Hi folks.
I love Autumn! I love the colors and the sleepy feeling…the slowing down of my pulse…You say slowing down…I guess I am still talking like an US Easterner. Cause that’s what happens when you live back East as opposed to living in LA.
When we came to Cali…in 1949…it was already busy on La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles. We lived on a busy corner of La Brea , a famous street that led to Rodeo Road in one direction and to the industrial section the other direction…There was Beverly Hills, which my sister used to take buses to to get autographs from such famous persons as Jeff Chandler and Mario Lanza back then. Then there was her Catholic School Bishop Conaty girls High(which now is Lady of Loretto High School. We didn’t have money to send me and my older brother there. So we went to a public school 5 blocks away which I walked at 5 years of age. Wow. That won’t happen today- right?
Things were pretty plain and simple back then. I would do my chores and then watch TV till mom came home. One event proved very serious. There was two things..the earthquake of 51 , I believe, it did some damage to our sidewalk mainly. And that fateful day a garbage truck man fell asleep at the wheel and careened into our bedroom of our house. It so happened that I always played there in that very corner…underneath my Nonna’s old fashioned pedal-push sewing machine. I guess I felt her presence there. I would sit for hours playing with my dolls. One afternoon around lunchtime…mom interrupted my play with: “Lauren come and wash your hands and have some lunch…” I, for some silly reason hesitated…like children do in order to exercise their power. When I didn’t come right away…she called out again…the same thing, but louder and more firmly. I smiled and hesitated…feeling very obstinate…I was so comfortable with my dollies and I. Then it happened. I literally heard a voice saying something like: “Get up now and wash your hands!” The voice was very firm and scary to me…I think I had never heard that sound before. I was only around four and a half or five years of age.
I quickly responded …out of sheer fear…and ran to the bathroom. No sooner had I wet my hands with soap did I hear a thundering crashing sound and all the white powder from the collaspsing walls filled the hallway bathroom and living room. I stood in shock for the longest time…it seemed. It was very surreal …for I barely heard my mom through the rubble screaming my name…”Lauren Lauren…where are you…are you alright?” I crawled over the mess to my mothers arms. She enfolded me into her arms where I felt such overwhelming love. My poor mom…she went through so much with me…having to go to work while I was so young…going through my several pneumonia and whooping cough bouts that almost took my life several times. Now this shocker!
Now looking back, I feel that something was always chasing me in my life to stop me from just being me. I don’t do anything special like everyone else…I just believe in love. I try to sing about it…and love my family and have a few friends. Just a few. I can’t understand how people have to have so many friends…I get exhausted just taking care of my family! LOL
Now I come to Halloween. Back then , when I first started doing Halloween…my sister said in the Catholic schools they would stress two feast days in the church around Halloween time. All Hallows Eve(which is the night of Halloween) which is the feast of All Saints. Hense that is where the name originally came from. And the very next day…feast of All Souls where Catholics pray for the Souls of the dearly departed. That is the customary tradition of praying for the dead in purgatory. They didn’t know where their parents or grandparents went so just in case the church prays for family members with masses and other devotionals.
Purgatory is a place of cleansing…a place where the person is good…but doesn’t really have a relationship with their God and a relationship with the body of Christ.
Purgatory was instituted because of signs wonders and prophetic visions from the saints…mainly the visitations on earth from the Virgin Mary , the mother of Christ.
There is an inference of this place in the bible. It is the verse where Jesus after he died visited “the imprisoned spirits.” He, no doubt, spoke to them about salvation. These imprisoned spirits are explained to us by modern Biblical scholars that these spirits were those that were patiently and faithfully waiting and believing for the Messiah. God love and faithfulness in turn is magnified and glorified by the fact that He, The Christ, the Messiah kept his Word and did visit them and deliver them from their affliction. Second chapter of this rare story in the bible can only be seen through the eyes of faith. I would presume then, once hearing the gospel in person from “the Christ” himself then they the imprisoned spirits would accept Him as their Jeshua Mashiach and be saved. But, that part is left for your spiritual upbringing, knowledge of scripture and imagination.
I digress. Now the Halloween back then in the fifties and hundreds of years before in the church never celebrated death, gore and mutilation. Today it is being done.Back then the church had the kids dress up in their heroes of faith- The Saints. That culture was more innocent. But how did we go from the positive images to the negative? Hollywood for one started seeing that there was money in Horrifying people. Christ came to bring positive images of peace and love and faith. The horror movies brought on fear, bad dreams and over-cautiousness of people around us. They feed the souls of the sick, mentally ill and criminal minds. Life imitated film. But that’s not all that is to blame…we must realize that are hearts by nature are not good-“Our hearts are deceitfully wicked…” the bible says. Without good guidance we go astray quickly.
Why else did we go from something sweet to something evil? Please ask yourself that. Please ask why witchcraft and Satanism is rising. Start doing your research. I know a lot of you are trying to ignore this fact and just send your kiddies to parks , churches and family celebrations at Halloween and that’s good for the kids…but we mustn’t just hide from this evil…
Remember the old adage…from Edmund Burke “All the is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
Beloveds…what can we do to make a positive change during the month of October? I have one suggestion for starters. Pray more during this month…and all month. Pray and fast one meal a day, or if you can’t do that. Fast from anger on the freeways, fast from cussing, fast from being impatient, clean more as a fast, fast by giving to others, tv or sweets on several days a week…or fast one day a week…just water with prayer of course…for a more Godly, less horrifying time of the year…and for heaven’s sake…please speak up and not in a judgmental way…for the little ones who come to your door for candy have no idea what is happening…just be kind to them if you do open the door to them…and bless them.
Personally your witness at Halloween is the most powerful time of year to do so…be out there as a light…dress up as an angel..when they come…dress up like a saint and talk about them at the door explaining about the real Halloween…the real reason for the season, but without insulting or pointing fingers. Be a light for Christ.
Happy All Hallows Eve to you all.
Happy All Saints eve to you for you are Saints on the Way to God!
love,
MamaMia
