"We don't choose the saints, they choose us." - Anonymous
Today's solemnity, All Saints' Day, has a relatively interesting history in the Church. Originally, the feast was meant to commemorate all of the unknown martyrs, since they were the first saints whose feasts were commemorated in the early Church. This led to the title for the Pantheon when it was converted into a Church, Santa Maria ad Martyres, Saint Mary of the Martyrs. It was essentially given to the Queen of All Saints. Eventually, this feast was extended to commemorate all of the Saints, both those known and unknown.
We rejoice in the entire Church Triumphant, who now behold God face to face in the Beatific Vision. They provide us with a constant example of holiness and the blessing of their prayers. As the preface for today states, "Towards her [the heavenly Jerusalem], we eagerly hasten as pilgrims advancing by faith, rejoicing in the glory bestowed upon those exalted members of the Church through whom you give us, in our frailty, both strength and good example." Yesterday we considered ourselves as part of the pilgrim Church on earth, but that is simply a temporary state. The Church Triumphant is permanent and will last for all time. It is our end goal, and those holy men and women who have already attained to its glory are truly our brothers and sisters!
As we form one family then, it is their great joy to aid and support us, and it is our duty to maintain a relationship with them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:
"'. . . The union of the wayfarers with the brethren who sleep in the peace of Christ is in no way interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the constant faith of the Church, this union is reinforced by an exchange of spiritual goods (955).'"
The saints aid us in a most wonderful way by their constant prayers and intercessions for us. Because they are perfectly united to God they are able to pray to Him in a way we cannot, and He gives a generous hearing to them. The Catechism teaches this through the words:
"'Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness. . . . (T)hey do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus. . . . So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped (956).'"
We do well then when we offer all our prayers through the saints, especially through the Queen of All Saints, Mary. However, as was said above, though, they also provide us with examples of holiness and other spiritual goods. While it is true that some of their examples are more to be impressed at rather than emulated, such as St. John Vianney's only eating a boiled potato for lunch every day or the stylites who sat on a pole as penance throughout the days, there are those who also provide us with means to holiness we can follow. I think especially of the "Little Way," of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, who teaches us to offer everything to Christ, even our most little sufferings, as a path to sanctification. There is also the Introduction to the Devout Life of St. Francis de Sales, which contains within it a method for living out the Universal Call to Holiness, spoken of by the Second Vatican Council.
This also leads me to speak of the other spiritual goods left to us by the saints. One of these are the writings of the doctors of the Church. Of the 35 doctors, there is a plenitude of teachings and various writings which we may use to grow in our knowledge of God. There are the theological works of the Fathers of the Church, such as St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, and and St. John Chrysostom, as well as the climax of theological works in the Scholastics such as the preeminent St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Bonaventure and St. Anselm. There are those who wrote such beautiful meditations that we can never cease to be inspired by the reading of them, such as St. Bernard of Clairvaux and St. Alphonsus Liguori. Let us also remember the mystical works, especially of the Carmelite Doctors St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. And of course there are the spiritual direction writings of the above mentioned St. Francis de Sales and St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
Nevertheless, the spiritual goods they leave us are not just writings which help us grow closer to God, but outstanding witness which inspire us to follow Jesus in carrying our crosses. I think first of the Holy Martyrs. There are the numerous ones of the early Church, such as St. Stephen, St. Lawrence, and St. Irenaeus, and the most beloved virgin martyrs of the time, St. Cecilia, St. Agnes, St. Agatha, and St. Lucy. Of course, there are many martyrs throughout the ages as well. I recall the North American Martyrs, St. Boniface, and St. Charles Lwanga and his companions. And there are the martyrs of especially recent times, St. Maria Goretti and St. Maximillian Kolbe. All of the martyrs show us how highly we should prize our love of Christ. We should always be willing to lay down our lives for Him!
However, if it is holiness of life we wish to see, there are no better examples than the holy virgins of the Church, along with the holy men and women. For love of the Eucharist, let us consider St. Clare and St. John Vianney, and let us imitate their love. There are the women, such as St. Jane Francis de Chantel and St. Bernadette who consecrated their lives wholly to God. Although we do not follow them in their total consecration, let us imitate their commitment. There are the men who gave everything to follow God's will, such as St. Francis of Assisi and St. Ignatius of Loyola. From them we may learn to always put God's will first. Or let us consider the men and women of the Old Testament in their trust of God. There is holy Job, who said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21)," or Esther who entrusted her task to the Lord God and then did what she had to, in trust the Lord would bring it to a happy issue (Esther 14). And of course there are Abraham, who trusted the Lord would remain faithful to His promise, and the mother of the seven children in the Book of Maccabees.
Ultimately though, from the saints we should learn love - love for God and neighbor. Let us look at the prime examples of those Biblical saints, the holy Apostles, who left everything and ultimately laid down their lives for Christ. St. Peter, who so often failed in his love, but never despaired, and ultimately was crucified for his love. St. Paul loved Jesus so much he never ceased to have His name upon his lips. St. John is called the beloved Disciple because of his love for Christ, and it is he who tells of of the love God has for us (1 John). However, we would be remiss if we neglect to look at the holy women of the time of Christ, who faithfully followed Him. There is St. Mary Magdalene, who clung faithfully to Christ after being brought to new life by Him. There is St. Veronica, who wiped the face of Jesus during His Passion.
And, of course, let us not forget to mention the saints who were most close to our Lord. There is St. Joseph, who raised Him, and died a happy death in His arms, as we should hope to do. There is St. John the Baptist, who always pointed not to Himself, but to Christ. And lastly, there is the saint of Saints, the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is Queen of the Angels and Saints on account of her love. All of the great saints entrusted themselves to her. Let us follow in their example so that we may become great saints as well in the Heavenly Jerusalem.
There are so many other saints I could mention, St. Pius X, St. Tarcisius, St. John Bosco, but all of them have one thing in common, and that is their love for Jesus Christ being the one thing that shown forth in their lives. This is what we must also do.
I started the beginning of this post with the quote that the saints choose us, not the other way around. This is because from eternity, in His most mysterious plan, God choose them for us, in order to bring us to Heaven. The Church both on earth and in Heaven is a family, then, because of the providential guidance we receive, and the glory we give Christ through them. The love for Christ our King is the binding force of this. We begin the month of November with the feast of All Saints, and we will close it with Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, because through the saints we are led to Jesus Christ our King!
Let us close with this quote from the Catechism:
"It is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven; we seek, rather, that by this devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity the union of the whole Church in the Spirit may be strengthened. Exactly as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues all grace, and the life of the People of God itself (495)."
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