A Decidedly Catholic Hallowtide

Several years ago, a friend and I started a super fun tradition of celebrating a Día de los Muertos Party to decidedly reclaim Halloween, AKA, All Hallow's Eve, for the beautiful Catholic tradition that it is. I know the Day of the Dead is not on Halloween, but after watching my kids go crazy for witch movies and seeing their little brains turn with curious excitement over magical cards and Ouija Boards and all sorts of occult references and practices (which so overtly make their way into secular, mainstream kids TV) I decided that enough was enough! In my home at least, something had to be done to bring faith and beauty back into this time of year, to strategically divert their attention from the message the world is clamoring at them. I wanted to focus on faith and tradition, but I didn't want to take the fun and mystery out of the month of October. Insert: Día de los Muertos Party, and all the cool preparations which can lead up to it. My kids have had so much fun putting this together year over year, and it has become a tradition they anticipate and ask for. My hope is that the traditions my kids remember surrounding their childhood Halloween, and the entire month of October for that matter, are less about candy and dressing up like their favorite evil villain, and more about the beautiful memories and mystical realities of loved ones gone before them. They are still intrigued and fascinated by death, and a little perturbed by it, as they should be, but the messaging has now taken on a different slant. I hope they eventually come to recognize the beauty of liturgical living, in this case the mystical celebrations of Hallowtide, or Hallowmass.

All Hallows' Eve, now known as Halloween, is a Catholic holiday that marks the beginning of Hallowtide, a three-day season of celebration that also includes All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. 

• All Hallows' Eve begins on October 31st, the evening before All Saints' Day and is the official beginning to the church's liturgical celebration honoring all those who have gone before us, both the Saints as well as those souls in purgatory. 
• All Saints' Day, November 1st, honors all those who we know have entered heaven, (the recognized Saints)
• All Souls' Day, November 2nd, commemorates all those souls who are still in purgatory awaiting the glory of heaven, and is the day associated with the well-known Latin American celebration of honoring and praying for one's deceased relatives, known as Día de los Muertos. 

The word "hallow" is associated with "holy" or "sanctified". The term "to hallow" means to recognize something as holy or to treat it in a holy way. Hallowtide is a time to rejoice for those in heaven and to ask for their intercession. It's also a time to reflect on the hereafter, to remember that we are, in fact, going to die one day. That thought alone is an important reflection, for all Christians believe that (in the words of one of my favorite soon-to-be saints, Blessed Chiara Petrillo) "we are born, and we never die." Our souls have a permanent life; they pass through the grips of our physical death and live on eternally. We need to constantly, in a non-morbid way, of course, be thinking about this; for our souls will either pass on to eternal glory or to eternal damnation, but they- WE- will live on. That is truly a profound statement. How we live on, will be determined by how we live this life, and how open we are to God's infinite fount of Mercy. Praying for our relatives and friends who have gone before us, asking for their prayers in intercession for our pilgrimage not yet completed, and performing acts of mercy during this time, are all special and important ways to commemorate this season. 

Although physical distance has prevented the large party for a couple years now, the Día de los Muertos celebration lives on in my house. This year we put up our own "ofrenda" table. My kids had so much fun decorating it and perusing the memories of loved ones gone by, some a long, long time ago, as in the case of great, great grandparents, and others who they knew well, such as my beloved father who (we joyfully pray) joined the Communion of Saints five years ago. What an amazing opportunity to weave these little ones into the fabric of their greater story, to ground them in their history and to remind them that they have so many souls looking out for them from heaven: those who have made their way there and are interceding and praying for us, as well as those for whom now we still have a job to pray for them. What an important reminder that our prayers also matter greatly! Each morning we have been picking one picture frame from the table to pray for that member of our family and tell stories about their life, sometimes needing to call upon older, still living family members, to hear the stories from them. 

What started as me being an annoyed mom at a stupid TV show where school-aged teens were playing with tarot cards, and throwing a party to divert my kids' attention, has grown into so much more. This little tradition has proven to have countless graces which I know will only grow more meaningful and more rich year after year, as more beloved faces are added to the table. This year, we added several family members to the table, the most dear to our hearts being my beloved late grandfather, who was one of most formative men in my life. We can choose to be very saddened by this, and indeed, death is very sad. From the beginning, death was never part of the plan. But there is more to our story- and as faithful Catholics and indeed, all Christians, we do not let death have the final word! Due to the hope purchased for us by Jesus on the Cross we can rejoice for their new lives alongside Christ, and we can look in anticipation for a joyful reunion soon to come! For just as the season commemorating and reflecting upon our deaths comes toward the very end of the Liturgical Calendar, we begin a new Liturgical year again with Advent in just a few short weeks, where we wait in joyful anticipation of a very special new life in the Christ Child. Such is the path of our own souls. We die, just to live! 

I pray this blesses your family in some way! Perhaps, you too will be inspired to enter into the month of October and November with a new lens focused on eternal realities! Happy Hallowtide to you and all your family- those present with you and those gone before you! 

Yours in Christ,

Cristina