{"id":3405,"date":"2013-11-01T07:35:25","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T06:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/le-peuple-immense-de-ceux-qui\/"},"modified":"2013-11-01T09:42:25","modified_gmt":"2013-11-01T08:42:25","slug":"le-peuple-immense-de-ceux-qui","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/le-peuple-immense-de-ceux-qui\/","title":{"rendered":"Le peuple immense de ceux qui T’ont cherché"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1101<\/a><\/span>
\nHere (once again) is the homily I preached in French six years ago at the Monast\u00e8re Saint-Beno\u00eet in Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne, France. Richard Chonak’s fine translation follows. Thank you, Richard.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab Voici le peuple immense de ceux qui t’ont cherch\u00e9 \u00bb.<\/strong>
\nOui, Seigneur J\u00e9sus, tous ils ont cherch\u00e9 ton Visage.
\nTous, ils ont pris \u00e0 c\u0153ur cette parole
\nque ton Esprit Saint a fait chanter le roi proph\u00e8te :
\n\u00ab Mon c\u0153ur t’a d\u00e9clar\u00e9 : je cherche le Seigneur. . .
\nc’est ta Face, Seigneur, que je rechercherai.
\nNe d\u00e9tourne pas de moi ton Visage \u00bb (Ps 26, 8-9).
\nTous, ils sont devenus miroirs vivants de ta Sainte Face,
\nselon ce que dit ton Ap\u00f4tre :
\n\u00ab Et nous tous qui, le visage d\u00e9couvert,
\nr\u00e9fl\u00e9chissons comme en un miroir la gloire du Seigneur,
\nnous sommes transform\u00e9s en cette m\u00eame image,
\ntoujours plus glorieuse,
\ncomme il convient \u00e0 l’action du Seigneur, qui est l’Esprit \u00bb (2 Cor 3, 18).
\nSeigneur J\u00e9sus, la beaut\u00e9 de la gloire de tes saints nous ravit
\nparce qu’elle est le reflet sur leurs visages de la beaut\u00e9 de la gloire de ta Face !
\nAujourd’hui tu nous r\u00e9v\u00e8les,
\naujourd’hui tu nous redis le secret de toute saintet\u00e9 :
\nla recherche de ta Face.
\n\u00c0 quiconque cherche ta Face, Seigneur J\u00e9sus, tu la r\u00e9v\u00e8les,
\net celui \u00e0 qui tu r\u00e9v\u00e8les ta Face ne peut que l’adorer.
\nCette adoration de ta Sainte Face est transformante,
\nC’est toujours le roi proph\u00e8te qui nous donne de chanter chaque nuit :
\n\u00ab Sur nous s’est imprim\u00e9, Seigneur, la lumi\u00e8re de ta Face \u00bb (Ps 4, 7).
\nParmi tous ces visages illumin\u00e9s par la beaut\u00e9 de ta Face,
\nil y a un visage qui rayonne d’une splendeur qui fait p\u00e2lir le soleil.
\nC’est le visage de ta M\u00e8re, la toute belle, la toute pure.
\nTu es toute belle, \u00f4 Marie, car sur ton visage nous voyons
\nle reflet \u00e9blouissant de Celui
\nqui est \u00ab le resplendissement de la gloire du P\u00e8re
\net l’effigie de sa substance \u00bb (Hb 1, 3).
\nToi, la reine de tous les saints,
\ntu es le signe grandiose qui appara\u00eet dans le ciel :
\nla Femme rev\u00eatue du soleil,
\nayant la lune sous ses pieds,
\net portant une couronne sertie de douze \u00e9toiles.
\nJe dois vous avouer, ch\u00e8res s\u0153urs,
\nque d\u00e8s que nous avons chant\u00e9 l’antienne du Magnificat aux premi\u00e8res v\u00eapres,
\nj’ai compris que la foi d’Abraham restait, en quelque sorte, inachev\u00e9e,
\ntant qu’elle n’a pas trouv\u00e9 en Marie sa pl\u00e9nitude.
\nLes fils et les filles d’Abraham, plus nombreux que les \u00e9toiles du ciel,
\nsont tous sans exception aucune, fils et filles de Marie,
\nde celle qui a cru \u00ab en l’accomplissement de ce qui lui fut dit
\nde la part du Seigneur \u00bb (Lc 1, 45).
\nC’est Marie qui entra\u00eene tous les saints dans le chant qui, un jour,
\nd\u00e9borda de son C\u0153ur immacul\u00e9 :
\n\u00ab Le Puissant a fait pour moi des merveilles \u00bb (Lc 1, 49).
\nVoici le chant de tous les saints.
\nChacun le re\u00e7oit des l\u00e8vres de Marie pour le reprendre \u00e0 son tour \u00bb
\nchacun avec sa voix, chacun avec son accent,
\nchacun avec la m\u00e9lodie que lui inspire le Saint-Esprit.
\nC’est cela ce grand bruit qui remplit le ciel ;
\nc’est le chant de Marie repris par le ch\u0153ur des saints.
\nEt qui sont ces saints, tous enfants de Marie ?
\nIls sont les bienheureux de l’\u00e9vangile que vous venez d’entendre.
\n\u00c0 chacun des b\u00e9atitudes correspond cette parole de J\u00e9sus crucifi\u00e9,
\nce testament d’amour confi\u00e9 au disciple bien-aim\u00e9 : \u00ab Voici ta M\u00e8re \u00bb (Jn 19, 27).
\nIl me faut donc dire :
\nVous, les pauvres de c\u0153ur, voici votre M\u00e8re,
\nla Vierge des pauvres telle qu’elle s’est manifest\u00e9e \u00e0 Banneux,
\nla Reine des anawim, de ceux qui attendent tout de Dieu.
\nVous, les doux, voici votre M\u00e8re,
\nMarie, la bonne agnelle,
\ncelle dont la mansu\u00e9tude d\u00e9passe celle du roi David,
\ncelle dont a douceur apaise tous nos conflits et calme toutes nos temp\u00eates.
\nVous qui pleurez, voici votre M\u00e8re,
\ncelle que l’\u00c9glise, riche de l’exp\u00e9rience de deux mill\u00e9naires,
\nappelle Consolatrix Afflictorum<\/em>, la Consolatrice des Afflig\u00e9s.
\nVous qui avez faim et soif de la justice, voici votre M\u00e8re,
\nla M\u00e8re de l’Eucharistie,
\ncelle qui a donn\u00e9 de son corps et de son sang
\npour que, de son sein virginal, f\u00e9cond\u00e9 par la puissance du Saint Esprit,
\nsoient offerts au monde entier le Corps et le Sang du Christ
\npour vous rassasier.
\nVous les mis\u00e9ricordieux, voici votre M\u00e8re,
\ncelle que l’\u00c9glise, dans ce chant sublime qui s’\u00e9l\u00e8ve des monast\u00e8res de par le monde entier tous les soirs, appelle Mater misericordiae<\/em>.
\nMarie ne s’effraie point \u00e0 la vue de vos mis\u00e8res.
\nElle les prend toutes dans son C\u0153ur pour les tremper
\ndans l’huile et dans le vin du Saint Esprit.
\nVous les c\u0153urs purs, voici votre M\u00e8re,
\nl’Immacul\u00e9e, la toute belle, celle qui op\u00e8re dans le c\u0153ur dans p\u00e9cheurs
\ndes merveilles de puret\u00e9 et de candeur.
\nVous les artisans de paix, voici votre M\u00e8re, Regina pacis<\/em>,
\ncelle qui n’a jamais oubli\u00e9 le chant ang\u00e9lique qui a fait tressaillir les \u00e9toiles
\nen la nuit o\u00f9 elle a mis au monde le Prince de la Paix :
\n\u00ab Gloire \u00e0 Dieu au plus haut des cieux, et paix sur la terre
\naux hommes qu’il aime \u00bb (Lc 2, 14).
\nVous les pers\u00e9cut\u00e9s pour la justice, voici votre M\u00e8re,
\nla Regina Martyrum<\/em>, celle dont l’\u00e2me fut transperc\u00e9e d’un glaive de douleur.
\nElle s’est tenue debout pr\u00e8s de la croix de son Fils.
\nElle a sond\u00e9 toutes les amertumes et,
\navec son Enfant crucifi\u00e9, a bu le calice que le P\u00e8re leur avait pr\u00e9sent\u00e9.
\nVous les insult\u00e9s et les calomni\u00e9s, voici votre M\u00e8re,
\ncelle qui, rayonnante d’amour et de v\u00e9rit\u00e9, \u00e9clairera tous vos chemins.
\nC’est elle qui soutient les martyrs.
\nRien de ce que vous souffrez ne lui est \u00e9tranger.
\nVous qui \u00eates dans la joie,
\nvous qui jubilez d’all\u00e9gresse, voici votre M\u00e8re,
\nla Causa nostrae laetitiae.
\nVotre joie est la sienne, et sa joie \u00e0 elle,
\nelle la d\u00e9verse \u00e0 flots dans les c\u0153urs de tous les saints
\njusque dans les si\u00e8cles des si\u00e8cles.
\nSainte Marie, M\u00e8re et Reine de tous les saints,
\nnous voulons, comme l’ap\u00f4tre Jean,
\nte prendre d\u00e8s maintenant chez nous,
\npour que tu nous apprennes les b\u00e9atitudes
\ndont tu es l’ic\u00f4ne parfaite.
\nFais nous go\u00fbter au bonheur de tous les saints.
\nEt maintenant, accompagne-nous \u00e0 l’autel du Saint Sacrifice.
\nUn jour, nous l’esp\u00e9rons fermement,
\ntu seras l\u00e0 pour nous accueillir au banquet qui d\u00e9j\u00e0 nous est pr\u00e9par\u00e9 au ciel,
\ncelui des Noces de l’Agneau.
\nAmen.<\/p>\n


\n“Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.”<\/strong>
\nYes, Lord Jesus, they all came to seek your face.
\nThey all took to heart this word which your Holy Spirit made King David the prophet sing:
\n“My heart has said: I seek the Lord; it is your face, O Lord, that I shall seek. Turn not your face from me.” (Ps 27: 8-9)
\nThey all became living mirrors of your Holy Face, as your Apostle says:
\n“And we all who, with faces unveiled, reflect the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into his very image, ever more glorious, as befits the work of the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3: 18).
\nLord Jesus, the beauty of the glory of your saints ravishes us because it is the reflection on their faces of the beauty of the glory of your Face!
\nToday you reveal to us,
\ntoday you tell us again the secret of all sanctity:
\nto seek your face.
\nTo anyone who seeks your face,
\nLord Jesus, you reveal it,
\nand he to whom you reveal your face can only adore it.
\nThis adoration of your Holy Face is transforming;
\nit is again the prophet-king who gives us the words to sing each night:
\n“Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord.”
\n(Ps 4, 7).
\nAmong all these faces illumined by the beauty of your Face, there is one countenance radiant with a splendor that makes the sun pale.
\nIt is the face of your Mother, the all-beautiful, the all-pure.
\nYou are all beautiful, O Mary, for in your face we see the radiant reflection of Him who is “the brightness of the Father’s glory and the image of his being” (Heb 1:3).
\nYou, the queen of all the saints, you are the great sign that appeared in the heavens:
\nthe Woman clothed with the sun,
\nhaving the moon beneath her feet,
\nand bearing a crown with twelve stars.
\nI must say to you, dear sisters, that since we sang the antiphon of the Magnificat at first Vespers, I have understood that the faith of Abraham remained, in a sense, unfulfilled, inasmuch as it had not yet found its fullness in Mary.
\nThe sons and daughters of Abraham, more countless than the stars of heaven, are all without any exception, sons and daughters of Mary, of her who believed “that the word of the Lord to her would be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:45).
\nIt is Mary who leads all the saints in the song that once poured out of her immaculate Heart: “The Almighty has done great things for me” (Lk 1:49).
\nThis is the song of all the saints.
\nEach one receives it from the lips of Mary, to take it up in his own turn,
\neach with his own voice, each with his own accent,
\neach with the melody which the Holy Spirit inspires in him.
\nThat is the great sound that fills Heaven:
\nit is the song of Mary, taken up by the choir of the saints.
\nAnd who are these saints, all children of Mary?
\nThey are the ones blessed by the gospel which you just heard.
\nThis word of Jesus crucified fits with each of the beatitudes: “Behold your Mother” (Jn 19:27), the testament of love entrusted to his beloved disciple.
\nSo I should say:
\nYou poor of heart, behold your Mother,
\nthe Virgin of the poor as she appeared at Banneux,
\nthe Queen of the anawim, of those who depend on God for everything.
\nYou meek, behold your Mother,
\nMary, the good shepherdess,
\nwhose care surpasses that of David,
\nwhose gentleness brings peace to our conflicts and calms all our tempests.
\nYou who weep, behold your Mother,
\nwhom the Church, rich in the experience of two millennia,
\ncalled Consolatrix Afflictorum<\/em>, the Consoler of the Afflicted.
\nYou who hunger and thirst for justice, behold your Mother,
\nthe Mother of the Eucharist,
\nwho gave of her own body and blood
\nso that, from her virginal womb, made fruitful by the power of the Holy Spirit,
\nthe Body and the Blood of Christ would be offered to the whole world
\nto satisfy you.
\nYou merciful, behold your Mother,
\nwhom the Church, in that sublime song that rises from monasteries through the entire world each evening, calls Mater misericordiae<\/em>.
\nMary is not frightened at all at the sight of your sufferings.
\nShe takes them all into her Heart to wash them
\nin the oil and wine of the Holy Spirit.
\nYou pure of heart, behold your Mother,
\nImmaculate, all-beautiful, who works marvels in the hearts of sinners, marvels of purity and openness.
\nYou peacemakers, behold your Mother, Regina pacis<\/em>,
\nwho has never forgotten the angels’ song that traversed the stars on the night when she brought into the world the Prince of Peace:
\n“Glory to God in the highest heavens, and peace on earth to the people he loves.” (Lk 2:14)
\nYou persecuted for righteousness, behold your Mother, the Regina Martyrum<\/em>, whose soul was transpierced by a blade of sorrow.
\nShe remained standing by the cross of her Son.
\nShe experienced all its bitterness and, with her crucified Son, drank the chalice which the Father had presented to her.
\nYou who are insulted and slandered, behold your Mother who, radiant with love and truth, will enlighten all your ways.
\nIt is she who sustains the martyrs.
\nNothing of what you suffer is foreign to her.
\nYou who rejoice and are glad, behold your Mother,
\nthe Causa nostrae laetitiae<\/em>.
\nYour joy is hers, and into the hearts of all the saints she pours her own joy,
\nunto ages of ages.
\nHoly Mary, Mother and Queen of all the saints,
\nwe desire, like the apostle John,
\nto bring you into our homes from this day forward,
\nso that you may teach us the beatitudes
\nof which you are the perfect icon.
\nMake us taste the happiness of all the saints.
\nAnd now, accompany us to the altar of the Holy Sacrifice.
\nOne day, we firmly hope,
\nyou will be there to receive us at the banquet which is already prepared for us in Heaven,
\nthe wedding banquet of the Lamb.
\nAmen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here (once again) is the homily I preached in French six years ago at the Monast\u00e8re Saint-Beno\u00eet in Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne, France. Richard Chonak’s fine translation follows. Thank you, Richard. \u00ab Voici le peuple immense de ceux qui t’ont cherch\u00e9 \u00bb. Oui, Seigneur J\u00e9sus, tous ils ont cherch\u00e9 ton Visage. Tous, ils ont pris \u00e0 c\u0153ur cette <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,2,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blessed-virgin-mary","category-homilies","category-saints"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-SV","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3405"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3405"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5080,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3405\/revisions\/5080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}