From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Of the knowledge of truth [V]   
      
      O if they would give that diligence to the rooting out of vice and   
   the planting of virtue which they give unto vain questionings: there   
   had not been so many evil doings and stumbling-blocks among the laity,   
   nor such ill living among houses of religion.  Of a surety, at the Day   
   of Judgment it will be demanded of us, not what we have read, but what   
   we have done; not how well we have spoken, but how holily we have   
   lived.  Tell me, where now are all those masters and teachers, whom   
   thou knewest well, whilst they were yet with you, and flourished in   
   learning?  Their stalls are now filled by others, who perhaps never   
   have one thought concerning them.  Whilst they lived they seemed to be   
   somewhat, but now no one speaks of them.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 1, Ch 3   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   November 5th - Blessed Gomidas Keumurjian   
   Also known as Gomida Keumurgian, Cosma de Carboniano   
      
   (c. 1656-1707)   
      
   Most of us belong to the western or Latin rite of the Catholic Church,   
   and we are not well informed about the Church’s eastern branch, except   
   perhaps the Greek and Russian Orthodox. Still, these all possess a   
   valid Mass, although they celebrate the Eucharist in a style different   
   from ours, yet equally ancient.   
      
   Unfortunately, through the ages most of these churches have become   
   estranged from the bishops of Rome. Ever since their break, however,   
   efforts have been made on both sides to achieve reunion. While these   
   efforts have not yet had great success, at least there are groups   
   belonging to all of the eastern rites who are in communion with the   
   popes, although they continue, of course, to offer Mass in their own   
   traditional manner. Sadly, those easterners who have espoused reunion   
   have often had to suffer for their devotion to Christian unity, even   
   to the point of death.   
      
   One of the disunited eastern groups is the Armenian Church. It turned   
   away from Rome after the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451). The   
   reason for the split was that the Armenians were thought to have   
   denied that Council’s definition that there were in Christ incarnate   
   two natures, the nature of God and the nature of man. Actually, the   
   Armenians agree with the Council’s doctrine, as we have recently   
   discovered.   
      
   Around 1707 there was a strong movement for church reunion in Turkey.   
   Among its chief promoters was Ter (Father) Gomidas Keumurgian, a very   
   able priest, and his wife. (The Armenian Church allows married men to   
   be ordained.) Their success in winning Armenian Christians over to   
   Roman reunion alarmed the Anti-Roman Armenians, who turned to the   
   Turkish Moslem government for aid. When the French ambassador, in his   
   political efforts to promote conversions, stupidly kidnapped the head   
   of the separated Armenian Church and sent him to France to be tried as   
   a heretic, Turkey launched a persecution against all “Franks” within   
   its borders. They applied the term “Frank” not to Catholics or   
   Frenchmen alone, but vaguely to all foreigners.   
      
   Father Gomidas was too prominent to escape notice. In Lent 1707 the   
   government arrested him and condemned him to be a galley slave.   
   Friends got him released then, but in November 1707 he was arrested   
   for being a “Frank”. If the charge meant that he was a Latin rite   
   Christian or a foreigner, it was untrue, as 13 out of 14 witnesses   
   testified. What his separate Armenian enemies meant was that he was a   
   “unionist”, and they cried out for his death.   
      
   Father Gomidas denied he was a “Frank”. He refused to eat or drink in   
   prison, received the last rites, kissed his wife goodbye, and left a   
   tip for his executioner.   
      
   Next day he was taken before Ali Pasha to hear his sentence. Ali was   
   impressed by this calm, imposing priest. He therefore sought to save   
   his life by telling him that if he became a Moslem he would be   
   released. Gomidas, of course, refused to apostatize, so he was   
   condemned to beheading. Two messengers and even his own sister Irene   
   now urged him to save his life by sacrificing his faith. So did the   
   executioner, before he lifted up the sword. But Father Gomidas stood   
   firm. His wife and children watched him die.   
      
   The heroism of Blessed Gomidas was not wasted. It greatly impressed   
   the local non-Catholic Greeks and Armenians. In the century that   
   followed, the number of Armenians who came over into full communion   
   with the pope increased so much that at Constantinople the terms   
   “Catholic” and “Armenian” came to be considered synonyms. Gomidas was   
   beatified as a martyr in 1929. Again, the blood of martyrs had become   
   “a seed”.   
      
   The best available life seems to be that of H. Riondel, Une page   
   tragique de l’histoire religieuse du Levant (1929), on which cf  the   
   Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xlviii (1930), pp. 450-451. Some further   
   sidelights may be gleaned from Vahan Inglisian, Der Diener Gottes   
   Mechitar von Sebaste (1929), and D. Attwater, Book of Eastern Saints   
   (1938), pp. 109-121.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   God sometimes gives a certain union of heart and tender love for our   
   neighbor, which is one of the greatest and most excellent gifts that   
   His divine bounty bestows on man.   
   --St. Francis de Sales   
      
   Bible Quote   
   For to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: but   
   from him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be   
   taken away. 30 And the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the   
   exterior darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.   
   (Matthew 25:29-30)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Daily Thoughts and Prayers for Our Beloved Dead   
      
   "Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because   
   the hand of the Lord hath touched me" Job. 19-21.   
      
   SIXTH DAY   
      
   The Souls in Purgatory are powerless to help themselves. They cannot   
   do penance, nor offer satisfaction, nor gain indulgences, nor receive   
   the Sacraments. They cannot pray for themselves. We, who are still on   
   earth, can share with them the Graces which God so generously and   
   abundantly gives us.   
      
   Prayer:  Our Father, Three Hail Marys, Gloria, De Profundis.   
      
   De Profundis   
      
      Out of the depths, I have cried to Thee,   
   O Lord, Lord, hear my voice.   
      Let Thine ears be attentive to the   
   voice of my supplication.   
      If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark my iniquities,   
   O Lord, who shall stand it?   
      For with Thee there is merciful   
   forgiveness: and by reason of Thy   
   law I have waited for Thee, O Lord.   
   My soul hath relied on His word; my soul   
   hath hoped in the Lord.   
      From the morning watch even until   
   night; let Israel hope in the Lord.   
   Because with the Lord there is mercy;   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)