From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The pledge of the Holy Spirit   
      
      "Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit   
   of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage,   
   the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in   
   God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has   
   marked you with His sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has   
   placed His pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts"   
   by Ambrose of Milan(excerpt from De Mysteriis 7, 42).   
      
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   June 19th - St. Romuald   
   Founder of the Order of Camaldoll   
      
   Ravenna, a well-known town in Italy, received, in the beginning of the   
   10th century, from God, the grace to become the birthplace of St.   
   Romuald. The first 20 years of his life he passed like a child of the   
   world, who only seeks after pleasure. Dogs, horses, hunting, riding,   
   play, and society, were the only things he enjoyed, and in which he   
   occupied his time. Of praying, visiting the church, listening to the   
   Word of God, reading holy books, or other Christian exercises, he   
   cared to hear and know nothing....   
      
   See more at.   
   http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/St.%20Romuald%20popup.html   
      
      
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   Practical Considerations   
      
   The virtuous life of St. Romuald offers to you many points for   
   instruction and imitation. Some of these are:   
      
   I. St. Romuald does penance during a 100 years for 20 years spent in   
   youthful follies. When will you commence to do penance for time which   
   you have not only passed in frivolities, but, perhaps, even in sin and   
   crime? Begin today, for you do not know how much time will be left to   
   you for its accomplishment.   
      
   II. From the idly spent years of St. Romuald's life he gathered   
   nothing but bitterness, while those he had dedicated to the service of   
   God filled his soul with consolation and peace. You also will one day   
   experience only fear and bitterness, if you continue to belong to   
   those children of the world who live only to gratify their passions.   
   If you, however, diligently serve the Lord your God and flee all   
   sensual pleasures, the thought of your having done so will be an   
   indescribable comfort to you when you lie upon your deathbed. With   
   whom, then, will you side? With the frivolous children of the world   
   and licentious Carnival fools, or with the servants of God?   
      
   III. St. Romuald prepared himself for death during 20 years, and still   
   feared! Why do you, then, live on from day to day without the smallest   
   fear--you who, perhaps, up to the present time, have not in any way   
   prepared yourself? Do you not know that a long eternity follows death,   
   and that you will most certainly die miserably if you are not prepared   
   for your last hour?   
      
   IV. St. Romuald was ashamed when reading the Lives of the Saints: he   
   reflected how little he had followed their example. Have you not much   
   more reason to be ashamed? Rouse yourself to imitate the Saints in   
   future more earnestly; otherwise you cannot expect to be classed among   
   them in heaven.   
      
   V. St. Romuald deprives himself of the food he most craves, and gives   
   it to the poor. Can you not sometimes do the same ? And why do you   
   not? Ah! believe me, such self-abnegation and mortification is much   
   more acceptable to God, and much more salutary to your own soul, than   
   you imagine. If you love God and value your salvation do not neglect   
   it, especially if you cannot perform any greater works of penitence,   
   as did St. Romuald.   
      
   VI. St. Romuald believed it to be better to suffer when innocent than   
   when guilty. You will have to think the same; for whoever suffers   
   innocently, suffers, according to the words of Saint Peter, as a   
   Christian after the example of Christ. Therefore, never say, "If I had   
   done this or that, if I were guilty of the offence, if I had deserved   
   it, I would suffer patiently." Not so. A Christian should not speak   
   thus. Just because you have not deserved it, suffer patiently; for   
   then you suffer after the example of Christ.   
      
   Finally, reflect how strictly St. Romuald fasted, and how he kept not   
   only one forty days' fast during the year, but two, without shortening   
   his life by so doing. I do not ask of you a similar austerity; but the   
   Lord your God asks--nay, He commands you to keep the forty days' fast,   
   instituted by the Apostles as faithfully as in your power. It begins   
   in this or the following month. Resolve today to fulfil, your duties.   
   You have good reason not to hesitate, as God commands you through His   
   Church. You are bound under pain of eternal damnation to obey the   
   Church. You have sinned, perhaps, more than St. Romuald; therefore you   
   must repent if you would not lose heaven. Of the penances ordained by   
   God Himself, fasting is one of the most salutary; therefore use it to   
   your own profit. Do not imagine, as I have already told you, that your   
   health will suffer by it, or that your life will be shortened. St.   
   Romuald enjoyed better health and lived longer than hundreds of others   
   who seldom or never fasted. Was not his life prolonged for over a 100   
   years? By the transgression of the fast, you commit sin and offend   
   God: how, then, can you expect to strengthen your health by it or to   
   prolong your life? "Not to fast in the forty days' fast is a sin,"   
   writes St. Ambrose. "Whoever fasts not, during the forty days' fast,   
   shall experience the punishment." And, again: "It is no trifling sin,   
   brethren."   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through   
   the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of   
   cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be   
   ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his   
   sake; but bear your share of the hardship for the gospel with the   
   strength that comes from God.   
   —Saint Paul in his second letter to Saint Timothy   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Strive to enter by the narrow gate; for many, I tell you, will seek to   
   enter and will not be able  (Luke 13:24)   
      
      
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   Oratio Sancti Caietani (Prayer of St. Cajetan); 1480-1547.   
      
   Look down, O Lord, from Thy sanctuary, from Thy   
   dwelling in heaven on high, and behold this sacred Victim   
   which our great High Priest, Thy holy Son our Lord Jesus   
   Christ, offers up to Thee for the sins of His brethren and   
   be appeased despite the multitude of our transgressions.   
   Behold, the voice of the Blood of Jesus, our Brother, cries   
   to Thee from the cross. Give ear, O Lord. Be appeased, O   
   Lord. Hearken and do not delay for Thine own sake, O my   
   God; for Thy Name is invoked upon this city and upon   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)