Times-promoter., 1898-11-26
A RELIC OF THE PAST
Rsflectious of Bill Arp on Hailow-
e'en Celebrations.
~, I'm. ,t His Home-Why Young
People Have Fortunes Toi" ."
the Eve of All Saints
Day.


the Eve of All snints
Day.
uo1,owe'en was observed at our mouse
but why, | can hardly tell. lheie %
natrrai reverence for old-time ways
and customs and superstitions. There
;s fascination about wltches' J"'N
o,lanterns, fortune telling, table rap
ming, graveyards and all halt-hidaeh
and mysterious things, particularly loi
the Young people. But to the aSeu "ilo
are nearing their approach to the un-
discovered country this fasclnalloh mas
passed away, and hence l could NO. en-
Tor into the spirit and hilarity OF the
occasion. preferred lamp III tne
sittinn-room to those cavernous cahdie
,;obts in the parlor-those dismal
fiendish lights that shone through yer
low ewes and noses and mouths OF huge
numnkins and were reminders OF
Ghosts, hobgoblins and raw heads ana
bloody bones. | didn't see any fun or
anv reverence in tiptoeing away up
into the old garret and looking lnlo
=, broken mirror for lover who was TO
onneor behind you, and am too old TO
walk down the stairs backwards at
the peril of my corporosity. couldn't
see anv reason or philosophy in crack
ING nuts for good luck or bad luck III
love affairs. But / do enjoy some ot
the nice, sensible performances, such
as music. and writing questions and an
syers. and the feast of fruits and CAKE
| and chocolate.
was Illuminating about this Hal
lowe'en business-how it ever came
about that the night of October 81 was
a GALA night for the fairies, and they
went abroad whispering love to the
Young people and helping them to mate
and TO marry. We are told that it orig
mated in Scotland many centuries ago
and continues there yet. Halloween
of course, means hallow eve and bears
the same relation to All Hallows day
| November u that Christmas eve does
| TO Christmas day-and there is the
same kind of foolishncss carried on
# is the romance of the mind to have
shadowy faith in superstitions. some
folks still believe that COWS all go to
nrayer on the twelfth night afte1
| Christmas, and some believe in con
iurin'" and witchcraft. The Purltans
believed that witches were always fe
males, and they never drowned MAJ
for bewitching anybody. Poor woman
! How she has suffered for her lord ant
: master: then | remember well how ont
of them bewitched me in the lonG
ago.
Now this "Hallow's day" is simply
contraction of "All Hallows day an;
that for "All the hallowed saints day,
; or "All Saints day." Away back in TIL
eighth century the calendar of saint
got pretty full, for the bishops sainte'
nearly every Christian who died orwas
martyr. Every church recorded thei
names, and a brief sketch of his lif
and good deeds. Eusebius and Origen be
panit. and their catalogues are still pre-
served. Later on in the centuries thes
saints were multiplied to the DISCUS
of some of the popes, and an edict wa
PASSED that nobody should be sainte
or canonized unless he or she ha
performed at least two miracles an
left some relics to the church. Wei
that put stop to it, Of course, for
miracle is a right hard thing to pei
form. But the making of saints by tn
Roman Catholic and Greek and easter
churches had been going on for te
centuries, until there were as man
dead saints in the church as there wei
living sinners outside. The Belgiul
government began to catalogue thei
300 wears ago, after the art of printin
was discovered. A learned Jesuit
the name OF Bolland was employed, al
in five years he made three volume
and died. His successor made five MOI
volumes and died, and so they have bee
making volumes and dying until no
they have 81 volumes and are not ne;
done. I tell you Heaven is crowded
they are all of them there. We kno
that in the days of the apostles and II
good while after all who entered tt
Christian churches were called sain,
and the Apostles Creed says: 81 b
lieve in the communion of saints" al
even in our days the hymns written
English churchmen call Christian
saints. Just hundred years az
George Keith wrote that beautif
hymn: "How Firm Foundation
Saints of the Lord" But in Pauls d;
the name was changed at Antioch
Christians. l reckon that there W
some suspicion that the members OF Il
churches were not all sanctitied; al
that suspicion, | am sorry to say, st
continues to our time and people.
"All Saints" is festival of We
ancient origin, and is obeyed with gre
reverence by Roman Catholics and Epi
copalians. 1t was instituted in t.
r fourth century. Pope Boniface gave
permanence and renown in the sc
!. enth century when he dedicated t
e Pantheon of Jupiter to the worship
t the true God under the invocation
- all the saints. So many churches h
- | t.,