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The commercial success of Halloween has nearly stamped out the reality that it is a day that precedes an important holy day in the Church's calendar.
In the Church's view, Halloween remains the vigil of All Saints Day, a fact that is still hidden in the name itself.
The word “Halloween” is a Scottish shortening of the phrase “Allhallow-even,” literally meaning “All Holy Evening” and dates to the 18th century. The English have a similar phrase, “All Hallows’ Eve,” with the same meaning.
Both phrases denote the night before All Saints Day, November 1, and refer to the celebration of the holy men and women who are recognized in the Catholic Church as residing in Heaven.
For the Church, with a nod to our roots in Judaism where the Sabbath starts with sundown of the night before, the vigil is the beginning of a feast. Think, for example, of Christmas Eve.
Holy Evening
Interestingly, while this secular holiday of Halloween has become associated with feasting on candy, it was originally a day of fasting in the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Encyclopedia explains a bit of the history behind this tradition:
In the first ages, during the night before every feast, a vigil was kept. In the evening the faithful assembled in the place or church where the feast was to be celebrated and prepared themselves by prayers, readings from Holy Writ (now the Offices of Vespers and Matins), and sometimes also by hearing a sermon ... In place of nocturnal observances, the bishops introduced for the laity a fast on the day before the feast.
While the fast before All Saints is no longer a part of Catholic custom, the vigil of All Saints retains liturgical prayers that act as a preparation for the feast.
For example, since All Saints Day is a solemnity, priests, nuns, and laity praying the Liturgy of the Hours will pray Evening Prayer I, which anticipates the feast the night before.
Furthermore, many Catholic churches will host vigil Masses on October 31, which fulfill the obligation to attend Mass on November 1, just as Saturday evening Masses are celebrations of Sunday.
Halloween may have lost much of its wider cultural association with anything that is holy, but the Church still retains liturgical practices that make it a "holy evening."
Families could creatively find ways to incorporate such an anticipatory preparation, making it an evening of fun, while recognizing the holiness of the day that follows.
