Halloween is a contraction of “hallow,” which means holy, and “even,” which means evening. So, Halloween means Holy Evening.

It is derived from one of the oldest Christian celebrations, and its origins date prior to 270 A.D. It is the eve of All Saints Day, which was first called All Martyrs Day but later became known as All Hallows or All Saints Day. It was a time to celebrate all those who had given their lives for Christ. The feast day was first celebrated in May, but by 824 A.D. the celebration in the Western church was being held on Nov. 1. Following ancient tradition, it began after sunset on the day before. Thus, Oct. 31 was All Hallows Eve or Halloween.

For 1,000 years, Halloween has been an important, meaningful and fun celebration. However, a look today at Halloween around the country would lead one to believe it’s a time to commercially exploit children and pagan themes. What is being lost is that it reflects an almost 2,000-year-old Christian tradition.

The date selected in Rome for All Saints Day happened to coincide with the date in pre-Roman Britan of the eve of Samhaina, the Celtic pagan festival of harvest, the coming of winter and a new year. It was believed that the souls of those who had died could come back during the festival and that bonfires needed to be built on hilltops for protection against the return of those who might do evil. However, the date for All Saints Day was set independently of the pagan celebration and had nothing to do with it. Like the dates of Christmas and Easter, a Christian celebration happened to be at the same time of the year as a pagan event and simply replaced it as a celebration.

During the 10th century, the day after All Saints Day was set aside to remember all family and friends who had died. That day became known as All Souls Day and it became popular to visit cemeteries on that day. In Mexico it is known as the Day of the Dead.

According to a 1910 public invitation to a party at Miss Kitty Ezell’s house on College Street in Columbus, “Cats, Bats and Fairies bright dance together on Halloween night.” By the early 1900s, Halloween had become a mostly secular celebration.

There are many traditions associated with the All Hallows celebration. These range from church services and decorating cemeteries to the ever popular trick-or-treating. The giving of sweets to children probably originated in Europe or Ireland about 1,000 years ago. People would go door to door on All Souls Day begging for small cakes called “soul cakes.” The recipient of a “soul cake” was expected to say prayers for the souls of deceased members of the giver’s family.

One tradition says that the wearing of costumes representing ghosts or witches was much like a passion play. Children would dress up as evil but would be treated with cakes of kindness. They would then go home, eat their cakes, take off their costumes and go to bed. They would awake on All Hallows morning to attend church, evil having been vanquished by sweet cakes of Christian kindness.

As America was settled, European immigrants brought their traditions with them. The evening before All Saints Day was a time for parties for both adults and children. All Saints Day was a day of church services and the following day, All Souls Day, or in Mexico the Day of the Dead, was a time to visit and place flowers on the graves of deceased family and friends.

In the United States after the Civil War, Decoration Day and later Memorial Day began to replace All Souls Day as the day to remember those who had died and to decorate cemeteries with flowers. By the 1880s Halloween cards were being sent. That was the beginning of the end of the traditional celebrations of All Saints and All Souls Day. By the 1920s, Halloween was generally viewed as a secular, community-centered festival with most of its Christian heritage lost or forgotten.

One of the oldest Halloween traditions in Columbus, and one that is unique to Columbus, is a visit to Mrs. Munroe’s mausoleum in Friendship Cemetery. Margaret Munroe died around 1870. She had been instrumental in the founding of the Catholic Church in Columbus and securing Father Jean Baptist Mouton, the architect of Annunciation Catholic Church, as its priest. After her death friends and relatives had her mausoleum constructed to look like a small-scale version of the church.

I recall being taken to see it by my grandmother when I was a child. On Halloween the old cemetery is spooky enough, but my grandmother informed me that if I went up to the ornamental wrought iron in the arched opening and hollered, “Mrs. Munroe, Mrs. Munroe, what are you doing?” she would without fail always answer saying, “Nothing. Nothing at all.” I can remember standing there trembling and repeatedly hollering at her and waiting for her to say, “nothing at all,” as my grandmother would say, “Didn’t you hear that? She said nothing at all.” Then a light bulb came on and I said, “Oh.” My grandmother later told me she also had been taken there as a child in the 1890s to hear “nothing at all.”

Some Episcopal Churches have a service on All Hallows Eve. It is a service I enjoyed going to in West Point with the Bible readings including the “Witch of Endor” and “the Valley of the Dry Bones.” I really like one of the last prayers in that service and think it is perfect for All Hallows Eve before children go trick-or-treating.

“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.”

Over the 14 years that I have been writing my column this will be the fourth time I have run a Halloween version of it. With all of Halloween’s commercialization I feel it important that people not forget the real meaning of All Hallows Eve.

Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].

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