As Hallowe’en approaches, I feel it important to remind parents and children that the festival has an undercurrent of occultism and is absolutely anti-Christian.

The feast of Hallowe’en was once the vigil feast of All Saints’ Day, which is celebrated on November 1.

It was the beginning of a day in which we rejoice in the work of God seen in his saints and a cause of great inspiration and joy to the world.

Sadly, it has become dangerously paganised and heavily commercialised.

Parents should be aware of this and try to direct the meaning of the feast towards wholesomeness and beauty, rather than terror, fear and death.

Wearing skeleton suits, dressing up as vampires, witches or goblins or slapping on fake blood is not far removed from communing with the Devil.

As we approach Hallowe’en this year, let us try to provide a wholesome, non-pagan alternative celebration, which thus critiques and rejects the pagan holiday.

Parents can, for example, dress up their children as popular saints instead of witches and devils.

They can carve smiling faces, rather than menacing faces, into pumpkins.

They can light a candle or display publicly another kind of light alongside, perhaps, an image of Christ.

These things can can be a powerful means of showing people that we have hope in someone other than ourselves.

Vic Veritas, Liverpool (via email).