From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On the Desire for Eternal Life and the Wonder of God's Promises  [III]   
      
   CHRIST:   
   Do not ask for what is pleasant and profitable to yourself, but what   
   is acceptable to Me and tends to My glory; for if you view things in   
   their proper light, you will prefer and follow My direction rather   
   than your own desires, whatever they may be. I know your desire, and   
   have often heard your cry. You long for the glorious liberty of the   
   sons of God, (Rom. 8:21) while your eternal home and the joys of the   
   heavenly country already draw your heart. But the time for this has   
   not yet come; there remains warfare, work, and trial. You desire to be   
   filled with the supreme Good, but you cannot attain this blessing now.   
   I am that Good; wait for Me, says the Lord, until the coming of the   
   Kingdom of God.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3 Ch 49   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   October 2nd -Saint Leger, or Leodegar or Leodegarius   
      
   Born c. 616; died near Arras in 678. Leodegarius was raised at the   
   court of King Clotaire II and educated by his uncle, Bishop Didon of   
   Poitiers. He was made archdeacon by Didon, was ordained, and about   
   651-653 became abbot of Maxentius (Maixent) Abbey, where he introduced   
   the Rule of St. Benedict. During this time it appears that Saint   
   Leodegarius acquired a humble spirit and became a true priest.   
      
   It is unknown whether Leodegarius was summoned or went to the court of   
   his own accord. Nevertheless, he counselled Queen Saint Bathildis   
   during the minority of her son Clotaire III after the death of her   
   husband, Clovis II, in 656.   
      
   Leodegarius was appointed bishop of Autun in 663, though he continued   
   to advise the queen.   
      
   Autun was in a state of complete disorder. There had been no bishop   
   for two years and before that there were two claimants for the   
   episcopal throne. One of them had been murdered and the other exiled   
   because of his abuses of power. Leodegarius began by physically   
   restoring the town: its walls and the cathedral.   
      
   It is said, "Those who were not led to peace and concord by preaching,   
   were forced there by justice and terror." Although Leodegarius had a   
   reputation as a very strict bishop, he managed to reconcile the   
   factions that had torn apart the see, introduced reforms, imposed the   
   Benedictine Rule in all monasteries, and was known for his concern for   
   the poor.   
      
   After Bathildis had retired and on the death of Clotaire III, he   
   supported young Childeric II for king against his brother Thierry, who   
   had been backed by Ebroin, mayor of the palace. Ebroin was exiled to   
   Luxeuil, where he became a tonsured monk and a bitter enemy of   
   Leodegarius, who became Childeric's adviser. Leodegarius's exalted   
   position didn't last for long for he alienated many with his severity.   
   When Leodegarius denounced the marriage of Childeric to his uncle's   
   daughter, he also incurred the enmity of Childeric .   
      
   One Easter Childeric refused Leodegarius's invitation to attend the   
   Easter Mass at the cathedral of Saint-Nazaire in Autun. Later   
   Childeric interrupted the Mass. He was drunk and shouted insults, but   
   as he was king, no one said anything. Because no one said anything,   
   the king believed that there was nobody there, and left. But the next   
   day his fury against Leodegarius had not abated. The saint decided to   
   flee, but he was soon caught, returned to court, judged and banished   
   to Luxeuil in 675. There he met and was reconciled to his enemy   
   Ebroin. In Luxeuil they prayed side-by- side and pledged eternal   
   friendship.   
      
   When Childeric was murdered in 675, his successor, Theodoric III,   
   restored Leodegarius to his see. Ebroin was also restored as mayor of   
   the palace after he had the incumbent Leudesius murdered and persuaded   
   the duke of Champagne and the bishops of Chalons and Valence to attack   
   Autun. To save the town, Leodegarius surrendered himself.   
      
   Ebroin had him blinded, his lips cut off, and his tongue pulled out.   
   Leodegarius accepted his fate. His death did not come at once, and he   
   suffered in silence and prayer. Ebroin sent him to a forest and   
   ordered that the blind man should be left there to die of hunger. But   
   Leodegarius's guard took pity on him and after a few days went to find   
   him. He took him into his home and cared for him.   
      
   Not satisfied, several years later, Ebroin convinced the king that   
   Childeric had been murdered by Leodegarius and his brother Saint   
   Gerinus. Gerinus was stoned to death, and Leodegarius was tortured and   
   imprisoned at Fécamp monastery in Normandy, a cripple. A letter   
   written by Leodegarius to his mother about the death of his brother   
   still exists.   
      
   Two years later Leodegarius was summoned to a court at Marly by   
   Ebroin. A court of bishops declared him deposed from his see. Finally,   
   his enemies executed him at Sarcing, Artois, protesting his innocence   
   to the end. Though the Roman Martyrology calls him blessed and a   
   martyr, and he is popularly regarded as Saint Leger, there is doubt   
   among many scholars that he is entitled to those honors. It is   
   primarily his political supporters who advanced his veneration. Only   
   God knows if Leodegarius was one of his own (Attwater, Benedictines,   
   Delaney, Encyclopedia).   
      
   In art, St. Leodegarius is depicted as his eyes are bored out with a   
   gimlet. His executioner stands behind him with a sword. At times,   
   Leodegarius may be shown enthroned and holding the gimlet or holding a   
   hook with two prongs (Roeder).   
      
   His feast is kept in Lucern, Switzerland. Leodegarius is the patron of   
   millers and is invoked against blindness (Roeder).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Is it not true that You promise those who keep Your commandments a   
   reward more desirable than great wealth and sweeter than honey? You   
   promise a most abundant reward, for as Your apostle James says: "The   
   Lord has prepared a crown of life for those who love Him." What is   
   this crown of life? It is surely a greater good than we can conceive   
   of or desire, as Saint Paul says, quoting Isaiah: "Eye has not seen,   
   ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has   
   prepared for those who love Him.   
   -- Saint Robert Bellarmine   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me: let my   
   enemies be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul.  [Psalm lxix.   
   2,3]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Meditation for troubled times:   
      
      Pray-- and keep praying until it brings peace and serenity and a   
   feeling of communion with One who is near and ready to help. The   
   thought of God is balm for our hates and fears. In praying to God, we   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)