Happy Feast of All Saints!
Giving honour to the Blessed Sacrament on the Feast of All Saints…
Panis angelicus
fit panis hominum;
dat panis coelicus
figuris terminum;
o res mirabilis!
Manducat Dominum
pauper, pauper
servus et humilis.
pauper, pauper
servus et humilis.
Heavenly bread
That becomes the bread for all mankind;
Bread from the angelic host
That is the end of all imaginings;
Oh, miraculous thing!
This body of God will nourish
Even the poorest,
The most humble of servants.
Even the poorest,
The most humble of servants.
This thread is devoted to honouring the Sacraments of the Church which have led countless souls to Heaven. Share your favourite stories about saints, your tips for attaining sanctity, your thoughts about the role of the sacraments in cultivating holiness, your favourite prayers, poems, hymns, sermons – whatever. Today we celebrate the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church!
A very happy Feast Day to all Catholic Truth bloggers and readers…
Comments (10)
Beautiful video, beautiful thread.
We are so blessed to have the Eucharist to feed our souls. “Panis Angelicus” expresses this beautifully.
A very happy feast day to all.
A Happy feast of all saints to one and all too.
We learnt the Panis Angelicus at school and I have never forgotten the words.. thankyou for the translation.
Only recently I have come to realise that we have a litany to all the saints (even though it is in my 1962 missal which I kept from my young and daft days) which is quite long so that one passed me by. Probably because it was only said on this feast day….
St. John Ogilvie, pray for us.
The Panis Angelicus video is just wonderful. I also think Our Lady is to be honoured with all the saints today because she leads us to holiness through the Rosary. I post this video tribute to her and wish everyone a very happy feast day.
I think I prefer Andreas’ version! His faith seems to b more connected than Pavarotti’s
Panis Angelicus, a lovely hymn about the Eucharist. I prefer Andreas Bocceilli’s version too.
Happy Feast day everyone.
Happy Feast of All Saints everyone!
Nice video. I’d prefer to hear Bocelli in church but Pavarotti on stage (or would have).
Happy Feast of All Saints!
I liked the Panis Angelicus video best as well.
Happy Feast everyone!
Thank you, Editor and Lily for posting those videos.
The thought occurred to me that in addition the essential and obvious aids to salvation such as the sacraments, the Rosary, and sacramentals, today’s Feast of All Saints must remind us of the example, inspiration and intercession of the saints in Heaven who make up the Church Triumphant.
I’m taking a bit of a liberty of presumption here and grabbing the opportunity to mention a “definitely should be” saint; Father William Doyle SJ, who was killed by enemy shellfire while carrying out his priestly role of tending to souls on Flanders field 96 years ago. Yorkshire Rose has previously mentioned this exceptional priest. I have no doubt that in these days of less than rigorous canonisation processes, to say the least, Father Doyle led a life of such heroic virtue as to earn canonisation ten times over.
Don’t take my word for it. Order a copy of the magnificent biography available at Carmel Books:
http://www.carmel-books.org/father-william-doyle-sj-p-1172.html
Spiritual classic is definitely not an overstatement. It reads like the life of a modern day desert Father. Any of us who think that public transport or even forgoing the odd Mars bar are a bit of a penance ought to dwell on Father Doyle’s mortifications. His biography might be more of a man’s book in view of the horrors of the trenches, but I wouldn’t want to put anybody off buying it.
I was fortunate enough to come across a book in a second hand book shop that is a collection of short quotations from Father Doyle for every day of the year. I’m sure they are all included throughout the above biography. Here’s a sample:
“How many deceive themselves in thinking sanctity consists in the holy follies of the saints! How many look upon holiness as something beyond their reach or capability, and think that it is to be found only in the performance of extraordinary actions.”
“Why are we not saints? What else did we come here for? Want of courage and want of patience. We give up, we have not the strength and will and determination to succeed which the saints had.”
“Holiness and perfection depend on yourself, not on the actions of others.”
“I can imagine I am a soul in hell, and God in His mercy is saying to me, ‘Return to the world for this year and on your manner of life during the year will depend your returning to hell or not.’ What a life I should lead! How little I should think of suffering! How perfectly each moment would be spent! If God treated me as I deserved, I should be in hell now. Shall I ever again have cause for grumbling ore complaining, no matter what may happen?”
Finally, I think the following sums up far better than any words of mine the irreplaceable role in the salvation of souls of the priest, dispenser of the gift of God’s sacraments. It also gives a great insight into Father Doyle’s great sense of humour, which given the circumstances, represents very clearly, as far as I’m concerned, just one more sign of his heroic virtue.
“When night fell, I made my way up to a part of the Line which could not be approached in daylight, to bury an officer and some men. A couple of grimy, unwashed figures emerged from the bowels of the earth to help me, but first knelt down and asked for Absolution. They then leisurely set to work to fill in the grave. “Hurry up, boys”, I said, “I don’t want to have to bury you as well”, for the spot was a hot one. They both stopped working much to my disgust, for I was just longing to get away. “Be gobs, Father”, replied one, “I haven’t the divil a bit of fear in me now after the holy Absolution”. “Nor I”, chimed in the other, “I am as happy as a king”. The poor Padre who had been keeping his eye on a row of crumps (German shells) which were coming unpleasantly near felt anything but happy; however there was nothing for it but to stick it out as the men were in a pious mood; and he escaped at last, grateful that he was not asked to say the rosary.”
“I can imagine I am a soul in hell, and God in His mercy is saying to me, ‘Return to the world for this year and on your manner of life during the year will depend your returning to hell or not.’ What a life I should lead! How little I should think of suffering! How perfectly each moment would be spent! If God treated me as I deserved, I should be in hell now. Shall I ever again have cause for grumbling ore complaining, no matter what may happen?”
Leo, thank you for posting those quotes from Fr Doyle. The above extract, copied from your post, is immensely powerful.
Sincere thanks, too, to the others who marked the Feast of All Saints here.
God bless.
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