A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
All good things must come to an end, and so today we must bid farewell to the month of October, a cherished time of year for the Kirk family. This month we celebrate many family birthdays, including Kirk Night on the 19th, as well as my Dad's favorite holiday tonight, Halloween. As on Kirk Night, we'll do our best to honor his legacy by enjoying a rich dessert (preferably chocolate), telling a ghost story around the fire, and raising a toast.
Liturgical: Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time; All Hallows' Eve
Brothers and sisters:
Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.
Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm
against the tactics of the Devil.
For our struggle is not with flesh and blood
but with the principalities, with the powers,
with the world rulers of this present darkness,
with the evil spirits in the heavens.
Therefore, put on the armor of God,
that you may be able to resist on the evil day
and, having done everything, to hold your ground.
Bishop Barron's Gospel reflections today.
Sanctoral: Halloween or All Hallows' Eve is not a liturgical feast on the Catholic calendar, but the celebration has deep ties to the Liturgical Year. The three consecutive days — Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day — illustrate the Communion of Saints. We, the Church Militant (those on earth, striving to get to heaven) pray for the Church Suffering (those souls in Purgatory) especially on All Souls Day and the month of November. We rejoice and honor the Church Triumphant (the saints, canonized and uncanonized) in heaven. We also ask the Saints' intercession for us.
The separate vigil and octave were abrogated in 1955, but Halloween evening marks the beginning of the observance of All Saints Day.
In England, saints or holy people are called "hallowed," hence the name "All Hallows' Day." The evening, or "e'en" before the feast became popularly known as "All Hallows' Eve" or even shorter, "Hallowe'en."
Since it was the night before All Saints Day, "All Hallows' Eve" (now known as Hallowe'en), was the vigil and required fasting, many recipes and traditions have come down for this evening, such as pancakes, boxty bread and boxty pancakes, barmbrack (Irish fruit bread with hidden charms), colcannon (combination of cabbage and boiled potatoes). This was also known as "Nutcrack Night" in England, where the family gathered around the hearth to enjoy cider and nuts and apples.
Halloween is the preparation and combination of the two upcoming feasts. Although the demonic and witchcraft have no place in a Catholic celebration, some macabre can be incorporated into Halloween. It is good to dwell on our certain death, the Poor Souls in Purgatory, and the Sacrament of the Sick. And tied in with this theme is the saints, canonized and non-canonized. What did they do in their lives that they were able to reach heaven? How can we imitate them? How can we, like these saints, prepare our souls for death at any moment?
For more information see Catholic Culture's Halloween page.
Human: The history of Halloween
Halloween: Celebrate Like a Catholic by Jennifer Gregory Miller
Halloween and All Saints Day by Father William Saunders
Holyween: Reclaim The Celebration Of All Saints by Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.
Catholics Give the Best Parties by Jeffrey Tucker
Italian: Gusto (taste / flavour)
Quote: “From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and other things that go bump in the night, Good Lord deliver us.” --Scottish prayer of deliverance
Etc.: "Of Dragons and Goblins: How Monsters Shape Our Imaginations", by James McGlothlin (Kirk Center fellow, Summer 2024)
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