All Hallows Eve The word “Halloween” is a contraction for “All Hallows Eve,” which is the vigil or eve of All Saints Day (also called “Alhallowmass”), at which time the Roman Catholic Church commemorates all of the hallowed ("made holy") saints in Christian history. The historical origin of All Hallows Eve goes back to the ancient Celtic tribes who lived in Scotland, Wales, and Brittany (today's France). They were pagans, Druids actually, and Nov 1st marked the beginning of the new year and the coming of winter. The eve before Nov 1st, they celebrated a festival called “Lord of the Dead” or “Samhain.” During this festival Celts believed that the souls of the dead, including ghosts, goblins, and witches, returned and visited the living. In addition, they believed that evil people reincarnated as cats, which also made their appearance on Oct 31st. In order to scare away these unwelcome visitors, the people would don masks and light bonfires. After the Romans conquer...

Praying the Psalms ... a Personal Account        For the conclusion of our series on praying the Psalms, a wonderful first-person account may inspire our own prayer of the Psalms.      In Book IX of St. Augustine’s Confessions  (written 397-401 AD), St. Augustine relates how Psalm 4 showed him his life before and after his conversion (August, 386 AD). The Confessions in older translation is in public domain (e.g., at http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/110109.htm ), so we will quote him but with modifications for clarity and readability.       “What utterances I sent up to You, my God, when I read the Psalms of David, those faithful songs and sounds of devotion with no swelling of pride ... and how was I inflamed towards You by them, and burned to recite them, if it were possible, throughout the whole world, against the pride of the human race! And yet they are sung throughout the whole world, and 'none can hide him...

Praying the Psalms ... God's Covenant with David, Part II        As we pray the Psalms sometimes it seems like they are a random collection: a praise psalm may be next to a lament psalm next to a thanksgiving psalm next to a royal psalm. But there really is some order.       Last week we noted that the Book of Psalms is divided into five books indicated by a closing doxology at the end of Psalms 41, 72, 89, 106 and the final Psalm 150 is entirely a doxology. David Composing on a Psalter (Paris, 10th C.)       We also noted that the Psalms predominantly focus on themes relating to God’s Covenant with David (and not His covenant with Moses). The Davidic themes are:       - an everlasting covenant for all peoples (not just Israel) – fulfilled in the New Covenant [Jer 31] of Christ [1 Cor 11:25; Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20; Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:22-24];       - ...

Praying the Psalms ... God's Covenant with David, Part I As we pray, read and sing the Psalms, we may not be aware that they actually convey something of a dramatic shift in the course of salvation history. First, note that the Psalms is divided into five books. These are indicated by a closing doxology at the end of Psalms 41, 72, 89, 106 and the final Psalm 150 is entirely a doxology (in fact, the final five psalms, 146-150, are a closing doxology). Now there is an interesting rabbinical tradition contained in the oldest surviving commentary on the Psalms, the “Midrash Tehillim,” (Tehillim, “Praises,” is the Hebrew title for the Psalms). The Midrash states: “Moses gave Israel the five books” (of the Law) “and David gave Israel the five books of the Psalms.” The idea is that as the Law represented God’s covenant with Moses, but the Psalms represent God’s covenant with David. St. Hippolytus (170-235 AD, a disciple of St. Irenaeus) wrote: “The book of Psalms contai...