The Communion of Saints

It’s that time of year again when we wear ghostly appearances and join spooky parties to celebrate “halloween.” And here comes church people popping the bubbles, reminding us to “portray saints and not monsters” because this occasion we have on November 1 and 2 don’t have anything to do with spooks and scares but with sacredness and communion. And of course they are right.

The ancient origin of halloween can perhaps be traced from the Celts who first occupied Ireland and England. For them, November 1 is the the beginning of a year. It marked the end of summer and the harvest, and thus the beginning of the dark, cold winter time of the year; which was often associated with human death.

On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain. People would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. It was believed that the ghosts of the dead comes back to earth this night. The Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred and thus making for the otherworldly an easy access to our world.

On 43 AD, Rome conquered the vast territories of the Celts and the Romans have also conquered the culture of the celts. The Samhin was not spared. They later on put new roman meanings on this celebration. On May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honour of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western church. Pope Gregory III later expanded the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs, and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1.

By the 9th century the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted the older Celtic rites. In 1000 A.D., the church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honuor the dead. It’s widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related church-sanctioned holiday.

All Souls Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. From this definition though, we can see that halloween comes from the word “hallow” which basically means “holy.” In the old English of Lord’s Prayer, we recite: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name…”

Hence, we celebrate on these days our Church. First we celebrate the Triumphant Church or the saints, those who are now rejoicing in midst of God in heaven. This state of our Church refers to those who have died, and have lived extraordinary lives on earth. Their sanctity and sacrifices are then rewarded by God and is acknowledged by the Militant Church.

The Militant Church refers to us who have not yet completed the course of our earthly lives. We continue to sojourn and fight the battles against the forces of evil.

The other state of our Church is the Suffering Church. This state refers to those who are now undergoing the process of purification in purgatory. It is our duty to pray for them that their sins will be forgiven and that they may be admitted in heaven.

In all these, the three states of the Church points out only to one things…the communion of Saints. The Communion of Saints is a Catholic Doctrine which professes that we will all partake in the heavenly banquet of the Lord in heaven. We are all graced and destined to be saints, but we have to win this dignity by faith in God, hope in him, and love for all our brothers and sisters. November 1 and 2 is therefore a time to celebrate our communion as a Church, the Triumphant, the Militant and the Suffering. SO IF YOU FEEL THEM, BE HOSPITABLE TO THEM. :D