It’s church—it’s Halloween—it’s Churchoween!
In honor of this Sunday’s septennial combination of Halloween and a Sunday morning, I thought I’d celebrate by replacing my weekly column of profound and moving spiritual thoughts with three fun facts about Halloween; or, to be more precise, about Churchoween, the places where the candy-and-costume-themed holiday and its Christian origins still connect.
(For your reading pleasure, I’ve arranged them in order of obscurity!)
- “Halloween” Let’s start with the name, which is the “fun” fact you’re most likely to know. “Halloween” is a contraction of “Hallow e’en,” which is in turn a 17th-century Scottish shortening of “Allhallow-even,” that is, “the Eve of All Saints.’” While most of our Halloween traditions have only a tenuous connection with All Saints’ Day, it is in fact the beginning of a week-long observance of the Octave of All Saints, beginning with the Eve of All Saints on October 31, and continuing with All Saints’ Day on November 1 and All Souls’ Day (The Commemoration of All Faithful Departed) on November 2 and All Saints’ Sunday, when we usually celebrate All Saints’ Day in church.
- Orange and Black Everyone knows their holiday colors; red and green for Christmas, assorted pastels for Easter, orange and black for Halloween. The origins of Christmas and Easter’s cultural colors are easy to guess (red holly berries on green leaves, eggs died blue and yellow and pink). But do you know why Halloween is orange and black?
I’ve read lots of explanations online, but never seen the one I’m pretty sure is true, which was handed down to me by a wise old priest while showing off his new electric candles. (A story for another time.)
A natural beeswax candle, he pointed out, is not white or yellow; it’s a fairly vibrant orange. And the liturgical vestments worn for a medieval or early modern funeral—or, it turns out, for All Souls’ Day—wouldn’t have been the white or gold of the Resurrection we wear today, but a more solemn black.
Darkening evenings and orange gourds may have something to do with the popularity of the orange-and-black Halloween color scheme in more recent times, but you can transport yourself into a spooky enough scene simply by imagining a medieval Catholic priest whispering the prayers of the mass in Latin in a dark sanctuary lit by beeswax candles, all while wearing a chasuble for All Souls’ Day like the one on the right below! - Spooky Services The Episcopal Church’s Book of Occasional Services (2018) includes a special Service for All Hallows’ Eve, patterned on a service like Lessons & Carols or the Easter Vigil, but containing all the BIble’s spookiest readings: the Witch of Endor raising the ghost of Samuel, a bone-rattling spirit appearing to Eliphaz the Temanite, a valley full of skeletons suddenly reanimating and walking around, and a war in heaven between the angels and the dragon. The rubrics suggest a visit to a graveyard may be appropriate, and primly add, “Suitable festivities and entertainments may take place before or after this service.”
I’ll have much more to say about All Saints’ Day next week, but for now — see you on Sunday, and have a spooky Churchoween! (Costumes in church are certainly allowed, but by no means required.)
