Day for All Saints

Halloween is meant to be a holy occasion. The mere presence of the word hallow (as in “hallowed be Thy Name” in the Lord's Prayer) signifies holiness. But despite of this, people of this generation twisted Halloween and made it a gory and unholy event.

The Devil, he who hates anything holy, is behind all of this twisting of the traditionally holy feasts. He, through commercialism, destroyed Christmas and Valentines Day. The former became a full blown event of relentless buying and feasting and the removal of the Child born in Bethlehem as the reason for the season. The latter became an opportunity to trivialize sex by turning it into source of pleasure.

The Devil is crafty. He didn't attacked All Saint's Day directly. He used the greed of men and the lack of faith of many to create a twisted version of Halloween or All Hallows Eve. The result are Halloween parties where monsters and evil spirits are celebrated. God and all of His angels and His saints were ignored in their feast. It is as if a gatecrasher entered the party and then drove away the host.

The tide of the time is upon us and it will take a long time before it subsides. While we are in this age of twisted values, I guess it is well that we pray to the saints and ask for their intercession. Call upon them everyday and they will bring your worries to God.

As for me, here are the saints who I regularly ask for intercession:

Oh holy servants of God please pray for me; for my Beloved, for our families; for all of our love ones; for our friends; for our neighbors; for our country; for our Pope; for all the bishops, priests, and deacons; for all the religious and consecrated; for all Christians being persecuted; for the whole Church; and for those who oppose the Lord and those who do not know Him.

A Season for Saints and the Departed

I consider the current Halloween celebration as alien to the Filipino culture. I remember during my youth that Halloween is not being celebrated. There was no Halloween parties or “trick or treats”. Even scary mask is not for sale at the local sari-sari store. What we had is not a celebration but a solemn commemoration of our loved ones, who passed away.

My mother always buy candles before the month of November begins. She lights up all of those candles in the night of All Soul's Day. One candle for each of our departed love ones. One candle that stands as if  in prayer for the sake of their souls.

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(Photo by Bangin)

Many people, specifically the youth, already forgotten the importance of praying for their dead relatives. They were distracted, instead, of the Halloween noise that is being promoted by the media and big businesses. The commemoration for the dead suddenly became the celebration for the undead. Wearing costumes of monsters and evil creatures are very cool nowadays that some parents even don their babies with Devil's horn. They even have the audacity to bring the “horned” baby to Sunday mass!

A baby, gift of God to the couple, was made to wear a demonic symbol and then brought to Holy Mass! An innocent baby being shown to the Eucharistic Lord as a little demon. What an insult to Jesus Christ, who defeated the Devil by dying on the cross.

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Saints praying for the sake of those who are still in Purgatory.

My father told us a story of their “pangangaluluwa” when they were teens and still living in Bicol. They go to their neighbors houses on the night of All Saint's Day (November 1) or All Soul's Day (November 2) and sing songs for the dead. Their neighbors would either give them money or candles but some refuse to give them any thing.

Pangangaluluwa or kalag-kalag in the Visayan Language is nothing but story for me. I am yet to experience it. Unfortunately, traditions like the pangangaluluwa are dying out fast. Young people are more inclined to experience the fads imported from America than ones handed down by our ancestors.

There is a reason for the name Halloween. Hallow means holy as in “hallowed be thy Name” in the Our Father prayer. Halloween should be a hallowed occasion and not an occasion to scare people. That's why I approve of activities of some parishes that aim to bring holiness back to Halloween. One of this is Halloween Party where the people dress like their favorite saints.

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(Source: CBCP for Life)

Aren't the kids cute? 

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(Source: Holy Angels Univ FB  page)

Gore, terror, fear – these are the focus of the current Halloween Season. What was forgotten is that this season is the season of holiness and of hope. Holiness of the saints who received the so-called beatific vision and hope for those who are in Purgatory, waiting for God's call. This Halloween is the season for the saints and the departed and I hope you celebrate this season with prayers and reverence to our Lord.

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The painting on this blog post was painted by Lodovico Carracci with the title, "An Angel Frees the Souls of Purgatory".  The source is Wikimedia Commons.

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What can you say about the current Halloween celebration? Are there halloween traditions that your family or community observed when you were young? Let's talk about it by leaving a comment on the combox below.

A Filipino Tradition for the Beloved Dead

Remembering the departed loved ones is always a part of the Filipino culture. We Filipinos have deep respect for those who died. We keep their earthly belongings and sometimes still consider them part of our family here on earth. The Filipino trait of remembering the dead is made manifest during the Halloween Season, which is locally known as Undas. During this season, Filipinos flock cemeteries just to visit their departed love ones. Many people take this opportunity to go to the provinces to visit the graves of their love ones there.

The Filipino trait of remembering the dead is worthy of praise. The only sad thing is that it is being quickly forgotten as the time wore on. Instead of solemnly remembering the dead, many Filipinos use this season as another opportunity to take a long vacation or have a party. Just like what happened to Christmas and Valentines Day, the true meaning of Halloween was secularized and is just another way for businessmen to earn money from those who are riding on the bastardized version of the Halloween Season.

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The traditional way of remembering the dead is more solemn. Here is what I read from Filipino Catholicism blog about the old Undas of Filipinos:

“An old Christian customs bids us to visit the graves of our dead on All Souls’ Day or even already on the afternoon of All Saints’ Day.


In Manila this day is solemnly celebrated, yes, even very solemnly, with an oriental gaiety and colorful bustle seemingly quite irreverent and improper to occidental minds.

On All Saints Day special traffic regulations have to be put in force on the streets and lanes leading to the cemeteries…

Early in the afternoon the migration to the cemeteries already begins, but the main traffic sets in the evening after sunset, and continues throughout the entire night. The Filipinos are holding their vigil of the dead.

To be sure, they do not pray the ecclesiastical nocturns. They provide themselves with food and drink, with cakes and cookies and ice cream, and thus, by flickering candlelight, they watch the whole night at the graves of their beloved dead.”

This was the description of Undas written in the archives of SVD. Notice that the Filipinos back then doesn't just visit the departed ones in cemeteries. They hold a night vigil as one family. They stay from night of November 1 to morning of November 2. Instead of attending Halloween parties, Filipinos in the old times prefer to stay with the departed loved ones.

Another thing to notice is that visiting the graves of the dead is done in the afternoon or evening of November 1. They do not go there in the morning because November 1 All Saints' Day. November 1 is for celebrating the victory of saints against the Satan during their sojourn here on Earth.

Today, people just visit the grave of the departed love ones for few minutes or hours and then leave so they can go back to the comfort of their homes or visit the mall. Another sad thing to note is that people nowadays prefer to celebrate the secularized version of Halloween that focuses on witches, monsters, and other occult ideas. Halloween came from the word hallow  that means holy and it signifies the holiness of the season. Sadly, people nowadays prefer to celebrate the demonic symbols and the occult instead celebrating holiness.

We Filipinos believe that the departed love ones are not gone forever. They may be placed in purgatory and are paying for every sins that they made while they are living. Some of them are already with God in heaven and serving Him as His saints. It is sad that many people ignore this truth. It is sad that they can't even give just one day to pray for their dead to aid them in being pulled out of purgatory. It is sad that the focus of Halloween is business and the occult and not the holiness that God bestowed on this season.

Almost Eaten by a Tiktik

Do you know of the monster called as “tiktik?” Well, I encountered one such monster in the past.

Twenty-four years ago, when I am still inside my mother’s womb, my father heard a noise coming from the roof of our house in Quezon City. It is already past midnight and it is few more hours before dawn. My father wonders what is that noise coming the rooftop. It sounds like something or someone is scratching the roof.

My dad is wondering if an “akyat-bahay” (thief) is on the top and is prying the roof open. Then, he suddenly remembered the rumors about a tiktik that roams the neighborhood. Tiktik is known to eat babies from their mother’s womb by using its very long tongue. It is also known that Tiktiks are fond of firstborns because they say that firstborns taste the best.
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He took his bolo and rushed outside and climbed up to the rooftop. Alas, there is nothing at the rooftop. He ran to the street outside of the outside only to see an old woman sweeping the streets at 3 in the morning.

My mother, on the other hand, never ceased praying and clutched the Holy Rosary.

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That’s my Halloween story. My parents said that I was almost snatched and eaten by the “tiktik.” I am not sure if it’s the truth but I am sure that there is a grain of truth in it.

There are such monsters, evil spirits, and demons around us that lurk in the dark to prey on human beings and to trap their souls in darkness. My country and the people is suffering from such horrific deception, in many forms, being laid by the Devil.
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Archangel Michael vanquishing the Devil.

This Halloween Season let us not focus on the devil and the monsters of this world. Let us focus more to our God whom the Devil fear the most.

Why fear the Devil and his monsters if there is a more powerful being that these agents of evil are afraid of?

Happy Halloween! Don’t forget to pray for all our relatives, friends, family members, and all the people who already fell asleep.

Looking for Halloween Costume?

It is already just one month and few weeks before Halloween and people are already preparing for the Halloween Season. In the radio yesterday, I am hearing plans for Halloween parties, which is announced side by side with the reminders of the upcoming Oktoberfest. Because of these, many people are now looking for Halloween costumes that will make the jaw of their friends drop due to amazement.

Looking for a perfect Halloween costume is not that hard. Ideas for Halloween costumes abound in the Internet. You could even get ideas from cosplayers and impersonate anime or cartoon characters. Even walking around malls will give you ideas for Simple HalloweenCostumes because they are already selling Halloween costumes this early.

Of course, dressing up like one of the monsters in the folklores is still the best way to go. You could act like a werewolf, a ghost, or even a vampire from Stephanie Meyer’s books. Even impersonating singers and actors, and actresses is accepted for the Halloween Season. Thus, it is alright to wear costumes a la Lady Gaga. You could even resurrect Michael Jackson together with his minions his movie “Ghost.”

There are many ideas out there and if you let your creativity free then you can create a costume that will make you the winner of your “Halloween Party’s Best in Costume Award.”
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Halloween is Coming!

September is the month that ushers in the season that we Filipinos call as the “Ber” months. The start of the “Ber” months is the unofficial start of Christmas Season in the Philippines. As of now, morning TV shows already started the countdown to Christmas Day.

However, before we reach Christmas Day, we have to pass through a nightmare. Not the nightmare that you have whenever you sleep but the nightmare and horror that is celebrated during the Halloween Season. Halloween is just a recent celebration adopted in the country but that does not mean that this season is a dull one. Halloween is a good time to scare people with scary costume and horrifying stories. Some people even use Halloween as an excuse to show up in the craziest costume they could ever think of, especially the amazing cosplayers around the country.

Halloween Season is costume season. It is the best time to crank up your mind and think up of a great Halloween costume that will amaze your friends on parties and happenings. There are many ideas that could be found in the Internet. You could buy costumes from malls and you could even spice up your scary attire by using some Halloween Contact Lenses .

So, before thinking of your Christmas list, maybe you should think of a good costume to celebrate Halloween. Remember, it is only once per year when you walk around in costume without anyone thinking that you are out of your mind. Advanced happy Halloween!