From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   -- 2 Peter 1:5-9 --   
      
   And you, employing all care, minister in your faith, virtue: And in   
   virtue, knowledge: And in knowledge, abstinence: and in abstinence,   
   patience: and in patience, godliness: And in godliness, love of   
   brotherhood: and in love of brotherhood, charity. For if these things   
   be with you and abound, they will make you to be neither empty nor   
   unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he that hath   
   not these things with him is blind and groping, having forgotten that   
   he was purged from his old sins.  [2 Pe. 1:5-9] DRB   
   ===========================   
   Faith must be more than belief in certain facts; it must result in   
   action, growth in Christian character and the practice of moral   
   discipline, or it will die away. Peter lists several faith actions:   
   learning to know God better, developing perseverance, doing God's   
   will, loving others. These actions do not come automatically -- they   
   require hard work. They are not optional; all of them must be a   
   continual part of the Christian life. We don't finish one and start on   
   the next, but we work on them all together. God empowers and enables   
   us, but he also gives us the responsibility to learn and grow. We   
   should not be surprised at or resentful of the process.   
      
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   August 16th – Bl. Laurence Loricatus, Solitary   
      
   Born at Fanello or Facciolo, Apulio, Italy, c. 1190; died at Subiaco   
   in 1243; cultus approved in 1778 by Pius VI., and while   
   still a young man had the misfortune accidentally to kill another. In   
   expiation he made a pilgrimage of penance to Compostela, and on his   
   return in 1209 went to Subiaco, where he joined a community but was   
   soon given permission to be a solitary.  He lived in a mountain cave   
   near by the Sacro Speco of St. Benedict for 33 years, and practised   
   terrific mortifications of the body: the name Loricatus, "the   
   cuirassier", was given to him because of the coat of mail studded with   
   sharp points which he wore next his skin.  His cultus was approved in   
   1778.   
      
   An account of him is given in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. iii,   
   which possesses interest from the fact that it embodies documents   
   compiled in 1244 during an investigation undertaken at the insistence   
   of Pope Innocent IV.   
      
    Laurence was raised to be a soldier, but when he    
   accidentally killed a man, he was overcome with remorse.   
   Laying aside his arms, he made a pilgrimage of penance   
   and expiation to Santiago de Compostella. Upon his return to Italy, he   
   entered the Benedictine monastery of Subiaco. He obtained permission   
   to begin his 34 years of eremitical life among the ruins of one of the   
   12 monasteries founded on the mountain by Saint Benedict. There he   
   practiced the strictest poverty by giving away any offerings left by   
   visitors to the poor. Shepherds and pilgrims who discovered his hiding   
   place soon joined him in building a small community. He was given the   
   surname "loricatus" because he wore a coat of chain mail next to his   
   skin as an act of penance. His fame attracted Cardinal Hugolino   
   (a.k.a. Pope Gregory IX) who persuaded Laurence in 1224 to take off   
   his breastplate.   
      
    At the death of Laurence, Amico de Canterano, who had shared his life   
   for 24 years, succeeded him as the leader. He wrote a book of prayers   
   that is still extant. Although Pope Innocent IV opened the   
   canonization process for Laurence in 1244--just a year after his   
   death, it was never completed. His relics, including a manuscript in   
   his own hand and his breastplate, are enshrined at the Sagro Speco   
   (Saint Benedict's Cave) at Subiaco (Benedictines, Farmer) .   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
      Jesus is working on the ups and downs of human existence: preparing   
   his three leaders for the trials of the Passion by giving them   
   something to remember, a moment of glory. Peter wants it to go on for   
   ever, to settle down there where it felt so good. Instead Jesus brings   
   them down the mountain, bracing them for the bad times ahead.   
      We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not   
   depend on material success, but on Jesus alone.   
   --St. Frances Xavier Cabrini   
      
   Bible Quote:   
       "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, trusting in horses,   
   and putting their confidence in chariots, because they are many; and   
   in horsemen, because they are very strong; and have not trusted in the   
   Holy One of Israel, and have not sought after the Lord. Egypt is man,   
   and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit; and the Lord   
   shall put down his hand, and the helper shall fall, and he that is   
   helped shall fall, and they shall all be confounded together." (Isa.   
   31:1,3).   
      
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   Daily Prayer to the Sacred Heart   
      
   Sacred Heart of Jesus, today I wish   
   to live in You, in Your Grace, in which   
   I desire at all costs to persevere. Keep   
   me from sin and strengthen my will by   
   helping me to keep watch over my   
   senses, my imagination, and my heart.   
   Help me to correct my faults which are   
   the source of sin. I beg You to do this,   
   O Jesus, through Mary,   
   Your Immaculate Mother.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)