1st November: All Saints Day

Launched into infinity

The saints are great men and women

who, having seen their greatness in the Lord,

risk for God, as his children,

everything that is theirs.

They give, demanding nothing.

They give their life, their soul, their joy,

every earthly bond, every richness.

Free and alone,

launched into infinity,

they wait for Love to bring them

into the eternal kingdom; but, already in this life,

they feel their hearts fill with love,

true love, the only love

that satisfies, that consoles,

that love which shatters

the eyelids of the soul and gives

new tears.

Ah, no one knows who a saint is!

He or she has given and now receives,

and an endless flow

passes between heaven and earth,

joins earth to heaven,

and filters from the depths

rare ecstasy, celestial sap

that does not stop at the saint,

but flows over the tired, the mortal,

the blind and paralyzed in soul,

and breaks through and refreshes,

comforts and attracts and saves.

If you want to know about love, ask a saint.

 

Chiara Lubich, Essential Writings, New City Press, Hyde Park, NY, 2007, p. 116