Saturday, October 27, 2012

All Hallows Eve Celebration


Over the past 2-3 years, our family has been phasing out Halloween.  We don't like how the American Halloween celebration has turned morbid, gruesome, and sexual, so we wanted to shift our focus to the traditional celebration of All Hallows' Eve.

This afternoon, we will be hosting our first All Hallows' Eve celebration.  All attendees were invited to dress as their favorite saints.  The participating families were asked to bring a cardboard or wood "headstone" with the names of their deceased loved ones written on it.  We will begin our party by praying a decade of the rosary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, particularly for our loved ones.  We will then pray a litany of the saints, invoking all of our patron saints.  Then, while dinner finishes cooking, the kids will be able to watch a couple of animated videos about saints (We'll be watching Francesco's Friendly World and The Day the Sun Danced) while they color pictures of saints.

The decorations will be focused on autumn and Catholicism -- no scary stuff here!  I'll be serving Butternut Bisque, cornbread, spiced apple cider, and Apple Cider Caramel Cookies.  

After dinner and dessert, the adults will have time for fellowship and the kids will have time to play.  Hopefully, this will be a fun, spiritual day and our children will come to not miss "Halloween" at all!
 
Aquinas and More Catholic Goods - For all your Catholic needs

Praying with the Saints for the Holy Souls in Purg
Praying with the Saints for the Holy Souls in Purgatory
Aquinas and More Catholic Goods - For all your Catholic needs

The Day The Sun DancedDay The Sun Danced