| IX. Choir | 26 July |
|---|---|
| “Who dries the tears” | Mother Anne |
A tall, simple, infinitely kind angel stands before us: Saint Anne must have looked so modest and good in her life.
Saint Japhed
from the IX choir of Angels, is the angel “who dries tears.” He is assigned to an angel from the Choir of Dominions, Saint Misachar, who carries the bowl of supplication of all times and places as man’s answer to God’s call.
The IX choir of angels is closest to mankind and therefore understands all of our human needs best of all the choirs of angels. That is why these angels are also assigned to the higher choirs in a great multitude… they are able to adapt the power and the task of the higher choirs to human proportions. They make everything humanly bearable because they are truly brothers of men.
In a motherly gesture, this angel also holds out a simple white linen cloth to the Lord on His Throne above the clouds. How many tears might you have dried with it, you good, great Angel?
He dries those tears that we weep out of longing for God in hot, burning love: they are the most precious. And right after them come those that we shed out of equally burning love, like Magdalene at the foot of the Cross. And then come the tears of compassion for the plight of our neighbour and the tears of sorrow over divinely ordained separation. And last but not least, with his kind hand he dries our tears of helplessness, of earthly, material need, homelessness, sorrow and even despair. Through the hand of the angel, the love of God, Mary, the Comforter of the Afflicted, dries our tears. Doesn’t She, the Best of all mothers, also say to us: Child, be healed?
So the angel who dries our tears is also the one who carries our pleas and supplications to God from the depths of our distress. He is the angel of motherly care. He is also the angel of trust, because trust is a power that God is able to conquer. He is the angel who heals the wounds that God’s justice or wisdom inflicts on us with Mary’s words Fiat mihi secundum verbum Tuum! He is the faithful one who, with unceasing patience, continually implores God’s mercy for us and who keeps the demons of despair and vengeance away from us. He leads us step-by-step towards that Divine Hand which will forever dry all the tears from our faces and remove all sorrow from us.
Prayer: Lord and God, You Yourself wept at the tomb of Lazarus; thus sanctifying tears. Let this good Angel, Saint Japhed, hold our tears before Your Eyes, so that Your Heart may incline to us in mercy and we may partake of Your Help, now and at the Judgment. Amen.