From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Acknowledging Sins against Others   
      
   "All of us have become members of Christ. How do you fail to sin   
   against Christ when you sin against a member of Christ? Thus, if you   
   are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your   
   brother or sister has anything against you, leave your gift before the   
   altar.   
      
   God seeks you rather than your gift. Christ seeks the one whom he has   
   redeemed by his Blood rather than what you have found in your   
   storeroom."   
   --St. Augustine--Sermon 82, 4-5   
      
   Prayer: Lord, you are my refuge from the torment of the sins with   
   which my heart besieges me. My joy is in you. Redeem me from the   
   sorrow that my sins cause me.   
   --St. Augustine--Commentary on Psalm 31 (1), 7   
      
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   March 29th - Blessed Bertold of Mount Carmel   
   Also known as   
   Bartold of Calabria   
   Bartoldus of…   
   Bertoldo of…   
   Bartholomew Avogadro   
      
   Died c.1195   
   Berthold seems to have had a connection with the beginnings of the   
   Carmelite Order. He was a relative of Aymeric, the Latin patriarch of   
   Antioch who was installed in Antioch during the crusades. At the time,   
   there were a number of hermits from the West scattered throughout   
   Palestine, and Berthold gathered them together, founded a community of   
   priests who settled on Mount Carmel, and became their first superior.   
      
   There is a legend that he was born at Limoges in France, studied in   
   Paris, and was ordained a priest there. According to the legend, he   
   accompanied Aymeric on the crusades and found himself in Antioch when   
   it was being besieged by the Saracens. Through his urgings, the   
   Christians in Antioch turned to prayer and penance, and the city was   
   delivered.   
      
   What is known for certain is that St. Berthold directed the building   
   of a monastery and church on Mount Carmel and dedicated the church in   
   honor of the prophet Elias, who had defeated the priests of Baal there   
   and seen the vision of the cloud out over the sea. This is confirmed   
   in a letter of Peter Emilianus to King Edward I of England in 1282.   
      
   Berthold lived out his days on Mount Carmel, ruling the community he   
   had founded for forty-five years until his death about 1195. His   
   example and way of life stamped the beginnings of the Carmelite Order,   
   leading to the drawing up of the order's rule by St. Albert, Latin   
   patriarch of Jerusalem, about 1210. That rule was approved by Pope   
   Honorius III in 1226 and it is this primitive rule that is considered   
   the foundation of the Order of Mount Carmel.   
      
   But it seems to have been Berthold who first organized the monastic   
   life of the hermits on Mount Carmel and governed them until his death.   
   St. Brocard, who apparently was his successor, petitioned Albert to   
   compose a rule for them, undoubtedly codifying and completing the work   
   begun by Berthold.   
      
      
   Reflection   
   St. Berthold became aware of something that had to be done, and he put   
   his hand firmly to the task before him, unknowingly laying the   
   foundation of a great religious order. We have no way of knowing what   
   fruit will grow from the seed we plant. What is important is that we   
   plant well.   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   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   
      
   MLA Citation   
   “Blessed Bertold of Mount Carmel“. CatholicSaints.Info. 11 November   
   2019. Web. 28 March 2020.   
      
      
      
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   Meditation for the Day   
      
      Functioning on a material plane alone takes me away from God. I   
   must also try to function on a spiritual plane. Functioning on a   
   spiritual plane as well as on a material plane will make life what it   
   should be. All material activities are valueless in themselves alone.   
   But all activities, seemingly trivial or of seemingly great moment,   
   are all alike if directed by God's guidance. I must try to obey God as   
   I would expect a faithful, willing servant to carry out directions.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)