From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Renewed by Love   
      
   "People are renewed by love. As sinful desire ages them, so love   
   rejuvenates them. Enmeshed in the toils of his desires the psalmist   
   laments: 'I have grown old surrounded by my enemies.'   
      
   Love, on the other hand, is the sign of our renewal as we know from   
   the Lord's own words: 'I give you a new commandment—love one   
   another.'"   
   --St. Augustine--Sermon 350A, 21   
      
   Prayer: Lord, those who are bowed down with burdens you lift up, and   
   they do not fall because you are their support.   
   --St. Augustine--Confessions 11, 31   
      
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   January 25th - Saint Praejectus of Clermont   
    (Prejectus, Projectus) (French: Saint Pry, Prie,   
      
   Prix, Priest, Prest, Preils; Italian: Preietto (Proietto [1] ))   
   (625-676) was a bishop of Clermont, who was killed with Amarinus. Born   
   in the Auvergne to the lesser nobility, he studied under Genesius of   
   Clermont. He was ordained a priest and then became bishop of Clermont   
   in 666 with the approval of Childeric II.   
      
   Praejectus founded monasteries, hospitals, and churches. He was killed   
   as a result of political struggles of the day. Hector, lord of   
   Marseilles, had been accused of various crimes, and at the order of   
   Childeric, had been arrested and executed. Agritius, the man who   
   killed Praejectus, believed that the bishop had been responsible for   
   Hector's death. At Volvic, the assassin thus stabbed to death   
   Praejectus and Amarinus, abbot of a monastery in the area.   
      
   The death of Praejectus was linked to that of Saint Leger   
   (Leodegarius). St. Leger was an opponent of Ebroin, mayor of the   
   palace of Neustria on two occasions; firstly from 658 to his   
   deposition in 673 and secondly from 675 to his death in 680 or 681. In   
   a violent and despotic career, he strove to impose the authority of   
   Neustria, which was under his control, over Burgundy and Austrasia.   
      
   Ebroin's supporters, which included Praejectus, St. Reol of Rheims,   
   St. Agilbert of Paris, and St. Ouen of Rouen, held a council of   
   bishops that sat in judgment on Leger, at Marly, near Paris.   
   Praejectus' murderer may have been a supporter of Leger, who was later   
   murdered on October 2, 679. [2] [3]   
      
   An account of Praejectus' life was written shortly after his death and   
   he was immediately venerated as a martyr. The account was written   
   perhaps by 690, as it was written during the lifetime of Bishop Avitus   
   of Clermont. [4]   
      
   The author may have been a nun from the monastery of Chamalières.   
   Chamalières was a monastery founded through Praejectus' efforts, and   
   it was presided over by an abbess who was probably a member of   
   Praejectus' family. The author may also have been a monk from Volvic   
   or Saint-Amarin. [5]   
      
   1) During the time of Charlemagne, Abbot Manasses of Flavigny Abbey   
   transferred from Volvic to Flavigny the relics of Praejectus.   
      
   2) His cultus spread to English monastic calendars. The church at   
   Volvic, where Praejectus was killed, is dedicated to "St Priest"   
   (Projectus). [6] In 1278, some of his relics (a finger) were   
   translated to the town of Saint-Prix (Val-d'Oise).   
      
   3) The valley of Saint-Amarin was named after Amarinus.   
      
   4) Commemmorative plaque at Saint-Prix, Val d'Oise.   
      
   5) Fountain of Saint Pry (Projectus), Saint-Prix, Val d'Oise.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The highest among all Divine works is to co-operate in the salvation of souls.   
   --St. Dionysius   
      
   Bible Quote   
    Woe to you that now laugh; for you shall mourn and weep.  (Luke 6:25)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   ( "A Year with the Saints". January - Perfection)   
      
   St. Vincent de Paul was not contented, as so many are, with knowing   
   and loving virtues, but he applied himself continually to the practice   
   of them. It was his maxim that labor and patience are the best means   
   of acquiring and planting them firmly in our hearts and that virtues   
   acquired without effort or difficulty can be easily lost, while those   
   which have been beaten by the storms of temptation and practiced amid   
   the difficulties and repugnances of nature, sink their roots deep into   
   the heart. And so, on such occasions, instead of being sad he appeared   
   unusually cheerful. When a certain person was lamenting a mischance   
   which had recently occurred as likely to give bad opinion of his   
   community and give rise to comments injurious to himself, he replied,   
   "This is good, for it will give us a more favorable occasion to   
   practice virtue."   
      
   By this same sentiment, St. Philip Neri encouraged his penitents not   
   to grieve when they suffer temptations and trials, telling them that   
   when the Lord intends to confer on anyone some particular virtue, He   
   is accustomed to permit him to be first assailed by the contrary vice.   
      
   St. Francis de Sales illustrated the firmness of virtue in this   
   manner: "if' said he, "the world comes to attack me, I will treat it   
   as I would a viper: I will trample it underfoot, and obey none of its   
   suggestions. If Satan arms his powers, I will not fear them at all. I   
   am stronger than he. God is my Father, and He will have compassion on   
   me, and will fight for me." Here is a fine example of virtue, and of   
   the way to exercise it.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)