From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   You Can Now Reach Out   
      
      "God became a man for this purpose: since you, a human being, could   
   not reach God, but you can reach other humans, you might now reach God   
   through a man. And so the man Christ Jesus became the mediator of God   
   and human beings.   
      God became a man so that following a man--something you are able to   
   do--you might reach God, which was formerly impossible to you."   
   --St. Augustine--Commentary on Psalm 134, 5   
      
   Prayer: Lord, you are delightful food for the pure of heart.   
   --St. Augustine--Confessions 13, 21   
      
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   April 8th - Saint Perpetuus, Bishop of Tours   
   (461-494)   
      
   Saint Perpetuus was the eighth Bishop of Tours, who governed that see   
   for more than thirty years, from 461 to 494. During all that time he   
   labored by zealous sermons, many synods and wholesome regulations, to   
   lead souls to virtue.   
      
   Saint Perpetuus had great veneration for the Saints and respect for   
   their relics; he adorned their shrines and enriched their churches. As   
   there was a continual succession of miracles at the tomb of Saint   
   Martin, Perpetuus, finding the church built by Saint Bricius too small   
   for the concourse of people coming there, directed its enlargement.   
   When the building was finished, the good bishop solemnized the   
   dedication of this large new church, which a writer of that time said   
   was one of the marvels of the world and worthy to be compared with the   
   temple of Solomon. The translation of the body of Saint Martin was   
   carried out on the 4th of July in 491. It is believed that either   
   Saint Martin or his Angel assisted on this occasion, for the coffin   
   was so heavy that no means were found to move it, until an unknown   
   elderly gentleman came forward and offered his aid, immediately   
   efficacious.   
      
   Saint Perpetuus had made and signed his last will, which is still   
   extant, on the 1st of March, 475, a number of years before his death.   
   In this testament of love, he remitted all debts owing to him; and   
   having bequeathed to his church his library and several farms, and   
   establishing a fund for the maintenance of lamps and the purchase of   
   sacred vessels, he declared the poor his heirs for all the rest. He   
   added exhortations to concord and piety, and begged a remembrance in   
   prayer. His ancient epitaph equals him to the great Saint Martin. He   
   died on the 8th of April, 494.   
      
   Reflection. The sting of poverty, says a spiritual writer, is allayed   
   even more by a word of true sympathy than by the alms we give. Alms   
   given coldly and harshly irritate rather than soothe. Even when we   
   cannot give, words of kindness are like a precious balm; and when we   
   can give, they are salt and seasoning for our alms.   
      
   Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on   
   Butler’s Lives of the Saints   
      
      
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   "O ye souls who wish to go on with so much safety and consolation, if   
   you knew how pleasing to God is suffering, and how much it helps in   
   acquiring other good things, you would never seek consolation in   
   anything; but you would rather look upon it as a great happiness to   
   bear the Cross after the Lord"   
   --St. John of the Cross   
      
   Blessed William the Abbot saw, one night in a dream, some angels who   
   were weaving a crown of marvelous richness and beauty; and when he   
   asked them for whom they were making it, they said that it was for   
   him, and would be finished when he had suffered enough.   
      
   (Taken from the book "A Year with the Saints".  April - Patience)   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Wherefore I say to thee: Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath   
   loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loveth less.  (Luke 7:47)   
      
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   A prayer to the Sacred Heart:   
      
   O most Holy Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore Thee,   
   I love Thee, and with lively sorrow for my sins, I offer Thee this   
   poor heart of mine.  Make me humble, patient, pure and wholly obedient   
   to Thy will.  Grant, good Jesus, that I may live in Thee and for Thee.   
   Protect me in the midst of danger; comfort me in my afflictions; give   
   me health of body, assistance in my temporal knees, Thy blessing on   
   all that I do, and the grace of a holy death.  Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)