Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself.
St. John Paul II
Truth
Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
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L’Innocence, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1893
Prayer to Mary, Mother of Divine Love
by Pope Pius XII
To you, O Mary,
are known all the needs of your people
and of the whole Church.
Mother of Truth and Seat of Wisdom,
dissipate the clouds of error which darken our minds.
Amend the straying’s of our hearts
and inspire in us love for truth
and the desire to do good.
Obtain for all people a holy fear of God
so that society may know happiness.
Give us lively faith that we may trust
in those things which are imperishable.
Give us that love which is sealed forever in God.
Obtain for families fidelity, harmony, and peace.
Stir up and confirm in the hearts
of those who govern nations
a clear notion of their responsibility,
and of their duty to foster religion,
morality, and the common good.
And just as your mercy is showered upon souls, O Mary,
may it likewise flow over all those ills
which afflict this people,
and indeed the whole Christian family.
Have pity on the poor, on captives,
on all who bear persecution
for the sake of justice,
or are stricken by misfortune.
Hail, O Mary,
Mother of those who wander here below;
you are our life,
our sweetness,
and our hope.
O Mother of Divine Love,
send down your motherly blessing
on all who pray to you;
send it abundantly and consolingly.
Amen.
Solemnity of All Saints
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All Saints, 18th Century
Prayer for
Solemnity of All Saints
God our Father, source of all holiness,
the work of your hands is manifest in your saints,
the beauty of your truth is reflected in their faith.
May we who aspire to have part in their joy
be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives,
so that having shared their faith on earth
we may also know their peace in your kingdom.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
A Prayer to All the Saints
Today, dear friends in heaven,
we celebrate your feast.
We celebrate again the feasts of all the saints we know,
and whom we honor day by day through the year.
But we also honor today all the saints in heaven
whom we do not know.
We can not help thinking, on this day,
that no one of us lacks a model to follow in one of you.
We look around us at the familiar persons and things
and activities that fill our every day lives,
and we find that they are little different from the persons,
things, and activities that filled your lives.
We have the same human nature,
wounded by the sin of Adam and Eve,
but strengthened marvelously by grace,
and fed and sanctified by the sacraments and prayer.
We have exactly the same sacraments that you had,
we have the same Christ,
the same Blessed Mother,
the same trials,
sickness, pain, temptation,
the same joys, pleasures,
and happiness that crowded your lives.
Then it must be true that,
with the same means,
we should be able to work out our lives
in the same holiness and sanctity as yours, dear saints.
Help us to do this.
Help us to see the opportunities for holiness
that fill our everyday lives.
Obtain for us, by your prayers,
the deep understanding and appreciation
of spiritual things that were yours.
Help us to see, too,
in the beauty of the world in which we live,
some slight mirroring of the eternal beauty
which you now see, as you gaze on God.
But let us not be deceived
into thinking that this earthly beauty,
this worldly pleasure, is an end in itself.
Let us use it wisely and moderately,
our hearts always yearning to come at last
to the final beauty and joy,
the possession of God Himself,
with you, in heaven.
Amen.