From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   I Saw The Seven Angels   
      
   And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in   
   heaven about the space of half an hour.  And I saw the seven angels   
   that stand before God; and there were given unto them seven trumpets.   
   [Revelation 8:1-2] DRB   
      
   "Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against   
   the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not   
   prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge   
   dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who   
   deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels   
   were thrown down with it."  [Revelation 12:7-9]   
      
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   January 20th – St. Euthymius the Great, Abbot, Healer   
      
   Born at Melitene, Armenia, c. 378; died in Palestine on January 20,   
   473. Saint Euthymius was the fruit of the fervent prayers of his   
   wealthy parents through the intercession of a local martyr, Saint   
   Polyeuctus. Euthymius studied under the bishop of Melitene, who   
   ordained and appointed him supervisor of monastic settlements of the   
   diocese. In that capacity, Euthymius often visited Saint Polyeuctus's   
   monastery, where he would spend whole nights in prayer on a nearby   
   mountain. From the octave of Epiphany to the end of Lent, Euthymius   
   was continuously in prayer.   
      
   When he was about 30, his love of solitude had grown so strong that he   
   secretly migrated to Palestine. After offering his prayers at the holy   
   places in Jerusalem, he settled in a cell six miles distant near at   
   the Pharan laura. He earned money for his bread and some alms for the   
   poor by weaving baskets.   
      
   About 411, he moved 10 miles closer to Jericho, where he and a   
   companion, named Theoctistus, lived as hermits in a cave. When a   
   number of other hermits gravitated to him, he left them with his   
   companion Theoctistus as superior, settled in the desolate country   
   between Jerusalem and Jericho, and began his solitary life. He would   
   meet with his spiritual children only on Saturdays and Sundays, and   
   would abide for only a short time in one place, then move to another,   
   usually in caves. Thus, he became their spiritual director without   
   giving up his own solitary mode of life.   
      
   Saint Euthymius was one of the most revered of the early Palestinian   
   monks. He attracted enormous crowds by his preaching, and combated   
   Nestorianism and Eutychianism alike. He gained influence among the   
   Arabs by his healing of the paralytic son of an important sheik,   
   simply with a short prayer and the Sign of the Cross. The sheik, who   
   had vainly employed Persian magic arts seeking some relief for his   
   son, immediately requested baptism.   
      
   So many Arabs followed suit that Patriarch Juvenal of Jerusalem   
   consecrated Euthymius bishop to minister to them. In 420, Juvenal   
   built him a laura on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, which   
   Euthymius ruled through vicars to whom he gave directions on Sundays.   
   Cyril of Scythopolis relates that this was only one of many miraculous   
   cures wrought by Euthymius, usually with the Sign of the Cross. It was   
   in his capacity as bishop that Euthymius attended the Council of   
   Ephesus in 431.   
      
   His humility and charity won the hearts of all who spoke to him. He   
   seems to have surpassed even the great Saint Arsenius in the gift of   
   perpetual tears. Empress Eudoxia, widow of Theodosius II, sought the   
   advice of Saint Simeon Stylites regarding the frightening afflictions   
   of her family. He referred her to Euthymius. Because Euthymius would   
   allow no woman to enter his laura, she built a lodging and asked him   
   to come to her there. She followed his counsel as the command of God,   
   gave up her allegiance to the Eutychians, returned to orthodoxy in   
   459, and received the Council of Chalcedon.   
      
   On January 13, 473, Martyrius and Elias, both of whom Euthymius   
   foretold would be patriarchs of Jerusalem, came with several others to   
   visit him and accompany him to his Lenten retreat. But he said he   
   would stay with them all that week, and leave on the next Saturday,   
   giving them to understand that his death was near at hand. He   
   appointed Elias as his successor, and foretold to Domitian, a beloved   
   disciple, that he would follow him out of this world on the seventh   
   day, which happened just as he prophesied. At the time of his death,   
   Euthymius had spent 66-68 years in the desert. He is still highly   
   revered throughout the East (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Walsh).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   For one to attempt to speak of God in terms more precise than He   
   Himself has used:--to undertake such a thing is to embark upon the   
   boundless, to dare the incomprehensible. He fixed the names of His   
   nature: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Whatever is sought over and   
   above this is beyond the meaning of words, beyond the limits of   
   perception, beyond the embrace of understanding.   
   --Saint Hilary of Poitiers on the Holy Trinity   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   The spirit of the Lord is upon me. Wherefore he hath anointed me to   
   preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the contrite of   
   heart,  (Luke 4:18 ) DRB   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   A prayer from The Imitation of Christ, of Thomas `a Kempis:   
      
   I offer up unto Thee my prayers and intercessions, for those especially who   
   have in any matter hurt, grieved, or found fault with me, or who have done   
   me any damage or displeasure. For all those also whom, at any time, I may   
   have vexed, troubled, burdened, and scandalized, by words or deeds,   
   knowingly or in ignorance; that Thou wouldeth grant us all equally pardon   
   for our sins, and for our offences against each other. Take away from our   
   hearts, O Lord, all suspiciousness, indignation, wrath, and contention, and   
   whatsoever may hurt charity, and lessen brotherly love. Have mercy, O   
   Lord, have mercy on those that crave Thy mercy, give grace unto them that   
   stand in need thereof, and make us such as that we may be worthy to enjoy   
   Thy grace, and go forward to life eternal. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)