From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On the Teaching of Truth  (4)   
      
   The more closely a man is united to You in pure simplicity, the more   
   varied and profound the matters which he understands without effort,   
   for he receives light and understanding from heaven. A pure, simple,   
   and stable man, however busy and occupied, does not become distracted   
   thereby, for he does all things to the glory of God, and strives to   
   preserve himself free from all self-seeking. And what harms and   
   hinders you more than the undisciplined passions of your own heart? A   
   good and devout man firstly sets in order in his mind whatever tasks   
   he has in hand, and never allows them to lead him into occasions of   
   sin, but humbly subjects them to the dictates of a sound judgement.   
   Who has a fiercer struggle than he who strives to conquer himself (Wis   
   10:12)? Yet this must be our chief concern--to conquer self, and by   
   daily growing stronger than self, to advance in holiness.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 1, Ch 3   
      
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   January 18th - Saint Charles of Sezze   
   (Also known as San Carlo de Sezze)   
      
   1613-1670   
      
    Charles of Sezze was a man remembered for holiness, simplicity,   
   service, and humility. His devotion to the Lord, and love of the   
   Eucharist, was such that he was graced with a mystical wound on his   
   heart. Throughout his life, Saint Charles demonstrated the virtues of   
   charity and self-giving love to all he encountered.   
      
   Born John Charles Marchioni, the future saint belonged to a pious, but   
   poor family, in rural Sezze, Italy. As a child--like many of the   
   region--John worked as a shepherd, and spent long hours in the fields   
   with the family sheep. Due to his work, he had little time for   
   education, and was barely able to read and write. In the fields, the   
   love of the Lord, the Eucharist, and the Blessed Virgin grew deeper   
   within him, and he felt certain that he was destined to become a   
   priest. While his family encouraged his call to vocation, John’s poor   
   academic abilities precluded the seminary as a viable option. Instead,   
   he entered the Franciscan Order as a lay brother, joining a community   
   in Naziano, and working in the most menial of positions. He served his   
   brothers as cook, porter, and gardener, and never complained. While   
   Charles wished to participate and assist in foreign missions, his poor   
   health prevented this as well. Instead, he embraced his role at the   
   monastery, serving with simplicity, humility, and love for all he   
   encountered.   
      
   In his autobiography, Charles tells us, "Our Lord put in my heart a   
   determination to become a lay brother with a great desire to be poor   
   and to beg alms for his love." Following this determination, Charles   
   became well known for his holiness and charity. He was frequently   
   sought out for spiritual advice and counsel. Even the dying Pope   
   Clement IX called Charles, the simple lay brother, to his bedside for   
   a blessing. Charles also became known for his generosity and   
   charitable nature. His superior, worried that his constant charity   
   would deplete the monastery’s stores, forbade Charles to continue with   
   his generosity to all travelers. Instead, he was ordered to only   
   provide food to visiting friars. Ever obedient, Charles followed the   
   rule strictly, but immediately noticed that alms to the friary   
   decreased at the same time. After some time, he was able to convince   
   his superior that the decrease in charity was related to the decrease   
   in generosity of the community. As he was allowed to provide food   
   generously to all, so, too, did the alms increase!   
      
   In 1656, Italy was struck with the plague, and Charles worked   
   tirelessly among the victims. He traveled amongst the sickest of the   
   sick, providing prayer, medical care, food, and assistance. He   
   performed numerous miracles of healing and multiplication of foods to   
   serve all in need. This, like all his works, were completed with   
   sincerity and humility.   
      
   Charles’ devotion to the Passion and Eucharist--devotion that had   
   begun in the fields of his youth--continued to grow each day. He was   
   rewarded by the Lord, in recognition of his devotion and extraordinary   
   faith--with the mystical experience of the stigmata. One morning,   
   while Charles was participating in Mass, a bright ray of light   
   emanated from the Sacred Host as it was elevated, and struck Charles   
   in the heart. The experience left him deeply wounded, yet filled with   
   incredible joy. One of his brothers described him in the following   
   manner: "It was between two extremes, that is between pain and sweet   
   bliss, and it seemed as if the spirit wanted to leave the body. I   
   would have sustained whatever great torment or any hardship because of   
   the sweetness.”   
      
   Sick the majority of his life, Charles died in the convent of Saint   
   Francis in Ripa, Italy. The wound that had resulted form his   
   miraculous encounter with the Holy Eucharist changed into the form of   
   a cross following his death. His body remains incorrupt.   
      
   Saint Charles wrote several mystical works during his   
   lifetime--despite having limited education--including his   
   autobiography entitled “The Grandeurs of the Mercies of God.” Of this   
   work, Father Serverino Gori wrote, “The autobiography of Charles   
   stands as a very strong refutation of the opinion, quite common among   
   religious people, that saints are born saints, that they are   
   privileged right from their first appearance on this earth. This is   
   not so. Saints become saints in the usual way, due to the generous   
   fidelity of their correspondence to divine grace. They had to fight   
   just as we do, and more so, against their passions, the world and the   
   devil.”   
      
   Saint Charles of Sezze followed where the Lord led him. When he was   
   unable to become a priest, he entered the Franciscans as a lay   
   brother. When he was unable to go on foreign missions, he embraced the   
   most menial of tasks with charity, obedience, and humility. Saint   
   Charles, in his quiet and simple way, is the perfect example of the   
   love of Our Lord, shining forth to the world, through those who adore   
   Him.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   “God does not command us to live in hair shirts and chains, or to   
   chastise our flesh with scourges, but to love Him above all things and   
   our neighbor as ourselves.”   
   --Saint Charles of Sezze   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   And others had trial of mockeries and stripes: moreover also of bands   
   and prisons. They were stoned, they were cut asunder, they were   
   tempted, they were put to death by the sword, they wandered about in   
   sheepskins, in goatskins, being in want, distressed, afflicted:  Of   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)