It again relates to the ‘wholeness’ or ‘completeness’ or what they had done and tells us that their acts are worthy of our devotion and utmost respect. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.”Ībraham Lincoln uses the word hallowed in his Gettysburg Address to state that nothing done in the name or memory of the soldiers who fought at Gettysburg could ever match up to the sacrifices that were made by the soldiers themselves. “But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow - this ground. Just like hallowed, the word saint itself is another word that means “one who is holy.” So according to the names, the real meaning of Halloween is All Saints Eve, which comes before All Saint’s Day. All Saints’ Day involves no candy or dressing up, so it doesn’t get the same amount of press. This is because October 31 st is the night before the lesser known All Hallows Day, or All Saints Day that is celebrated on November 1 st. Halloween is the combination of the words hallowed and ev ening. When you hear the word Halloween, does it make you think about this phrase from the Lord’s Prayer? The word Halloween comes from the same root word as hallowed, so there is certainly a connection.īefore Halloween was all about kids walking around the neighborhood to get a bag full of candy, the name had a deeper meaning, specifically related to the day that comes after it. Let’s take a look at some other surprising places where this unusual word is found that you may have not noticed it before. Being holy means to be completely perfect and completely whole, in need of nothing. It is also hard to think of the word holy without also thinking the word whole, which sounds very similar. But, to take things a little bit deeper, what does it really mean to be holy?Īccording to Merriam Webster, to be holy is to be, “exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.” There is an aspect of perfection and worthiness involved, and each time we think of God’s name as hallowed, it should bring us to consider his greatness and his majesty. So, in saying God’s name is hallowed, we are saying that his name is holy.

It is one English translation of the Greek word hagiazo which is most famously used in the Lord’s Prayer, but is also found in several other places throughout the New Testament.

The word hallowed comes from the Old English word halig which in modern times has become the more familiar word holy.

Definition of hallowed be thy name