Above: A church in town is asking kids to write about a “canonized saint” worth emulating. (collage of patron saint images from around the world from Wikimedia)
St. Anne’s Parish is celebrating the holiday which gave rise to Halloween. They are inviting community youth to join them.
The much holier, Hallowmas/All Saints Day, falls on November 1st, with the celebration beginning the night (or eve) prior. The Catholic church is using the holiday as inspiration for an essay contest for students in grades 4-12.
The contest will culminate in a $100 prize for each the winners in three age categories: grades 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12.
While the contest launched this month, entrants have until after Christmas break to submit their essays.
Here are more details from the church’s announcement for the Hallowmass Essay Contest:
The holiday name of Hallowe’en [a contraction of “All Hallow’s Eve”], – Old English for “Holy Evening”- began in Medieval Europe to celebrate the evening before Hallowmas [Mass of the Saints], later called “All Saints Day”. All Christians at this time celebrated special feasts to remember the Heavenly “birthday” of Men and women who strived to follow the will of God in their lives, whose heroic lives of virtue were deemed good examples to follow. The feast of all canonized saints is celebrated on November 1st, with the vigil celebration beginning on October 31st.
To commemorate this ancient tradition, St. Anne Parish in Southborough is hosting an All Saints Day essay contest.
ESSAY CONTEST DIRECTIONS: Pick one or more canonized saint listed at holidayhistory.org, and write an essay about how their life-style choices provide good examples for us to emulate today.
CONTEST SPECIFICS: The Essay Contest is open to youth grades four through twelve. All entries must be postmarked or emailed by January 6th, 2023. Entries may be emailed as a pdf to: rachelle@stannesouthborough, or postmailed as a hard copy to: St. Anne Faith Formation, 20 Boston Rd., Southborough, MA 01772
Essays will be judged by a panel of language art teachers and theologians.
For more information, please email rachelle@stannesouthborough.org.
