Saintes

“ The Saints pray their Father in heaven to hasten His work, and roll it forth with mighty power.
Do you not know that the heavens are ready to drop with blessings in store for the faithful Saints, if they were ready and able to receive them? The Almighty God is ready to establish His kingdom upon the earth, in power and majesty, if His people were ready to receive, were prepared to administer therein in holiness, purity, and wisdom. ”

“ We are not told, again—and I beg you all to mark this well—that this great multitude consists merely of those who, according to the popular notion, have “gone to heaven,” as it is called, simply because they have not gone to hell. Not so, not so! The great multitude whom we commemorate on All Saints’ Day, are saints. They are the holy ones, the heroes and heroines of mankind, the elect, the aristocracy of grace. These are they who have kept themselves unspotted from the world. ”

“ OUR DEBT TO THE DEAD. CARDINAL MANNING The Saints, by their intercession and their patronage, unite us with God. They watch over us; they pray for us; they obtain graces for us. Our guardian angels are round about us: they watch over and protect us. ”

“ I confess to the Latter-day Saints and to the world that I want power to prevail on all the inhabitants of the earth to embrace the gospel of the Son of God that they may be saved in the Kingdom of Heaven. I want influence in the midst of the Latter-day Saints, sufficient to get all men and women to sanctify themselves before the Lord and to sanctify the Lord God in their hearts, and that they may be of one heart and one mind in all things, that they may be the disciples of the Lord Jesus. ”

“ The Savour lends the light and heat
That crowns His holy hill;
The saints, like stars, around His seat
Perform their courses still.
The saints above are stars in heaven—
What are the saints on earth?
Like tress they stand whom God has given,
Our Eden’s happy birth.
Faith is their fixed unswerving root,
Hope their unfading flower,
Fair deeds of charity their fruit,
The glory of their bower. ”

“ We are called to be Saints not only in the Assembly Hall, or in the Tabernacle, or in the place of prayer, but in every condition of life, and to bring into practice those things that God has made known to us to influence us in all that we do, that we might be a different people from the great mass of mankind, striving after the condition of sainthood—that is, to become holy in the Lord, to be sanctified in all our being to the service of the Almighty and the establishment of his kingdom and government on the earth. ”

“ The grace of God will fully reward him. I salute your holy Bishop, your most sacred Presbytery, and my fellow servants the Deacons, individually and together in the name of Jesus Christ, in His flesh and blood. His Passion and Resurrection, both of Body and Spirit, in the unity of God and of you. Grace be with you, mercy, peace, and patience evermore! ”

“ The Latter-day Saints—and they alone, as far as I have seen—feel today as the people of God in days of old felt, when men were blessed with visions and visitations of angels, and often held communion with God Himself. ”

“ Grand and joyous is the feast of the Saints, when we lovingly honor all our brethren who have gained their thrones in Heaven, and with faith and hope invoke their powerful aid, that we, too, may come where they are, and be partakers in their eternal blessedness; solemn and sad, but most sweetly soothing to the heart of faith, is the day of All Souls, when the altars are draped in black, and the chant is mournful, and sacrifice is offered, the whole world over, for the dead who have slept in Christ, with the blessing of the Church upon them. ”

“ But there are Latter-day Saints who have almost come to the conclusion that if they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, repent of their sins, and are baptized for the remission of them and have hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and partake of the Sacrament or Lord's Supper, they have accomplished just about all that is required of them in order to establish the kingdom of God on the earth. ”

“ Therefore there is a difference between the prayer to God and the invocation of the saints. We pray to God asking Him to help us by His omnipotence: we pray to the saints to help us by their intercession with God.
Our veneration of the saints should consist, primarily, in the imitation of their virtues. It is truly profitable only when we are intent upon following their example; for only by imitating their virtues shall we share their eternal bliss in heaven. ”

“ The least idea never entered their hearts that the people would be found here that would dare to oppose them. I presume the Saints feel that all will be well as a general thing, and to see these feelings existing in the bosoms of the Saints this day is pleasing and gratifying to my feelings; and I feel assured that whatever shall take place —whatever course shall be pursued by our enemies or be taken by ourselves, all will terminate for the glory and exaltation of the Saints of the living God. The kingdom of our God is bound to prosper and to go forward. ”

“ In virtue of the communion of saints, which comprises the Church militant on earth, the Church suffering in purgatory, and the Church triumphant in heaven, all members of the Church are members of one body, whose head is Christ. Hence the saints are united with us in spirit, though separated from us in body. United with Christ, they are imbued with a superior knowledge, and through Him, the All-Knowing, they know everything that concerns us, and for which we have recourse to them in prayer. ”

“ You might talk about principle to a great many men until your heads turned gray and your tongues cleave to the roofs of your mouths, and it would make no difference—they are not prepared to receive it. But the Latter-day Saints are to a very great extent. ”

“ Hearken, my brothers, if the blessed Virgin Mary is justly honored for having carried Jesus in her womb, if John the Baptist trembled because he dared not touch the Lord's head, if the sepulchre in which for a little time he lay is regarded with such great adoration, oh, how holy, pure, and worthy should be the priest who touches with his hands, who receives into his mouth and into his heart, and who distributes to others the living, glorified Jesus, the sight of whom makes angels rejoice! ”

“ Will you try to be Saints in very deed? I do not pray the Lord that you may, but my prayer is offered to you, and I pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God, and serve Him with an undivided heart, to the end of your lives. ”

“ If the Latter-day Saints magnify their calling, walk humbly before their God, do the things that are pleasing to their Father in heaven, and walk up to their duty in every respect, I am bold to say that not five years only, but scores of years, will pass away without the Saints ever being interrupted, or driven again from their possessions: thus far it is for our good. ”

“ The patient zeal, the gentleness, and the eloquence of these holy men, succeeded finally in overcoming the convictions of these barbarians, and in introducing among them not only the Gospel, but also the worship of saints. The people received baptism, and not only welcomed the saints with great eagerness and enthusiasm, but in their desire to do them all the honor in their power, they hastened to turn every one of them into a god! They erected altars to these new gods, and on these altars they offered them human sacrifices. ”

“ And the greater the Saint, that is, the nearer the Saint approaches the perfection of God, to which he is called--Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect--the more influential he must be; that is the more perfectly he will show the divine likeness and transmit the divine influence. When we think of the power of the saints as intercessors that is what actually we are thinking of,--the perfection of their understanding of the mind of Christ. ”

“ So down the ages we trace the golden thread of the succession of Saints, Christ the first, afterwards they that are his, in turn receiving, in turn giving life, blessed and blessing—till at last the kingdom comes. ”

“ The Saints look for a tangible heaven, the same as we have here, only glorified immensely. We expect to be like God, our heavenly Father—to take part in creation, in the creation and peopling of new worlds, and in doing things similar to what God has done. ”

“ All Saints' day is a solemn and glorious festival for all heaven as well as for all the world; for to-day God is praised, and the great salvation by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ magnified and lauded by a common, universal act of holy congratulation and worship among all the saints—that is, among all souls that are united to God in the communion of saints, whether in the church triumphant, in the church suffering, or in the church militant. ”

“ The cultus of the saints may be idolatry to those who do not realise the ineffably higher office of our Lord. I can conceive their asking, What good can the bones of dead men do? But when the reality of Christ's presence in the tabernacles of their flesh is felt, I could not see how the grace and glory bestowed by the Head upon his members detracted from Himself, as the source and giver of it. The Communion of Saints, therefore, would account for the answers given to prayers for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. ”

“ The eminent saints among the primitive disciples of Jesus Christ, were entirely animated by his spirit, and being dead to the world and themselves, they appeared like angels among men. Free from the secret mixture of the sinister views of all passions, to a degree which was a miracle of grace, they had in all things only God, his will and honor, before their eyes, equally aspiring to him through honor and infamy. ”

“ And when we look at the blessings we enjoy, as Saints of the Most High, from the stand point from which the Latter-day Saints should view this work, how can we limit the feelings which should animate our hearts continually with praise to our Father and God? ”

“ We may well be said to be a people of one mind, for we are the Saints of the living God. The Saints who are brought from the nations of the earth—those who have been gathered together in one, are the ones who hold the birthright to reign on the earth. ”

“ The Saints are based upon the eternal rock of truth and they will stand when the refuge of lies is swept away; they are those who will be found wise in their generation, and with oil in their lamps, and they will be the ruling and governing class of mankind; they will possess the earth, and the kingdom under the whole heavens will be given unto them.
If we read the Bible we find that God has placed in His Church Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, gifts and blessings for the edifying of the Saints and the work of the ministry, etc. ”

“ The vision and scene of the whole chapter belongs to this world, and the kingdom of the saints here spoken of is as much material and political as the other. The difference is, the rulers and people are Christians, they are called saints. ”

“ Saints, when they come to heaven, shall be naturalized, and, though by nature strangers, yet, having obtained this freedom with a great sum, which Christ paid for them, they have in all respects equal privileges with them that were free-born, the angels that are the natives and aborigines of that country. They shall be companions with the angels, and converse with those blessed spirits that love them dearly, and with an innumerable company, to whom they are now come in faith, hope, and love. ”

“ The love she bore you here will continue in heaven. She will pray for you, and the "Lord will hear the prayers of the just." Ask the saints to pray to your God and their God for you. Honor God by honoring His friends and asking their intercession. And all your friends in heaven will unite in praying to the Father of us all that one day all who love God and His friends, the saints, may be admitted with them into the company of the Saint of saints, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ”

“ If you will not take the course the Lord has marked out, you might as well back out and go down to the regions of despair, to the gold regions, or where you please, but do not trouble us, we are bound to be Saints. ”

“ For holy church commands us to observe this festival of All Saints, of which we are now keeping the octave, not only in honor of those whose names are in the calendar, and whose feasts come round in the course of each year, but also in praise of that great multitude which no man can number—of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues—who stand before the throne and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. The saints whom the church has honored with canonization are but a small number in that vast multitude. ”

“ Out of the number of the saints select for thy love and imitation one or more patrons, and by them offer up all thy works daily to God. Recommend thyself to their patronage every morning and evening, and many times during the day, especially in difficult and adverse circumstances, and in times of danger and temptation. Let them be, as it were, judges and witnesses, but especially directors of your actions. For the philosophers’ counsel already cited in reference to angels, holds good also with regard to the saints. ”

“ Only the angels have kept the record of the multitude of saints whom it has given to heaven, some bearing the palm branches of victorious martyrs, all clad in virgin robes, and swelling the celestial canticle which only the Spouses of the Lamb are privileged to sing. ”

“ When we see the course that the Saints, or those professing to be such, have taken in feeding, clothing and making our enemies rich here in our midst, it makes me feel that it is time to cease gathering those who will not be Saints indeed. ”