Of ghouls, souls and saints
Isn’t it incongruous that we commemorate the faithful departed the day after we honor the Saints which is preceded by Halloween, a pagan ritual to ward off roaming ghosts? All Souls Day follows All Saints Day which follows All Hallows Eve. To many, this is just another welcome break from the grind. But to the thoughtful, it’s another perplexing conundrum that distinguishes between man-made religion and God-given faith. “Did God make man or did man make God?” challenge the atheists.
In the Church calendar, there is a saint for each day. But November 1 is set aside for the Solemnity of All Saints, known and unknown. Like Veterans Day or National Heroes Day, this is one common celebration for many. While the more famous saints are honored on specific days and their life story is well-known, there are many anonymous or unsung saints, who may have been forgotten or never been given tribute.
On this Day, the living asks for the prayers and intercession of all the Saints for their dearly departed. This is known as the Communion of Saints, the belief that God’s people, on heaven, earth, and Purgatory are all connected and that His saints constantly intercede on our behalf. St. Cyril (AD 350) testifies that the saints are not divine, nor omnipresent nor omniscient. But our prayers are joined with the heavenly community due to our communion with the saints through Christ.
Then on the eve of this holy Feast is Halloween, believed to have originated from an ancient Celtic festival, Samhain, when people lighted bonfires and wore scary costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. This vigil practice was meant to scorn Evil. In the 8th century Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as All Saints’ Day and some of Samhain’s traditions were somehow integrated into the rites. Falling in the cusp of autumn and winter, straddling the line between plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a convoluted mishmash of festivity and old wives’ tales.
November 2 commemorates those who died with “God’s grace and friendship”. But Catholics believe that not all those who expired in God’s grace are immediately ready for the reality and goodness of God and heaven, the beatific vision. They must be purified of “lesser faults,” and the temporal effects of sin. The Catholic Church calls this purification of the elect, “Purgatory.”
The teaching rests on two essential beliefs: 1) that there will be a purification of believers prior to entering heaven; 2) that the prayers and masses of the faithful benefit those in this state. As to the extent, place, and exact nature of this cleansing, the Church has no official dogma. Saint Augustine and some others refer to fire as a way to explain the manner of purification. But many Catholics, including Pope Benedict XVI, maintain that Purgatory is best considered an existential state, rather than a temporal place.
Since it is outside the confines of created time and space, it is inaccurate to think of Purgatory as a location or duration. The doctrine may be confusing and difficult to understand. As a simpler explanation, some liken it to a place or state where one gets “cleaned up” before entering into the presence of Almighty God. What is important to keep in mind is that the prayers and Masses from the living-faithful and the Saints supposedly hasten the purification of the faithful-departed.
In the middle ages, All Hallows Eve was the signal that winter was near. As the days grew shorter and the nights got colder, gatherings around bonfires, spooky costumes and sweet treats became part of the norm. Other rituals related to Halloween developed. The poor begged for “soul cakes”. In exchange for these round sweets, they would pray for departed souls. This may have started the practice of Church-dispensed plenary or partial indulgence and the modern day “trick-or-treat”.
The Halloween tradition of wearing creepy masks and costumes was meant to deride Evil and confuse the malevolent spirits by looking like one of them. Some Christians also visited cemeteries, to venerate their dead relatives and friends. Picnics and the last flowers of the year became the offerings on the graves. All Hallows Eve, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Days all mixed in a hodgepodge.
Today Halloween has evolved into a child-friendly, painstakingly-organized, community-based event focused on “trick or treat”. Kids wearing Lady Gaga and Wonder Woman outfits blend with the more typical ghoul fashion. Gated subdivisions mark the occasion with enthusiasm, decorating lavishly and opening their homes to trick-or-treaters, something not allowed for Christmas carollers in the Season for Giving.
The Filipino version of Undas, is equally perplexing. After lighting candles and laying wreaths on the tombs — booze, loud music and gambling take over. It probably doesn’t occur to the “bereaved” that the rowdy behavior might be unsettling to the souls who only want their prayers to achieve spiritual upliftment. The earthy pursuits of earthly visitors might delay their dearly departed from reaching heaven.
Not a few pose the query of whether religion and churches are manufactured by man. The triple cocktail of Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day seems to bolster the allegation. Humanly-concocted rites inspired by pagan tradition, evolved and contorted into even more dubious practices, sound like evidence that can make the case for agnostics and non-believers.
But on the other hand, the assertion that men, not God, created the terms of worship, that’s why they’re far from perfect, is also the strongest argument of the degree to which divinity exceeds humanity. It is no wonder then, that the attempts to embody God – in scripture, ceremony and prayer – are faulty, deficient and perpetually derisory. Man is simply too flawed and inadequate to comprehend and illustrate God’s glory. As was pointed out in Romans, 11:33-34, “How unsearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his counsellor?”
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