Liturgy November
By celebrating the passage of these saints from earth to heaven the Church proclaims the paschal mystery achieved in the saints . . . ; she proposes them to the faithful as examples drawing all to the Father through Christ, and through their merits she pleads for God's favors (Vatican II, SC 104).
In her liturgical calendar, the Church unfolds the mystery of Christ from various points of view. There is the time period called the Temporal Cycle. From Advent to the feast of Pentecost, the Church relives the principal mysteries of her Head. Then there is the Sanctoral Cycle that commemorates the canonized saints of the Church. The commemoration of the saints is an important aspect connected with remembrance of the Death and Resurrection of Christ. It is unfortunate that the saints of former times are presented as almost superhuman people. In fact, the saints are men and women like the rest of us, except that they responded to the grace of Christ in a striking way in their personal lives. They are signs of Christ’s success in human life. As stories of success, the saints make Christ credible. Jesus has the power to change the human heart and the saints are witness to that. The Church venerates them as elder brothers and sisters who remain always in solidarity with the Christian family.
The saints are the pillars and main beams of the world. (Mali)
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