All Saints Day

My friend brings up a very important point about saints. Why are they so anonymous? Sure there are some very famous saints like the Apostles, Joan of Arc, Thomas More and Aquinas, and St. Patrick, but what about all the other names on the wall so to speak. Since martyrs are sped through the process of canonization, do we know anything else about them besides this. Are they all just going to be forgotten compared to all the other names? Well the answer is no. Even those forgotten saints who may share feast days with other renown  saints are remembered on the Feast of All Saints.

The Feast of All Saints takes place on November 1 and is also a Holy Day of Obligation meaning you should attend Mass on that day even during the weekday. This day celebrates all the holy men and women who have dedicated their very lives to God. Even those that are unknown to us, but are known to God, are celebrated on this day. All the saints in the Church's about 2000 year history are all together honored on this day.

What I found interesting about All Saints Day was that the liturgical color is not red for the blood of all the martyrs. In fact, it's white.

This is due to a passage in Revelation: "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" (Revelation 7:14). All saints have cleansed themselves to be with God. Even though plenty of saints have been martyred, the color white is celebrated on this day.

Martyrs

While trying to find states that are undermined, I am shocked of all the little information they have on most saints. I mean are they just trying to make fillers in the sense? Well researching I found out that most saints are martyrs and according to Christian tradition all martyrs are immediately canonized.  The first 10 Popes or so were saints because of this very reason. During the early years of the church records were not of most people. Still whenever a martyr is recognize it he or she is canonized. St. Florentius, feast day of April 6, what's a martyr in the fourth century. He was martyred with Geminianus and Saturus. They suffered at Sirmium. I find it curious that no matter how these people live their life and they died for Christ they are immediately canonized. I'm not saying that you should dying the name of Christ and you will be a saint. But I think how a person dies says a lot of of their state of mind. I mean if a person commits suicide he or she obviously has a troubled mind; if a person dies for Christ here she is obviously full of faith. I personally believe that if a person dies for his faith, he or she is obviously going to heaven, which essentially that's what a saint is: a person who the church is recognized is in the presence of God in heaven. So remember to always live your life to the holiest and try to keep God in your heart.

St. Vincent Ferrer

Today's feast we celebrate St. Vincent Ferrer. He was born in Valencia, Spain in the year 1350. When he became eighteen, he joined the Dominican Order. After much studying, he became a master of sacred theology. He spent reading Scripture for three years to the point of memorizing the Bible by heart. He was responsible for converting several Jews in Valencia. He grieved over the early schisms in the Church to the peak of death, but the Lord commanded him to convert sinners which he did for 21 years. He traveled across many countries in Europe in the process converting Jews, sinners, and heretics. It is said that even the most stubborn of sinners that came to him became future Saints as well. He is also been stated to have the gift of tongues due to the crowds understanding him when he only spoke in Spanish which is his native tongue. He died on April 5, 1419 at the age of sixty-nine. Pope Calixtus III canonized him as a saint on June 3, 1455.

The Three States

Everyone knows Christ defeated death on Easter. This is why Easter is the most significant season in the Church calendar. By doing this though, all the souls who have died before Him were divided into three states of being: Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell. With Christ's Resurrection, all the righteous people immediately went up with Him (e.g. St. Dismas the Good Thief who was crucified alongside Christ). Those who were good people, but still needing to repay their trespasses, are in the state of Purgatory, while those who denied the existence of God are in the state of Hell.

Now not to be confused, but these three states of being for the soul are considered places, but they are considered a condition (hence a state of being). It can be considered either.

Now before there were these three states, all the souls were in the 'location' of Sheol or Hades. All souls were put here when the physical body died (with one or two exceptions including Elijah). In this place, souls could be divided into two separate 'realms' so to speak. They were the 'Bosom of Abraham' (also called 'Paradise') and Gehenna. The 'Bosom of Abraham' was a reward to all the just and could be likened to the to an imperfect happiness since there was the absence of God yet people treat it as a synonym for Heaven. While on the other hand, all the evil souls were in Gehenna which could be considered the precedent to Hell. This concept is illustrated in Luke 16: 22-23 with the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

Once Christ Resurrected though, all the holy people in the 'Bosom of Abraham' were brought into Heaven where an eternal state of happiness was met since they were in communion with God. Those in Gehenna are in Hell or in the state of eternal punishment. Hell is the state of being for the soul with eternal suffering because all souls seek to be in communion with God, and since they rejected God, they are forever suffering.  The last state is Purgatory where all the souls who have not freed themselves from their venial sins. They can however achieve the state of Heaven when their debt has been paid.

Now, all souls instead of being confined to the 'Bosom of Abraham' or Gehenna have a particular judgment which decrees where the soul in question will now go to whether it be Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory.



Sources:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01055a.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12575a.htm
http://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/The-parable-of-Lazarus.jpg

April Fools

April first, also known as April fools, is a time of laughter and pranks. This day comes originally from a typo in a book published in 1325. It's called Canterbury Tales. The book originally serve the purpose of spreading the feast day of the Annunciation, March 25. But the author instead accidentally wrote March 32 or April. The author was mocked for his error and therefore we tease an prank each other on this date.

Today however is aslo the feast day of St. Cellach. Last hereditary archbishop of Armagh, Ireland, who named St. Malachy as his successor when he died on April 1 at Ardpatrick, in Munster. He was called Cellach Mc Aedh, a native of Ireland, possibly a Benedictine of Glastonbury, also called Celsus. Cellach taught at Oxford, England, until 1106, when he became the archbishop of Armagh at the age of twenty-six, serving there with distinction. In 1129 on a visitation of Munster he died and was buried in Lismore at his own request.