From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   "I chose you out of the world"   
      
   Jesus' demand is unequivocal and without compromise. Do not love the   
   world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for   
   the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15). We must make a choice either   
   for or against God. Do you seek to please God in all your intentions,   
   actions, and relationships? Let the Holy Spirit fill your heart and   
   mind with the love and truth of God (Romans 5:5).   
      
   Prayer   
   "Lord Jesus, may the fire of your love fill my heart with an eagerness   
   to please you in all things. May there be no rivals to my love and   
   devotion to you who are my all."   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   June 9th - St. Ephrem of Edessa, Deacon, Doctor (RM)   
      
   Many wonderful lessons can be derived from the life of this Saint,   
   known in particular for his unfailing and remarkable humility. Born at   
   Nisibe in Syria, his forebears were poor folk, and he as a child   
   tended the herds in the fields. St. Ephrem would be baptized only as a   
   young adult.   
      
   One day, while still an adolescent, he pursued the only cow of a   
   neighbor, throwing stones at the poor beast to see it run, until it   
   fell exhausted and died. To add to his fault, he denied having seen   
   the animal when its owner came to look for it. All his life he wept   
   over this double prevarication, and later he related to the religious   
   who were his followers how he was punished for it: About a month   
   later, he was with a shepherd who drank too much one evening, and   
   through neglect lost the sheep of the owner’s flock when wolves   
   entered into the fold. Ephrem was taken to prison with the shepherd   
   and confined there. From the stories his companions there narrated, he   
   realized that they too were detained for crimes not committed, but   
   that they had committed others which had remained unpunished.   
   Recognizing in these facts the effects of Divine Justice, he was   
   warned to do penance by a severe Angel who appeared to him several   
   times, helping him also to accept his chastisement. He was released   
   after two months, but never forgot the lessons in humility he had   
   received.   
      
   Never did St. Ephrem think himself anything other than a great sinner;   
   we can read in his various writings his self-accusations and his   
   confessions. He had the gift of tears and for years he wept, literally   
   without ceasing, according to the testimony of St. Gregory of Nyssa,   
   who wrote: “At times he was weeping over the sins of men, and again   
   over his own. His sighs succeeded his tears, and then brought them   
   forth again.” It was also said that the tears he shed so profusely,   
   instead of disfiguring his face, seemed to augment its serenity and   
   grace; all who had seen or heard St. Ephrem were inspired to venerate   
   his holiness.   
      
   The death of St. James of Nisibe and of another Saint. who had lived   
   in a cell near his own solitary dwelling, decided him to make a   
   pilgrimage to Edessa, a very Christian city, to honor the relics of   
   the Apostle St. Thomas, venerated there. While in Edessa he was   
   ordained a deacon and attached permanently to the church of Edessa,   
   then obliged under obedience to preach. The ministry of preaching is   
   not usually that of deacons, but his virtue and capacities were   
   recognized at once. He had not studied and knew only his own language,   
   but he had absorbed Holy Scripture and profited from his intelligence   
   of it. It is he who wrote: “You do not understand all that you read   
   there? If you were traveling and, being thirsty, came upon a spring of   
   fresh water, would you be incensed because you could not drink all of   
   it? No, you would be happy that, on another journey, the spring would   
   still be there to quench your thirst.”   
      
   St. Gregory of Nyssa remarked of the preaching of St. Ephrem:   
   “Although his tongue was prompt and the words flowed from his mouth   
   like a torrent, these were too slow to express his thoughts. For this   
   reason he prayed to God: ‘Hold back, Lord, the waves of Your grace!’ The   
   sea of understanding which was seeking an outlet through his tongue   
   bore heavily upon him, because the organs of speech did not suffice   
   for what his mind presented to him, for the benefit of others.” In the   
   Syrian Liturgy, St. Ephrem still is called the Harp of the Holy   
   Spirit.   
      
   After many years of good works, preaching and writing, for he also had   
   great gifts of poetry and written discourse, he died a holy death in   
   the year 378. This occurred one month after the death of St. Basil,   
   whom he had visited in Cæsarea, wanting to profit from the renowned   
   bishop’s conversation and sermons. They had found great consolation in   
   one another’s company. St. Ephrem was declared a Doctor of the Church   
   by Pope Benedict XV in October of 1920.   
      
   Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin   
   (Bloud et Barral: 1882), Vol. 2.   
      
      
   Comment:   
      
   Many Catholics still find singing in church a problem, probably   
   because of the rather individualistic piety that they inherited. Yet   
   singing has been a tradition of both the Old and the New Testament. It   
   is an excellent way of expressing and creating a community spirit of   
   unity as well as joy. Ephrem's hymns, an ancient historian testifies,   
   "lent luster to the Christian assemblies." We need some modern   
   Ephrems--and cooperating singers--to do the same for our Christian   
   assemblies today.   
      
      
   Quote:   
   Lay me not with sweet spices,   
   For this honor avails me not,   
   Nor yet use incense and perfumes,   
   For the honor befits me not.   
   Burn yet the incense in the holy place;   
   As for me, escort me only with your prayers,   
   Give ye your incense to God,   
   And over me send up hymns.   
   Instead of perfumes and spices,   
   Be mindful of me in your intercessions.   
   (From The Testament of St. Ephrem)   
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer of St. Ephrem to the Blessed Virgin Mary   
      
   O Immaculate and wholly pure Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Queen of the   
   world, hope of those who are in despair, thou art the joy of the   
   Saints; thou art the peacemaker between sinners and God; thou art the   
   advocate of the abandoned, the secure haven of those who are on the   
   sea of the world; thou art the consolation of the world, the ransom of   
   slaves, the comfortress of the afflicted, the salvation of the   
   universe. O great Queen, we take refuge in thy protection: 'We have no   
   confidence but in thee, O most faithful Virgin.' After God thou art   
   all our hope. We bear the name of thy servants; allow not the enemy to   
   drag us to hell. I salute thee, O great Mediatress of peace, between   
   men and God, Mother of Jesus our Lord, who is the love of all men and   
   of God, to whom be honor and benediction with the Father and the Holy   
   Ghost. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)