Fifth Day in Octave of All Saints

From a Sermon by Saint Bede the Venerable

Beloved: Let us rejoice that we have the opportunity to attain the palm of victory awarded for good works. Let us one and all strive cheerfully and freely in this contest of righteousness. Let us run in the race whereof God and Christ are witnesses. And if any of us hath already begun to advance beyond hankerings after temporal and worldly things, let us not delay our course by any turning back thereto. If the last day find us ready and, without such hindrances, running in the way of good works, we shall have no cause to complain that our Master is a scanty rewarder of our works.

For he that giveth a red diadem for the passion of them that win through persecution, the same will bestow a white one upon them that in peace do prevail in the struggle for righteousness. Neither Abraham nor Isaac nor Jacob were martyrs, and yet for their faith and righteousness they merited the honour of the first place amongst the Patriarchs. And whosever of us is found faithful, righteous, and praiseworthy, shall sit down with them at the banquet. Howbeit, we must be mindful to do God’s will, not our own, for it is he that doeth God’s will that abideth for ever, like as God himself abideth for ever.

Wherefore, beloved, with mind clear, faith firm, courage true, and charity thorough, let us be ready for whatever God willeth ; keeping the Lord’s commandments with boldness: having innocencey in simplicity, peaceableness in love, modesty in lowliness, diligence in service, watchfulness in helping those who toil, mercifulness in succouring the poor, constancy in standing up for the truth, severity in keeping discipline ; wanting to us. For these are the footprints which the Saints have left us, what time they were returning to their fatherland, that we, treading in their steps, might follow them into joy.
　
　
　
A homily by Saint Augustine the Bishop

Blessedness (if by that word we mean the attainment of the highest sort of wisdom) beginneth in holy fear ; for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And contrariwise, pride is rightly entitled the beginning of all sin. Therefore let us leave it to the proud to love, and to seek after, the things of the kingdom of this world. It is not of the proud, but of the humble, that the Lord said : Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Again he said : Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Now, by the earth is here meant(or so I at least suppose) that of which the Psalmist speaketh : Thou art my refuge, and my portion, in the land (literally, in the earth) of the living. By which is meant a certain firmness and stability of everlasting inheritance, whereby the soul of the man that hath a godly disposition maintained itself, as it were, in its own proper spiritual environment, even as the body doth the same in its own proper earthly environment. That is just as the body maintained itself from the earth, wherefrom it is nourished with earthly food, so doth the soul nourish itself with its own proper food, which same is the very maintenance and life of the Saints. Thus the meek are they which do suffer the acts of the wicked, without yielding to evil deeds. For they are such as do resist evil only by overcoming it with good.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Mourning is sorrow over the loss of things which are dear. Now, those who are converted to God, thereby lose many things of this world which they were used to consider very dear. For they may no longer rejoice in all the things wherein they formerly rejoiced. And until love of the things eternal be formed in them, they must needs suffer some measure of grief. But in this mourning they shall be comforted by the Holy Spirit, who in this account is called Paraclete, that is, Comforter. So that, in losing temporal joys, they come to enjoy more and more the joy that is eternal.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. These blessed ones are they that are lovers of the good things which are truly and hence indestructibly, good. Therefore they shall be filled with the food of which the Lord himself speaketh : My meat is to do the will of my Father : which same is righteousness. And they shall be filled with that water, whereof the same our Lord saith that it shall be a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. In these words the Lord saith that those fold that relieve human miseries are blessed, inasmuch as they are repaid by obtaining surcease from their own miseries.

Lessons for November 3 in the Octave of All Saints

The Venerabel Bede

From a Sermon by the Venerable Saint Bede the Priest

Never shall there be discord anywhere there, but all things in harmony. For everywhere there, things are in such concord that all the Saints are at unity with each other in one peace and joy. Everywhere there, all things are tranquil and quiet. Perpetual is the splendour there ; not like unto the sunlight which we know here, but a light which is the brighter, as it is the more blessed. For that city, as saith Scripture, needeth not the light of the sun, because the Lord Almighty doth enlighten it by the Lamb which is the Light thereof. There the Saints shall shine like as the brightness of the firmament, and they that have turned many to righteousness, as the stars, for ever and ever.

And so there is no night there, no darkness, no gathering of clouds, no asperity of heat or cold. But such is the nature of things there as no eye hath seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, except of those only who have been found worthy to enjoy it, whose names are written in the book of life ; and who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, and are before the throne of God, serving him day and night. There is no old age anywhere there, nor misery of old age, for all are come to perfect manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

But far above all these things is the fellowship there. That is, to enjoy the companionship of the heavenly citizens : to look upon the choirs of Angels and Archangels, of Thrones and Dominions, Principalities, Powers, and all the heavenly Virtues on high : and to behold the army of the Saints shining more gloriously than the stars ; of the Patriarchs glowing with faith; of the Prophets rejoicing in hope ; of the Apostles judging the world reformed into twelve tribes of the new Israel ; of the Martyrs resplendent in their ruddy crowns of victory ; and of Virgins wearing garlands of the purest white.
　
　
　

St. Augustine the Bishop

A homily by St. Augustine the Bishop

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Thus do the Beatitudes begin with humility, whereby the soul doth submit itself to God, and that through the Gift of Holy Fear. Thereafter the soul goeth on in blessedness to grasp things divine, such as are set forth in the Scriptures ; wherefore the soul cometh to be meek as it is said : Blessed are the meek : and that by reason of the Gift of Piety (or True Godliness, as it is also called). Then it beginneth to know what are the entanglements of this world, whereby we are held back in the customs of the world and in fleshly desires ; and so in this third stage is the Gift of Knowledge, whereby the loss of the highest good is mourned for, from knowing how the soul is fain to cleave to the lowest ; and hence : Blessed are those that mourn. Next, in the fourth state, is the Gift of Ghostly Strength (or Might, or Fortitude, as it is variously called) ; for in this stage of blessedness there is much labour, and the soul must exert itself greatly, to wrench itself away from those things wherewith, by reason of their pestilential sweetness, it was entangled. Hence : Blessed are they, which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. To which end such Fortitude is very necessary, for what is retained with delight is not abandoned without pain.

Then for all such as have shown Fortitude in this labour, at the fifth stage is the Gift of Counsel, that is, perception as to how to escape from these entanglements. For unless one hath assistance in the matter from some one higher, he cannot fit himself to get out of his so many miserable entanglements. And it is only just that he who would have assistance of another’s strength should assist one weaker than himself. For which reason Counsel is indicated in the fifth stage, thus: Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. The sixth benediction: Blessed are the pure in heart : sheweth that at the sixth state there is purity which is the Gift of Understanding, springing from a good conscience, obtained by all these good works, wherein the soul is able to contemplate the Highest Good, which can be discerned only by a mind pure and tranquil.

Lastly, there is, as the seventh, the Gift of Wisdom, that is, such a grace of contemplation of the Truth as doth completely tranquilize the whole man, and give to him the likeness of God, thus bringing us to the conclusion : Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. The eighth, as it were, returneth to the beginning, because it sheweth forth and commandeth what is complete and perfect. Therefore in the first and in the eighth is named the kingdom of heaven, thus: Blessed are the poor in spirit : Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.