouring and Prayers for Catholic Kids
Grab my free All Hallowtide Colouring and Prayers for Catholic Kids PDF Download below.
This download includes some cutesy pages suitable for younger kids and a few that would be better for older or not sensitive kiddos.
This free download contains colouring and prayers. It also contains copywork and trace versions of the included prayers.
I have done some with full colour decorations and some for colouring. Be sure to select the pages you’d like to print if you want to save on ink.
This is a free PDF download containing 25+ pages.
How to Access the Free Printable
- Drop your email in the box below.
- Check your inbox and click through to the PDF.
- Save it to your computer or phone.
- Print it off at home or at your local printer.
- For personal and non-profit use only. I get a lot of requests for parishes to use my printables. Thank you for asking and you are absolutely welcome to do so. Please consider donating if it is within your parish budget by using my Tip Jar, and please pray for me!
- Watermark free versions may be available on my Etsy shop.
How to Make a Soul Cake
All Souls Day Soul Cakes
This sweet treat is sure to delight your Catholic kids on All Souls Day. Remember, our faith is to be celebrated! I based this recipe off of an old-time recipe in a book called Cattern Cakes and Lace. However, I did add some baking powder to leaven these and make them a little more fluffy.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup softened butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 large egg yolks
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 3 tsp. pumpkin spice
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup currrants (you could also use raisins, dried cranberries, or dried apple pieces)
- a little milk, as needed to make the dough come together
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or by liberally greasing.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together and then beat in the egg yolks until well incorporated.
- Sift the flour into another bowl with the spices and baking powder, and then add them to the butter, sugar and egg yolk mixture.
- Stir in the currants and add just enough milk to make a soft dough, similar to scones.
- Roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thickness and cut out little cakes with a biscuit cutter. Mark each cake with a cross and place on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake the cakes for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Cool on a wire rack and serve, or keep in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
Let’s See You Live It!
I would love to see how your family does this. It is so inspiring to others, too. Send me an email or tag me on social media @kindlingwild and I’ll be sure to share!
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Hallowtide Coloring Sheets