Feast of All Saints, The Communion of Saints

"I Believe in the Communion of Saints."

This text, taken from the Apostles' Creed, is an expression of thc Catholic belief that the saints and friends of God have vital interests in common. It is of Divine faith that things affecting one's soul in its relation to sanctity and happiness, have an intimate bear­ing on all souls that belong to the Kingdom of Christ. We Christians glory in a brotherhood whose membership transcends the nar­row limits of this world. We claim as our fellow citizens and our brethren, countless human beings dwelling in heaven, on earth, in purgatory, who are united by a mutual sympathy and friendship nmong themselves and by the common reliance they place in the goodness and favor of the Almighty.

I. Now all are called saints on earth who are sons abiding in the household of God. To be such they must be free from grievous ain. But freedom from sin and admission to the companionship of the saints, we may well recall, in the case of most men implies repent­ance for past misconduct and a determination of future amend­ment; just as it required the sorrow and tears of the returning prodigal to open once more to him the home of his youth and inno­cence.

Whether then it be Baptism or penance that has made them the friends of God, the saints on earth are the living mem­hers of the Church Militant, whose essential qualification is inno­cence and holiness, and whose cherished possession is a common heritage of merit and atonement bequeathed to them by Christ in the shedding of His Precious Blood. The saints here below have in common the same means of grace and edification, enabling them to withstand with unfaltering countenance the dangerous allurements that threaten their peace of mind.

They all partake of the Banquet of the Lord and are fed with the same Holy Bread of eternal life. Their common worship is the prayer and sacrifice of the universal Church offered up by the mediation of an Omnipotent Intercessor. It is the prayer of many hearts united with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Their voices ascend to heaven as one voice and cry, beseech­ing the Father of mercies that the day of His children on earth may be disposed in peace and that all may be numbered in the flock of the elect.

II. The saints in purgatory are those who suffer after death, but who have received from God, in the particular judgment, the certain assurance that they are saved. Their earthly existence for them is a thing of the past; but the combats they sustained in the flesh and the temptations they encountered, have left wounds and scars that were not entirely healed by the remedies applied of con­trition and penance.

Their condition, in dying, though not merit­ing everlasting punishment, nevertheless prevented their instant passage into paradise. And thus they are excluded for a time from heaven. They are the saints called the Church Suffering, because they remain in a place of purification, until by the grief and affliction they patiently endure, all wounds and traces of their earthly failings and imperfections are burnt and purged away.

But the good and the generous, when subjected to suffering, are peculiarly sensitive to the affliction of others. Hence the saints in purgatory are united in sorrow; and as their common grief at being kept far from God, is so much the more penetrating, so likewise the compassion they feel for one another's distress is deeper and more overpowering than any we can experience in this world.

Nor does this mean that these afflicted souls are separated from the living. Rather, we must say, participation in the treasury of atonement, of which the living Church holds the keys, is more necessary for them; seeing that, in their prison and chains, they are powerless to help themselves. Though confined in purgatory, they retain a rightful share of the benefits dispensed in this world by the ministers of Christ.

They are joined to their human brethren on earth by the recognition and expectancy of relief. We are able to lend them aid by offering to God, as atonement for their debt, our own prayers and other good works. What a consoling dogma of our religion that we can thus render assistance to deceased relatives and friends, our separation from whom by death we bitterly mourn! And we may be well assured of their gratitude and of their prayers in return if our charity, esteemed by God, hastens for them the glad hour of their deliverance from prison when they shall be granted refreshment, light and everlasting rest.

III. By far the most numerous branch of the Communion of saints is formed of the blessed in heaven. From every tribe and tongue nnd people are they gathered before the face of God in the everlasting courts where they participate in the all-absorbing vision of things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, which it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive. It is the Church Triumphant, the union in glory of souls washed in the Blood of the Lamb. It the unspeakable happiness that the assembly of the elect enjoy when they possess God eternally as their reward exceedingly great.

Now, if there is an identity of interest among the faithful of world, if, likewise, there is an intimate union and fellowship animating the suffering souls, then what shall we say of the union and fellowship that pervades and animates the inhabitants of the Holy City? Seeing that the heart of man was created for neither strife nor sorrow, but for happiness alone, and since rational beings instinctively seek companionship in enjoyment, thus, in the abode of perfect rest where no shadow of suffering threatens, each re­deemed soul is united with his companions of glory, and the knowledge of his own individual blessedness is immeasurably increased by sharing in the blessedness of the unnumbered thousands that sing hymns of joy before the great white throne.

But even in their joy, supreme and everlasting as it is, the saints in paradise are not forgetful of their brethren in less happy spheres. How many among them retain a vivid memory of the chastening pains they lately endured, and which they know others still endure, as the nearer preparation for participation in the privileged Communion of the beatific vision!

Further, in viewing the sacred wounds of the glorified humanity of Christ, are they not necessarily reminded of this world we dwell in? Are they not reminded that earth, and not heaven, was chosen by the Son of God for His mortal career in human flesh? And that, on this earth, He elected to suffer and to die to purchase for men so glorious a destiny? Is it possible for the elect to forget the abode where the foundations of their happiness were laid? Where God, for their benefit, mani­fested His bountiful Providence by miracles and revelations, by lessons of warning and promises of reward, by institutions of holiness and mercy? Where they themselves, sustained by Divine grace, were able to rejoice in the midst of tribulations and sorrows that appeared too heavy, too unbearable to all except to those who loved God and trusted in the power of His love?

Nay more, this present world in its actual condition, is revealed to the eyes of the blessed: They take a never-failing interest in the lives of existing men, because, however poorly circumstanced we may be, they behold the true nobility we possess as children of God redeemed equally as they by the Precious Blood of Jesus.

In our souls they see imaged the adorable likeness of our Maker. In us they recognize members of that Church whose riches are their enjoyment. And if their joy will be filled with greater rejoicing in the triumph of our salvation, then truly may we say that the saints are with us not only in mind, their hearts likewise accompany us, so to speak, in the battle we wage against the powers of dark­ness. Their intercession with God is unceasing in our behalf that, through His mercy and goodness, we may be made to persevere till the hour of victory and reward.

Practices. - Let us not permit this First of November to pass away without making some useful applications of our belief in the Communion of Saints. If we belong to the company of the just, then we are constrained to practise holiness. We are bound faith­fully to fulfil our duties toward God and man.

Still we will show little generosity in so worthy a cause if we limit our endeavors to strict duty. We must therefore multiply our deeds of virtue that our example may be a shining light for the footsteps of our fellow Christians whose welfare is so closely connected with our own.

During this month of November no person, animated with a spirit of charity and true piety, will fail to engage in special good works for the benefit of the suffering souls. Finally, let us pay due honor to the saints in paradise who are our friends nearest to God.

Let us beg them to obtain from the Almighty this favor: that our lives may resemble theirs in goodness and fidelity in the service of re­ligion, and that, in dying, we may be speedily admitted into the full participation of the celestial privileges of the Communion of Saints.
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Adapted from Plain Sermons by Practical Preachers, Vol. I(©1916)
Homily by Rev Stephen Murphy, O.M.I.
Nihil Obstat: Remegius Lafort, S.T.D
Imprimatur: John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York