Halloween traditions today in America are filled with children dressed in costumes, carved pumpkins and scary decorations. The word Halloween comes from a shortening of All Hallows’ Evening.   Halloween falls on the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows’ Day (also known as All Saints’ or Hallowmas) on 1 November and All Souls’ Day on 2 November, thus giving the holiday on 31 October the full name of All Hallows’ Eve (meaning the evening before All Hallows’ Day).These three days are collectively referred to as Allhallowtide and are a time for honoring the saints and praying for the recently departed souls who have yet to reach Heaven.

Part of the history of Halloween is Halloween costumes. The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays goes back to the Middle Ages, and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of “souling.”  Groups of poor people, often children, would go door-to-door during Allhallowtide, collecting soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the dead, especially the souls of the givers’ friends and relatives.  I don’t tend to think about Halloween as a Christian holiday.  Yet investingating this history makes me rethink my assumptions.  Remembering the saints and offering prayers sounds spiritual to me.

This Allhallowtide at St. Andrew’s, we are experimenting with a reverse of the “souling” tradition.  As children in the Gregory Gardens neighborhood come to St. Andrew’s collect candy, we are offering to pray for the souls of their friends, relatives or even pets.  On Sunday, when we celebrate All Saint’s Day we will include these prayers and remembrances along with the names of the saints who have passed away in the last year.