From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Let the Better Love Take Over   
      
      "There are two loves, the love of God and the love of the world. If   
   the love of the world takes possession of you, there is no way for the   
   love of God to enter into you.   
      Let the love of the world take the second place, and let the love   
   of God dwell in you. Let the better love take over."   
   --St. Augustine--Sermon on 1 John 2, 8   
      
   Prayer: O to love! to go and be lost to self! to reach God!   
   --St. Augustine--Sermon 159, 8   
      
   ===============   
   November 29th - St. Saturninus, first Bishop and Apostle of Toulouse, France.   
      
   In Toulouse there was a temple dedicated to the pagan gods. Everyday   
   St. Saturninus used to have to pass in front of it to go to the church   
   where the Christians would gather. The devils, unable to bear the   
   presence of the man of God, abandoned the idols, which stopped giving   
   the counsels and prophecies they used to speak. The pagan priests   
   offered all kinds of sacrifices, but the idols remained mute.   
      
   An enemy of the Christians discovered the cause of the silence of the   
   idols. One day, as St. Saturninus was passing and the pagan priests   
   were preparing to offer the sacrifice of a bull in honor of Jupiter,   
   the man shouted: “This man is the enemy of our gods, the one who   
   prevents them from making oracles. But now the gods have delivered him   
   into our hands so that we might avenge the grievances made against   
   them.”   
      
   The crowds seized the Bishop and dragged him before the pagan    
   altar to oblige him to sacrifice to the false gods. But St. Saturninus   
   addressed the people and said: “I adore the one true God, and only to   
   Him do I offer my homage and sacrifices. In face of this, your idols   
   have become silent. Your gods are devils who fear the true God and are   
   more delighted with deceiving your souls than receiving the sacrifices   
   of your bulls. They tremble before me because I represent the true   
   God.”   
      
   Furious over his answer, the pagan priests tied St. Saturninus to the   
   feet of a wild bull, which dashed through the city and killed him,   
   tearing him to pieces. His remains were collected by two young women   
   who did not fear facing the furor of the people.   
      
      
   Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)   
      
   In this text one has a magnificent picture of the fight of good   
   against evil. St. Saturninus was a saint whose virtue and presence in   
   Toulouse caused the demons who inhabited the idols to become mute. For   
   before a man of God, the devil is a coward who flees. Therefore, the   
   idols could not say anything to their followers. From this situation   
   came the martyrdom of St. Saturninus.   
      
   We could ask:   
      
       • Why don’t the devils become mute today in the presence of good   
   persons?   
       • Why do things like this no longer happen?   
      
   I will try to give answers to these questions.   
      
   First, even if we are not saints, sometimes when we write something in   
   defense of the Catholic Church or Christian Civilization, the enemies   
   become mute, unable to make a response. This is a fact that presents   
   itself as merely natural, and not supernatural or preternatural. But   
   according to a sound Catholic principle, in every natural action there   
   is always an Angel and a devil that follow it and encourage man either   
   to good or evil. When we make a good defense of the Catholic cause,   
   certainly there are devils who become mute and can no longer help the   
   enemies. In a certain way, therefore, something similar to what   
   happened to the demons in the presence of St. Saturninus also takes   
   place in our fight.   
      
   Second, obvious supernatural facts like what happened with St.   
   Saturninus do not take place today because, on one hand, God has   
   distanced Himself from this earth. He does not give such miracles to   
   this revolutionary world, because it is not worthy of such things.   
      
   Someone could object: But if He would work miracles like that, then   
   the world would change.   
      
   I don’t think so. You can observe the statues of Our Lady that have   
   wept in various places. Notwithstanding, nothing changed. People   
   ordered chemical examinations of her tears. The lab results concluded   
   that the tears were actually human tears--hat is to say, a manifest   
   miracle. Still, practically no one changes his life. People have   
   reached a degree of insensibility to the supernatural that almost   
   nothing can change them.   
      
   You can note the silence that has fallen over Lourdes. We could almost   
   say that Lourdes hardly exists anymore. Why? Because people today   
   scorn miracles and thus are no longer worthy of them.   
      
   This is the reason why for some time Our Lady has wept. Doing this,   
   she nourishes the piety of the good Catholics. She also leaves   
   evidence that she forewarned mankind of the catastrophe that is near.   
      
   On the other hand, the devils have today a dominion over the world   
   that they did not have at the time of St. Saturninus. In our days we   
   are facing not only the devils of the air, but also and principally   
   the devils of Hell. Perhaps you remember that Pope Leo XIII had a   
   vision warning him that the devils of Hell would shortly be released   
   on earth. Well, I think that they were set at large and are present   
   everywhere intensifying the action of the devils of the air and making   
   men much worse. This is another reason why the magnificent facts of   
   the life of St. Saturninus are not repeated today.   
      
   We should ask Our Lady through the intercession of St. Saturninus to   
   shorten these sad and terrible times and permit the good to once again   
   be visibly triumphant over the devils for the greater glory of God.   
      
   http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j049sdSaturninus11-29.htm   
      
      
   Reflection:   
    The constancy displayed by the Saints in their glorious martyrdom   
   cannot be isolated from their previous lives, but is their logical   
   sequence. If we wish to emulate their perseverance, let us first   
   imitate their fidelity to grace.   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   O God, when thou didst go forth in the sight of thy people, when thou   
   didst pass through the desert: 9 The earth was moved, and the heavens   
   dropped at the presence of the God of Sina, at the presence of the God   
   of Israel.  (Psalm 67:8-9)   
      
      
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   Prayer to continue to fight for God   
      
   Lord, if your people still have need of my services, I will not avoid   
   the toil. Your will be done. I have fought the good fight long enough.   
   Yet if you bid me continue to hold the battle line in defense of your   
   camp, I will never beg to be excused from failing strength. I will do   
   the work you entrust to me. While you command, I will fight beneath   
   your banner.   
   Amen   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)