| VI. Choir | 15 March |
|---|---|
| Prince of grace | Clement M. Hofbauer |
Radiant, delicate and bright like a blossom of light, our intercessor before God’s Throne today is
Saint Eliazim,
the Prince of Grace. He is like a shining seed—an image of the manna that mankind needs simply as nourishment on its path through the desert of this time, if it is not to starve and lose all strength from God and to God.
He is of pure, self-contained tenderness—an image of the host, of being sacrificed, of a wellspring of grace. The innocent sacrificial lamb, the pure priesthood and sanctified child-likeness before God are reflected in him.
Like a blossom, he holds out his head to God, so that his face is flooded with the light of God’s love—the image of Mary. He looks completely unprotected, almost as if he is challenging the whole materialistic world, the whole threatening kingdom of Satan. With his cloak wrapped around him, he holds out his heart to the Lord with both hands, drawing all of God’s love and mercy to himself with irresistible power and causing streams of grace to flow over the Holy Church and all of humanity.
There is one thing we do not understand: Saint Eliazim stands in the section of the Sealed Princes in the choir. How can the grace of God ever be or become sealed? We only need to read the Gospel: when our Lord speaks of the Last Judgment (Matthew 24:37-44), He reminds us of the days of Noah: Mankind would continue to live in its sins, and the grace of God would die out if it were not God’s eternal child—as long as there is God, there is also grace. It becomes a seed that the good receive into themselves until the day when God begins the separation for the Last Judgment. He says of this: “There will be two in the field: one will be received (he who carries grace within himself), the other will be left behind.”
When the days of God’s wrath begin and the seals of the angels are all loosed, then the sealed princes cease their activity and await the command of God. Nothing more will be built up in creation; it will be left to decay. And the grace of God remains in the hearts of those human beings who have received it in the days of trial and confession. But those who did not come to their senses in time (see Rev. 16, 9, 1) can no longer expect mercy.
Those who have missed the time of the call of grace must now see how the love of God changes to the justice of God and each person reaps what he has sown. Already now, the fiercest battle of evil is directed against this Angel of Grace. Because of him, Satan wishes for the first trumpet blast of judgment, because then Saint Eliazim will return his task into the Hands of his Queen, and She alone can intercede for a mild judgment through Her supplications.
Prayer: Queen of All Angels, Mediatrix of All Graces, do not forget us when we are summoned before the Judgment Seat of God! Saint Eliazim, help us to keep grace at home in our soul so that we may experience God’s clemency through Her! Amen.