From the Breviary according to the use of the Roman Curia, 1529, the continuation of the sermon for the second day in the Octave of All Saints.
As we venerate the Saints with this special festivity, it is worthy that we begin our praise with Him Who adorned the heavens with the Angels, and the earth with His other creatures, that He might be praised by all. Indeed, because He is in Himself the fount of goodness, needing not our goods, (Psalm 15, 2) excluding no one from a share in His light, in order that He might be known, He made the rational creation to understand Him as the greatest good, and so understanding to love Him, so loving Him to possess Him, so possessing Him to delight in Him; and in this course, it not God Himself, but the creature that benefits. Therefore as we praise Him, though we cannot yet reach what we long for in joy, and know not how to do what we ought, let us offer our prayers with confidence, since the Lord God, giving greater thought to our desires than to our deeds, looks kindly upon the strength of our good intentions as He receives our service.
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| The Funeral of St Jerome, with the Holy Trinity in the midst of the Angels, by Fra Filippo Lippi, ca. 1452-60; from the Cathedral of Prato, Italy. (Public domain image from Wikipedia.) |
