Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 1st November 2022
Abbot Paul • October 31, 2022
Yesterday evening in the Chapter Room at Belmont, Br Meinrad Earley and Br Gildas Dudonis were received into the Novitiate of Belmont Abbey and thus they began their monastic journey under the Novice Master, the Very Revd. Dom Michael Evans, Prior of the monastery. It was my joy and privilege to clothe them in the habit of the English Congregation. They had been postulants since the beginning of the year. I ask you to pray for their perseverance in the monastic life and that the good Lord bless us with many more vocations.
​Today is the Solemnity of All Saints and here is my short homily for the feast.
​“I saw a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language; they were standing in front of the throne of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and with palms in their hands.” This vision of heaven lies at the heart of the Feast of All Saints, which began as a celebration of the martyrs, many of whom were unknown by name. St Ephrem the Syrian, in the middle of the 4th Century, mentions a feast dedicated to the saints, all of them martyrs, and St John Chrysostom, about 40 years’ later, assigned the feast to the Sunday after Pentecost. Byzantine Rite Christians still celebrate All Saints on that day. The feast only came to the West when Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon in Rome for Christian use on May 13th 609. A pagan temple, dedicated to the worship of the entire pantheon of Roman deities, was transformed into a Christian church in honour of all the saints. The feast was observed annually on this date until Pope Gregory III dedicated a chapel in St. Peter's Basilica to "All the Saints" on 1st November some time towards the middle of the 8th Century. It was Pope Gregory IV, who in 835 ordered the feast to be observed on 1st November throughout the Western Church. That is how All Saints came to be celebrated in Britain in the middle of the 9th Century.
Today we honour all the Saints, those who are famous and universally loved, those who are local and known only to a specific community, those who have gone out of fashion and been replaced by modern saints and those who are completely unknown, in fact, known only to God and to their fellow saints. Among these are members of our own families and community, people we have known and loved and who have had a great influence on our lives and still do through their intercession and the memory of their example and writings.
St John reminds us in today’s second reading that, because of the “love the Father has lavished on us,” we can be “called God’s children, and that is what we are.” This is why St Paul calls all Christians saints. God has poured out his Spirit on us, making us temples of the Holy Spirit, living stones forming the Body of Christ. We are far from perfect, and yet, like the wheat grain that falls to the ground and dies, we are called and destined to be saints. “We are already children of God, but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.”
This is the exiting dynamic of being a Christian, the tension between what we are and what we shall be, the future hidden in the present and the present yet to be revealed in the future. At the Transfiguration, the disciples had a vision of Christ in glory. We too, just occasionally, “see in a glass darkly” a fleeting glimpse of our own future glory in the sight of God. What we cannot normally see in ourselves, we see in the saints. So, let us take heart from their lives and join in that glorious hymn of the saints in heaven, “Praise and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength to our God for ever and ever. Amen.”
Pope Francis RIP Pope 2013-2025 Born 1936, Died 2025 We are deeply saddened at the passing of Pope Francis. As the successor of St Peter he has been a spiritual father and shepherd to the church in our day, challenging us, and calling as to reach out to those on the peripheries. He was the first Jesuit Pope, but took the name Francis after the Poor Man of Assisi who modelled for him a closeness to the poor, a concern for those on the margins of society and a care for all of creation In his preaching Pope Francis always spoke of the joy of the Gospel and encouraged us to reflect the joy of our faith in our lives. He showed the compassion of Jesus to everyone. He worked tirelessly for the unity of the church and travelled even to non-Christian countries promoting a message of peace. He has left a great legacy. With the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio with the community over Easter we were able to express our closeness to the Holy Father in his final suffering. There will be a special Mass at Belmont this Thursday 24th April at 11am to pray for Pope Francis as he makes his final journey to the house of the Father. On the day of his funeral, the Office of the Dead will be sung, and Mass that day will be a Requiem. May the angels lead him into paradise; may the martyrs receive him at his arrival and lead him to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive him and with Lazarus, the poor man grant him eternal rest." (The In Paradisum, words from the Funeral Liturgy)
We were were honoured and delighted to be joined by the Apostolic Nuncio to celebrate Easter. His Excellency Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía is the representative of the Holy See in Great Britain, and therefore of the Holy Father. His presence on Easter Sunday morning brought us more consciously in communion with Pope Francis, the successor of St Peter, as we heard the Gospel story of Peter running to the tomb. His patron saint is St Michael, so afterwards, at a festive lunch we were able to present him with some Belmont cufflinks with the monastery coat of arms - very similar to his as Archbishop. We were able to pray for him and his work in this country.
