In Honor of All Saints

Mentors, guides and intercessors,
Model-worthy predecessors,
Vowed religious or laity you may be.

Learned pope or simple child,
Fiery spirit or manner mild,
Your examples serve for all eternity:

Your lives of penance, prayer and fasting,
Loving ever the Everlasting
Through persecution, torment and derision.

In you we find such paths of grace
That we, like you, might see the face
Of God within the beatific vision.

Of you we beg, “Please bend the ear
Of God the Father, as you’re near,
And ask of him this grace for which we pray…”

Then follow we in whispered prayer
With hopeful mien and humble air,
Often, once or nestled in nine days.

Disciples, martyrs, one and all—
From the first Apostle to John Paul,
From saints who range from Zélie to Athanasius:

To God we offer thanks and praise,
And on this day our voices raise:
“All you holy men and women, pray for us!”

By Natalie Hoefer

(Natalie Hoefer is a member of St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis.)

The Criterion