Saints – our companions on the journey

Twenty Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

I have just returned from Rome. I led a pilgrimage of senior educators from our Catholic Schools.

The tradition of such a pilgrimage to Rome is to pray at the tombs of St Peter and St Paul, the two founding fathers of the Church. It is worth noting that the Church itself honours both on the one feast on 29 June. The collect of the Mass highlights their complementary gifts in founding the Church.

Thus, we had a morning Mass in the crypt of St Peter’s Basilica at the tomb of St Peter, a very moving experience for us all. Later we had a tour of the excavations under St Peter’s and were able to be within a few feet of the actual burial place, there, with the towering basilica above us we remembered the words of Christ, “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church”.

We travelled out to the wonderful Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls to pray at the tomb of St Paul, situated below the main altar, and celebrated Mass in a side chapel. It was a special moment to ponder the life of the great Apostle to the Gentiles.

The pilgrimage was designed to be a visit to tombs of other saints buried in Rome. For example, we visited the tomb of St Ignatius Loyola at the Gesu church. Outside of Rome itself we prayed at the tomb of St Benedict at Montecassino, the relic of St Catherine at Siena, and the tomb of St Francis at Assisi.

Apart from these key saints we also were able to pray before the tombs of two popes, Sts John XXIII and John Paul II. In the crypt of St Peter’s I prayed at the tomb of St Paul VI.

In the Gesu, we visited the relic of St Francis Xavier, and we visited the tomb of another great Jesuit saint, Aloysius Gonzaga, at St Ignatio church. At Montecassino we prayed before the tomb of St Scholastica buried with her twin brother, St Benedict. In Assisi we visited the tomb of St Clare and were able to visit the tomb of the young 15 year old Blessed Carlo Acutis.

I actually listed 25 saints that we could visit while in Rome, Siena and Assisi.

There is something very real about praying before the tomb of a saint. We can read books about their lives and come to know of them, but when you are there before their tomb there is a sort of direct link with them.

As well as visiting their tombs we also were able to visit places that were significant to them. Thus we visited the rooms where St Ignatius Loyola lived and died in Rome. We visited the cave at Subiaco where St Benedict began his spiritual journey which led to the establishing of monastic way of life which has had such a profound influence on the Church. We visited the house of Catherine in Siena and the wonderful Portiuncla inside the grand Basilica dedicated to St Mary of the Angels on the flats below Assisi where Francis prayed with his community of brothers near where he died.

At these places we were able to sense their presence and encounter their lives, coming to sense a closeness to them. They somehow had become so much more real to us.

In the Creed we proclaim our faith in the Communion of Saints. Saints are not only figures of history to be read about in books, saints are alive beholding the glory of God in heaven. We are able to be in a personal communion with them because they live. We are able to seek their intercession because they are our brothers and sisters in the faith, knowing that they can present our petitions to God Himself. We are able to look to them for inspiration and encouragement in our own journey through this vale of tears. They are the great cloud of witnesses as the Letter to the Hebrews says (Heb 12:1) that spur us on.

In the first reading today, we note that Moses instructs Joshua to engage in battle with the enemy while he would go to the hilltop and with hands raised invoke the power of God. We are told that as long as he kept his hands raised the victory was with the Israelites. In other words, while Moses interceded, God’s power was at work.

There is a lesson here for us. We are engaged in a spiritual battle, firstly for our own salvation, and, secondly, for the salvation of the world. And it is a battle, an intense battle. We know the great struggles we experience on a daily basis. Like Joshua we should not just rely upon our own strength, for we need help, spiritual help.

This is where we can turn to the saints. We look to them firstly for the inspiration that their lives offer us. They have succeeded in being exemplary Christians. Their faith, their courage, their fidelity encourages us to press on when the going gets tough.

It is also their prayer for us that is important. We can pray to the saints seeking their intercession. Of course, the first saint we would turn to is the Blessed Virgin Mary. Every time we say the Hail Mary, we simply say, “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us”.

We do exactly the same with the saints. We ask them to pray for us. We can do this on their feast day. We can turn to our favourite saint. We can identify a saint whose example inspires us and ask their help in being like them.

Asking the saints to intercede for us is deeply rooted in our Catholic tradition. We have the custom of praying the Litany of the Saints in the liturgy, as we do at the Easter Vigil and at an ordination. Praying the Litany of the Saints privately can be a devotional exercise when we ask this cloud of witnesses to surround us with their prayers.

In our Catholic funeral liturgy, we invoke the saints to accompany us on our final journey into the hands of God, in the prayers of Final Commendation and Farewell we pray

Saints of God, come to his aid! Hasten to meet her, angels of the Lord! R. Receive his soul and present her to God the Most High.

Saints are our companions on our journey of faith here on earth, and our special companions on our final journey into the hands of God.

Archbishop Julian Porteous

Sunday, 16 October 2022