Vigils Reading

THE HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH

From the Second Vatican Council’s document “Lumen Gentium”

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The Church, whose mystery is set forth by this sacred Council, is held, as a

matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God,

who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as “alone holy,” loved the Church as

his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself

as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.

Therefore all in the Church, whether they belong to the hierarchy or are

cared for by it, are called to holiness, according to the apostle’s saying: “For this

is the will of God, your sanctification”. This holiness of the Church is constantly

shown forth in the fruits of grace which the Spirit produces in the faithful and so

it must be; it is expressed in many ways by the individuals who, each in his or

her own state of life, tend to the perfection of love, thus sanctifying others; it

appears in a certain way of its own in the practice of the counsels which have

been usually called “evangelical.” This practice of the counsels prompted by the

Holy Spirit, undertaken by many Christians whether privately or in a form or

state sanctioned by the Church, gives and should give a striking witness and

example of that holiness.

The Lord Jesus, divine teacher and model of all perfection, preached

holiness of life (of which he is the author and maker) to each and every one of his

disciples without distinction: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly

Father is perfect”. For he sent the Holy Spirit to all to move them interiorly to

love God with their whole heart, with their whole soul, with their whole

understanding, and with their whole strength, and to love one another as Christ

love them.

The followers of Christ, called by grace, and justified in the Lord Jesus,

have been made sons and daughters of God in the baptism of faith and partakers

of the divine nature, and so are truly sanctified. They must therefore hold on to

and perfect in their lives that sanctification which they have received from God.

They are told by the apostle to live “as is fitting among saints”, and to put on “as

God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness,

meekness, and patience”, to have the fruits of the Spirit for their sanctification.

But since we all offend in many ways, we constantly need God’s mercy and must

pray everyday: “And forgive us our debts.”

It is therefore quite clear that all Christians in any state or walk of life are

called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of love, and by this

holiness a more human manner of life is fostered also in earthly society.