The Solemnity of All Saints, Friday, November 1, 2024

Revelation 7, 2; 4; 9–14

I, John, saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the children if Israel.  After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.”  All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”  Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” 

Beginning in the 300’s, Christians began to celebrate feasts dedicated to all the saints who perished in the Roman persecutions.  By the mid-700’s, in England, a feast for the saints, martyrs and non-martyrs, was celebrated on November 1.  The feast was officially placed on the Church calendar by Pope Gregory IV (d. 844).

The Second Reading for today’s solemnity is taken from The Book of Revelation (also known as The Apocalypse).  This book, according to the Venerable Bede (d. 735) consists of seven visions which tell the history of the Church from the time of the Apostles until the Lord Jesus comes again at the end of the world.  In the Reading we are given part of the second vision.  In it are found revelations to comfort those suffering persecution for the sake of Jesus Christ.  This particular revelation is of the Church of the saved: those still on earth and those victorious in heaven.  During the course of world history the saints suffer from many deprivations and attacks, and also from the forces of nature such as plagues, storms, and famine.  These are “marked” with the Sign of the Cross and as such their faith will be strengthened and guarded against any danger.  These saints are given the number “one hundred and forty-four thousand”, which ought to be understood as intended and not as an actual number.  That is, this number signifies the true number of the saints on earth.  They belong to the Church of God (“Israel”) spread over the earth (the “twelve tribes”).  

“After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.”  John now sees the saints in heaven.  Their glorious appearance indicates their holiness: “They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.”  The white robes especially indicate the purity of their hearts.  The palms are ancient signs of victory: they have overcome the enticements of this world, the weaknesses of the flesh, and the temptations of the devil in order to conform themselves to Christ.  “They stood before the throne and before the Lamb.”  God the Father is seated upon the throne.  The Lamb is God the Son.  The Holy Spirit is also present before the throne, signified by seven lamps (Revelation 4, 5).  The saints behold the most wonderful sight of the very face of Love.  “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.”  This is the song of the saints in heaven.

“All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God.”   the “elders” and “four living creatures” signify the Church in heaven.  Traditionally, the elders signify the Apostles and the four living creatures, the Evangelists.  They witnessed to the Lord Jesus and in heaven they take their place before the throne of the Father and the Lamb, surrounded by the throngs of the angels.  “They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God.”  Rapt in wonder before the awesome God, they respond with worship, pouring their love into the One whose love cascades into them.  “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”  The words of the blessed can hardly convey their impression of God’s glory.  “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.”  The time of “great distress” is this present life during which the believer suffers afflictions of all kinds and the grave temptations of the devil, who sees himself defeated in every saint who departs the world for heaven.  They wash the “robes” of their lives in the Blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus, who poured out his Blood for the forgiveness of sins.

We ought often to meditate on the glory of the saints in God’s Kingdom and to see what can be ours if we persevere in the Faith.