Halloween is a contraction of a Catholic holiday, “All Hallows Eve”. “All Hallows Day” is November 1 and that is a day to honor saints. So, Hallows Eve is October 31st.
Trick or Treat
The custom of trick or treating probably has several origins. One explanation is that early Catholics would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. Catholics believe that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.
Jack-O-Lanterns:
Irish children used to carve out potatoes or turnips and light them for their Halloween gatherings. They commemorated Jack, a shifty Irish villain so wicked that neither God nor the Devil wanted him. Legend says Jack wanders the world endlessly looking for a place to rest. His only warmth is a glittering candle in a rotten turnip. The Irish Potato Famine (1845-50) prompted over 700,000 people to immigrate to the Americas. These immigrants brought with them their traditions of Halloween and Jack o'Lanterns, but turnips were not plentiful in America. So, the Irish immigrants used pumpkins as a replacement.
Halloween Masquerade Mask and Costumes:
From earliest times people wore masks when droughts or other disasters struck. They believed that the demons that had brought their misfortune upon them would become frightened off by the hideous masks.
