November 1 — ALL SAINTS

Presence of God. — O Lord, through the intercession of Your Saints, may I too tread with courage the way of holiness.

Meditation

1 — Holy Church, ever solicitous and tremulous for our salvation, today exults with immense joy in contemplating the glory of her children who, having reached the heavenly homeland, are now safe for all eternity, forever saved from the snares of the evil one, forever elect portion, people of God. And, like a mother proud of the triumph of her children, presents them to all Christendom inviting every faithful to share her maternal joy: “Let us all rejoice in the Lord celebrating the feast day of All Saints; of whose solemnity the angels rejoice and sing praises to the Son of God” (Intr.).

The Epistle (Ap. 7, 2-12) offers us the apocalyptic vision of the glory of the Saints: “I saw a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands.” Squadrons of martyrs, of apostles, of confessors, of virgins, luminous squadrons that incessantly enjoy the vision of God, incessantly adore Him and praise Him saying: “Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power and might to our God for ages of ages. Amen!”.

But who are these Saints so glorious? They are men who have lived as we on this earth, who have known our miseries, our difficulties, our struggles. Some of them are well known to us, the Church having raised them to the honors of the altars, but the great majority are entirely unknown to us. Humble people who have lived obscurely in the fulfillment of their duty, without splendor, without fame, whom no one down here remembers, but whom the heavenly Father has seen and known in secret and, having tested their fidelity, has introduced into His glory. And if among this immense throng there are also personages who on earth have occupied honorable posts or performed great works, this no longer has any value: their eternal beatitude has no relation whatever to the greatness had down here. Of humble and of great, of poor and of powerful one thing alone remains: the degree of love reached by them, to which corresponds the degree of glory that renders them eternally blessed.

2 — While the Epistle has made us glimpse something of the life of the Saints in the glory of heaven, the Gospel (Mt. 5, 1-12), reporting a passage from the beatitudes, shows us what was their life on earth: “Blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are the meek; blessed are those who mourn; blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice; blessed are the merciful; blessed are the clean of heart; blessed are the peacemakers; blessed are those who suffer persecution.” Poverty, humility, detachment from earthly things; meekness of soul, resignation and patience in sorrow; rectitude, hunger for justice, goodness and understanding for one’s neighbor, purity of mind and of heart; peaceful spirit and bringer of peace, fortitude and generosity that for love of God embrace every suffering and suffer every injustice, here are the characteristics of the life led by the Saints on earth, here is the program of our life if we wish to arrive, like them, at holiness.

We wish to become saints, but we would wish to become so in an easy way, without doing violence to ourselves, without toil; we wish to practice virtue, but only up to a certain point, only when it does not impose too costly sacrifices on us, when it does not contradict us too much; and thus it happens that, faced with virtuous acts that demand greater self-denial, that imply the acceptance of things difficult and repugnant as, for example, stifling the resentments of self-love, renouncing making our reasons prevail, submitting and condescending to him who is contrary to us, very often — not to say always — we draw back, thinking that it is not necessary to go so far.

And yet, our progress in the way of holiness depends precisely on these acts that we refuse to perform; without them we shall always lead a mediocre life, we shall always be at the same level, if indeed we do not turn backward. Let us supplicate the Saints, whom today we honor, to help us to overcome our sloth, our faintness, our cowardice; let us ask of them, who have preceded us in the arduous way of holiness, the strength to follow them. “If these and those, why not I?” (St. Augustine). The grace that God gave to the Saints He gives also to us, but, unfortunately, what is lacking is our correspondence.

Colloquy

“Fortunate your lot, O [holy] souls who enjoy without fear your happiness and celebrate in a continuous transport the praises of my God! How just it is that you occupy yourselves always in these praises! How my soul envies you, for being you free from the sorrow that to me brings in these unfortunate times the grave offenses that are committed against my God and the sight of the monstrous ingratitude and of the profound blindness that makes remain insensible before the multitude of souls that Satan carries away!

“O blessed souls of heaven, come to the aid of our misery, intercede for us before the divine Mercy, that It may make us partakers of your joy and render us participants in the clear vision of which you now enjoy. And You, O my God, make us comprehend what is the recompense reserved to those who in the brief sojourn of this miserable life fight valiantly. Obtain for us, loving souls, to comprehend the happiness that inundates you at the thought that your joy is eternal and the gladness with which fills you the certainty that your state will have no end.

“Fortunate souls, who so well have known how to profit by the gifts of God, serving yourselves of them to purchase for yourselves a delightful and permanent inheritance, tell us how you have served yourselves of them to arrive at that joy without end. Succor us you, who are already near to the fountain, drawing water for us who here die of thirst!” (T.G. Ex. 13, 1 and 4).

“O Saints of heaven, I am the most miserable of creatures, I recognize my misery; but I know too how noble and generous hearts love to do good. I beseech you, therefore, fortunate inhabitants of the celestial city, to adopt me as daughter; upon you alone will redound the glory that you will make me acquire; deign to hear my prayer and obtain for me, I beseech you, your love” (T.B.G. St. 11).