One of the images I love best about the Feast of All Saints comes from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews where he speaks of us as being surrounded by an "invisible cloud of witnesses" cheering us on and supporting us through our lives as faithful Christians. This Celtic poem, by the great Kathleen Raine, captures that feeling perfectly:
THE COMPANY
So many gathered in my room last night.
I felt them close all round me, existences,
Living presences, invisible essences,
Each centred in its own peculiar secret joy...
Not in the world, and yet they gathered in my room;
Some stood still, inside the door, some
Thronged the firelight and the shadows...
Where had they come from?
Out of my joy, out of my sorrow,
Living entities sprung into life from the dust
Of my existence, taking wing, making song?
Or were they there already before I came
Alone into my room, waiting
Until my joy should open eyes to see them,
Until my sorrow should reach down
Into the depths of being, and there find them,
Find such a company of living multitude?
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