🕯️The Vigil of All Saints is a day of spiritual preparation
for the great solemnity celebrating the Church Triumphant. Traditionally, this
day was marked by fasting and prayer, a custom that reflects the importance of
purifying the soul to contemplate the glory of the saints in heaven. The liturgy
invites us to meditate on the final destiny for which we were created: eternal
communion with God, in the company of all those who, having heroically lived the
faith on earth, now intercede for us. It is an anticipation of heavenly joy, a
moment to align our hearts with the universal call to holiness, recognizing that
the crown of glory is preceded by the cross of perseverance and faithful love
for Christ.
📖Epistle (Rev 5:6-12)
In those days, I, John, saw
in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of
the elders, a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes,
which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came
and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And
when he had opened the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty
elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden
vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new
canticle, saying: Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take the book, and to open the
seals thereof; because thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, in thy
blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. And hast made us
to our God a kingdom and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld,
and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living
creatures, and the elders: and the number of them was thousands of thousands,
saying with a loud voice: The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power,
and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and
benediction.
✝️Gospel (Lk 6:17-23)
At that time, Jesus, coming
down with them, stood in a plain place, and the company of his disciples, and a
very great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the sea coast
both of Tyre and Sidon, Who were come to hear him, and to be healed of their
diseases. And they that were troubled with unclean spirits, were cured. And all
the multitude sought to touch him, for virtue went out from him, and healed all.
And he, lifting up his eyes on his disciples, said: Blessed are ye poor, for
yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now, for you shall be
filled. Blessed are ye that weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed shall you be
when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach
you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Be glad in that
day and rejoice; for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For according to
these things did their fathers to the prophets.
🕊️Reflections
✨The
liturgy of this Vigil establishes a sublime dialogue between heaven and earth,
connecting the redemptive suffering of the just with the eternal glory of the
heavenly court. The Gospel of Luke presents the path of holiness through the
beatitudes: poverty, hunger, weeping, and persecution for the love of Christ.
This is not a path of earthly glory, but an itinerary of configuration to the
suffering Christ Himself. In contrast, the Epistle from Revelation reveals the
final destination of this path: participation in the heavenly liturgy. The
"golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints," show that the
sufferings and supplications of those who live the beatitudes on earth ascend to
God as a pleasing aroma, joining the ceaseless praise of the angels and elders.
The Vigil invites us to see our present struggles not as ends in themselves, but
as the raw material of our sanctification and as our contribution to the perfume
that fills the golden vials before the throne of God.
🐑At the center
of both readings is the figure of the "Lamb standing as it were slain." He is
the key to understanding the paradox of the beatitudes. Christ was the poorest,
the one who hungered and thirsted most for justice, the One who wept over
Jerusalem and was hated, cast out, and reproached unto death. By embracing this
condition, He transformed suffering into a path of redemption. Saint Augustine
teaches that humility is the foundation of all beatitudes: "Beatitude begins
with humility... If you desire to attain the heights, begin from below. If you
are thinking of building a lofty edifice, first think of the foundation of
humility" (Saint Augustine, Sermon 69). The "great reward in heaven" promised by
Jesus is not an extrinsic reward, but the very union with the Lamb, whose
poverty enriched us and whose wounds healed us. The Catechism of the Catholic
Church reinforces that the beatitudes "reveal the goal of human existence, the
ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude" (CCC, 1719), a
call that is fully realized in the vision of the glorified Lamb.
🎶Saint
John's vision in Revelation is not just a future promise, but a present reality
that sustains the hope of the pilgrim Church. The "new canticle" sung in heaven
celebrates the redemptive work of Christ, who has redeemed "men of every tribe,
and tongue, and people, and nation" and made them a "kingdom and priests." This
royal priesthood, received in baptism, enables every faithful person to offer
their own life—with its joys and, especially, its crosses—as a spiritual
sacrifice united to that of the Lamb. The Roman Missal, in the Preface of Holy
Men and Women I, states that in the saints, God offers us "an example, in their
intercession a help, and in the communion of grace a bond." They are living
proof that living the beatitudes is possible through the grace that emanates
from Christ, the "virtue that went out from him, and healed all." Thus, the
Vigil of All Saints impels us to live today with our eyes fixed on heaven,
transforming the plains of our earthly struggles into the forecourt of the
heavenly temple, where we hope one day to eternally sing the worthiness of the
slain Lamb.
➡️See English version of the critical articles here.
