holiday of the dead

Most of the rituals and practices of the Roman Catholic Church are adaptions from paganism. One of these is Halloween or All Saints Day which falls on Nov. 1. But how did it happen that a night fall ofwitches, fairies, demons, skeletons and other beings of the dark became sacred of a church alleging to be Christian?

In the ancient Celtic and Anglo-Saxon times, pagans celebrated yearly the ancient fire festival in honor of Samhain, the Celtic god of the dead, who allowed the souls of the dead to return home. This was the night of Oct. 31, and witches, souls of the dead,fairies, demons and other beings of the dark are believed to roam around. And to drive them away,people build huge bonfires and prepared food to appease them. Now most of these foods are brought to the cemeteries in the belief that the souls of the dead will eat them.

The pagan Romans for centuries worshipped their dead in the temple they called Pantheon which was dedicated to Cybele, the pagan goddess. In 610 A.D.Emperor Phocas presented the temple as a gift to Pope Bonafice IV who rededicated it to Mary. The pagans,however, continue to worship their dead in this"Christianized" Pantheon, only now in the name of Mary.

Then the Romans conquered the Celts who later were christianized but persisted in their pagan practices.In 837 A.D. in order to ease the christianization of the pagans by absorbing and adapting their customs ordered that Nov. 1 be observed as "All Saints Day"throughout the church: paganism in the name of Christianity.