From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The Royal Road of the Holy Cross  (3)   
      
   Take up your cross, therefore, and follow Jesus, and you shall enter   
   eternal life. He Himself opened the way before you in carrying His   
   cross, and upon it He died for you, that you, too, might take up your   
   cross and long to die upon it. If you die with Him, you shall also   
   live with Him, and if you share His suffering, you shall also share   
   His glory.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 2, Chapter 12   
      
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   April 17th - St. Robert of Chaise-Dieu, Abbot   
   d. 1067   
      
   The founder and first abbot of the monastery of Chaise-Dieu in   
   Auvergne was Robert de Turlande, who after a blameless youth was   
   raised to the priesthood, becoming a Canon of the church of St. Julian   
   at Brioude. His fervent charity showed itself in his zeal for the   
   public worship of God as well as in his devotion to the sick poor. At   
   one time he contemplated assuming the religious habit at Cluny, but he   
   never seems actually to have taken the step. In order to obtain   
   guidance as to his vocation he made a pilgrimage to the tombs of the   
   Apostles in Rome. Upon his return he was consulted by a knight called   
   Stephen, who was anxious to know what he ought to do to expiate his   
   past sins. When St. Robert advised him to leave the world to serve God   
   in the solitary life, Stephen promptly declared himself quite ready to   
   do so, provided Robert would accompany him. This appeared to the saint   
   to be the direct answer to his prayer for light, and he acknowledged   
   that he had for some time been considering the matter.   
      
   Stephen set to work enthusiastically, and not only won a second   
   recruit in the person of another knight, but also discovered a   
   suitable place for their settlement in a deserted spot beside a ruined   
   church some five leagues from Brioude. Here they built themselves   
   cells, and embarked on a life of prayer and of manual work, which soon   
   provided for their simple wants and enabled them to assist the poor.   
   Within three years, the fame, of the hermits had attracted so many   
   disciples that it became necessary to organize a monastery. People   
   came forward with donations, and buildings arose which developed into   
   the great abbey of Chaise-Dieu, with 300 monks to whom St. Robert gave   
   the Benedictine rule. Chaise-Dieu became the mother-house of other   
   monasteries, but in 1640 the congregation was absorbed in that of   
   Saint-Maur.   
      
   The Life of St. Robert was written within 30 years of his death by   
   Marbod, bishop of Rennes. It is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, April,   
   vol. iii (under April 24), and by Mabillon (Acta Sanctorum O.S.B.,   
   vol. vi, part 2, pp. 188-197). There is also, ibidem, another sketch   
   of his history by Bernard, a monk of Chaise-Dieu, with a collection of   
   his miracles. Cf. Bulletin Historique a scientifique d’Auvergne, 1906,   
   pp. 47, 72, 82, 116.   
      
   Reflection:   
   Knowledge comes like light from the sun. The foolish man through lack   
    of faith or laziness deliberately closes his eyes--that is, his faculty of   
   choice--and at once consigns the knowledge to oblivion because in his   
   indolence he fails to put it into practice. For folly leads to indolence,   
   and this in turn begets inertia and hence forgetfulness. Forgetfulness   
   breeds self-love--the love of one's own will and thoughts which is   
   equivalent to the love of pleasure and praise. From self-love comes   
   avarice, the root of all evils (cf. 1 Tim. 6:10), for it entangles us in   
   worldly concerns and in this way leads to complete unawareness   
    of God's gifts and of our own faults.   
   --St. Peter of Damaskos.   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   "Bear patiently the wrath of God which comes upon you in punishment   
   for your sins." [Baruch 4: 25].   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Love Mary! She is loveable, faithful, constant. She will never let   
   herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme. If you are   
   in danger, she will hasten to free you. If you are troubled, she will   
   console you. If you are sick, she will bring you relief. If you are in   
   need, she will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person   
   you have been. She simply comes to a heart that wants to love her. She   
   comes quickly and opens her merciful heart to you, embraces you and   
   consoles and serves you. She will even be at hand to accompany you on   
   the trip to eternity.   
   -- Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother   
      
      
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   Prayer for the forgotten dead:   
      
   Almighty and merciful God, take pity on those souls who have no   
   particular friends or intercessors to recommend them to Thee, who   
   either through the negligence of those that are alive, or through the   
   length of time are forgotten by their friends and by all. Spare them,   
   O Lord, and remember Thine own mercy, when others forget to appeal to   
   it. Let not the souls that Thou hast created be parted from Thee,   
   their Creator. They are Thy work, and though they have sinned, they   
   have been redeemed by Thee. Vouchsafe, therefore, to look upon them   
   and to deliver them from the intolerable pain of absence from Thee,   
   the light and love of all Thy creatures. Oh! place them in the number   
   of Thy blessed Saints and citizens through Jesus Christ their Saviour.   
      
   Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)