Fast on Halloween?

Started by Daniel, October 23, 2020, 06:54:15 AM

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Daniel

My calendar doesn't say anything about fasting on Halloween.

But I think I remember hearing that All Saints' Day is traditionally in the same category as Christmas? And we're supposed to fast on the days before these feasts (e.g. Halloween for All Saints' Day, Christmas Eve for Christmas, etc.). I think a few other feasts were in this category too, but I don't remember what they are.

I take it the practice probably varied throughout history? And it was no longer a fast day on the 1962 calendar?

Maximilian

It has struck me in the past the way that modern holidays have taken the Catholic days of fast and abstinence and turned them into the most gluttonous displays of over-indulgence. It seems as if this must be more than mere coincidence, and looks more like deliberate targeting.

All-Hallows Eve and Christmas Eve, as you rightly note, have become just the opposite of what they were intended for, and preparation for Ash Wednesday has also turned into a bachanalian orgy.

Mr. Mysterious

"Take courage! I have overcome the world." John 16:33