October 26, 2025, 12:00 PM
Let’s talk about next weekend. That complicated weekend—Halloween, All Saints Day, All Souls Day. Three days that ask us to look in all sorts of directions—into the darkness, into the light, into the very face of death.
But, three days that speak of one great Christian mystery—Christ’s triumph over sin and death.
Before Halloween became commercialized (and we probably could say the same in a few months about Christmas), the connections between these observances were a little more obvious. The dark side of Halloween, even the hellish side of Halloween with its ghosts and ghouls, had origins in Celtic religion. The darkening days of fall led people to reflect, often with some fear and anxiety, about what malignant spirits might be lurking in our world.
As the Church “baptized” all sorts of pagan customs (including the sun festivities around December’s celebration of the Savior’s birth), the scary Celtic feast became All Hallows Eve, an opportunity to look at the darkness that Christ had conquered, not only in his death and resurrection, but also in the faithful lives of the Saints.
The following day—All Souls—urged us to pray for those on their way to becoming saints. And not because they were in the pope’s lineup for canonization, but because our sisters and brothers in purgatory are on their way to God’s kingdom. We grieve for them, but we pray, knowing that our petitions can truly help them grow in God’s powerful grace.
This year, Halloween does what it always does. But, All Saints falls on a Saturday—so, not a holy day of obligation! All Souls Day trumps our Sunday observance, so look for a shift in our prayers and readings as we remember and pray for the dead. And, remember, All Souls Day continues on in a certain sense: If we visit a cemetery or church between November 1 and November 8, we can gain a special grace for our beloved dead, an indulgence that certainly speeds their journey to heaven’s banquet table.
Fr. McCreary
