From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   ON THE TEST OF LOVE   
      
      1. The test of love is sacrifice. Christ met the test in the   
   sacrifice of the Cross, and He demands of those who love Him that they   
   prove their love by the test of the cross. Are we  ready and   
   courageous in showing our love for Christ?   
      2. We can and must make sacrifices in this life. There are   
   thousands of opportunities offered for making small sacrifices for   
   which we need no permission. Let us make them with love and   
   generosity, for it is love that gives value to sacrifice. Each time we   
   deprive ourselves of anything for Jesus' sake, we are thinking of Him   
   and loving Him.  Does He not deserve that much from us?   
      3. One of the noblest acts of sacrifice is the conquest of   
   self-love. Our Lord builds His sanctuary on the ruins of self-love.   
   "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). But to decrease   
   is not enough in this matter. Self must disappear, so that we can say:   
   "I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20). The secret of   
   sanctity consists in loving much, but this love presupposes interior   
   and daily warfare. Let us be generous, let us be valiant, so that, we   
   may in the end also be victorious by passing the test of love.   
      
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   April 30th - St. Erconwald   
      
   Bishop of London, died about 690. He belonged to the princely family   
   of the East Anglian Offa, and devoted a considerable portion of his   
   patrimony to founding two monasteries, one for monks at Chertsey, and   
   the other for nuns at Barking in Essex. Over the latter he placed his   
   sister, St. Ethelburga, as abbess. He himself discharged the duties of   
   superior at Chertsey. Erconwald continued his monastic life till the   
   death of Bishop Wini in 675, when he was called to the See of London,   
   at the instance of King Sebbi and Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury.   
   As monk and bishop he was renowned for his holiness of life, and   
   miracles were wrought in attestation of his sanctity. The sick were   
   cured by contact with the litter on which he had been carried; this we   
   have on the testimony of Venerable Bede. He was present in 686 at the   
   reconciliation between Archbishop Theodore and Wilfrith. King Ini in   
   the preface to his laws calls Erconwald "my bishop". During his   
   episcopate he enlarged his church, augmented its revenues, and   
   obtained for it special privileges from the king.   
      
   According to an ancient epitaph, Erconwald ruled the Diocese of London   
   for eleven years. He is said to have eventually retired to the convent   
   of his sister in Barking, where he died 30 April. He was buried in St.   
   Paul’s, and his tomb became renowned for miracles. The citizens of   
   London had a special devotion to him, and they regarded with pride the   
   magnificence of his shrine. During the burning of the cathedral in   
   1087 it is related that the shrine and its silken coverings remained   
   intact. A solemn translation of St. Erconwald's body took place 14   
   Nov., 1148, when it was raised above the high altar. The shrine was   
   robbed of its jewels and ornaments in the sixteenth century; and the   
   bones of the saint are said to have been then buried at the east end   
   of the choir. His feast is observed by English Catholics on 14   
   November. Prior to the Reformation, the anniversaries of St.   
   Erconwald's death and translation of his relics were observed at St.   
   Paul's as feasts of the first class, according to an ordinance of   
   Bishop Braybroke in 1386.   
      
   http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05517a.htm   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   In order to teach it is enough to know something. But to educate one   
   must be something. True education consists in giving oneself as a   
   living model, an authentic lesson.”   
   --Saint Alberto Hurtado Cuchaga   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   If a blind man guides a blind man, both fall into a pit.  (Matt.15:14)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Meditation:   
    Do you allow any troubles to rob you of God's peace? As much as we   
   try to avoid it, we all inevitably encounter trouble and difficulties.   
   Jesus knew his disciples would have to face trials and persecution   
   after he left them to return to his Father in heaven. Adversity can   
   make us lose hope and become discouraged, or it can press us closer to   
   God and to his promises for us.   
      
       "It is the LORD who goes before you; he will be with you, he will   
   not fail you or forsake you; do not fear or be dismayed" (Deuteronomy   
   31:8).   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)