Fifth Sermon for the Feast of All Saints: On the Three Kinds of Sanctity and on the Communion of Saints

“ Blessed ave they that dwell in Thy house, O Lord ; they shall praise Thee for ever and ever.’’—Ps. lxxxiii. 5.

To-day, dearest brethren, is a feast day for us, and a feast day that is counted amongst our grandest solemnities. How shall I call it? Of what apostle, of what martyr, of what saint shall I pronounce it the festival ? But you know well enough that it is the feast, not of any one saint, but of all the saints together. We are none of us ignorant that the festivity which we celebrate to-day is called and truly is the festivity of All Saints. Yes, of All Saints, including both the saints of heaven and the saints of earth. For there are heaven-born saints and earth-born saints. Of the latter, some still abide on the earth and some have already gone to glory. On this day then, we keep a festival in honour of them all, although it may be we do not pay them all the same kind of honour. That indeed is nothing wonderful, since they have not all the same kind of sanctity: for saint differs from saint and that not a little. I am not now speaking of that difference whereby one saint is holier than another, for that is a difference rather of degree than of quality: I mean that the saints are said, and said truly, to differ from one another, not alone in degree but even in kind of sanctity. And perhaps I should be right in affirming the difference between the sanctities of angels and holy men and between the honours paid to them to be one of kind. For evidently they who are known to have never fought cannot be honoured as victors, nevertheless as “ Thy friends, O God, they are made exceedingly honourable ” (Ps. cxxxviii. 17), for that they have always remained submissive to Thy will with as much delight as facility. But perhaps they may be said to have fought in this sense: that, when their brother-angels apostatised, they stood resolutely firm and took no part in the wicked conspiracy, but said each to himself, “ It is good for me to adhere to my God ” (Ps. lxxii. 28). Consequently, what we are to celebrate in the holy angels is the triumph of grace “ preventing them with the blessings of sweetness ” (Ps. xx. 4); what we are to honour is the “ benignity of God,” not now “ leading to penance” (Rom. ii. 4), but protecting them from everything that would require penance; not delivering them from temptation but safeguarding them from its approach,

But very different in itself and demanding to be honoured in a different way is the sanctity we find in them “who have come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb ” (Apoc. vii. 14), who after many combats have triumphed at last and are now crowned in heaven because they “strove lawfully ” (2 Tim. ii. 5). Is there yet another kind of sanctity or species of saints? Yes, there is, my brethren, but it is hidden, For there are saints who are still under arms, who have still to fight, who run still and have not yet reached the goal (r Cor. ix. 24). Perhaps you consider me imprudent in giving the title of saints to such? But I know one of them who was not afraid to say to God, “ Preserve my soul, for I am a saint” —quoniam sanctus sum (Ps. lxxxv. 2). So too the Apostle, that confidant of the divine secrets, declared in language equally clear, “ We know that to them that love God all things work together unto good, to such as according to His purpose are called saints ” (Rom. viii. 28). It is manifest, therefore, that the title of saint is used with a diversity of meaning, so that some are called saints because they have already reached the consummation of sanctity, and others are similarly designated who are as yet but the predestinate. The sanctity of these latter, therefore, is God’s secret: it is hidden from us, and hence hon-oured by us in a hidden manner, so to speak. For “man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love or hatred, but all things are kept uncertain for the time to come”’ (Eccles. ix. 1,). In the heart of God, consequently, let the feast of such saints be celebrated, for “the Lord knoweth who are His,’ He knoweth whom He hath chosen from the beginning of the world (Ephes. i. 4); let it be celebrated also by the “ministering spirits sent to minister for them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation ” (Heb. i. 14) ; as for us, we are forbidden to praise any man before his death (Ecclus. xi. 30). How indeed can praise be securely given so long as life itself is insecure? No man “is crowned except he strive lawfully” cries out St. Paul, speaking as heaven’s own herald. And the law of the combat is thus proclaimed by the Divine Legislator Himself: “He that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved ” (Matt. x. 22). You, my brethren, know not who shall persevere, you know not who shall “ strive lawfully’ nor, by consequence, who shall becrowned.

Let us praise, then, only the virtue of those who ` are already assured of victory; let us extol with fervent eulogies those whom we can safely felicitate on their having won the crown. In the Office last night we sang to the saints, “Fear the Lord, all ye His saints ’’ (Ps. xxxiii. 10): but it was not to the saints in bliss we addressed that warning. No, I repeat, it was not the saints who have persevered unto the end that we exhorted to fear the Lord, since of them it is said, “ They shall be in their land without fear ” (Ezech. xxxiv. 27). But we spoke to those other saints who have still need of manifold watchfulness because of the multitudinous dangers which surround them. “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood (merely) but (also) against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places ” (Ephes. vi. 12). Yes, my brethren, they assuredly require to be on their guard who are exposed to so many assaults, not only at close quarters but even from a distance. And where there are so many “ combats without, fears within ” (2 Cor. vii. 5) should not be wanting. Not without reason, therefore, is it said to the saints still in exile, “ Fear the Lord, all ye His saints.” Indeed it may be said that all our blessedness during this mortal existence consists in the fear of God. Hence these words of the Wise Man, “ Blessed is the man that is always fearful ” (Prov. xxviii. 14), and these of the Psalmist, “ Blessed are all they that fear the Lord, that walk in His ways” (Ps. cxxvii. 1). But blessed in a widely different way are they in whom

II 26 already “ perfect charity hath cast out fear” (x John iv. 18); who, consequently are no longer obliged to walk in fear the ways of the Lord, but rather praise Him unceasingly as inmates of His house, according to the testimony of the Royal Prophet: “ Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, O Lord; they shall praise Thee for ever and ever” (Ps. Ixxxili. 5). For us, therefore, so long as we live here below, there can be neither felicity nor festivity apart from the fear of God; whereas the blessed in heaven feast and find their happiness in unending praise and exultation.

. Here, my brethren, you have the reason why we can safely praise only such men as live no longer by their own human lives but now by the life of God: because “the life of man upon earth is a warfare ’”’ (Job vii. 1). And there are two causes for the security of the praise offered to them: although when the matter is carefully examined they will appear perhaps to be implied in one another. In the first place, we have nothing to fear in praising those who are most truly and certainly worthy of praise, nor, secondly, is there any reason why we should be afraid to glorify them who are so completely swallowed up in true glory as to be in no danger of vain glory from our expressions of esteem. For there is no room for vanity in minds that are wholly filled with truth. But you may ask me, what is the glory of the saints? For it is certain they do not glorify themselves, since it is written, “ Let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth ” (Prov. xxvii. 2). Neither do they glorify one another, because they have no leisure to indulge in mutual commendations, being wholly occupied with the praise of the

Creator in Whom alone they find all their happiness, according to those words of the Prophet which I have already cited: “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, O Lord, they shall praise Thee for ever and ever.” Nevertheless I cannot bring myself to believe that the saints of God are devoid of all glory, particularly on account of what the Apostle has said: “That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory ” (2 Cor. iv. 17); and those other words of the Psalmist, “ Remember us, O Lord, in the favour of Thy people, visit us with Thy salvation, that we may see the good of Thy chosen, that we may rejoice in the joy of Thy nation, that Thou mayest bepraised with Thy inheritance” (Ps, cv. 4,). Observe, the Psalmist does not say, “ That Thou mayest bepraised by Thy inheritance,” but “ with Thy inheritance,” in order to give us to understand that the praise shall be common to the Lord and His saints. But if the Lord is praised by His inheritance, by whom shall His inheritance bepraised? Let the Apostle inform us: ‘ Then,” says he, “shall every man have praise.” Praise from whom? “ From God” (x Cor. iv. 5). A noble Eulogist, indeed, and a eulogy deserving to be most ardently desired. O happy interchange of commendations wherein to praise and to bepraised are each and equally a source of delight!

To what purpose, then, it may be asked, is our praise of the saints, our glorification of the saints, our solemnities in their honour? What need have they of earthly honours who are honoured by the Heavenly Father Himself, according to the Son’s infallible promise ? (John xii. 26). How can they be in want of our commendations? They are full, they desire no more (Is. i. rr). Such in truth is the case, most dearly beloved. The saints have no need of honours from us, nor does our devotion add aught to their happiness. In venerating their memory, therefore, we profit not them but ourselves. And would you like to know how much we profit ourselves? I confess to you, dearest brethren, the thought of this enkindles in my soul a most vehement desire, or rather a threefold desire. It is a common saying that “what the eye beholdeth not the heart doth not feel.” Now, my eye is my intellect, and to think of the saints is in some sense to see them. This is “my portion in the land of the living” (Ps. cxli. 6), and no insignificant portion, provided only that thought be accompanied by ardent affection. So can we say that “our conversation is in heaven” (Phil. iii. 20), but not in the same manner as the conversation of the blessed. For they are substantially there, we as yet only in desire ; they are there by actual presence, we but in thought. Oh, when shall we be admitted to the society of our fathers? when shali it be granted us to hear their words of welcome, no longer in desire but in reality ! This is the first desire which the memory of the saints either excites or increases in us: that we may enjoy their sweet companionship, and that we may deserve to be the fellow-citizens and associates of the holy angels, to be admitted into the company of patriarchs, the assembly of prophets, the august senate of apostles, the numerous army of martyrs, the college of confessors, the choir of virgins; in a word, that we may be numbered and rejoice in the communion of all the saints.

The thought of any one of these several orders of the blessed is as a single spark or rather as a flaming torch for enkindling the devout heart and making it thirst to behold and embrace them; so that sometimes a person even fancies himself among the saints, saluting with all the eagerness and ardour of his soul, now these, now those, now all together. But as for us, dearest brethren, what means this indifference of ours, this sloth, or rather this stupidity, that we do not endeavour by frequent sighs and burning affections to lift ourselves aloft and to shoot our very souls (jaculari animos) into the midst of those happy bands ? Woe to us because of the hardness of our hearts! Woe to us bcause of the sin of the gentiles who, as the Apostle bears witness, were “ without affection ” (Rom. i. 3r). “ The Church of the first-born ” (Heb. xii. 23)* yearns for us and we have no eagerness to join it! The saints are desirous of our company and we remain unconcerned! “The just wait for us” (Ps. cxli. 8) and we refuse to make haste! Let us arouse ourselves at last, brethren. Let us arise with Christ, let us “ seek the things that are above,” let us “ mind the things that are above”’ (Col. iii. 1). Let us long for those who are longing for us, let us hasten to those who are waiting for us, let us anticipate with the desires of our hearts those who are looking out for our advent. Consider this well: in our common life here there is nothing secure, nothing perfect, nothing tranquil ; and nevertheless we too can say with the Psalmist, “Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity”. (Ps. cxxxii. 1). For whatever affliction befalls us, whether it be from within or from without, is rendered more easy to endure by the very companionship of our dear brethren, with whom we have “ but one heart and one soul”’ (Acts iv. 32). What therefore can be so sweet, what so delightful, what so blissful as that celestial society where there is never any distrust, never any occasion of discord, but where all are bound together in the indissoluble bands of perfect charity: so that, as the Father and the Son are one, we likewise shall be one in Them ? (John xvii. 21).

But, my brethren, it is not merely the society of the saints we should long for: their happiness also should be the object of our desire, so that we ought to seek with all ardour a participation in the glory of them for whose society we yearn. There is no danger in ambition of this kind, the desire of heavenly glory involves no risk. As for what the Psalmist says: “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thine own name give glory ” (Ps. cxiii. 9): this refers to the present life, as do also the words of the angels: “ Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will ” (Luke ii. 14). “ Do not touch Me for I am not yet ascended to My Father” (John xx. 17): here you have the voice of Substantial Glory, since it is written that “a wise son is the glory of his father ” (Prov. x. 1). It is glory, then, that says to us, “ Touch me not.” We must not seek it but rather shun it in this present life: we must be careful to have nothing to do with it until we ascend to the Father, where at last all glorying shall be secure. There “in the Lord shall my soul bepraised, let the meek hear and rejoice ” ` (Ps. xxxiii. 3). Does it not seem as if the Bride in the Canticle had heard her Bridegroom saying, “ Do not touch Me, for I am not yet ascended to My Father,” when she exclaimed, “Flee away, my Beloved” (Cant. xiii. 14)? For these her words are identical in sense with those already cited from the Psalmist: “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thine own name give glory.” Hence in the hymn of to-day’s Office we sang :—

“Lord, we Thy servants peace of Thee implore That we may sing Thy glory evermore.’’*

Man’s life upon earth being a continual temptation, it is only right and reasonable that he should here pursue, not glory, but peace: peace with God, peace with his neighbour, peace with himself. “ O Keeper of men,” cries out Holy Job, “ why hast Thou set me opposite to Thee, and I am become burthensome to myself ? ” (Job vii. 20). It is assuredly a near contest and an intestine sedition, not a civil but a domestic war, that in which “the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh” (Gal. v. 17). And to what is it due if not to the fact that Thou, O Lord, “ hast set me opposite to Thee?” For Thou art True Liberty, Thou art Life, Thou art Glory, Thou art Sufficiency, Thou art Beatitude; whereas I am poor, and wretched, and miserable, confounded and humbled in every way, “dead because of sin” (Rom. viii. 10), and “sold under sin” (Rom. vii. 14). Thou Who art perfect and holy Delight, the everlasting Repose of the blessed spirits, hast set me from the very beginning in opposition to Eden—which signifies delight—in labour and in pain. Nevertheless

Thou sayest to us, “ Be converted to Me with all your heart ” (Joel ii. 12). It is evident we have turned away from Him since we are thus invited to return ; it is evident we have been opposed to Him since He wants us to become reconciled. But, my brethren, how are we to be converted to Him? He tells us Himself : “ In fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning” (ibid.). Strange! Are we then to believe that Thou, our God, dwellest in fasting, abidest in weeping, livest in mourning? Far be this from Thee! Far, far be Thou from all such things! For thy throne is in Jerusalem which Thou dost “satiate with the fat of corn ” (Ps. cxlvii. 3), and in which there is “ neither mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow” (Apoc. xxi. 4), but only “thanksgiving and the voice of praise” (Is. li. 3). “ Let the just feast,” sings the Psalmist, “and rejoice before God, and be delighted with exultation and gladness ” (Ps. lxvii. 3). Wherefore, then, does He tell us to be converted to Him “ in fasting and in weeping and in mourning”? Can it be that the just shall find Him in “ exultation and gladness,” and they who are not yet just only “in fasting and in weeping and in mourning”? So in truth it is, my brethren; but I am speaking of the just who have actually attained to vision, not of such as still “live by faith” (Gal. iii, rr), But the words of the Lord: “I am with him in tribulation” (Ps. xc. 15), are obviously spoken of him who “ walketh by faith ” rather than of him who has already arrived at vision (2 Cor. v. 7). It is true, the Head of both is one and the same Christ, yet not in the same manner does that Head exhibit Itself unto all Its members. For to some It appears all bristling with thorns and bowed upon the Cross, so that they may participate alike in Its humiliation and in Its compunction* ; to others It reveals Itself all radiant in glory in order to communicate glory to them, in order that they may glory in their God, being made like to Him because they now “see Him as He is” (John i. 2).

This, then, is the second desire which the commemoration of the saints excites in our souls: that, as to them, so also to us, Christ may appear as our life and that we also may “ appear with Him in glory ” (Col. iii. 4). In the meantime our Divine Head is presented to our contemplation, not as He is in Himself, but in the state to which His charity towards us has reduced Him: crowned, not with heavenly glory, but with the thorns of our sins, according to what is written: “Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see King Solomon in the diadem wherewith His mother hath crowned Him” (Cant. iii. rr). Oh, what a King, and what a diadem! The synagogue is the mother, who, acting here rather the part of a stepmother than of a true mother, has crowned our King with a crown of thorns. Surely now it would be a shame for the members to seek after glory when they have seen their Head overwhelmed with such ignominy, without beauty or comeliness or any other attraction (Is. liii. 2). For He is the true Solomon, that is to say, the Pacific One, and it is in this character He reveals Himself to us in the present life as the source of our peace rather than of our beatitude or glory— in order to confirm in every respect the words of the holy angels whereby they assigned peace to earth and glory to heaven. Surely also it would be a shame for anyone to show himself a delicate member under a thorn-crowned Head, Who whilst on earth was clothed in purple indeed, but in the purple of mockery, not that of majesty (Mark xv. 17). Nevertheless you may still behold this festival day honoured in many places, not without much evidence of sensuality and pride. Is “ honoured” the proper word, or should I rather have said “dishonoured” ? I will leave it to them to decide who are accustomed to this manner of observing the feast. In fact it is a feast of their own such people observe, not a feast in honour of the saints ; because they do what they like themselves, not what they know the saints would be pleased with. But the day will dawn when Christ shall come and His death shall be announced no longer (r Cor. xi. 26), that we may know that we also are dead and that our life is hidden with Him in God (Cor. iii. 3). Our Head shall appear in glory, and shining with the Head shall appear the glorified members, when, namely, He “shall reform the body of our lowness,’’ made like to the glory of our Head, that is, of Himself (Phil. iii. ar). Let us, therefore, dearest brethren, seek after that glory with all ambition and without any fear, lest perchance to us also it should sometime be said, “ You receive glory one from another, and the glory which is from God alone you do not seek” (John v. 44). Surely, then, in order that we may hope for such glory and aspire to such bliss, we ought to solicit most earnestly the suffrages of the saints, “so that what our own merit is insufficient to obtain may be granted us through their intercession” (Prayer of the Church). “ Have pity on me,” so let us cry to them, “have pity on me, at least you my friends ” (Job xix. 21r). You know the dangers to which we are here exposed, you know the clay of which we are fashioned, you know our ignorance, you know the cunning wiles of our enemies, you know their violence and our weakness: for I speak to you who have been exercised in the same temptations, who have come forth triumphant from the same conflicts, who have escaped the same snares, and who have learned compassion from the things you have suffered (Heb. v. 8). I have also confidence in the holy angels: that they will not disdain to comfort their kind, especially as it is written, “ Visiting thy species thou shalt not sin” (Job v. 24). But whilst feeling persuaded that I may presume much on the love of these blessed spirits, because of my resemblance and relationship to them in the spirituality and rationality of my substance, it seems to me, nevertheless, that I ought to have greater confidence in those who, as I know, participate with me in the same human nature, and therefore ought to feel a more affectionate and tender compassion for one that is bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh (Gen. ii. 23).

Moreover, when “ passing out of this world to the Father ” (John xiii. r), they left behind with us most precious pledges. For amongst us “their bodies are buried in peace, and their name liveth unto generation and generation” (Ecclus. xliv. 14), that is to say, their glory shall never be forgotten. Far removed from you, O blessed souls, far removed from you be the cruelty of Pharao’s cup-bearer, who, when restored to his former place, immediately forgot holy Joseph, still pining in prison (Gen. xl.). For these two were not (as we are) members of the one same

Head: the faithful soul hath nothing in common with the unbeliever, neither can the Israelite have fellowship with the Egyptian, any more than light with darkness. The name “Egypt” in fact means “darkness,” whilst Israel signifies “ one seeing God.” Hence we are told that “ wheresoever the children of Israel dwelt there was light” (Exod. x. 23). Not so did our Lord Jesus forget the thief who was crucified with Him. No, the promise given was fulfilled and His companion in suffering was summoned that same day to be His companion in glory. Dearest brethren, we are the members of the same Head as the saints. If not, what mean the solemn services and the manifestations of loving devotion wherewith we congratulate them to-day? But he who said, “Tf one member glory, all the members rejoice with it,” said also, “ If one member suffer anything, all the members suffer with it” (r Cor. xii. 26). Such, consequently, is the union between the saints in heaven and the faithful on earth, that whilst we congratulate them on their happiness, they sympathise with us in our misery; we share in their glory by devout meditation, and they by their loving intercession fight in us and for us. Nor have we any reason to doubt their solicitude in our behalf, because since they cannot be “consummated without us” (Heb. xi. 4), as I remarked in the preceeding discourse, they wait for us until we likewise receive our reward (Ps. cxli. 8): so that in the last grand festival day all the members shall“ meet together unto a perfect man” (Ephes. iv. 13), in union with their august Head, and then at last shall He “ bepraised with His inheritance,” Jesus Christ our Lord, Who is over all things, God blessed and praised and glorified for ever. Amen.

THE SERMONS WHICH FOLLOW