From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The Holy Spirit   
      
      The coming of the Spirit is gentle, his presence fragrant, his   
   weight very light. Rays of light and knowledge stream before him as he   
   approaches. The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and   
   protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to   
   console. The Spirit comes to enlighten the mind first of the one who   
   receives him, and then through that person the minds of others as   
   well. As light strikes the eye of those who come out of darkness into   
   sunshine and enables them to see clearly things they could not discern   
   before, so does light flood the souls of those counted worthy of   
   receiving the Holy Spirit and enable them to see things beyond the   
   range of human vision of which they had previously been ignorant.   
   --St. Cyril of Jerusalem:   
      
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   August 4th - St. John Baptist Vianney (Curé d'Ars)   
      
   Some saints, like Augustine, or Thomas Aquinas, or Alphonsus Liguori,   
   have been intellectually brilliant. Since ours is a teaching church,   
   we must have some intellectual leaders. But other saints, more like   
   the rest of us, have been far from geniuses. In them, God wants to   
   emphasize that what He most wants from everybody is humility of heart.   
      
       "We cannot comprehend the power that a pure soul has over God. It   
   is not the soul that does God's will, but God who does the soul's   
   will." — Saint John Vianney.   
      
   That is what attracted thousands to seek out the famous 19th century   
   Cure (pastor) of Ars, France, his earthy simplicity of spirit.   
      
   John Vianney, the future Cure, was the son of a poor farmer in   
   east-central France. John was devout and wanted to study for the   
   priesthood. His father couldn’t spare him from the farm work until he   
   was 20. Then he began his preparatory studies with a nearby parish   
   priest. A slow learner by nature, John simply couldn’t master Latin;   
   but after a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. John Francis Regis, he at   
   least got over his discouragement.   
      
   Then came another setback. Drafted into the Napoleonic Army in 1809,   
   he accidentally missed the departure of his contingent and thus,   
   technically but contrary to his own intention, he became a   
   “draft-dodger”. The mayor to whom he reported his plight sensibly   
   advised that he go into hiding rather than risk the severe penalties   
   prescribed for deserters. So under a pseudonym, John remained working   
   on a local farm for the next 14 months. In 1811, thanks to an amnesty,   
   he was able to return home a free man.   
      
   Now he resumed his seminary studies. Latin remained the bugbear, but   
   his bishop realized that Vianney had great common sense and was a   
   model of goodness; so he ordained him a priest in 1812. Named   
   assistant pastor to the parish of his first priest-instructor, young   
   Father Vianney soon showed particular gifts, as a confessor.   
      
   In 1818, John-Mary was named pastor of the run-down rural parish of   
   Ars-en-Dombes. Here he was to spend the rest of his days. Thanks to   
   his diligent efforts, his own holiness and the miracles that he   
   occasioned, he finally succeeded in winning over his listless   
   congregation to grateful obedience and Christian regularity of life.   
   It was not an easy success, so far as Vianney was concerned. He tried   
   three times to run away to a monastery or other more peaceful locale,   
   but he always came back. He was also under constant assault by the   
   devil, who even threatened him physically. At the same time he was the   
   object of enmity on the part of some of his fellow priests. They   
   resented his zeal, which far outstripped their own. But his bishop   
   fully appreciated him.   
      
   Jean-Marie Vianney excelled as a confessor. When people began to come   
   to Ars in droves to consult him, he might spend as many as 16 hours a   
   day in the confessional. In this important work he was aided by the   
   spiritual gift of reading peoples’ souls. Sometimes he could remind   
   them to confess old sins that only they knew of. The saint preached,   
   of course; but preachers, like the writers of today’s medical advice   
   columns, can only discuss “diseases” in general. For the particular   
   diagnosis and remedies, one must still see one’s own doctor.   
      
   In the year 1858-1859, over 1,000 pilgrims visited Ars. The Cure, now   
   73, and worn out, took to bed for the last time on July 18, 1859. Even   
   then he summoned several persons to kneel beside his bedstead and   
   finish their confessions..   
   When the last sacraments were brought to him on his deathbed by Bishop   
   Chalandon, John Vianney said, "How sad it is to receive holy communion   
   for the last time." He died at 2:00 a.m. on August 5, 1859 as a   
   thunder storm shook the heavens; nature itself was upset at his   
   passing   
      
   Pope Pius XI canonized Vianney in 1925. Four years later Pius named   
   him the principal patron of all the Catholic parish clergy. The choice   
   of this gentle, self- sacrificing, unlikely shepherd for that heavenly   
   task could not have been more appropriate.   
      
   –Father Robert   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Would not traders go thither were gold to be found there, and can I   
   hesitate when there are souls to be saved instead?   
   --St. Francis Xavier   
      
   Bible Quote:   
    but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows   
   me, that I am the Lord who practice steadfast love, justice, and   
   righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the   
   Lord.”  [Jeremiah 9:24]  RSVCE   
      
      
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   God alone is enough.   
      
   Let nothing upset you,   
   let nothing startle you.   
   All things pass;   
   God does not change.   
   Patience wins   
   all it seeks.   
   Whoever has God   
   lacks nothing:   
   God alone is enough   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)