Register Summary

Pope John Paul II met with 6,000 pilgrims in the Paul VI Hall during his general audience Dec. 10. He offered his reflections on a canticle from Chapter 19 of the Book of Revelation that extols the wedding feast of the Lamb and that is part of the Church's evening prayer during the Liturgy of the Hours.

According to John Paul, this canticle, in which the words “amen” and “alleluia” are repeated several times, expresses the joy of the angels and saints in their heavenly liturgy of thanksgiving. “At the heart of this joyful cry is the image of God's decisive intervention throughout history as it unfolds,” he said. “Unlike some impassive and isolated ruler, the Lord is not indifferent to what happens to man.”

The Holy Father pointed out that God intervenes throughout history to establish justice, particularly for the oppressed. “Above all other things, therefore, our prayer should recall and praise God's mighty deeds, the Lord's effective justice and the glory he has attained by triumphing over evil,” the Pope said.

The Holy Father concluded his talk with a reflection on the second part of the canticle, which celebrates the marriage of Christ, the Lamb, and the Church, his Bride, “in a profound communion of love.” He noted that some Fathers of the Church, such as St. Ephrem, applied this nuptial imagery of Christ's union with his Church to our individual souls.

Continuing with the series of psalms and canticles that form the Church's evening prayer, we have come to a hymn that is taken from Chapter 19 of the Book of Revelation and that is composed of a sequence of alleluias and acclamations.

These joyful cries are preceded by the dramatic lament found in the previous chapter, which kings, merchants and captains of ships intoned as imperial Babylon collapsed — a city of evil and oppression and a symbol of the persecution that was unleashed against the Church.

Joyful Chorus

In contrast to this cry that rises from the earth, a joyful chorus of a liturgical nature resounds in the heavens, in which the word amen is repeated along with the word alleluia. The Liturgy of the Hours’ evening prayer now joins together in a single canticle these various acclamations, which are similar to antiphons and which are actually attributed to various people in the Book of Revelation. First of all, we encounter a “great multitude,” which is made up of the assembly of saints and angels (see verses 1-3). Then we hear the voices of “twenty-four elders” and “four living creatures,” symbolic figures that seem to play the role of the priests in this heavenly liturgy of praise and thanksgiving (see verse 4). Finally, a lone voice emerges (see verse 5) that, in turn, involves in this singing the “great multitude” from which it arose.

We will have an opportunity in future stages of our journey of prayer to explain the individual antiphons of this grandiose and festive hymn of praise by so many voices. For the moment, we will limit ourselves to two observations. The first concerns the opening acclamation: “Salvation, glory and might belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments” (verses 1-2).

Not Indifferent

At the heart of this joyful cry is the image of God's decisive intervention throughout history as it unfolds. Unlike some impassive and isolated ruler, the Lord is not indifferent to what happens to man. As the psalmist says, “The Lord's throne is in heaven. God's eyes keep careful watch; they test all people” (Psalm 11:4).

Indeed, his eyes are a source of action, because he intervenes and destroys domineering and oppressive empires, he humbles the proud who defy him, and he judges those who perpetrate evil. Once again, it is the psalmist who describes God's intervention in history as it unfolds with picturesque images (see Psalm 11:7), just as the author of the Book of Revelation recalls God's great intervention in Babylon in the preceding chapter (see Revelation 18:1-24), uprooting it from its foundation and flinging it into the sea. This hymn alludes to his intervention in a passage that is not included in the celebration of evening prayer (see Revelation 19:2-3).

Above all other things, therefore, our prayer should recall and praise God's mighty deeds, the Lord's effective justice and the glory he has attained by triumphing over evil. God makes himself present in history by siding with the just and the oppressed, as the brief yet essential acclamation of the Book of Revelation declares and as the songs of the Book of Psalms repeat on many occasions (see Psalm 146:6-9).

Wedding Feast

We would now like to highlight another theme of this canticle. It is developed in the final acclamation and it is one of the dominant themes in the Book of Revelation itself: “For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, his bride has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7). Christ and the Church, the Lamb and the Bride, are in a profound communion of love.

We will try to let this mystical marriage shine forth through the poetic testimony of one of the great Fathers of the Syrian Church, St. Ephrem, who lived in the fourth century. Using the wedding at Cana in a symbolic way (see John 2:1-11), he introduces the personified town itself in order to praise Christ for the great gift we have received:

“Together with my guests, I give thanks because he has judged me worthy of inviting him — he who is the heavenly Bridegroom, who has descended and invited all; I, too, was invited to enter his wedding feast most pure. Before the people I recognize him as the Bridegroom; there is no other like him. His wedding chamber has been ready for centuries and is furnished with riches and lacks nothing: not like the feast at Cana, whose want he satisfied” (Inni sulla verginità, 33, 3: L’arpa dello Spirito, Rome 1999, p. 73-74).

In another hymn that also celebrates the wedding at Cana, St. Ephrem emphasizes how Christ, who was invited to the wedding of other people (namely the bride and the bridegroom at Cana), wanted to celebrate his wedding feast — the wedding with his bride, which is every faithful soul. “Jesus, you were invited to the wedding feast of others, the bride and the bride-groom at Cana. Here, on the other hand, is your feast, pure and beautiful. It gives joy to our days, because even your guests, Lord, need your songs. Let your lyre fill everything! The soul is your bride, the body is your wedding chamber, and your guests are the senses and thoughts. If one single body is a wedding feast for you, the whole Church is your wedding banquet!” (Inni sulla fede, 14, 4-5: op. cit., p. 27).

(Register translation)