From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Of the intimate love of Jesus   
      
   1. When Jesus is present all is well and nothing seemeth hard, but   
   when Jesus is not present everything is hard. When Jesus   
   speaketh not within, our comfort is nothing worth, but if Jesus   
   speaketh but a single word great is the comfort we experience.   
   Did not Mary Magdalene rise up quickly from the place where she   
   wept when Martha said to her, The Master is come and calleth for   
   thee?(1) Happy hour when Jesus calleth thee from tears to the   
   joy of the spirit! How dry and hard art thou without Jesus! How   
   senseless and vain if thou desirest aught beyond Jesus! Is not   
   this greater loss than if thou shouldst lose the whole world?   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 2 Ch 8   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   December 12th - St. Finian (Finan) of Clonard   
      
   St. Finian, "The Master of the Saints of Ireland" was born in the   
   latter part of the fifth century, at Myshal in County Carlow, on the   
   slopes of Mount Leinster. His father was Rudraigh, an Ulsterman of   
   noble lineage. His mother was a Leinster woman called Telach. At an   
   early age he was placed under the care of St. Fortchern. This serious   
   induction into the Christian Church awakens in him a hunger for more   
   learning that drives him across the sea to Britain, and then further   
   afield to France.   
      
   St. Martin's famous monastery at Tours is his first point of landing,   
   and his experiences there shape his idea of religious life. Tours is   
   noted for its austerity, for its sacrifice of physical comfort for   
   spiritual gain. Finian finds himself at home in this environment, and   
   begins a lifetime of austere monastic discipline. After a time of   
   study at Tours, Finian was directed by St. Fortchern to proceed to   
   Wales to perfect himself in holiness and sacred knowledge under the   
   great saints of that country. Here, Finian continued his studies at   
   the monastery of Cadog the Wise, at Llancarfan in Glamorganshire. He   
   remains there for years, at prayer and study, growing in strength of   
   spirit.   
      
   After a long sojourn there, thirty years according to some sources,   
   Finian at long last returns to his native land of Ireland, moving   
   about from place to place, preaching, teaching, and founding churches.   
   He comes first to Aghowle in County Wicklow at the foot of Sliabh   
   Condala, where Oengus, the king of Leinster, has no hesitation in   
   granting him a site there. But Finian is a driven man, and he travels   
   north to Dunmanogue on the river Barrow, where he establishes another   
   church. From there, he goes to the town of Kildare, to study and teach   
   at St Brigid's monastery. He is held in high regard by Brigid, but he   
   is still not settled where God wants him to be, and Finian is led by   
   an angel to Cluain Eraird (Clonard), which he was told would be the   
   place of his resurrection. Brigid presents him with a gold ring on his   
   departure.   
      
   Clonard is situated on the beautiful river Boyne, just beside the   
   boundary line of the northern and southern halves of Ireland, but was   
   little more than a wasteland at that time. There were no secular   
   authorities to be negotiated with, and Finian could simply commandeer   
   as large a swath of land as he deems necessary. Instead he built a   
   little cell and a church of clay and wattle, and continued his life of   
   study, mortification, and prayer. The fame of his learning and   
   sanctity was soon noted abroad, and scholars of all ages flocked from   
   every side to his monastic retreat—young laymen and clerics, abbots   
   and bishops, and those illustrious saints who were afterwards known as   
   the "Twelve Apostles of Erin". Those who live with him must live like   
   him, and he is well known for his intolerance of self-indulgence. He   
   himself sleeps on a cold floor, resting his head on a stone, and at   
   all times, wears a girdle of iron as a penance for his body.   
      
   As the foundation grew, the clay church gave way to a substantial   
   stone structure, and in the Office of St. Finian it is stated that   
   there were no fewer than 3000 pupils getting instruction at one time   
   in the school in the green fields of Clonard under the broad canopy of   
   heaven. The master excelled in exposition of the Sacred Scriptures,   
   and the extraordinary popularity which his lectures enjoyed was widely   
   attributed to his biblical scholarship. His gift for teaching, his   
   ability to impress the great and good, and his absolute dedication to   
   the ascetic ideal, inspired a whole generation. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise   
   and Columcille of Iona are among the many to have trained under him.   
   They and many others took seeds of knowledge from Finian's monastery   
   at Clonard, and planted them abroad with great success.   
      
   Towards the end of his life, Finian was struck down by plague, and   
   moved out of Clonard to prevent infection to others. He went to nearby   
   Ross Findchuill, singing Psalm 132, "Here shall I rest". One of his   
   last acts was to receive communion from his former pupil, Columb son   
   of Crimhthan, and then, at one with his life and Lord, departed this   
   world. The exact date of the saint's death is uncertain, but it was   
   probably 552, and his burial-place is in his own church of Clonard,   
   which for centuries after his death continued to be renowned as a seat   
   of Scriptural learning.   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Novena Prayer   
      
   O sweet Jesus as you lived in Mary,   
   come and live in your servant   
   in the Spirit of your holiness,   
   in the fullness of your gifts,   
   in the perfection of your ways,   
   in the truth of your virtues,   
   in the communion of your mysteries,   
   by your Holy Spirit,   
   enable us to love you and love our fellow man   
   for the glory of God the Father.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)