From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   God gave us what was most precious   
      
   "The sum of all is God, the Lord of all, who from love of his   
   creatures has delivered his Son to death on the cross. For God so   
   loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son for it. Not that he   
   was unable to save us in another way, but in this way it was possible   
   to show us his abundant love abundantly, namely, by bringing us near   
   to him by the death of his Son. If he had anything more dear to him,   
   he would have given it to us, in order that by it our race might be   
   his. And out of his great love he did not even choose to urge our   
   freedom by compulsion, though he was able to do so. But his aim was   
   that we should come near to him by the love of our mind. And our Lord   
   obeyed his Father out of love for us."   
    by Isaac of Nineveh (a Syrian monk, teacher, and bishop),   
   613-700(excerpt from ASCETICAL HOMILY 74.28)   
      
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   June 15th – St. Bardo of Mainz   
   Also known as Bardon, Bardone   
      
   Memorial   
   11 June   
   15 June (cathedral of Mainz, Germany)   
   10 June on some calendar   
      
   Born at Oppershofen, Germany, in 982; died in Mainz, in 1053; feast   
   day formerly June 10. A helmet, a lamb, and a Psalter were gifts   
   presented to Bardo as a child, and these symbolized courage,   
   gentleness, and piety, each of which marked his later career. He was a   
   German of good birth, and received his first schooling from an old   
   woman who taught him his letters and to read the Psalms as he sat in   
   her lap. Years later he still remembered what he owed to her and made   
   good provision for her care.   
      
   The balance of his education came at Fulda, where he also received the   
   Benedictine habit and became the dean. Upon his ordination as a priest   
   in 1029, Bardo was appointed an abbot at Werden am Ruhr because of his   
   family connection with the empress. One day, when he was at court, the   
   archbishop of Mainz, seeing in his hand his richly wrought abbot's   
   staff, remarked: "Abbot, I think that staff would become my hand   
   better than yours," to which Bardo replied: "If you think so, it will   
   not be hard for you to get it."   
      
   On returning to his quarters, he called one of his attendants and,   
   giving him the staff and other insignia of his office, told him to   
   take them as a gift to the archbishop. When the attendant returned,   
   Bardo asked him how the archbishop had received them, "Middling well,"   
   was the answer. "Only middling well?" said the abbot, "Heaven knows,   
   perhaps before long they will be mine again."   
      
   And sure enough, before long his words came true: he was restored to   
   his abbey. In 1031, Bardo was appointed abbot of Hersfeld and was also   
   appointed to succeed the archbishop of Mainz.   
      
   He made, however, an unfortunate beginning. When preaching before the   
   emperor one Christmas morning, through sickness or nervousness he made   
   a very poor impression. "What a man for an archbishop!" said those who   
   heard him. "He is a stick. He cannot preach. Why did your Majesty   
   appoint such a boorish monk?" And the emperor himself felt that he had   
   made a mistake in appointing an ignorant monk to the most important   
   diocese in Germany.   
      
   Bardo was due to preach again before the emperor a few days later, and   
   his friends advised him not to, but he replied: "To every man his own   
   burden," and faced the ordeal. This time he preached with such ease   
   and power and created so admirable an impression that the emperor was   
   delighted, and said as he sat down to dinner: "The archbishop has   
   restored my appetite."   
      
   For a time Bardo was chancellor and grand almoner of the empire, yet   
   to the end Bardo preserved the simple habits of a monk. He practiced   
   austerities so severe that Pope Saint Leo IX advised him to relax   
   them. He was noted for his love of the poor, the destitute, and   
   animals. He was also a lover of birds, many rare specimens of which he   
   collected and tamed, and taught to feed from his own plate. Bardo was   
   diligent in his diocese and, as a prelate, a true father in God. He   
   completed the building of his great cathedral in honor of Saint   
   Martin. He had a great sense of justice, and protected many from the   
   harsh treatment or wrong conviction; and, hating drunkenness and other   
   gross habits, he advocated, especially to young people, the virtues of   
   self-discipline and temperance (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Gill).   
      
      
   Saint Quote :   
   Prayer is to our soul what rain is to the soil. Fertilize the soil   
   ever so richly, it will remain barren unless fed by frequent rains.   
   --St. John Vianney   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and   
   receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your   
   souls.  [James 1: 21]  RSVCE   
      
      
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   “Love wakes much and sleeps little   
   and, in sleeping, does not sleep.   
   It faints but is not weary;   
   it is restricted in its liberty   
   and is great freedom.   
   It sees reasons to fear   
   and does not fear   
   but, like an ember or a spark of fire,   
   flames always upward,   
   by the fervour of its love, toward God   
   and through the special help of grace,   
   is delivered from all perils and dangers.”   
   --Thomas à Kempis   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)