I saw a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and in the sight of the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and with palms in their hands. (Ap 7:2-12).
Who are those glorious saints?
They have lived upon earth as we have, they have known our miseries, our
difficulties, our struggles. Some of them we recognize easily, for the
Church has raised them to the honours of the Altar; but the great
majority are entirely unknown to us. They are humble people who lived
obscurely in the accomplishment of duty, without display, without renown, whom no one here below remembers, but whom the heavenly Father looked upon, knew in secret, and, having proved their fidelity, called to His glory. The honourable positions occupied by some in this vast gathering, or the mighty deeds accomplished by others, no longer possess any value of themselves: eternal beatitude is not determined by the great things achieved here below. One things only endures, for the humble and the great, the poor and the wealthy: the degree of love they had attained, to which corresponds the degree of glory which now renders them eternally happy. (Ven Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, OCD)
O blessed souls, who knew so well how to profit by the gifts of God, and to purchase with the precious ransom so delectable and enduring a heritage, tell us how you won through Him such an eternal blessing! Assist us, since you are so near the Fountainhead. Draw water for those of us on earth who are perishing with thirst. Teresa of Jesus, Exclamation of the Soul to God
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