So your parents want you to
go to an All Saints party instead of a Hallowe’en party – or at least dress up
as a saint when you go out trick-or-treating – and you think this is incredibly
boring, right?
Fear not, children. Have you read a martyrology
lately? Do you know how a goodly
number of our heroes and heroines of the Faith died or what their attributes
are in artistic depictions? If you
think no costume is complete without blood and gore and innards showing, dress
up as one of these saints:
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| Saint Denis |
A lot of saints were
decapitated. Some, like Saint
Denis, are depicted carrying their heads.
If you were really looking forward to being the Headless Horseman or the
Headless Zombie or whatever is in vogue these days (Mrs. Rudd does not keep up with such things), make a few changes to
your costume, put a bishop’s miter on your ‘head’ – complete with blood on the
neck; there were no unbloody beheadings – and voila! Saint Denis.
This also works for Saints
John Fisher and Thomas More, if you have a hankering to look like something
from “The Tudors”. And if you
can’t manage the totally headless look, use makeup to make a slash around your
neck, complete with dripping blood.
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| Saint Erasmus |
Even better is going as
Saint Erasmus. He was martyred by
having his intestines wound around a windlass. Find or make a long appendage which looks like intestines
(large or small or both) and attach them to a hole in your costume somewhere
near your belly button (add a nice amount of blood as well. There were no unbloody
eviscerations). If the intestines
are long enough, you can throw them over your shoulders and around your neck
like a stole. Erasmus was also a bishop,
so make yourself a miter (and in spite of the picture here, don’t go out in
your underwear.)
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| Saint Peter Martyr |
If you can find or make one
of those headpieces sometimes called “Splitting Headache” (a sword or an ax
through the head), you can dress as the Dominican Saint Peter Martyr. White tunic, black cloak or cowl, lots
of blood dripping from the top of the head, and maybe a bit of brain slipping
out.
(Assuming here that you know
how to make a simple tunic – an old sheet or length of cloth, fold over
widthwise, cut it into a ‘T’ shape, sew the sides and sleeves (leaving the
openings for your arms, of course), cut a hole at the top for your head to fit
through, hem as needed.)
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| Saint Lawrence |
Saint Lawrence of Rome was
barbecued. Highly unlikely that he
was wearing clothes at the time, but that might be a little chilly for
Hallowe’en, so get togged up in a toga or tunic, paint grill lines fore and aft
for that charbroiled look (not forgetting your face), and if you can find
make-up that looks like burned skin, so much the better.
Young ladies who want to
look reasonably elegant while still producing an ick factor can go as Saint
Agnes, Saint Catherine, etc. A
tunic and a wide piece of cloth worn as a stole will work here.
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| Saint Agnes |
The young girl Saint Agnes
was beheaded (although she didn’t walk around with it like Saint Denis). Create a slashed neck with blood drips,
and carry a stuffed lamb.
Or wear a lot of green and
maybe a shamrock or two (to give people a hint), to portray the Irish (and
headless) Saint Dymphna. She was
the daughter of a king, so a crown with shamrocks might do the trick.
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| Saint Catherine |
Saint Catherine of
Alexandria was also beheaded, so the same costume (in rich cloth) and slashed
neck works for her. As a patron of
philosophers, she carries a book; as a noble woman, she wears a diadem. Carry her attribute – a small Catherine
Wheel (a spiked wheel) – or attach it to your headpiece.
(Those with Renaissance
Faire costumes can go as Blessed Margaret Plantagenet Pole. Don’t be surprised if everyone thinks
you’re Anne Boleyn and wonders when she was canonized.)
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| Saint Apollonia |
For Saint Apollonia (who was
tortured by having her teeth broken and yanked out – no anesthetic), buy (or carve
from Styrofoam) a large tooth shape, and attach it to a pair of pliers. Blacken the rest of your teeth, and
have gobbets of blood dripping out of your mouth and down your chin.
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| Saint Lucy |
The noble lady Saint Lucy
carries around her eyeballs.
Tradition is not sure if she was tortured by having her eyes plucked
out, or whether she did it herself to make a suitor stop pestering her. Tradition says that her eyeballs grew
back in any case. Anyway, she was
a beautiful woman, and was eventually killed by a sword or dagger thrust to the
throat. Paint on a small neck gash
(can you attach what looks like a dagger to your throat?), have blood dripping
down your cheeks from your eyes, and either buy or make a couple of eyeballs
which you can attach to a small plate.
If you really want to make young kids consider you with awe, make your eyeballs from
peanut butter balls dipped in melted white chocolate; use decorating gel to
make the iris and a small chocolate chip for the pupil. Then when you get tired of carting
around your eyes, eat them in front of others.
Vanilla wafer cookies covered with white icing and decorated also works.
That is all that your
hostess can think of right now [there is one of those messy and unwelcome
visitors named Sandy on her way, and Mrs. Rudd is battening down hatches], but
if you check out a martyrology or a book of saints, you can get ideas of your
own.
(Of course, your parents may
require you to recite the life and death of your saint before you leave the
house. Be prepared.)
