I always get excited when I see All Saints’ Day, Nov 1, approaching on the calendar. It definitely ranks as one of my favorite celebrations of the liturgical year. As secular and liturgical calendars wind to a close, the Solemnity of All Saints is the last great hurrah before Advent begins. As well, All Saints’ Day means it’s time to sing one of my favorite hymns: For All the Saints, written by William How and arranged by Ralph Vaughn Williams.
The first verse starts: “For all the saints, who from their labors rest, / Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, / Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.” As St. Irenaeus says, “The glory of God is a man fully alive.” Above and beyond His presence in nature and the rest of creation, God’s glory shines brightest through His greatest saints. The witness of the saints is the easiest way for me to see God acting in the world. Learning about the holiness of St. Francis or St. John Paul II, how can one not give thanks to God for His glory shining through them?
This hymn is riddled with the language of spiritual combat and heavenly warfare which I find so stirring. The third verse prays for God’s grace to follow in the saints’ footsteps: “O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold, / Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old, / And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.” Each of us Christians is fighting “against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). In this campaign, the saints are our sure model. They kept the “Lord, their captain, in the well fought fight” (vs 2). At the end of the day, the greatest reward is winning the “crown of gold” and resting in the Lord forever.
Although reflecting on the holiness and great love the saints had can be a source of motivation and consolation, it’s also a moment of conviction. Comparing my life to that of St. Isaac Jogues, who was willing to lay down his life for the Lord (and did!), always produces a sense of unease. Am I really following the Lord to the extent that He calls me? How can I be part of the same spiritual army as the great martyrs? While these questions are warranted, the hymn consoles me, “O blest communion, fellowship divine! /We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; / Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.” Despite the vast difference in state between St. Therese of Lisieux and I, there is the profound unity of the Mystical Body of Christ. To the extent that we both belong to Christ, we belong to each other. And this means the saints do not watch our struggles without helping, the Church Triumphant constantly intercedes for us.
The last verse describes the entry into Heaven of all those who share in the Heavenly triumph: “From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, / Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, / Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” What a powerful image! Christians from all times and places will be caught up together in praise of the Most Holy Trinity. This is what we were created for: To love God with our whole being. While we strive towards that as much as we can here on earth, in heaven we hope to rest in His love for all eternity.
As lovely as that image is, anyone who has been a Christian for longer than a minute knows that there are times when the path there seems too much. Christ’s yoke does not seem easy nor His burden light. The temptations seem too strong, our failings too large, Christ’s commands too difficult. In these moments, I remember verse five and chills run down my spine: “And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long, / Steals on the ear the distant triumph song, / And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.” In the darkest, most trying times, a small remembrance of the joy that awaits us is enough to rejuvenate me. The song of the angels and saints in glory always echoes in the background, often unnoticed, but always there to call us to once again to charge forward for the Greater Glory of God.
Featured image courtesy of InYourPocket.com
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