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Halloween, Pope Boniface IVSamhain Celtic calendar Coligny calendar Gaulish 62 lunar months Halloween Nos Calan Gaeaf Druid October 31 Superstition Feralia Pope Boniface IV All-hallows Eve Trick or treat Pumpkin Ducking apples Candy Ghosts Witches Black cats
Converted the Roman temple of the old gods, the Pantheon, to a Christian church dedicated to Our Lady and all the Martyrs in 609, the first such conversion of a temple from pagan to Christian use When Pope Boniface IV reconsecrated the Pantheon in Rome on May 13, 609 AD, renaming it the “Church of St. Mary and the Martyrs,” he established that anniversary as a day of celebratory remembrance for all of the Church’s martyrs. Pope Gregory III later changed the date of remembrance to November 1 when he dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica to “all saints.” November 1 became All Saints Day, otherwise known as All Hallow’s Day. The night before became All Hallow’s Eve (“Halloween” being a colloquial contraction of that phrase). Whether the Holy Father purposefully chose May 13 because of the date of the popular celebration already established in the East or whether this was just a happy coincidence is open to debate. All Saints Day on Nov. 1 in England, and such a celebration also existed in Salzburg, Austria. Ado of Vienne (d. 875) recounted how Pope Gregory IV asked King Louis the Pious (778-840) to proclaim Nov. 1 as All Saints Day throughout the Holy Roman Empire. It took another hundred years for the entire Catholic Church to celebrate the
saints on one single day. Pope Gregory IV (827-834) declared November 1 as the
new date to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Martyrs and expanded it to include
all saints, not just those who died for their faith. All Hallow’s Eve, the
vigil, was celebrated on October 31.
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Son
of John, a physician, a Marsian from the province and town of Valeria; he
succeeded Boniface III after a vacancy of over nine months; consecrated 25
August, 608; d. 8 May, 615 (Duchesne); or, 15 September, 608-25 May, 615 (Jaffé). 