In response to the question "What is a saint?" Leonard Cohen replies:
"His house is dangerous and finite, but he is at home in the world. He can love the shape of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of the heart. It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love. "
Leonard Cohen, from his novel, Beautiful Losers (1966)
When I posted the passage in full on All Saint's Day last year, a parishioner offered her own perspective:
"I like to think of the idea of "saint" as it was first used by early Christians. It meant all those who had received the grace of Christ through baptism. It includes the living and the dead, the known and the unknown, a community of believers transcending time. It is really the beginning of the idea of the communion of saints to which all are called. Anyway, those are my thoughts."
The picture above shows some of the saints of Our Lady of Vilnius gathered outside of our endangered and finite house. It was taken last November when we did not know quite how endangered and how finite. Tonight we will gather. We will pray for all the saints and ask for their help as we offer ours.
1 comment:
An entire year has gone by already! I don't think any of us could have imagined how deeply embattled and fearless we would have to become.
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