| VII. Choir | 20 June |
|---|---|
| Virtue of fidelity to the Faith | Silverius |
Among the holy angels, according to the manner in which they bear their charge, there are those who are silent and exultant, flaming and veiled, tender and mighty. The one who stands before God’s Throne today, however, is a silent one.
The Choir of Virtues, to which
Saint Meriel
belongs, is difficult to understand. He is already standing in the mist that lies over the earth, and the angels of this choir have their feet upon the earth. The choir stands in the stream of grace of love, but here, in the Ring of Redemption, all three streams of grace flow together to give all help and ability of the strongest mediation of grace to the millions of angels who serve upon earth.
The angels of this choir, although angels of love, are thereby also recipients of the other two great streams of grace: of power and of life. This is clearly seen in Saint Meriel, who carries faithfulness. He is a static. As an angel of love, he also stands with both feet in the stream of grace of life that comes to him from the Thrones and through the Princes.
Faithfulness is something static; but connected with the shining, burning love of God and the divine Word, “Let there be!” faithfulness expands man from within and makes him alive, wide and great. Faithfulness gives him a view of the Creator’s faithfulness and allows him to reflect it as a calm water surface reflects the sun.
This choir part of the Virtues also works in creation, that is, its virtue is able to bring forth new life again from desolate, withered, burnt-out ground. At the same time, however, this also applies to withered, devastated souls. In his symbolism, Saint Meriel stands before us in priestly clothing, because God wants faithfulness, above all fidelity, to be anchored first and foremost in his priests, his representatives upon earth.
With both hands, the Angel holds a golden house like a tabernacle or the ark of the covenant before him, but the walls of this golden house are not dead metal; they are made of the living deeds of faithfulness. That is why the gold shimmers with a reddish, greenish or bluish hue in some places, depending upon whether faithfulness in its strength and virtue produced courage for open martyrdom or fortitude in hidden suffering and atonement, or readiness, trust and tenacity to persevere.
One can recognise individual words (concepts) which God first communicated to man and which man, the holy man, holds up to God again in his response: The Ecce! was first spoken by the Holy Ghost when the Father taught the Credo! to man and the Son held up His Adsum! to the Father. Man, secure in God, recognises the faithfulness of the Creator in these words and answers them, albeit with broken strength, yet with his best will in return.
The Ecce is spoken by Mary in the name of mankind and the Credo by the Holy Church in the name of mankind, but the Adsum has to be spoken by every man himself.
Prayer: Lord and God, let us understand through this Angel, Saint Meriel, that from silent faithfulness comes the blind faith that blossoms in the heroic spirit of Thy saints towards Thee. Amen.