--- title: Praying Through Hallowtide description: Shauna’h Fuegen explores the Catholic origins of Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day, detailing the Office of the Dead & living a holy Hallowtide. image: https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/20241022%20SFuegen%202.png --- [![catholic-mom-logo-v2](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/images/catholic-mom-logo-v2.svg "catholic-mom-logo-v2")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) [![search-icon](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/search-icon.svg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/praying-through-hallowtide#) [FAITH](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/tag/faith) # Praying Through Hallowtide Oct 22, 2024 10:00:00 AM  |  by [Shauna'h Fuegen](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/shaunah-fuegen) ![featured image](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/20241022%20SFuegen%202.png) *Shauna’h Fuegen explores the Catholic origins of Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day, detailing how to pray the Office of the Dead and live a holy Hallowtide.* --- Hallowtide is upon us, and I, for one, am practically vibrating with excitement.   What is Hallowtide, you ask? It’s the ancient Christian custom of praying for the dead and celebrating the countless (named and unnamed) saints in Heaven over the course of three days: All Hallows Eve (aka Halloween), All Saints Day, and All Souls Day. It once had its own octave for the eight days of Allhallowtide, but that was discontinued in 1955. It’s a beautiful practice to focus your prayer on the dead during the Hallowtide triduum, and there’s a particularly intriguing option that the Church prescribes for November 2, All Souls Day: The Office of the Dead.   The Office of the Dead (it just SOUNDS spooky and special, doesn’t it?) is part of the [Liturgy of the Hours](https://divineoffice.org/liturgy-of-the-hours/), and is available for the faithful to pray all year (with exceptions, see below), but is mandatory for priests and religious to pray on All Souls Day. It is a combination of psalms, antiphons, readings, and prayers designed to be prayed for the souls of all the faithful departed. Everything calls back to the death of the physical body and the hope we have in the risen Christ. It’s haunting and beautiful, and a unique expression of our Catholic faith.     ![null](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/20241022%20SFuegen%204.png?width=1080&height=1080&name=20241022%20SFuegen%204.png)   If you want to learn about the ancient triduum of Hallowtide and pray for the dead in community with other Catholic moms, then check out [Holy Hallowtide](https://adept-innovator-4829.ck.page/09ad93b7b2), a three-day email series with daily checklists, music playlists, recorded sung prayers, a booklist, informative resources, and specialty prayers for the season, including the Office of the Dead.     ## What is the Liturgy of the Hours?   Laity have been encouraged to pray the Liturgy of the Hours (also referred to as the Divine Office) since the reforms of Vatican II. It can be a bit daunting to learn (there are a lot of rules and ambiguously-placed ribbons), but it is a rich treasure to tap into. [*The Handy Little Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours*](https://www.amazon.com/Handy-Little-Guide-Liturgy-Hours/dp/1639660291/) can help you get started with this practice of prayer. Thankfully, there are free and easy-to-use versions available for those starting out, or for those who prefer praying with a digital resource instead of a physical book. Consider taking advantage of these in order to pray the Office of the Dead on November 2:   - Download the [iBreviary](https://www.ibreviary.org/en/) or [Divine Office](https://divineoffice.org/) apps. You can also access the prayers at the [Divine Office website](https://divineoffice.org/).  - The Office of the Dead is available on Divine Office on November 2, whereas it is accessible in iBreviary any time of the year (click the prayer hands at the top of the app, then Prayers, then scroll down to Office of the Dead).  - If you already own a breviary (either Christian Prayer or the four-volume set of the Liturgy of the Hours) check the table of contents for where the Office of the Dead is located, typically near the back of the book.   The Office is divided into seven “hours” of the day, with hours referring to occasions of prayer and not actual time spent praying. If you’re new to this, start with Morning and/or Evening Prayer, as those “hinge” hours are what the Church recommends for laypeople. Since we don’t live in religious communities, we aren’t bound by the same rules as to when and how many hours to pray. Morning prayer is best in the early morning (to take full advantage of the sunrise vibes present in the psalms and antiphons for that hour), but honestly I’ve squeezed it in at 11:59 AM plenty of times. Evening Prayer is typically prayed anytime after 5 PM. The apps do all the work for you in sorting out exactly what to pray in which order.    ## For the Divine Office nerds (like me)  There are some rules we need to follow around praying the Office of the Dead. It can also be prayed after the death of a loved one, for example, or on the anniversary of their death. According to the general instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours, however, it cannot be prayed on the following days:   - Solemnities - Sundays - Feasts of the Lord - Weekdays of Lent and Holy Week - The octaves of Christmas and Easter - Weekdays from December 17-24    ![20241022 SFuegen 3](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/20241022%20SFuegen%203.png?width=1080&height=1080&name=20241022%20SFuegen%203.png)   Have a wonderful and holy Hallowtide!    Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles. --- Copyright 2024 Shauna'h Fuegen Images: (top and bottom) Canva; (center) copyright 2024 Barb Szyszkiewicz, all rights reserved. ### Share this article [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fpraying-through-hallowtide%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fpraying-through-hallowtide%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fpraying-through-hallowtide%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Praying%20Through%20Hallowtide) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fpraying-through-hallowtide%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fpraying-through-hallowtide%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ** #### About the Author ![Shauna'h Fuegen](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Shaunah%20Fuegen%20Headshot%20-%20Shaunah%20Fuegen.jpg) ### [Shauna'h Fuegen](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/shaunah-fuegen) Shauna’h Fuegen is a cradle Catholic, Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk), wife, and working mother of three young boys. She guides Catholic women through making time and space for God, even in the busiest of seasons. You can find her at [Fiat Sanctum](https://fiatsanctum.com/) writing about prayer routines, everyday holiness, and life as a Secular Franciscan. Follow along with Shauna’h on Instagram [@fiatsanctum](https://www.instagram.com/fiatsanctum/). ## Related Blog Articles [ Holy Hygge: A Catholic Approach to Easing the Winter Blues Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/holy-hygge-a-catholic-approach-to-easing-the-winter-blues) [ God Wants Us to Slow Down in Advent. Believe Him. 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