From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Putting Up with All That is Annoying   
      
   "Now, what does 'Let him take up his cross' mean? Put up with all that   
   is annoying: that is how they must follow me. To tell the truth, when   
   they follow me, imitating my conduct and keeping my commandments, they   
   will have many who will try to oppose them, forbid them, dissuade   
   them, and this will be done by those same people who appear to be   
   followers of Christ."   
   --St. Augustine--Sermon 96, 4   
      
   Prayer: O Lord, my God, what is the kernel of your deep mystery? How   
   far from it have I been led by the consequences of my sins!   
   --St. Augustine--Confessions 11, 31   
      
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   February 2nd - Blessed Peter Cambiano, Martyr    
   (Also known as Peter de Ruffi)   
      
   Born in Chieri, Piedmont, Italy, in 1320; died February 2, 1365;   
   beatified in 1856.   
   Peter Cambiano's father was a city councillor and his mother was of   
   nobility. They were virtuous and careful parents, and they gave their   
   little son a good education, especially in religion. Peter responded   
   to all their care and became a fine student, as well as a pious and   
   likeable child. Peter was drawn to the Dominicans by devotion to the   
   rosary. Our Lady of the Rosary was the special patroness of the   
   Piedmont region, and he had a personal devotion to her. At 16,   
   therefore, he presented himself at the convent in Piedmont and asked   
   for the habit.   
      
   Here the young student continued his study and prayer, becoming a   
   model religious, and was ordained at 25. His skill as a preacher had   
   already become evident, not the least of his talents being a loud   
   clear voice, which in those days of open-air preaching was a real   
   asset.   
      
   Peter's span of active life was 20 years, most of which he spent among   
   the heretics of northern Italy. The fathers of the Lombard province   
   had a fine reputation to uphold. They were walking in the footsteps of   
   martyrs, and they made a point of preparing their men carefully for   
   controversy as well as for martyrdom. Peter's first assignment was to   
   work among the Waldensians. These zealous and misguided folk, coming   
   from France, had already infiltrated the Low Countries and were well   
   established in northern Italy, by way of Switzerland.   
      
   The inquisition had been set up to deal with these people in Lombardy   
   before the death of Peter Martyr, a century before. So well did young   
   Peter of Ruffia carryout the work of preaching among them that the   
   order sent him to Rome to obtain higher degrees. The pope, impressed   
   both by his talent and his family name, appointed him   
   inquisitor-general of the Piedmont. This was a coveted appointment; to   
   a Dominican it meant practically sure martyrdom and a carrying on of a   
   proud tradition.   
      
   In January 1365, Peter of Ruffia and two companions left the convent   
   in Turin to go on a preaching tour that would take them into the   
   mountainous country bordering Switzerland, where the heretics had done   
   great damage. Their lives were in hourly danger. The Franciscans at   
   Suse gave them hospitality, and they made the friary their basis of   
   operations for a short, but very active, campaign against the   
   Waldensians.   
      
   His preaching occasioned several notable defections from the ranks of   
   the heretics, and it was decided that Peter must die. On the 2nd of   
   February, three of the heretics came to the friary and asked to see   
   Peter of Ruffia, saying that they had an important message for him.   
   They waited for him in the cloister, near the gate, and, when he   
   appeared, surrounded him and killed him with their daggers. Peter died   
   almost instantly, too soon to give any information about his   
   assailants, and the murderers disappeared into a valley, where the   
   heretics would protect them. All Piedmont, Switzerland, and Savoy were   
   in an uproar over the death of Peter, who had been 'a saint in his   
   life, a martyr in his death.'   
      
   The Franciscans at Suse claimed the holy relics, pointing out that it   
   would not be safe to transport them to the nearest Dominican house, so   
   Peter was buried among the Franciscans. Here he remained for 150 years   
   until the Franciscan house was razed and desecrated by an invading   
   army. Finally, in 1517, the relics of the great inquisitor were   
   brought to Turin, and Peter was laid to rest among his brethren in the   
   convent there. (Attwater2, Benedictines, Dorcy)   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The missionaries will have to understand that they are stones hid   
   under the earth, which will perhaps never come to light, but which   
   will become part of the foundations of a vast, new building.   
   --Saint Daniel Comboni   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   No one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for   
   the kingdom of God.  (Luke 9:62)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   A PRAYER FOR PERFECT TRUST   
      
   Oh, for the peace of a perfect trust,   
   My loving God, in thee;   
   Unwavering faith that never doubts   
   Thou chooses best for me!   
   Best, though my plans be all upset;   
   Best, though the way be rough;   
   Best, though my earthly store be scant;   
   In Thee I have enough.   
   Best, though my health and strength be gone,   
   Though weary days be mine,   
   Shut out from much that others have;   
   Not my will, Lord, but Thine!   
   And even though disappointments come,   
   They, too, are best for me,   
   To wean me from this changing world,   
   And lead me nearer Thee.   
   Oh, for the peace of a perfect trust   
   That looks away from all;   
   That sees thy hand in everything,   
   In great events or small.   
   That hears Thy voice-A Father's voice--;   
   Directing for the best.   
   Oh, for the peace of a perfect trust,    
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)