From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Give and forgive--the two wings of prayer   
      
   Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) describes Jesus double precept to give   
   and forgive as two essential wings of prayer:   
      
   "Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given you.   
   These are the two wings of prayer on which it flies to God. Pardon the   
   offender what has been committed, and give to the person in need"   
   (Sermon 205.3). "Let us graciously and fervently perform these two   
   types of almsgiving, that is, giving and forgiving, for we in turn   
   pray the Lord to give us things and not to repay our evil deeds"   
   --St. Augustine--(Sermon 206.2).   
      
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   February 24th – St. Praetextatus, or Prix, Bishop of Rouen, Martyr   
   d.586   
      
   ST. Praetextatus became bishop of Rouen in 549 and occupied that see   
   for 35 years. During this long episcopate he suffered grievous   
   difficulties, exile and in the end martyrdom due to the rivalry   
   between King Clotaire I’s sons Chilperic and Sigebert, and the deadly   
   feud of Chilperic’s mistress, Fredegund, with Sigebert’s wife,   
   Brunhilda, sister to the poisoned second wife of Chilperic. Fredegund   
   contrived the murder of Sigebert in 575, and Chilperic threw Brunhilda   
   into prison at Rouen, from whence she appealed for help to Meroveus,   
   Chilperic’s son by his first wife. The young man dreaded the power of   
   Fredegund, and was not unwilling to take up arms against his father.   
   Furthermore, he fell in love with his step-aunt Brunhilda and married   
   her, thus making common cause with her. Praetextatus found himself   
   placed in a very awkward position. Meroveus had made Rouen his   
   headquarters and expected or exacted contributions from the Church   
   which it was difficult to refuse. The young man was the bishop’s   
   spiritual son--that is to say, he had been baptized by him, and the   
   tie was then considered a very close one. Chilperic was ready to   
   believe accusations against Praetextatus and summoned him to appear   
   before a council of bishops in Paris on the charges of having broken   
   the canons by marrying Meroveus to his aunt and also of fomenting the   
   rebellion by giving aid to the prince. With regard to the first of   
   these charges there is some uncertainty. It is thought by some that   
   the bishop, in order to prevent a grievous scandal, judged the case   
   suitable for a dispensation and actually married them and acknowledged   
   that he had done so, but Gregory of Tours, who was present and who is   
   the authority for all that happened, says that Praetextatus denied   
   having married them.   
      
   At first the bishop would plead guilty to neither charge, but he was   
   afterwards prevailed upon by false friends to acknowledge that he had   
   favoured and helped Meroveus. He was thereupon condemned and banished   
   to a little island off Coutances. His powerful enemies spared no   
   trouble to blast his reputation, but St Gregory of Tours never wavered   
   in his support. Meroveus and his brothers were put to death by order   
   of the savage Fredegund, who was also suspected of causing the death   
   of her husband to clear the way to the throne for her own son,   
   Clotaire II. On the death of Chilperic, Praetextatus returned to his   
   see by order of King Gontran of Burgundy, but sorely against the   
   wishes of Fredegund. At the Council of Macon he was formally   
   reinstated, and he took a prominent part in the deliberations of that   
   body. He frequently remonstrated with the wicked queen, who often   
   resided at Rouen, and her hatred for him became greater than ever. In   
   586 she said to him, “The time is coming when thou shalt revisit the   
   place of thine exile.”--“I was a bishop always, whether in exile or   
   out of exile”, replied the saint, and a bishop I shall remain; but as   
   for thee, thou shalt not always enjoy thy crown,” and he exhorted her   
   to abandon her evil ways. On the following Sunday, soon after   
   midnight, as he was saying Matins in Church, an assassin sent by   
   Fredegund stabbed him under the armpit. He was carried to his bed,   
   where he died.   
      
   Gregory of Tours is our trustworthy authority for this story of   
   Merovingian barbarity. See also Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. ii,   
   p. 206.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   "The heart can change several times in one moment--to good or evil, to   
   faith or unbelief, to simplicity or cunning, to love or hatred, to   
   benevolence or envy, to generosity or avarice, to chastity or   
   fornication. O, what inconstancy! O, how many dangers! |O, how sober   
   and watchful we must be!"   
   --St. John of Kronstadt.   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his   
   parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that   
   this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be   
   made manifest in him.[a]  John 9:2-3  RSVCE   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   PRAYER FOR GOD'S GUIDANCE   
      
   Father in Heaven,   
   You made me Your child   
   and called me to walk in the Light of Christ.   
   Free me from darkness   
   and keep me in the Light of Your Truth.   
   The Light of Jesus has scattered   
   the darkness of hatred and sin.   
   Called to that Light,   
   I ask for Your guidance.   
   Form my life in Your Truth,   
   my heart in Your Love.   
   Through the Holy Eucharist,   
   give me the power of Your Grace   
   that I may walk in the Light of Jesus   
   and serve Him faithfully.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)