Some Old Druid is laughing by Rev. Leo E. Gillen
by VP
Posted on Friday October 31, 2025 at 12:00AM in Documents
"Jack O'Lanterns peer fire-eyed from windows. A black cat arches its
back. And costumed children go begin trick-or-treat from door-to-door.
The frost is on the pumpkin and it's Halloween.
The holiday may have come from the Roman festival of Pomona (a harvest
festival). But probably the Druids in pre-Christian Ireland and Scotland
hold a clearer historical background for it.
The Celtic Year ended on Oct. 31 the eve of Samhain. The Samhain was
partly an agrarian celebration. The end of summer was a time of
threshing and of food preparations for the winter season.
The festival of the dead was another part of the celebration. The
spirits of the departed were believed to visit kinsmen in search of
warmth and good cheer as winter approached. Bonfires were lighted on
hilltops to guide the spirits and ward off the witches.
Magical practices of divination were practiced during the Samhain. Who
would die, who would marry whom, and who would be given good fortune in
the coming year, these were the questions that the people asked.
The Samhain was also a time of fairies, witches and goblins who terrified travelers, destroyed crops, and stole cattle.
Pope Gregory III instituted the feast of all Saints in 843 to
Christianize this feast of Samhain. Instead of a festival of the dead,
he wanted all Christians to honor saints. Hence the name Halloween (holy
evening) the vigil of All Saints. Sometimes the term, hallow-mass was
used; this was a contraction al All hallow-Mass.
In 998, Odilo, abbot of Cluny, established the feast of All Souls on
Nov. 2. Again, this was an attempt to supplant the feast of the dead.
It is rather significant, as we look at the modern celebration of
Halloween, that we follow the old rite of the Druids, rather than the
feasts instituted by Pope Gregory or Odilo.
Some old Druid is laughing at our attempt to Christianize the pagan rite
of Samhain. The Druid's witches and goblins are still with us at
Halloween; and little, if any, thought is given to the saints."
source: The Catholic Advocate, Vol 20, #43, 28 Oct. 1971 page 11
