In country parishes, as soon as Vespers is said, the congregation proceeds to the charnel-house —an important building in many churchyards —where bones from an over-full graveyard are kept. This night the doors are opened, some peasants kneel inside among the bones, others on the grass outside. In the dark, lit up only by the candles burning on each grave, they sing the Complaint of the Charnel-house, a Breton hymn, which first calls on Christians to gather together, then follows an appeal, as though issued by the bones themselves, beseeching for prayers and again for more prayers.

Irish folk, as is well known, keep Hallowe’en with great zest. In the West, after the young people’s games with nuts and apples are finished, the housemother builds up the fire with sods, sets the chairs round in a semicircle, spreads the table with a clean cloth, and puts ready for the Holy Souls a large uncut loaf and a jug of water. In parts of Kerry, a pot of tea is put out on Christmas Eve for the poor souls, and it is noteworthy that the pious legends of Breton say that the ancestors are liberated from Purgatory on Christmas Eve and St. John’'s Eve, as well as Hallowe’en.

That infamous killer of Catholics, Queen Elizabeth of England, forbade all observances connected with All Souls’ Day. In spite of her ordinance, "souling" customs—mentioned historically both before and after the Reformation—went on in English and Welsh counties for centuries, and indeed, have not quite disappeared yet from a few Shropshire villages.

It is rather surprising to find that in East Yorkshire, where the people are of mixed Saxon, Danish, and Norse descent, a similar custom prevailed. There it was the bakers who gave their customers, on November 2, "saumas (soul-mass) loaves" small square buns with currants (i.e., small seedless raisins—Ed.) spread in the shape of a cross on top. One bun was supposed to be kept in the house during the following year for "good fortune."

Though not connected with Hallowe’en or All Souls’ Day, the remarkable funeral custom of "sin eating" is worth mentioning. In the 18th century and later, when someone died in Wales and Hereford, the "sin eater" of the parish, generally a very poor and humble man, was brought to the house. Standing on one side of the corpse, a crust of bread, a mug of ale (in some districts, milk) and a sixpenny were handed him over the dead body. The "sin eater" ate and drank, thereby signifying that he had taken on himself, i.e., "eaten the sins" of the deceased and thus prevented the soul from haunting the old home. (While this practice may seem strange to us, it evokes the Catholic dogma of Our Lord’s propitiation for all our sins. "Him, Who knew no sin, He hath made sin for us that we might be made the justice of God in Him [Christ]"—II Corinthians 5:21. The same dogma is recalled at Holy Mass when the priest spreads his hands over the bread and wine, soon to become Our Lord; an image of the rite in the Old Testament when the priest spread his hands over a goat, bringing down upon the animal the sins of the people, then letting it escape alone into the wilderness. This "sin-laden" goat was call the "scapegoat"—Ed.) Nominally in 18th century custom, "sin eating" or traces of it seemed to have lingered in Wales until the middle of the 19th century, while in Herefordshire, the ceremonial drinking of port wine by pall bearers and visitors in the room in which lay the corpse, looks much as though it were a reminiscence of the same custom. (Until disallowed by community hygienic laws, wakes were held in the homes of the deceased, especially among the Irish.—Ed.)

When a funeral takes place in some districts of London, the mourners make efforts to have among the floral displays, at least one "gate," which, as its name suggests, consists of flower or greenery-covered "bars," with a white bird also represented in flowers. Now it seems as if this cherished floral "gate" might well be a folk memory, taking tangible form, of a once widespread belief that when a man died, his soul escaped through his lips in the form of some little creature, in Brittany a gnat or a mouse, in England and Ireland, a white butterfly or bird. There is another vestige of the superstition in Derby and Yorkshire, where white night-flying moths are called "souls" by country people.

Past beliefs never quite disappear; some part should be made to live on, though perhaps changed here and there, so that among our children and in our Catholic parishes at least, among the everyday materialistic business and hubbub, we Catholics give physical expression to the truth that departed souls wind their way through the gates of death to the life beyond—Heaven, Hell, Purgatory.

In pre-Christian times, food was put out for the dead. Catholics have sanctified this pagan custom and now bake special breads in honor of the holy souls and bestow them on children and the poor. "All Souls’ Bread" (Seelenbrot) is made and distributed in Germany, Belgium, France, Austria, Spain, Italy, Hungary, and in the Slavic countries.

In Poland the farmers hold a solemn meal on the evening of All Souls’ Day, with empty seats and plates ready for the "souls" of departed relatives. Onto the plates members of the family put parts of the dinner. These portions are not touched by anyone, but afterward are given to beggars or poor neighbors. In the Alpine provinces of Austria destitute children and beggars go from house to house, reciting a prayer or singing a hymn for the holy souls, receiving small loaves of the "soul bread" in reward. There, too, people put aside a part of everything that is cooked on All Souls’ Day and give meals to the poor.