Second Sermon for the Feast of All Saints: On the State of the Saints Before the General Resurrection

“In peace in the self-same I will sleep and I will rest, for Thou, Lord, hast singularly settled me in hope.’ —Ps. iv. 9, 10.

As * to-day, most dearly beloved, we are celebrating a feast full of gladness, and worthy of all our devotion, in honour of all the saints, I think it will be well if, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I discourse to you for a while on the happy repose which they already enjoy in common and on the blissful consummation to which they look forward. In treating this subject I shall follow, not the conjectures of my own mind, but the authority of the inspired authors: I shall keep as close as I can to Scriptural testimony lest I should seem to prophesy out of my own heart. The fruit I expect from this sermon—through the favour of God—is threefold: I expect that from an understanding, even partial, of the saints’ happy recompense, we shall feel animated to follow their footprints more faithfully for the future, to long for their companionship with more fervent desires, and to commend ourselves to their protection with more eager devotion. For it is “ a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation” (t Tim. i. 15) that we ought to imitate the example of those whom we worship with solemn

III 353 24 veneration, that we should hasten with all eagerness to participate in the bliss of those whom we pronounce most blessed, and that we should be supported by the patronage of those whose praises we delight to celebrate. And in truth we find the practice of keeping festivals in honour of the saints very useful as a remedy against languor, tepidity, and sloth ; for our weakness is reinforced by their powerful intercession, our apathy is enlivened by the consideration of their reward, whilst their example serves to instruct our ignorance. Wherefore since (as I cannot doubt) you have been already perfectly enlightened as to how you should walk in the footsteps of the saints by this day’s Gospel lesson, containing as it does the Lord’s sermon on the Mount (wherein He has erected before your eyes the mystical ladder on which the whole company of the blessed whom we honour to-day have mounted to glory) ; and since I am not ignorant that almost the whole of your time last night and this morning has been devoutly consecrated to imploring their intercession, it seems to me that I ought to endeavour to say something to you now, little though it be, concerning their happiness, according as He shall inspire me Who is now magnifying and glorifying those whom He first called and justified (Rom. viii. 30).

We read in one of the psalms, “ Turn, O my soul, into thy rest, for the Lord hath been bountiful to thee. For He hath delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from falling ” (Ps. cxiv. 7, 8). And in another psalm it is said, “Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers ” (Ps. cxxiii. 7). It would not be difficult, as I think, to find in the Holy Books many similar expressions from the lips of men marvelling much and rejoicing over their deliverance, expressions of perfect security and of boundless bliss, ‘“‘ thanksgiving and the voice of praise” (Is. li. 3), which, according to my judgment, are altogether inapplicable to such as still “ dwell in houses of clay ” (Job iv. 19) and eat their bread in the sweat of their brow (Gen. iii. 19). For which of them could boast of a perfectly pure heart? Who amongst mortals would have the presumption to say that “the snare is broken ” (Ps. cxxiii. 7) for him and his feet secured against falling, in opposition to the Apostle who cries out to us, “ He that thinketh himself to stand let him take heed lest he fall ” (x Cor. x. 12) ? It was this insecurity that caused the same Apostle to write of himself, “ Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? ” (Rom. vii. 24). And in another place he thus expresses himself, “ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended. But one thing I do: forgetting the things that are behind and stretching forth myself to those that are before, I press towards the mark” (Phil. iii. 13,). Again he says, “I so run, not as at an uncertainty ; I so fight, not as one beating the air: but I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to others I myself should become a castaway” (1 Cor. ix. 26,). In this assuredly you hear the blast of the war-trumpet ; these words are the battle-cry of a strenuous leader gallantly fighting the foe. As to the previous testimonies quoted from the Psalmist and other like expressions, they seem to be less appropriate to an actual combatant than to one celebrating a triumph, or rather to.one returning victorious from the battle with a triumph in store, and looking forward with a secure and joyous conscience to the day appointed for that crowning honour.

For what says the valorous soldier, the faithful servant, on coming home from the war? Does he not say with the Psalmist, “ Turn, O my soul, into thy rest? ” So long as he had to fight the battles of the Lord in “‘ the body of this death”’ there was no rest for him, both on account of the labour of the conflict and because of the feeling of insecurity whilst the issue was as yet undecided. On the one side the tumult of temptations refused him any respite ; on the other, the fear of succumbing kept him in a state of anxious solicitude. Nevertheless, even then the soldier of Christ was not without glory, although he could not have rest. Listen to that zealous and most fearless warrior of whom I made mention a moment ago: “Our glory,” says he, “is this: the testimony of our conscience ” (2 Cor. i. 12). Now the testimony of conscience spoken of here must not—at least according to my opinion—be so understood as if the Apostle’s conscience gave testimony in his own favour : “for not he who commendeth himself is approved, but he whom God commendeth ” (2 Cor. x, 18). No, dearest brethren, the testimony of conscience in which St. Paul glories is not that which the conscience itself gives but that which in it the Spirit of truth “ giveth to our spirit, that we are the sons of God” (Rom. viii. 16). In short, it is the testimony which conscience receives, not that which it renders. For when a man hears the applause of truth within himself and the approval of justice, he may assuredly regard it as the voice of God commending him, and of the Holy sap lire ald Pea eS ee

Spirit testifying in his behalf: just as if a soldier, making a manful fight, beheld his sovereign (for the love and honour of whom he is combating) standing near, smiling approval on his efforts, praising his deeds of prowess, encouraging him with the assurance that the victory is at hand and the reward already prepared, and holding out to his hope the promise of a crown of unfading glory. Such testimony gives glory to the tried and intrepid soldier ; but he does not rest in it, rather he fights with all the more heart and courage on account of it. And even whilst the war rages, the elect of God rejoice, yet only in “ the first fruits of the Spirit’? (Rom. viii. 23), Who also with His own divine strength “‘helpeth their infirmity ” (ibid. 26) as with His testimony He consoles their pusillanimity. Hence the same Apostle of whom I have been speaking declares: “ The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost ” (Rom. xiv. 17).

But now that the time of war is over for them, in their own spirits also the saints have joy, whilst they await the day on which they shall be found worthy to enter into the joy of their Lord (Matt. xxv. 21) and to have joy thenceforth even in their bodies. This in truth seems to be the signification of what is said in the Psalm, ‘‘ The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us: Thou hast given gladness in my heart ” (Ps. iv. 7). But by what means? The verse following explains: “ By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil ” (ibid. 8). For, as we may suppose, the soul represented here as speaking has heard the voice which said, ‘‘ Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates” (Prov.

xxxi. 31). Here also you have the reason why John was commanded to write in his Apocalypse, “ Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” (Apoc. xiv. 13). Wherefore blessed? “From henceforth now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours ” (ibid.). Hence too, in that very psalm from which I have been quoting, following the words last cited, you may read, “ In peace in the self-same I will sleep and I will rest ” (Ps. iv. 9). And with regard to works, the Evangelist, adds, “for their works follow them” (Apoc. ibid.). Now to what purpose do their works follow the just if it be not to “ praise them in the gates ? ” To what purpose except that the elect souls may be “multiplied from the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil,” and that, receiving “of the fruit of their hands,” the mystical calves (destined, as we learn from the Psalmist, to be laid upon the altar of the Lord when the walls of Jerusalem have been rebuilt) may be made fat (Ps. 1. 20,)? In the meantime they are placed not upon, but under the altar, according to the teaching of one whose “ testimony is exceedingly credible ” (Ps. xcii. 5) and who affirms in his Apocalypse that he has himself heard their voices under the altar (Apoc. vi. 9,). Therefore the light of the Lord’s countenance is still only signed upon them ; they possess in their hearts great joy indeed, yet not full joy, until the dawn of that day when God “ shall fill them with joy with His countenace”’ (Ps. xv. rr). In the meantime, I say, these holy souls ‘“‘ turn into their own rest,’’ awaiting the hour when they shall be counted worthy to enter into the rest of the Lord. Their works now “praise them in the gates,” and so shall it be until the time comes when “every man shall have oer eS praise from God ” (x Cor. iv. 5). You see, my brethren, how admirably in accord are the various scriptural testimonies, and how the different authors speak in the same sense and almost in the same words of the happiness enjoyed by the souls of the just.

Dearest brethren, we must beware of undervaluing the rest or doubting the beatitude of them that recount their years in the gladness of their souls (Is. xxxviii. 45), being delivered at last and for ever from all that could trouble their peace. For they truly rejoice for the days in which they have heen humbled, for the years in which they have seen evils (Ps. Ixxxix. 15). With joyous wonderment and wondering joy they recall the dangers they escaped, the toils they endured, and the enemies they vanquished ; and on all these counts, with the most assured confidence, they “look for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and their Saviour Jesus Christ ” (Tit. ii. 13), “ Who will reform the body of their lowness, made like to the Body of His glory”? (Phil. iii. 21).

Oh, how great is the happiness, how unutterable the joy of those blessed ones who are filled with a threefold delight and exultation from the memory of virtues exercised in the past, from the fruition of peace in the present, from the assured hope of consummation in the future! With regard to the future consummation, it is their voice we hear, and speaking concerning this, at the end of that same Psalm from which I quoted a while ago: they say, each of the holy souls to whom it has been given to arrive at this rest, “ In peace in the self-same I will sleep and I will rest, for Thou, O Lord, hast settled me singularly in hope ” (Ps. iv. 9,). Notice how it is said, “Thou hast settled me singularly in hope,” for such happy souls no longer fluctuate between hope and fear, as they did formerly during the period of probation, not without much anxiety and solicitude. Concerning the present repose of the saints, we find the following in another Psalm: “ Turn, O my soul, into thy rest, for the Lord hath been bountiful to thee.” Yes, bountiful indeed, but not yet supremely bountiful. Hear further in what manner the Lord has shown His bounty: “ For He hath delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from falling.” that is to say, He hath delivered me entirely from all sin, from the penalty of sin, and from the fear and the peril of relapsing into sin. This state of security, my brethren, is a most pleasant couch for the soul, a couch which she has no occasion to wash or water with her tears (Ps. vi. 7), since God hath now wiped away all tears from her eyes (Apoc. xxi. 4). It isa bed in which there is no necessity for compunction (Ps. iv. 5), neither does she turn in it in her anguish “ whilst the thorn is fastened ’”’ (Ps. xxxi. 4). For she has now gone forth from the land which produces thorns and thistles (Gen. iii. 18). Yes, this is undoubtedly a soft bed for the soul, and it requires not to be “ turned in her sickness” (Ps. xl. 4), because all sickness and infirmities have passed away from her for ever. This, I say, is a most delightful and most salutary couch for the soul: a clean, tranquil, and secure conscience. Let the purity of her conscience, then, be to the blessed soul as a mattress, let tranquillity of mind serve her for a pillow, and let security be her covering: and in this luxurious couch let her slumber sweetly and blissfully repose until the day appointed for her final consummation.

Now as regards the memory of virtues exercised in the past, we have what are clearly the very words of the holy souls in the hundredth and twenty-third psalm, in addition to the similar testimonies already cited. They consider and recall with no little wonder from what snares and from what perils they have merited to be delivered by the divine help, and exulting in the Lord they exclaim: “ If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say, if it had not been that the Lord was with us when men rose up against us, perhaps they had swallowed us up alive; when their fury was enkindled against us, perhaps the water had swallowed us up. Our soul hath passed through a torrent, perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable” (Ps. xxiii. 1-5). And they add, “ Blessed be the Lord Who hath not given us a prey to their teeth ” (ibid.). The words of the Apostle also, uttered when the time of his dissolution was close at hand (2 Tim. iv. 6), seem to have been pronounced in anticipation of the state in which he now blissfully reposes, and therefore are much more applicable to him now than when he spoke them. For with fullest confidence he declared, “ I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, -I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice which the Lord, the just Judge, will render to me in that day” (ibid. 7-8).

Such, dearest brethren, such, I assure you, are the present employments of the saints, such is their food and such their repose. And the reason why the Holy Spirit willed to have recorded the words I have cited, with all others of similar import, I assume to be this: that from them we might be able to learn something concerning the happiness already enjoyed by the blessed.

But these meditations on the present, past, and future affect them far more powerfully and fill them with far greater delight than it is possible for either our minds to conceive or our tongues to express. For hear how the Prophet labours in the effort to give us a true idea of their blessedness, multiplying his words and yet failing to do justice to what he wishes to describe: “ Oh, how great is the multitude of Thy sweetness, O Lord,” he exclaims, “ which Thou hast hidden for them that fear Thee ™ (Ps. xxx. 20). Yet listen to what he adds: “ Thou hast perfected it for them that hope in Thee, in the sight of the sons of men ” (ibid. 10). Consequently, the “ multitude of sweetness °” which is “ hidden ” is great indeed and very great, but still short of perfect: for we are told it will be made perfect, not in secret, but openly, “in the sight of the sons of men,” when the saints shall no longer repose under the altar, but as judges shall sit upon everlasting thrones. For the souls of the saints are admitted to rest as soon as they leave their bodies, but not to the full glory of the kingdom. “ The just wait for me,” sang the Psalmist whilst still detained in the prison of this body, “ until Thou reward me ”’ (Ps. cxli. 8); and in the same sense the divine voice answered the holy souls who were soliciting the resurrection of their bodies, telling them “that they should rest for a little time, till their fellow-servants and their brethren, who are to be slain even as they, should be filled up” (Apoc. vi. I).

But I must now bring the sermon to a close, as it is time to proceed to the celebration of Mass. What remains to be said on the subject I have been discussing must be reserved for a future discourse.