Calendar Class of October 31, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

Our pint-sized super spy would like you to know that the great Autumnal Triduum has begun! With tonight's vigil we begin commemorating the three greatest feasts of the season- All Hallow's Eve, All Hallows Day (All Saints), and All Souls. Each day is replete with Catholic and secular traditions that are blended together to create an ancient brew of customs from several different cultures. Each day we will unpack a few in our lessons below. Happy Halloween!

Liturgical: Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time; All Hallows' Eve

Tomorrow is the solemnity of All Saints; it is the Eve of All Saints, commonly known as Halloween. "Solemnities are counted as the principal days in the calendar and their observance begins with Evening Prayer I of the preceding day. Some also have their own vigil Mass for use when Mass is celebrated in the evening of the preceding day" (GNLYC). Pope Sixtus IV in 1484 established November 1, the feast of All Saints, as a holy day of obligation and gave it both a vigil (known today as "All Hallows' Eve" or "Hallowe'en") and an eight-day period or octave to celebrate the feast. By 1955, the octave of All Saints was removed, and the current missal does not have a vigil Mass for the feast.

More Info:

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?

Sanctoral: St. Wolfgang (934-994 A.D.), also known as the Great Almoner, was a Benedictine monk, reformer, and Bishop of Regensburg, Bavaria. He was born into the noble class and had an excellent education. As bishop he worked to reform the monasteries and convents in his diocese. He is remembered for his teaching abilities, his oratory skills, and his charity towards the poor. He was also integral in the missionary efforts to evangelize the Magyars in what is today modern Hungary. Towards the end of his life he withdrew to a solitary spot to build a church and hermitage at what is now called St. Wolfgang's Lake in Austria. Before settling he prayed and threw his axe into the wilderness, and built his cell on the spot where it landed. A town grew around the saint's hermitage which still exists today. According to legend, St. Wolfgang tricked the devil into helping him build the church, promising him the first soul that came through the church doors. The devil agreed, and after the construction was completed, a wolf was the first to cross its threshold, thus tricking the devil. St. Wolfgang's life was foundational to Bavarian and Austrian civilization. Many miracles occurred at his tomb, especially those related to stomach ailments. St. Wolfgang is the patron saint of carpenters, stroke victims, and the paralyzed.

Human: All about All Hallows' Eve from Old Farmer's Almanac!

Natural: Eat, Drink, and Be Scary! Our Favorite Halloween Recipes

Italian: Paura (fear)

It can be combined with the verbs avere (to have), fare (to do/make) and prendere (to take/get) to create some extremely useful phrases:

• avere paura = to be scared (literally: to have fear)

  
  

Quote: "From ghoulies and ghosties

And long-leggedy beasties

And things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us!"

-traditional Scottish prayer