From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Seeing that essential Beauty   
      
   "The man who has purified all the powers of his soul from every form   
   of sin will be able to see that essential Beauty which is the source   
   of everything else that is beautiful and good. The eye that has been   
   cleansed of rheum is able to see heavenly phenomena that may be far   
   distant. So too, the soul, by her incorruptibility, receives the power   
   of seeing that Light; and true virginity and her longing for   
   incorruptibility come to rest in her final goal; for by this she is   
   enabled to see God. For no one could be so blind as not to realize   
   that the God of all things is the first, supreme and unique Goodness,   
   Beauty and Purity."   
   --Excerpt from a sermon by St. Gregory of Nyssa   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   November 14th - St Nicholas Tavelich   
      
   Nicholas was the son of a noble and wealthy family of Dalmatia. His   
   illustrious parents gave him a good education, and his progress in   
   learning was marvelous. But no less marvelous was his progress in   
   virtue.   
      
   When Nicholas finished his studies, a bright future smiled upon him.   
   Everything the world could give was at his command and awaited his   
   pleasure. However, he resolved to quit the world and enter the Order   
   of St. Francis. In spite of the great obstacles and the stubborn   
   opposition he met, he received the humble habit of St. Francis and   
   made his novitiate with the simplicity and docility of a child.   
      
   Manual labor, study, power, and mortification were his delight and   
   chief employment. After he was ordained a priest, his fervor in saying   
   Mass produced edification and all were impressed by his sermons.   
      
   Due to his great learning and piety, he was sent as a missionary to   
   Bosnia, a most difficult field of labor. Undaunted, Nicholas labored   
   with ardent zeal among the heretics. refuting their false doctrines,   
   repaying insult with blessing, visiting the sick, comforting the   
   afflicted. He gained innumerable souls for Christ by his extreme   
   kindness and charity.   
      
   Many esteemed him another Christ, while others persecuted him with   
   relentless hatred. At heart he loved the latter more, for he desired   
   martyrdom and thought they might procure for him the coveted crown.   
   This thought gave him tremendous supernatural strength. It increased   
   his charity and zeal, his spirit of prayer, meditation and penance.   
   But, after 12 years of tireless labor in Bosnia, all opposition died   
   down, and Nicholas was convinced he must seek martyrdom elsewhere.   
      
   He now asked for permission to go to the Holy Land, where so many of   
   his brethren had already attained the martyr's crown. The permission   
   was granted to him, and he was sent to Jerusalem. Once more he led a   
   hidden life of prayer, penance, and study, but more than ever he   
   yearned to die the death of a martyr, desiring, like Christ, to be an   
   oblation of love for the salvation of others.   
      
   On November 11, 1391, he entered the Turkish mosque and with the zeal   
   of a Saint Paul preached to a vast assembly there. He pleaded with   
   tact and eloquence that Christ and His religion be accepted by the   
   Turks in their hearts and homes. Before he had finished, he was   
   apprehended and taken to the magistrates.   
      
   Questioned as to his faith, Nicholas joyfully professed his belief in   
   the one true Church of Christ, defending it against every objection.   
   This incensed the court to such an extent that he was knocked to the   
   ground and attacked with great fury. Beaten almost to death, he was   
   dragged into a dungeon, chained hand and foot, and kept for three days   
   without food or drink.   
      
   On the fourth day he was taken out into the street, where he died the   
   glorious death of a martyr, slashed to pieces with scimitars. God   
   glorified His martyr by miracles, and Pope Leo XIII solemnly confirmed   
   the veneration paid to him from time immemorial.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
    Prayer is a pasturage, a field, wherein all the virtues find their   
   nourishment, growth, and strength.   
   --St. Catherine of Siena   
      
   ON ETERNAL GOODS   
   1. Eternal goods should be treasured above all things. Reflecting on   
   the permanence of heavenly goods, Blessed Nicholas left everything the   
   world offered him and became a poor Franciscan. He followed the   
   admonition of our Lord: "Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth,   
   where the rust and the moth consume, and where thieves break through   
   and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither   
   the rust nor the moth consume, and where thieves do not break through   
   nor steal" (Matt 6:19-20). — Which treasures do you seek to acquire?   
   2. Eternal goods are not properly evaluated. Most people are bent on   
   acquiring temporal goods, money, possessions, distinctions, honor, and   
   pleasure. They put themselves to much trouble by day and by night to   
   acquire them. How many there are who ignore the goods of eternity for   
   the sake of some temporal benefit, a momentary pleasure! The words of   
   our Lord are directed to them: "I have sworn in My wrath! They shall   
   not enter into My rest" (Heb 3:11). — Which goods are you trying to   
   acquire?   
   3. Temporal goods are quite worthless. They are transient and cannot   
   satisfy the heart of man. Solomon reveled in worldly luxury, and in   
   the end he was forced to admit: "I was weary of my life when I saw   
   that all things under the sun are evil, and all vanity and vexation of   
   spirit" (Eccl 2:17). — Do you permit yourself to be dazzled by the   
   things of this world?   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Saint Anthony, Example of Humility   
      
   Dear St. Anthony, after all these years in the school of Christ,   
   I still haven't learned the lesson of true humility. My feelings   
   are easily ruffled. Quick to take offense, I am slow to forgive.   
   St. Anthony, Example of Humility, teach me the importance   
   and necessity of this Christian virtue. In the presence of   
   Jesus, who humbled Himself and whom the Father exalted,   
   remember also these special intentions of mine.   
   (Name them.)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)