From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   How we must put our Whole Trust in God  [III]   
      
   THE DISCIPLE.   
    Lord, for Your sake I will gladly bear whatever You shall send to me.   
   From Your hand I will accept gladly both good and ill, (Job 2:10)   
   sweet and bitter, joy and sorrow; and for all that may befall me, I   
   will thank You. Only keep me, O Lord, from all sin, and I shall fear   
   neither Death nor Hell. (Ps. 23:4) Do not, I pray, reject me forever,   
   (Ps. 77:7) nor blot out my name from the book of life; (Rev. 3:5 )   
   then, whatever trials beset me can do me no harm.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3 Ch 17   
      
   ============   
   June 3rd - St. John Grande   
   Also known as John the Great Sinner, Juan Grande Pecador, Juan Grande Román   
      
   (1546-1600)   
   Carmona, in the Spanish province of Andalusia, was the birthplace of   
   John Grande. After his father’s death, when he was only 15, John was   
   sent to Seville, learned the ways of the linen trade, and was set up   
   in business in his hometown, apparently by a Sevillian relative.   
      
   But John was anything but a born shopkeeper; his eyes were on more   
   heavenly things. So when he was only 22, he gave his goods away to the   
   poor and went to live in a hermitage outside Marchena. There he   
   dedicated himself to seeking perfection. John was already noted for   
   his goodness of character; he, on the contrary, claimed that he was   
   monstrously unworthy. Playing on his own surname, “Grande”, he   
   replaced it with the name “El Grande Pecador” (“the Great Sinner”)   
   Ever after, Andalusia knew him by this substitute name.   
      
   His quest for perfection and his natural tenderness led him from   
   prayer and penance into works of mercy. He once encountered two sick   
   tramps along the highway. These he mercifully took into his little   
   hermitage and nursed back to health, begging funds for them. Soon   
   other such unfortunates pleaded for his assistance. It was now   
   revealed to him that this was his vocation–to serve God in the persons   
   of the needy.   
      
   On the strength of this conviction, he left his hermitage and went to   
   the wine-making town of Xeres, Portugal. Here he obtained permission   
   to serve those in jail. For the next 3 years he ministered to them in   
   every way possible, working under wretched conditions. Though badly   
   treated, he was able to move the hearts of many calloused criminals to   
   repentance.   
      
   Then John moved into the hospital at Xeres. Because of his devotion   
   towards the neglected patients, he incurred the jealousy and   
   persecution of those in charge of the hospital. But others saw and   
   appreciated what he was trying to do. Two wealthy admirers established   
   a new hospital themselves and gave him charge over it. Many selfless   
   young men offered to help El Grande Pecador. To ensure continuity in   
   the hospital staff, John himself enrolled in the nursing Order of St.   
   John of God. John of God had died in Seville when John Grande was a   
   small child, but this nursing order was already becoming   
   international.   
      
   Blessed John did not limit his attention to the sick and imprisoned.   
   Whenever any need was perceived, he answered it. Abandoned kids, poor   
   girls who needed dowries, fugitive soldiers. All these received-from   
   him the gentlest and most helpful aid. He was also recipient of high   
   mystical gifts: ecstasy (sometimes at unexpected and embarrassing   
   times); prophet (he is said to have predicted the defeat of the   
   Spanish Armada).   
      
   Yet solicitude for the sick was John’s most characteristic concern. In   
   1600 Xeres was stricken with a terrible epidemic. The Great Sinner   
   sallied forth to do his part. He himself became a victim of this   
   plague, dying of the infection at the age of 54.   
      
   John the Sinner had fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty,   
   clothed the naked, sheltered the homeless, visited the ill and those   
   in prison. He had gone still further in charity, laying down his life   
   for his brothers. And all this he had done for Christ whom he saw   
   mirrored in the eyes of the helpless. Thus he deserved more than many   
   to be greeted at heaven’s gate by the welcome, “Come … Inherit the   
   kingdom.”   
   –Father Robert   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Nothing restrains anger, curbs pride, heals the wound of malice,   
   bridles self-indulgence, quenches the passions, checks avarice and   
   puts unclean thoughts to flight, as does the name of Jesus.   
   -- St. Bernard   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   For whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world: and this is the   
   victory which overcometh the world, our faith.  Who is he that   
   overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of   
   God?  (1 John 5:4-5)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   A daily offering:   
      
   O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,   
    I offer Thee my prayers, works, joys and sufferings   
   of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the   
    Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all   
   the intentions of Thy Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls,   
    reparation for sin, the union of all Christians. I offer   
    them for the intentions of our Bishops and all Apostles   
    of Prayer, and in particular for those recommended by   
   our Holy Father this month. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)