From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
    The Love of Solitude and Silence: (5)   
      
   If only a man would never seek passing joys or entangle himself with worldly   
   affairs, what a good conscience he would have. What great peace and   
   tranquillity   
   would be his, if he cut himself off from all empty care and thought only of   
   things divine, things helpful to his soul, and put all his trust in God.   
   No man deserves the consolation of heaven unless he persistently arouses   
   himself to holy contrition. If you desire true sorrow of heart, seek the   
   privacy of your cell and shut out the uproar of the world, as it is written:   
   "In   
   your chamber bewail your sins." There you will find what too often you lose   
   abroad.   
   --Thomas à Kempis, From the Imitation of Christ chapter 20   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   July 8th – St. Procopius of Scythopolis, Martyr   
      
   Born in Jerusalem; died at Sycthopolis (Bethshan), July 7, 303. Saint   
   Procopius was one of the first victims of Emperor Diocletian's   
   persecution of the Christians in Palestine. The church historian   
   Eusebius was bishop of Caesarea, where Procopius suffered, at the time   
   of the martyrdom. Eusebius left this simple account of Procopius's   
   martyrdom:   
      
   "The first of the martyrs of Palestine was Procopius, a man filled   
   with divine grace, who from his childhood had devoted himself to   
   chastity and the practice of all virtues. He had mortified his flesh   
   until his body seemed to be like that of one who was dead, but his   
   soul drew such strength from the word of God that the body itself was   
   refreshed by it. He lived on bread and water, and ate only every   
   second or third day, and sometimes prolonged his fast for a whole   
   week.   
      
   "Meditation on the divine work so filled his being that he remained   
   absorbed in it day and night without fatigue. Filled with gentleness   
   and goodness, holding himself to be the least of men, he edified all   
   who heard him by his discourses. The word of God was his only study,   
   and of other matters he had but little knowledge.   
      
   "He was born at Jerusalem, but had gone to live in Scythopolis, where   
   he held three ecclesiastical offices. He was reader and interpreter in   
   the Syriac language, and cured those possessed of evil spirits.   
      
   "Sent with his companions from Scythopolis to Caesarea [Maritima], he   
   had barely passed through the city gates when he was brought before   
   the governor; and even before being put in chains and taken to the   
   prison he was urged by the judge Flavian to sacrifice to the gods. But   
   in a loud voice Procopius said that there are not several gods, but   
   One only, the creator and author of all things.   
      
   "Finding nothing to say in answer, the judge tried to persuade him at   
   least to sacrifice to the emperors, but the martyr of God scorned his   
   pleas. 'Listen,' he said, 'to this verse from Homer: It is not good to   
   have several masters; let there be only one ruler and one king.'   
      
   "At these words, as though he had spoken threats against the emperors,   
   the judge ordered him to be executed. His head was cut off, and he   
   passed happily to eternal life by the shortest road. This was the   
   first martyrdom that took place at Caesarea."   
      
   This simple, reliable account was not enough to satisfy the legend   
   makers. In later stories Procopius is made a soldier, then an ascetic,   
   then a Persian, and then a prince of Alexandria--sometimes he was said   
   to be all four of these at once. In each case, his conversion was made   
   to bear a remarkable resemblance to that of Saint Paul.   
      
   That the martyr described by Eusebius was publicly venerated is proven   
   by the existence of shrines in his honor at Caesarea and Scythopolis   
   from at least the 5th and 6th centuries. Thank God that we have a   
   contemporary account of what actually happened! (Attwater,   
   Benedictines, Bentley, Delehaye, Encyclopedia).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   On behalf of Christ crucified I tell you: refuse to believe the   
   counsels of the devil, who would hinder your holy and good resolution.   
   Be manly in my sight, and not timorous. Answer God, who calls you to   
   hold and possess the seat of the glorious Shepherd St. Peter, whose   
   vicar you have been. And raise the standard of the holy Cross.   
   --Saint Catherine of Siena to Pope Gregory XI   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   And we know that all things work together for good to them that love   
   God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  (Romans   
   8:28 )   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   The Fiery Prayer   
   for the Apostles of the Latter Times   
      
   4th Day   
   Formed by the Holy Spirit in Mary   
      
   Remember, O Lord, O Holy Spirit, remember to produce and to form   
   children of God with Thy divine and faithful Spouse, Mary. Thou did   
   form Jesus Christ, the Chief of the predestined, with Her and in Her.   
   It is with Her and in Her that Thou should form all His members; Thou   
   did beget no divine person in the Divinity; but it is Thou alone Who   
   forms all holy persons out of the Divinity; and all the saints that   
   have been or shall be until the end of the world are so many works of   
   Thy love united with Mary. The special reign of God the Father lasted   
   until the Deluge, and was concluded by a deluge of water. The reign of   
   Jesus Christ was concluded by a deluge of Blood. But Thy reign, Spirit   
   of the Father and of the Son, continues at the present time and will   
   be concluded by deluge of fire, of love, of justice.   
      
   When shall it come, this deluge of fire and pure love, which Thou art   
   to enkindle in all the earth with so much strength and sweetness that   
   all nations, Turks, idolaters, even the Jews, will burn with it and be   
   converted? And there is no one who can hide himself from his heat (Ps.   
   18:7).   
      
   May it be enkindled: May this divine fire, which Jesus Christ came to   
   bring the world be enkindled before that of Thy anger, which will   
   reduce everything to ashes. Send forth Thy spirit and they shall be   
   created; and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth (Ps. 103:30). Send   
   forth the spirit of fire upon the earth to create priests all aflame,   
   by whose ministry the face of the earth may be renewed and the Church   
   reformed.   
      
   Remember Thy congregation, O Lord: It is a congregation, an assembly,   
   a choice selection of predestined souls, which Thou must make in the   
   world and of the world: I have chosen you out of the world (John   
   15:19). It is a flock of peaceful sheep which Thou must collect from   
   among the wolves; a company of chaste doves and royal eagles from   
   among so many ravens; a swarm of honey bees from among so many wasps;   
   a herd of fleet deer from among so many tortoises; a battalion of   
   courageous lions from among so many timid hares. Ah! Lord: Gather us   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)