"Quod autem vobis dico omnibus dico vigilate." Secundum S. Marcum
"What I say to you, I say to all: keep watch." Gospel according to St. Mark
On November 1, 1876, the New York Times reported that Halloween festivities were in decline and unlikely to make a comeback. "Like the curious marriage of pagan and Christian, and peculiar social customs, the old Halloween revelries are gone," the paper observed. Yet, tradition is slow to die, even outside of religious contexts. Recently, the New York Times noted the resurgence of Halloween's popularity, pointing to its significant commercial boom: “In 2024, consumers are expected to spend $11.6 billion celebrating the holiday, up from $3.3 billion in 2005.”
For Catholics, especially American Catholics, this evolution is ironic. November 1 is All Saints' Day, a holy day of obligation for Catholics, meant to honor all saints, known and unknown. Traditionally, Halloween (or "All Hallows' Eve") was the vigil leading into this solemn day, a time for penance and prayer. But in a twist, the focus has shifted, making Halloween itself the primary event while the following day often goes unrecognized outside church walls. This shift highlights a curious detachment between the secular celebration and its origins, as Halloween’s revelry overshadows what was once a more sacred observance.
What is even more bizarre is that this secular celebration of Halloween (not unlike Valentine’s Day) keeps alive the memory of a bygone liturgical calendar. Ironically, the widespread popularity of Halloween today inadvertently keeps alive the memory of a religious vigil that no longer exists in the Church’s calendar: a solemn evening devoted to honoring all saints, known and unknown. The vigil of All Saints was suppressed under the Pontificate of Venerable Pius XII in 1955, thus leaving only the privileged vigils of Our Lord’s Nativity and that of Pentecost as the only two vigils that were mandatory.
Although the origin of the feast of All Saints and its vigil are largely unknown, the history is rather extensive. Still from the beginning, the Church has always had the intention of honoring all those who were heroes in the faith. This is seen from the fact that the ancient Church both East and West had the inspiration to commemorate all the martyrs on the first Sunday after Pentecost as found in the homilies of St. Ephrem the Syrian, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Martin of Tours. It was not until Pope Gregory III (731-741), based on the fact that he dedicated an altar to all the saints in St. Peter’s Basilica, that the anniversary of November 1st appears definitely. Only a hundred years later would Gregory IV (827-844) go on to extend the November 1st date to the universal Church.
Throughout this feast day’s development—the twists and turns of the Church’s history and practice—sincere and deep devotion to the saints, those who conformed themselves to Jesus Christ, is what is at the heart of the Church’s motivation in establishing this feast day. After all, the saints are a part of Her profession of faith: Credo in Spiritum Sanctum, sanctam Ecclesiam, sanctorum communionem, remissionem peccatorum, carnis resurrectionem, vitam aeternam. Amen.
In our relation to Christ and His Church, it is, therefore, incumbent upon us as Catholics to venerate the saints, to hold them in high regard, and to ask for their intercession. We are obligated to have this disposition of reverence towards all the saints and, additionally, to pay them honor. This is a tall order. There are so many saints, yet so little time. Hence, the feast of All Saints and its vigil presents an opportunity, as Pope Urban IV, who extended All Saints into an octave, taught, “to supply any deficiencies in the faithful’s celebration of saints’ feasts during the year.”
Through this liturgical celebration, we can honor all those saints whom we could not venerate properly for whatever reason—whether due to lack of time, lack of devotion, or simply because we cannot know every single martyr and saint.
Pope Urban IV’s teaching does not stop merely at All Saints; we can apply his reasoning broadly to the liturgy and Christian practice in general. The liturgical calendar and liturgy itself uniquely provide us an opportunity to make up for deficiencies in our practice of the faith. Recapturing a true spirit of festivity and living the faith well means deepening our understanding of how we give ourselves more effectively to the mysteries we might neglect—this could very well begin with our preparation for the feast itself, keeping vigilant.
A vigil, traditionally observed in the Church, is a period of watchfulness and prayer that occurs in anticipation of a significant feast day. It often involves a time of reflection, scripture reading, and communal prayer, allowing the faithful to prepare spiritually for the solemnity to come. The reason why having vigils is important is that it first calls for and focuses our attention on something that has yet to occur. We always benefit from being able to think beforehand about something rather than being thrown into it without any preparation. Simply put, vigils allow us to make preparations for the day ahead. We can begin to meditate on the Christian mystery that will occupy our thoughts and prayers the following day. This all acts as a primer, a way of pruning away unwanted distractions and fostering better interior dispositions.
The vigil before a feast day also reminds us of the penance and prayer we should undertake in anticipation of the celebration and relaxation that accompanies the holiday. This notion parallels the logic of Lent and Easter: the more deeply we prepare ourselves through self-abnegation, the more God can instill a greater rejoicing in our souls on the following day.
Furthermore, the vigil provides a foretaste of the feast day itself, effectively extending the celebration into the hours before it. This extension allows us to contemplate the purpose of the feast day more fully while simultaneously looking forward to the principal day and heart of the celebration. In this sense, the vigil is two sides of the same coin as the octave that follows a principal feast day.
The tripartite structure—comprising the vigil (preparation), the principal celebration, and the octave (an extension of the remembrance of the feast day)—facilitates a fuller participation in the mystery we are called to meditate upon and interiorize. This comprehensive rubric for liturgical celebration offers a thorough rationale for festivity, emphasizing that genuine joy and engagement in the Christian life are rooted in the thoughtful and intentional preparation of our hearts and minds.
While vigils may not occupy a prominent place in the contemporary Church’s liturgical calendar, the faithful can still honor this venerable Tradition by engaging in profound spiritual preparations for upcoming feast days. For instance, seeking the sacrament of confession on the vigil cultivates a spirit of humility and reconciliation, thereby enhancing one's disposition to receive the grace that the feast promises. Furthermore, committing to acts of charity on the vigil aligns the heart with the virtues of the saints and the essence of the forthcoming solemnity .
In the domestic sphere, the importance of the Catholic household—and particularly the family meal—cannot be overstated, especially on feast days. The family table serves not merely as a place to nourish the body but also as a sacred space that echoes the Eucharistic altar, inviting families to enter into communion with one another and with God. This shared meal embodies theological significance, as it mirrors the unity of the Church, the body of Christ, gathered around His table.
Thus, on the vigil of a feast, preparing the home together takes on a deeply formative role, becoming a ritual that draws family members into the heart of the celebration. Just as the altar is adorned with reverence for Mass, setting the family table with care—using the finest dinnerware, adorning it with flowers and candles—elevates an ordinary meal into a sacred occasion. This act invites each member to reflect on the feast’s mysteries, fostering an interior disposition that transcends the secular and draws the family into the spiritual realities the feast represents. By observing the vigil as a family and preparing the home with reverence, we elevate our surroundings to align with the day’s significance, transforming both heart and home into spaces ready to receive God’s grace.
Having a feast day without preparation unfortunately produces a shallower understanding of festivity, and it leads to a more banal treatment of what is sacred. This is a worse enemy to festivity as Josef Pieper rightly notes in his work, In Tune with the World, “Worse than clear negation, however, is mendacious affirmation. Worse than silencing and stifling of festivity and the arts is sham practicing of them.” A counterfeit feast day, or a counterfeit method of festivity for that matter, is more destructive than simple opposition since it replaces the legitimate desires and place of festivity with something that apes it and does not leave space for anything else. This is why we must keep vigilant, and why vigils are something of importance because they guard against superficiality. Preparation is necessary if celebration is to obtain any depth. Hence, “What I say to you, I say to all. Keep watch.”
