Blessed are they that are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb!
(Apoc. Xix.9) Blessed are we all, who have received in Baptism the
nuptial robe of holy charity, which entitles us to a seat at the heavenly
banquet! Let us prepare ourselves for the unspeakable destiny
reserved for us by love. To this end are directed all the labors of this
life: toils, struggles, sufferings for God’s sake, all adorn with priceless
jewels the garment of grace, the clothing of the elect. Blessed are they
that mourn! (St. Matt. V.5).
They that have gone before us wept as they turned the furrows and
cast in the seed; but now their triumphant joy overflows upon us as an
anticipated glory in the valley of tears. Without waiting for the dawn
of eternity, the present solemnity gives us to enter by hope into the
land of light, whither our fathers have followed Jesus, the Divine
forerunner….Does not the happiness of the dear departed cause a
heavenly sweetness to mingle with our sorrow?
When Rome had completed the conquest of the world, she
dedicated to all the gods…the Pantheon…But when she herself had
been conquered by Christ, and invested by Him with the empire overs
souls, she withdrew her homage from vain idols and offered it to the
martyrs; for they, praying for her as she slew them, had rendered her
truly eternal. To the martyrs, then, and to Mary their Queen, she
consecrated forever, on the morrow of her merciful chastisement, the
now purified Pantheon…Every dedication on earth reminds the
Church, as she herself tells us, of the assembly of the saints, the living
stones of eternal dwelling which God is building for Himself in
heaven…Its anniversary, recalling the memory of the martyrs
collectively, satisfied the Church’s desire of honoring year by year all
her blessed sons who had died for the Lord; for, at an early date it
became impossible to celebrate each of them on the day of his
glorious death. In the age of peace there was added to the cultus of the
martyrs that of the other just, who daily sanctified themselves in all
the paths of heroism opened out to Christian courage.
The Liturgical Year, Vol. XV, Book VI, pgs.58 & 65