Wondering how to celebrate Halloween during Covid-19? Wishing you had something that relates to the actual meaning of the holiday, All Hallow’s Eve? Look no further! Introducing, room-to-room trick or treat with the saints!
Step 1
Look at the list below. Pick some saints.
Step 2
Get the candy that matches the saints you chose.
Step 3
Click the saints’ names that you chose to get printables, and print them out. Set them up in various rooms throughout the house. You can pin them to walls, fold them as little stand ups, whatever you want. Be creative!
Step 4
Explain that November 1st is the Solemnity of All Saints (All Saints’ Day), the day we celebrate all of the saints. Anyone in Heaven, whether we know their names or not, gets celebrated. For more detail on the Solemnity of All Saints click here.
Step 5
Go trick or treating room by room! When you find a saint, read their story and why that candy goes with the saint. Then give the kiddos the candy. A couple of ways to spice it up:
A) Have a guessing game of who the saint is based on the picture
B) Have a guessing game based on the candy
C) Read about the saint and try to guess why the candy was chosen for the saint
D) Read the saint info one line at a time, see who can guess the saint first
Step 6
You can color the saints in while you eat that yummy candy!
Saints and candies:
Snickers – St. Lawrence
St. Lawrence was a deacon and martyr. The Roman emperor, Valerian, demanded that St. Lawrence give him the treasure of the Church. St. Lawrence said he would. Emperor Valerian thought he would get gold and silver, but St. Lawrence actually gathered all the sick and poor people that he could find to present to Valerian. The sick and poor are precious in God’s eyes. They are treasured by Him! St. Lawrence taught the world a lesson about the great value of even the least of people, but the Valerian was not amused. The Emperor ordered that St. Lawrence be roasted over a fire. Legend says that while he was on the fire, he told the soldiers around him, “Turn me over, I’m done on that side.” Because of St. Lawrence’s humor, he gets the Snickers bar, since snicker is a kind of laughter.
Twix – Saints Cosmas and Damien
Saints Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers who lived in the 3rd century. They were born in Arabia and were basically doctors. They were filled with God’s love for everyone and never made anyone pay for their help. The Roman emperor Diocletian was a great persecutor of the Christians, and Saints Cosmas and Damien were very well known for their work. When the persecutions came, they were found and martyred. Their feast day is September 26th. They are patron saints of pharmacists. They are paired with the Twix because they are twins.
Nerds – St. Isidore of Seville
St. Isidore was a bishop who lived in Spain. He was a great scholar and wrote about everything from grammar to astronomy and geography. He, of course, also wrote a great deal about God. He is a doctor of the Church. St. Isidore of Seville gets nerds because of his tremendous scholarship.
100 Grand Bar – St. Louis of France
St. Louis of France was king of France for much of the 13th century. St. Louis was known for his sense of justice and fairness and for trying to make France a better place for everyone, not just the rich, to live. He also was a great builder, either hiring people himself or inspiring others to build buildings such as cathedrals, churches, hospitals, convents, and monasteries. He gave a great deal to the poor as well. The 100 Grand Bar belongs with St. Louis because he was king and therefore very wealthy.
Milky Way – St. Joseph Cupertino
One of the most incredible things about St. Joseph Cupertino is that he was observed to have levitated or flown. There are at least 150 eyewitness testimonies, many of them written. The times he levitated are called ecstasies, which means he was in a particularly powerful and deep state of prayer. Because of this levitation, he is the patron saint of astronauts, and from there we get the Milky Way candy bar.
3 Musketeers – St. Ignatius of Loyola
St. Ignatius of Loyola was a soldier in the Spanish army. One day, he was hit in the leg by a cannonball. While he was recovering, he read many books about Jesus and the saints and he eventually decided to give his life completely to God. He became the founder of the Jesuit order who built many schools and sought to oppose the Protestant Reformation. He is particularly well known for his spiritual exercises. The 3 musketeers were like soldiers, and St. Ignatius of Loyola was a soldier as well.
Kit-Kat – St. Helena
St. Helena was a Roman queen and the mother of the famous Emperor Constantin. She is best known for her work to bring as many relics of the faith as possible to Rome. A relic is something that had something to do with Christ or a saint, such as the cross, or a saint’s hair or bones (after they died, of course). Relics are powerful reminders of the faith and those who followed Christ so closely. You could almost think of a relic as a piece of the faith. A piece of a kit-kat will taste good, but a piece of the faith, a relic, might just uplift your soul.
M&Ms – Saints Mark and Marcellian
Not a lot is known about Saints Mark and Marcellian. They lived in Rome and were martyrs for the faith. It is believed that they were martyred during the persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian. They were buried on 18 June in the cemetery of Santa Balbina on the Via Ardeatina. M&M is for Mark and Marcellian.
Reese’s – St. Athanasius
St. Athanasius was born in Egypt and eventually became a bishop. He was a scholar and was very knowledgeable. He is perhaps best known for his work and arguments against various heretics, most notably Arianism, which taught that Jesus was not actually God. St. Athanasius explained and taught that Jesus was God. Jesus had 2 natures, one human and one divine. St. Athanasius referred to this as the hypostatic union, which is the term we still use today. Reese’s is peanut butter AND chocolate; Jesus is human AND divine, just like St. Athanasius taught us.
Crunch – St. Margaret Clitherow
St. Margaret Clitherow lived in England. She was married, and while she was alive, Catholics were often persecuted. She gave shelter to priests who were fugitives, and when she was caught the authorities tried to make her deny her faith. She refused. Eventually she was crushed to death. The candy probably doesn’t need any explanation.
Almond Joy – St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis of Assisi lived in Italy and was born the son of a wealthy merchant. He heard God’s call in his life and literally gave up everything he had to follow Christ, even his clothes! St. Francis did many amazing things, and was even called the “Mirror of Christ.” One of the things he was most known for was his great joy in all things, even in suffering. He was given the stigmata, the wounds of Christ, by God. Almond Joy is like St. Francis’ joy.
Payday – St. Elizabeth of Hungary
St. Elizabeth was the queen of Hungary. She had a great love and devotion to the poor. She is often pictured with a basket of bread because even though she was the queen, she would often take time to bring bread to the poorest in her country. It wasn’t money, but the bread was probably met with as much joy or more than most people experience on payday, or upon eating one.
Skittles – Joseph
In the book of Genesis, we read about Joseph and his coat of many colors. He was sold into slavery by his brothers, but God cared for him and elevated him to the second in command of all of Egypt. Eventually Joseph was reunited with his brothers and forgave them when they come to Egypt for help during a famine. Joseph’s coat probably had as many colors as Skittles do, though with fewer artificial ingredients.
Starburst – The 3 Wise men
In my defense, Wal Mart has had Christmas stuff out for weeks. So while this one may be looking ahead, I’m not as bad as Wal Mart. The wise men followed the star to find the Christ child, and we all look for Starburst at Halloween.
Twizzlers – Cardinal John Henry Newman
St. John Henry Newman was an English theologian. He converted to Catholicism at the age of 44 and became a priest and then a cardinal. St. John Henry Newman wrote a lot and worked hard to make the faith known to his countrymen so they might find the joy of the Catholic faith as he had. We’re gonna go ahead and conveniently forget that black Twizzlers exist and conveniently note that both Twizzlers and cardinals’ clothes are red.
Bubble Gum – St. Theresa of Avila
St. Theresa of Avila was born in Spain shortly after the Protestant Reformation. Her father sent her to a convent, which she didn’t like at first. She began to grow closer to Christ, and by the end of her life she was a great mystic. She is often turned to for her great insight into prayer and her relationship with God. She is another Doctor of the Church. When we have something to think about, we might say that we have “something to chew on.” St. Theresa of Avila gave us plenty to chew on, though none of it is bubble gum.
Suckers/Lollipops – St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas Aquinas lived in the 13th century. He was an incredible scholar and writer. People today still study his works and thought. There is a story that one day some monks told St. Thomas that there was a pig flying outside and he could see it from his window. He got up and looked. The monks perhaps thought he was a sucker for going to look, but St. Thomas said, “I would rather believe that a pig could fly than that a monk could lie.” This story shows how great a devotion to the truth St. Thomas had, and also explains why he gets suckers/lollipops.
Whoppers – St. Therese of Lisieux
This saint is known as the “little flower” for her humble and simple approach to spirituality. Don’t let her littleness fool you though; she is also a Doctor of the Church! She entered the Carmelite order at a young age and grew in holiness quickly. The Carmelites wear white and brown habits, much like the whopper’s white center and brown coat. These unassuming candies are packed with flavor. The unassuming St. Therese the little flower is a whopper of a saint.
Jolly Ranchers – St. Isidore the farmer
St. Isidore was the son of a poor peasant family, and was named after the great Isidore of Seville. He did not have a farm of his own, but was actually a day laborer for a wealthy landowner. He was known for praying all day while he worked and for sharing what little he had with those who needed it. Legend says he would arrive to work late every day after attending Mass, but he managed to get his work done with the help of angels on either side of him. Working with the help and friendship of God would make one a jolly rancher indeed.
Milk Duds - Saint Brigid of Ireland
St. Brigid was the daughter of a slave who worked dairies. When the slaveowner discovered she was pregnant, he sold her and Brigid to a Druid, a religious leader in the ancient Celtic cult. According to legend, Brigid would not drink any milk that the Druid tried to feed her and instead was fed by a white cow with red ears. The milk of the Druid and their gods was a dud, but the true God sustained her and led her to perform many miracles.
Sweet Tarts – St. Jerome
St. Jerome was born to Christian parents, but he took a while to come around to the faith. While studying grammar, philosophy, and rhetoric in Rome, he ignored the moral teachings of his parents and did whatever he wanted. When he felt guilty, he would go to the crypts in Rome and imagine he was in Hell, but that didn’t help him change his ways and only made him scared. Eventually, his Christian friend Bonosus showed him the sweetness of God’s love, and Jerome decided to become a Christian. Even though he devoted the rest of his life to God, he still had a lot of bad habits. He could be tart—that is, mean and grumpy, but the sweetness of God’s love and forgiveness always won in the end. Today he is best known for translating the Bible into Latin.
Butterfinger – St. Honoré
St. Honoré is the patron saint of bakers. Born in France in the 6th century, St. Honoré was a priest and eventually we elevated to bishop. Legend says that when his childhood nursemaid heard the news, she dropped her wooden paddle which she used to make cake, on the ground. The paddle grew roots and sprouted into a blackberry tree. Centuries later, a Parisian baker donated land to build a church in Honoré’s honor, which became later the headquarters for the baker’s guild in Paris. Bakers use lots of butter, and his nursemaid did drop the paddle. Butterfinger fits.
Gobstopper – Zechariah
Zechariah had just been given wonderful news; He and his wife Elizabeth were having a baby! Zechariah didn’t believe God could do that since they were both very old. Because of his lack of faith, he was not able to talk until the child was born. Imagine a Gobstopper that takes nine months to finish.
Baby Ruth – St. Dominic Savio
St. Dominic Savio is from Italy. He lived in the 19th century. Even as a small child, St. Dominic was known for his prayer and love for God. St. Dominic was even able to receive his First Communion early. When St. Dominic was just 14, he became seriously ill and died. He is the youngest saint who was not a martyr. A “baby” saint for a baby Ruth.
Hope this makes your Halloween both Catholic and Covid safe!
For our Advent activity and prayer book, click here.