“The feast hath been too much for him...”
“The feast hath been too much for him;
His heart is full, his eye is dim,”
Those words of Fr Faber’s hymn The Death of Saint Philip are no doubt still ringing in the ears of many of St Philip’s sons and friends after the great feast of Our Holy Father, which we celebrated on Monday. This year we do not have much time to hold on to the memory of that day before the Church directs us, not elsewhere, still to Heaven, but seen through different lenses. On Tuesday we continued our May devotions to Our Lady, and then on Wednesday night we sing First Vespers of the Ascension and celebrate that feast all through Thursday. St Philip, Our Lady, and Our Lord — all in the space of a few days — what more could we ask for? St Philip himself reminds us: “He who wishes for anything but Christ, does not know what he wishes; he who asks for anything but Christ, does not know what he is asking; he who works, and not for Christ, does not know what he is doing.”
Our Holy Father himself preferred nothing to the love of God. His entire life was spent “going from Christ to Christ”, be it in prayer or in his apostolic labours. He was, as has been written, “naturally supernatural”. The account of St Philip’s death could really be an account of any day of his life. He rose early, welcomed those who came seeking confession, he prayed, he celebrated Mass, he received his spiritual children and conversed with them familiarly on the things of God. But he knew it would be his last day upon this earth and so every action of his that day was done in the knowledge that it would be his last.
Ascension Thursday then directs our gaze heavenwards too. It reminds us of the hope we have for those who have gone before us in death and urges us on in our prayers for them. Above all it reminds us that like Christ, like St Philip, we too shall pass through death, and please God, one day join them in Heaven. It is there that Our Redeemer awaits us, having prepared there a place for us. It is the reminder of Heaven that allows us to live and breath in that sure and certain hope which is so indispensable in our Christian life, and which is the source of our Christian joy. It was his loving familiarity with the things of Heaven that gave Saint Philip his natural supernaturality.
Please God each of us will allow St Philip to be that loving, gentle, and kind Father who will lead us to Heaven too.