Jack-o-lanterns, front porch skeletons, and cotton spiderwebs are everywhere this time of year. Here in Richmond, the Carytown Zombie Walk and Halloween on Hanover are major neighborhood events that attract thousands. It’s easy to assume we know Halloween. After all, “Halloween,” as our consumerist culture defines it, is all around us. But there is a deeper level of meaning to this spooky holiday than costumes and a sugar rush. While you may have heard a case that this holiday is rooted in the occult, Halloween, in fact, is the first day of a Christian triduum called “Hallowtide,” a three-day religious observance made up of Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day.
This Hallowtide is designed to posture our hearts and imaginations toward anticipating the end of our lives in the glorious context of Christ’s victorious defeat of death through a specific theme for each day of Hallowtide. On Halloween we remember our own mortality, on All Saints Day we remember the great saints of old, and on All Souls Day we remember our departed loved ones. Understanding Hallowtide can help us recover the original vision of this meaningful three-day observance and reorient our hearts toward gratitude for Christ’s saving work. I hope that the Hallowtide overview below will provide helpful context and resources through this season.
Deacon, Redeemer Anglican Church
October 31 — Hallowtide Day 1: Halloween
“All Hallows’ Eve”
The changing seasons can serve as a catechesis for our souls. As the weather grows chilly, the daylight grows shorter, and crunchy leaves fall to the ground, we are inspired to reflect on our own mortality. This time of year, the ancient Christian phrase “Remember Your Death” (“Memento Mori”) seems to be interwoven into the very tapestry of nature. The year is drawing to a close and we are left asking, “Where does the time go?” As our bodies are seasonally oriented toward reflecting on time and mortality, we may find our souls drawn into nostalgia, sadness, or even anxiety and fear. Halloween is an acknowledgement of these seasonal, biological, and spiritual realities. Yes, we will die. But because of Jesus, death is not the end.
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Christian mockery of death in 1 Corinthians 15 is at the heart of Halloween. Because of Jesus, death doesn’t have the final say. Jesus has “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Colossians 2:15) The demonic forces that once held our souls captive are now defeated, as long as our lives are hidden in Christ. Because of this, the change of the seasons and our reflection on mortality becomes an opportunity for celebration and praise.
But the devil, knowing that his time is short, is still filled with fury (Revelation 12:12) and is seeking to deceive as many as he can before his time runs out. For those without the hope of Christ, death’s sting remains and a holiday about remembering death can be dark and terrifying. As our culture has increasingly embraced secularism, so Halloween has increasingly become about the gruesome, the pagan, and even the occult. Add to this many imaginative origin stories for Halloween, such as historically dubious notions about Halloween’s connection to a pagan Celtic festival called “Samhain,” and we could feel inclined to ignore Halloween altogether or modify the holiday into an innocuous harvest festival. But be assured, the credible history of Halloween leaves no doubt that it is actually a Christian observance known as “All Hallow’s Eve” that prepares our hearts for All Saints Day and points our inevitable reflection on mortality toward the hope found in Christ. (See Dr. Ryan Reeves’ lecture on the history of Halloween for more information about Samhain and Halloween’s origins).
So enjoy your liberty to celebrate with plastic skeletons, candy corn, and costumes if you choose, and whatever you choose, do so in the spirit of 1 Corinthians 15’s playful mockery of death, not as an expression of the terror of those without hope. We who have joined with Christ in faith and baptism are participants in our Lord Jesus Christ’s victory and our traditions should reflect this reality. Halloween is an opportunity to pray for our neighbors and friends who do not yet know Jesus and to pray against the defeated spiritual powers of evil who seek to hold them captive.
Hymn for All Hallow’s Eve
Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless:
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Prayer for All Hallow’s Eve
O most merciful and mighty God, your son Jesus Christ was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary to bring us salvation and to establish your kingdom on earth: Grant that Michael and all your angels may defend your people against Satan and every evil foe, and that at the last we may come to that heavenly country where your saints for ever sing your praise, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
November 1 — Hallowtide Day 2: All Saints’ Day
“Hallowmas” or “All Hallows”
The reflective tone of Halloween turns victorious as All Hallows’ Eve transitions into The Feast of All Hallows (“All Saints’ Day”), a day commemorating the saints of the Church Triumphant.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
On All Saints’ Day, we celebrate the famous saints of the past whose legacies have left a lasting impact on the church and the lives of Christians. The church year is filled with Saint Days, each usually marking the date when a great saint of the past has died. In a sense, their death date is their new birthday, the day they were received into life eternal through the powerful grace of their Savior.
All Saints Day is when all of the diverse voices of the saints merge into one, triumphant chorus. Many of these saints were considered insignificant in their own day; they were often overlooked, ridiculed, and sometimes killed because of their hope in Christ. On All Saints Day, we rejoice that they now fill the throne room of Jesus. While these saints may have achieved great things in the Kingdom of Heaven, the book of Revelation tells us that the saints cast their crowns before the throne of Jesus as they sing, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power…” (Revelation 4:8) While we groan under the weight of sin and pain now, as Christians we know that we will soon be joining this eternal chorus, united forever in this family, called together as one in Jesus’ love.
On All Saints’ Day, you may consider reflecting on the stories of great saints of old and celebrating their lives with your friends and family, recounting the work of Christ throughout the centuries in the church. You may consider getting to know a saint previously unfamiliar to you. To that end, Dan Marotta and I have created a few resources that we hope contribute to preserving the memory of the saints, including the Our Church Speaks podcast and the devotional, Our Church Speaks: An Illustrated Devotional of Saints from Every Era and Place (IVP, 2024). These saints lived the victory of Christ and even the grave could not silence their witness or rob them of their eternal reward. Each of these great saints demonstrated that death, indeed, has lost its sting.
Hymn for All Saints’ Day
For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Prayer for All Saints’ Day
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical Body of your Son: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
November 2 — Hallowtide Day 3: All Souls Day
“The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed”
All Souls Day (also known as “The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed”) is the conclusion of the three days of Hallowtide. On this day, Christians remember and give thanks for departed believers, including loved ones who may not have received wide recognition but have impacted our life and faith personally. This is a day to give thanks to God for the lives of those who have died, to commend their souls to God’s loving mercy, and to rejoice that in Christ, all who have been separated by death will be reunited once again in victory.
All Souls Day is a traditional time for Christians to visit the graves of loved ones or light candles in their memory. Many will pray, sing, or read Scripture at their loved one’s resting place. Christians often come together on this day to repair, clean, and decorate the church graveyard together. Grave visits like these are practiced by Christian cultures around the world, with the Mexican Roman Catholic Día de los Muertos being the most famous expression. Anglican observance of All Souls day is usually quiet and reflective, mixing mourning with hope.
Like the other days of Hallowtide, All Souls Day has ancient origins. In the early church of Rome, believers would gather for prayer in the catacombs where the faithful were buried. Medieval children in England and Ireland went from house to house on All Souls Day, often dressed as the saints of old and offering to pray for their neighbors’ departed loved ones in exchange for sweet raisin cakes spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon called “Soul Cakes.” This practice may be an origin for the Trick-or-Treating we now associate with Halloween.
Many of our rituals for grief, remembrance, and reflection have been stifled by the hectic pace of modern life. All Souls Day, and Hallowtide as a whole, provide us with an annual pattern of remembrance and thanksgiving for the love that Jesus has shown us through the lives of our departed loved ones. We grieve with hope, holding fast to the truths revealed in God’s Word, that all who are dead in Christ will be raised “up with him and seated… with him in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:5-7)
Hymn for All Souls Day
Be still, my soul! The hour is hastening on,
when we shall be forever in God’s peace;
when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Love’s joys restored, our strivings all shall cease.
Be still, my soul! When change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
Prayer for All Souls Day
O God, the Maker and Redeemer of all believers: Grant to the faithful departed the unsearchable benefits of the passion of your Son; that on the day of his appearing they may be manifested as your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Additional Resources
Below are a few links with additional resources about Hallowtide:
Our Church Speaks
A teaching series about saints from every era and place, with art and history by Ben Lansing (includes art and biographies of over 250 saints, along with a podcast cohosted with D.J. Marotta, and an illustrated devotional book written with D.J. Marotta.)Our Church Year
An upcoming illustrated book by Ben Lansing & D.J. Marotta about feasts and fasts of the church liturgical calendar. Sign up here to stay in the loop on updates about this book.The History of Halloween by Dr. Ryan Reeves, Professor of Theology & Church History, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and Kairos University.
Halloween and the Victory of Christ by Jacob A. Davis (Anglican Compass)
The Liturgical Home: All Saints Day by Ashley Tumlin Wallace (Anglican Compass)
Prints of the artwork featured in this article are available here.
A downloadable version of this article is available here.
