MADRID, OCT. 31, 2012 (Zenit.org).- The great tradition of the Feast of All Saints goes back many centuries. The celebration of the commemoration of the dead the following day came sometime later. The two Christian celebrations were fused into one and transformed into a single celebration -- Halloween -- where anything goes and essentially forgetting its origins.

The feast of All Saints, which the Church of Rome already observed, was transferred by Pope Gregory III (731-741) to November 1. Pope Gregory IV (827-844) extended this feast to the whole Church.

Although the custom of remembering and praying for the dead is as old as the Church, something which also existed in many pre-Christian cultures, the liturgical commemoration of the dead dates back to November 2, 998. The custom was instituted by Saint Odilo, Benedictine monk and fifth abbot of Cluny, in southern France. Rome adopted the practice in the 14th century and was eventually extended to the whole Church.

The name Halloween is no more than the popular deformation of the expression All Hallows' Eve: Vigil of All Saints, used in Ireland. This very ancient celebration reached the United States though the Irish immigrants that took root there, undergoing a radical transformation only to return to Europe in its North American form. Old Europe donned a pumpkin and dedicated itself to enlivening a children's celebration half way between carnival and the request for gifts by children of the Latin tradition.

When my little neighbors come to my home to ask for trinkets, dressed as witches and devils, I first make them sing a Christmas carol.

In many countries, the Day of All Saints and the following All Souls Day, indistinctly, as in Spain, are Days in which families visit cemeteries and remember their loved ones. Sweets are made which relatives give to one another; stuffed marzipan called "saint's bones," for example. Children are given sweets and from a very young age become familiar in a natural way with the idea that earthly life is not eternal, but the next life is.

In Mexico, although the commemoration of the dead seems to be of pre-Hispanic origin, today it coincides with the feast of All Saints and All Souls Day. It is also observed in some countries of Central America, such as Brazil, as well as in many Hispanic communities of the United States.

All Souls Day is more popular in Mexico. While some take flowers to cemeteries, others spend the Day remembering their deceased loved ones, erecting altars at dawn, some of which are real works of art. The simplest way in most homes is to put a cloth on a table and photographs of the deceased, adorned with flowers and mementos.

What Halloween certainly is not is a Satanist celebration, although some want to make it such.

[Translation by ZENIT]

Albeit these all being marine legends and sometimes lacking authenticity, some of these haunted ships continue to provoke speculation and fearful anticipation. We present you with ten such mysterious ghost ships of the maritime world that would surely give you an eerie feeling and goose bumps.

10. The Caleuche

It is a legend of the Chilota mythology, where it is described as a ghost ship, which comes into being every night near the island of Chiloe. It says the ship carries the spirits of all the people who have drowned at sea. The Caleuche is strikingly beautiful, bright and gay as always surrounded by party music sounds and laughter.

9. The SS Valencia

In 1906, the SS Valencia sank off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia after encountering bad weather near Cape Mendocino and thereafter became a subject of mysterious ghost stories. Eventually 37 of merely 108 people were saved using lifeboats, among which one simply disappeared.

Since then, many a fisherman has claimed to witness ghost ship sightings with human skeletons even after many decades post sinking.

8. The Ourang Medan

In 1947, two American ships, while passing through the Strait of Malacca, went off to a rescue mission after receiving a distress call from Ourang Medan. The caller claimed to be a crewmember and conveyed the message of death of everyone else on-board. His words weirdly ended with "I die". The rescuers found the ship unharmed but the entire crew, including the dog, dead with terrified faces and expressions.

Before further investigation, the abandoned ship caught fire and exploded. The probable reason could be over-exposure of nitroglycerin, which it was carrying illegally. The other mystery revolves around the story of paranormal activities and/or alien invasion.

7. The Carroll A. Deering

This ship ran aground in the notorious Diamond Shoals near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in 1921, where it was stuck for several days before any rescue team could arrive. Later, the Coast Guard found that the equipment, logbook and two lifeboats were missing from the abandoned ship, otherwise undamaged.

6. The Baychimo

Built in the early 1920s this is one of the real-life ghost ship which was, in 1931, became trapped in the pack-ice near Alaska, leaving no hopes for the owner Hudson Bay Company but to abandon it. However, amazingly it remained adrift for the next 38 years and was frequently sighted floating aimlessly in the waters off Alaska.

Weather condition had always made it impossible to salvage, but since 1969, it has disappeared completely. A few expedition programmes had since been launched to trace back this mysterious ghost ship.

5. The Octavius

The Octavius became more than just a legend back in 1775, when a whaling ship named the Herald found it aimlessly drifting off the coast of Greenland with all of its crew frozen dead by the arctic cold. To add to the spooky environment, the ship's captain was found sitting at his desk, with a logbook in front him, and finishing a log entry from 1762.

Relating to this could mean that the Octavius had been floating for 13 years and completed its passage to the Atlantic while returning to England from the Orient via the Northwest Passage as a ghost ship.

4. The Joyita

In 1955 this fishing and charter boat was found abandoned in the South Pacific, five weeks after it had been reported overdue. The air-search mission could not trace it, until a merchant ship found it drifting almost 600 miles off its original source with no sign of crew and cargo.

There was a doctor's bag and several bloody bandages on the deck and the radio was tuned to the universal distress signal, but what happened actually there was never revealed as none of the crew was ever seen again.

3. The Lady Lovibond

An interesting story of love, jealousy and rage complements the tale of this haunted ship. In 1748, the day before the Valentine's Day, it was set assail as a celebration of the ship's captain's wedding. Nevertheless, his friend, who was too in love with her, out of vengeance, steered the ship into the notorious Goodwind Sands, sinking it and killing all on-board.

Since then it could be seen every fifty years sailing around Kent. 1798, 1848, 1898 and 1948 has witnessed this ship's sightseeing and some boats had actually sent out rescuers, assuming it was in distress, but later could not be found. Albeit, there was not any confirmed spotting in 1998, this famous ghost ship continues to be a legend.

2. The Mary Celeste

Probably the most famous real-life ghost ships story embraces the Mary Celeste, found adrift in the Atlantic Ocean in 1872 in a completely unharmed condition with all its sails still up, the crew's personal belongings intact and a cargo hold of over 1500 alcohol barrels untouched. The only things missing were the lifeboat, the captain's logbook and most importantly, the entire crew. Since pirate's attack could not be held responsible for such a phenomenon, theories of crew mutiny, waterspout killing, and consumption of poisonous food leading to madness came into being.

However, the most reasonable explanation could there be a storm or some kind of technical issue, compelling the crew immediately abandon the ship in the lifeboat and die later at the sea. Apart from these, the mystery of this haunted ship surrounds with ghosts and even sea monsters and alien abduction theories.

1. The Flying Dutchman

In maritime folklore, this ghost ship has left the maximum impact like no other by inspiring numerous paintings, films, books, opera, etc. Van der Decken, the captain, on its way towards East Indies, with sheer determination tried to steer his ship through the adverse weather condition of the Cape of Good Hope but failed miserably even after vowing to drift until the doomsday. Legend says that since then they have been cursed to sail the oceans for eternity.