From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
    -- Hebrews 4:12-13 --   
      
     For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any   
   two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit,   
   of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and   
   intents of the heart. And there is no creature that is not manifest in   
   his sight: but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of   
   him with whom we have to do.  [Hebrews 4:12-13] DRB   
   ==============   
   The Word of God is not simply a collection of words from God, a vehicle for   
   communicating ideas; it is living, life-changing and dynamic as it works is   
   us. With the incisiveness of a surgeon's knife, God's Word reveals who we   
   are and what we are not. It penetrates the core of our moral and spiritual   
   life. It discerns what is in us, both good and evil. The demands of God's   
   Word require decisions. We must not only listen to the Word, we must also   
   let it shape our lives.   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   January 17th - St. Julian Sabas the Elder, Hermit   
   Also known as Julian the Ascetic   
      
   Memorial   
   17 January (Roman Church)   
   24 January (Greek Church)   
   18 October (Greek Menaea)   
   14 January on some old calendars   
      
   Died 377   
      
    Saint Julian was a hermit in Mesopotamia, who received the name "sabas,"   
   meaning "the old man" in Syriac, because of his wisdom. At first he   
   lived in a damp cave by the Euphrates near Edessa. Later he moved to   
   Mount Sinai. As with most of the holy hermits of the desert, Julian   
   spent his days in penance, prayer, and manual labor, but he is also   
   known for his encouragement of the Christians during the persecution   
   of Julian the Apostate. Perhaps it was his premonition of the death of   
   the cruel emperor that provided Julian with the fortitude he needed to   
   bring comfort to others. Julian continued to affirm the Catholics in   
   their faith during conflict with the Arians under Valens. He left his   
   solitude to loudly denounce the heresy at Antioch, where his effective   
   preachings was confirmed by miracles. Saint John Chrysostom, who calls   
   him a wonderful man, and Theodoret in the History of Religion (chapter   
   2) have left accounts of his life (Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson,   
   Husenbeth).   
      
   Julian Saba, 'Father of the Monks' of Syria Journal of Early Christian   
   Studies Volume 2, Number 2, Summer 1994 E-ISSN: 1086-3184 Print ISSN:   
   1067-6341 DOI: 10.1353/earl.0.0135 Julian Saba, 'Father of the Monks'   
   of Syria Sidney H. Griffith AbstractJulian Saba (d. 367) is the   
   earliest person in the Syriac-speaking community whose name we know,   
   who dedicated himself to the eremitical life. His story has been   
   preserved for us in Theodoret's History of the Monks of Syria, in a   
   collection of Syriac poems attributed to Ephraem (306-373), and in a   
   Syriac memra attributed to Jacob of Serug (ca. 450-ca. 520). Based on   
   these sources, the present article gives an account of Julian's fame   
   in Syria, and explores the significance of his accomplishments for the   
   history of monasticism in the Syriac-speaking regions of the Early   
   Christian world. The name and fame of Julian Saba (d. 367) are well   
   known to students of the religious history of Syria in the early   
   Christian era, thanks in large part to the account of his life and   
   exploits which Theodoret of Cyrrhus included in his History of the   
   Monks of Syria,1 and to the twenty-four Syriac hymns in his honor   
   which have survived from the sixth century attributed to Ephraem the   
   Syrian   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, you could give me   
   no greater gift than the gift of yourself. For you are a fire ever   
   burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love   
   that fills my being. Yes, you are a fire that takes away the coldness,   
   illuminates the mind with its light, and causes me to know your truth.   
   And I know that you are beauty and wisdom itself. The food of angels,   
   you gave yourself to man in the fire of your love.   
   -- Saint Catherine of Siena   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   For behold the day shall come kindled as a furnace: and all the proud,   
   and all that do wickedly shall be stubble: and the day that cometh   
   shall set them on fire, saith the Lord of hosts, it shall not leave   
   them root, nor branch.   
   But unto you that fear my name, the Sun of justice shall arise, and   
   health in his wings: and you shall go forth, and shall leap like   
   calves of the herd.  [Malachi 4:1-3]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   The Three O'clock Prayer   
      
   Lord Jesus, we gather in spirit at the foot of the Cross with   
   Thy Mother and the disciple whom Thou loved. We ask Thy   
   pardon for our sins which are the cause of Thy death.   
      
   We thank Thee for remembering us in that hour of salvation   
   and for giving us Mary as our Mother.   
      
   Holy Virgin, take us under thy protection and open us to the   
   action of the Holy Ghost.   
      
   Saint John, obtain for us the grace of taking Mary into our   
   life, as thou didst, and of assisting her in her mission. Amen.   
      
   May the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost be glorified   
   in all places through the Immaculate Virgin Mary.   
      
   Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)