From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   There is nothing shorter than time   
      
   There is nothing shorter than time, but there is nothing more   
   valuable. There is nothing shorter than time; because the past is no   
   more, the future is uncertain, and the present is but a moment. This   
   is what Jesus Christ meant when he said: "A litle while, and now you   
   shall not see me". We may say the same of our life, which, according   
   to St. James, is but a vapour, which is soon scattered for ever. "For   
   what is your life? It is a vapour which appeareth for a little while"   
   --(James, iv. 14.) But the time of this life is as precious as it is   
   short; for, in every moment, if we spend it well, we can acquire   
   treasures of merits for Heaven; but, if we employ time badly....   
   --Saint Alphonsus de Liguori   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   February 2nd - St. Joan Lestonnac   
      
   Born in Bordeaux, France, in 1556; died there February 2, 1640;   
   beatified in 1900; canonized in 1949.  The story of Joan's long life   
   reflects the importance of the domestic church in forming God's   
   servants. Our saint triumphed over ill-health and the evil plottings   
   of a wicked woman. Joan was the daughter of a good Catholic father of   
   a distinguished family at a time when Calvinism was flourishing in   
   Bordeaux. Her mother, however, was Joan Eyquem de Montaigne, the   
   apostate sister of the famous essayist Michael de Montaigne. Her   
   mother continually tried to undermine Joan's faith; when her attempts   
   failed, she would abuse the child. These troubles, however, turned   
   Joan's heart more fervently to God and made her long for a life of   
   prayer and mortification.   
      
   At age 17 (1573), Joan was happily married to Gaston de Montferrant,   
   who was related to the royal houses of France, Aragon, and Navarre.   
   Joan was devoted to her husband and bore him one son and three   
   daughters. After 24 years of deeply happy marriage, Gaston died in   
   1597. She continued to care for her children until they were old   
   enough to be independent.   
      
   Two of Joan's daughters had felt drawn to religious life, and, at age   
   47 (1603), Joan herself then decided to enter the Cistercian monastery   
   of Les Feuillantes at Toulouse despite the objections of her son and   
   her anxiety over leaving her youngest daughter. The harsh regimen of   
   life there caused her to become seriously ill.   
      
   She wanted to die in the convent, yet her wise superiors perceived   
   what an exceptional woman Joan was and understood that God had other   
   plans for her. They encouraged her to attempt a great service for God   
   by founding an order of women devoted to Our Lady. She miraculously   
   recovered her health the moment she left the convent. Joan gathered a   
   band of young girls on her estate, La Mothe in Périgord, where she   
   spent two quiet years. Returning to Bordeaux, their first task became   
   bravely serving as nurses during a savage plague that struck the   
   people of Bordeaux.   
      
   A number of priests, including the Jesuit fathers Jean de Bordes and   
   Raymond, had come to recognize the utter devotion of Joan, and   
   realized the devastation Calvinism was working among young girls of   
   all classes who were deprived of Catholic education. They saw the need   
   for an order to educate young girls as the Jesuits educated boys. To   
   both of these priests the assurance was given simultaneously, while   
   they were celebrating Mass, that it was the will of God that they   
   should assist in founding an order to counteract the evils of the   
   surrounding heresy, and that Mme de Lestonnac should be the first   
   superior. In 1606, Fathers de Bordes and Raymond helped Joan persuade   
   Cardinal de Sourdis, archbishop of Bordeaux, to support her religious   
   order.   
      
   The congregation was affiliated with the Benedictines, but its rule   
   and constitutions were founded on those of Saint Ignatius Loyola. Her   
   scheme was approved by Pope Paul V in 1607. The following year the   
   sisters received the habit from the cardinal and, in 1610, Joan became   
   the mother superior in the first house in Bordeaux of the Sisters of   
   Notre Dame.   
      
   Seeking only the barest necessities for themselves, her sisters   
   founded schools throughout the region, welcoming into them any girl   
   who could come, with the aim of stemming the tide of Calvinism. But   
   while this work prospered, exceeding all expectations but God's, two   
   problems arose at Bordeaux. The archbishop of Bordeaux resented   
   attempts to gain extradiocesan freedom, and one vicious sister named   
   Blanche Hervé, the director of one of the houses, began to spread lies   
   about Joan. The authorities, including the cardinal, believed the   
   concoctions, and Joan was dismissed as superior and Blanche intruded   
   in her place as superior.   
      
   Here her great meekness triumphed. For three years Joan was beaten and   
   humiliated, but she bore all so patiently that even Blanche Hervé was   
   moved to confess her own maliciousness and the two reconciled. Joan de   
   Lestonnac no longer wished to work as mother superior, but passed her   
   last years highly honored by her order.   
      
   From 1625 to 1631, Joan visited each of the other 26 houses in turn.   
   By the time she had returned to Bordeaux, two of her daughters and at   
   least one grand-daughter had joined the Company of Mary, for which the   
   revised rules and constitutions were drawn up in 1638. Meanwhile, her   
   health began to fail and she died. Miracles of different kinds were   
   reported at her tomb in Bordeaux. Her nuns now number about 2,500 and   
   serve in 17 countries (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley,   
   Coulson, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Walsh).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   "To be pleased at correction and reproofs shows that one loves the   
   virtues which are contrary to those faults for which he is corrected   
   and reproved. And, therefore, it is a great sign of advancement in   
   perfection"   
   --St. Francis de Sales   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto   
   thou art called and be it confessed a good confession before many   
   witnesses. I charge thee before God who quickeneth all things, and   
   before Christ Jesus who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate, a good   
   confession:  (1 Tim. 6:12-13)   
      
   <><><><>   
   Be a sower of God's word of peace and mercy   
      
   What does Jesus mean when he says his disciples must be "lambs in the   
   midst of wolves"? The prophet Isaiah foretold a time when wolves and   
   lambs will dwell in peace (Isaiah 11:6 and 65:25). This certainly   
   refers to the second coming of of the Lord Jesus when all will be   
   united under the Lordship of Jesus after he has put down his enemies   
   and established the reign of God over the heavens and the earth. In   
   the meantime, the disciples must expect opposition and persecution   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)