Artwork: Jakub Schikaneder, “All Souls’ Day.”

About

Hallowtide is a short but colorful season near the end of the liturgical that runs from October 31-November 2.

October 31 is the vigil of All Saints Day and Halloween, and as such carries a penitential character, with purple vestments.

November 1 is All Saints Day and a Holy Day of Obligation, with liturgical colors of white and gold, and at one point had its own octave.

November 2 is All Souls Day, in mournful black.

While the Catholic character of these days has been ensnarled and confused with secular celebrations, the days nonetheless have an old and vivid Catholic character. It has long been a pious custom during this season (and all of November) to visit cemeteries and pray for the dead.

Below is a collection of resources on the celebration (both liturgical and domestic) of Hallowtide.

For more articles, posts, photos, and videos of Hallowtide Masses, customs, vestments, and histories, see New Liturgical Movement and the Liturgical Arts Journal.

Resources

All Hallows Eve: Prayers and Devotions. Ancilla Press, 2019.

“All Souls Day,” Fish Eaters, https://www.fisheaters.com/customstimeafterpentecost12ac.html

“Hallowtide,” A Clerk of Oxford. November 2, 2019. https://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2019/11/hallowtide.html

“A Selection of Saints’ Legends,” A Clerk of Oxford. November 2, 2014. https://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-selection-of-saints.html.

DiPippo, Gregory. “The Origin of All Saints’ Day.” New Liturgical Movement (November 2 2017). http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2017/11/the-origin-of-all-saints-day.html#.X5R1VdBKjIU

Gueranger, Prosper. “November 1-Sunday after the Octave of All Saints.” In The Liturgical Year: The Time after Pentecost, 55-255, 1903. https://archive.org/details/V15TheLiturgicalYear/page/n11/mode/2up

———. “October 31: Vigil of All Saints.” In The Liturgical Year: The Time after Pentecost, 451-54, 1910. https://archive.org/details/V14TheLiturgicalYear/page/n11/mode/2up

Salvucci, Claudio. “Restoring Halloween to the Domestic Church.” Liturgical Arts Journal (October 29 2018). https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2018/10/restoring-halloween-to-domestic-church.html

———. “The Octave of All Saints in the Pre-1955 Roman Liturgical Books.” Liturgical Arts Journal (November 4 2019). https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2019/11/the-octave-of-all-saints-in-pre-1955.html

———. “All Hallows Eve (Halloween) in the Traditional, Pre-1955 Liturgical Books.” Liturgical Arts Journal (September 13 2019). https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2019/09/all-hallows-eve-halloween-in.html.

Tribe, Shawn. “Liturgical Notes for All Souls Day.” New Liturgical Movement (November 2 2010). http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2010/11/liturgical-notes-for-all-souls-day.html#.X5R1vNBKjIU

Weiser, F.X. Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs: The Year of the Lord in Liturgy and Folklore. Paulist Press, 1963.

See PDF of Fr. Weiser’s chapter on All Souls and All Saints

here.