From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   There are three things...   
      
      There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm,   
   devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer,   
   fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy   
   receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they   
   give life to each other. Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the   
   lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be   
   separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have   
   nothing.   
      So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your   
   petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close   
   your ear to others you open God's ear to yourself.   
   -- Saint Peter Chrysologus   
      
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   February 19: - Saint Conrad of Piacenza   
      
   (1290-1350)   
   Today marks the feast day of Saint Conrad of Piacenza,   
   a saint who is remembered for great piety, humility,   
   charity, and honesty. Born to one of the most noble and wealthy   
   families in the town of Piacenza in Northern Italy, Conrad grew up in   
   a lifestyle marked by privilege and leisure. Among his family and   
   peers, however, he was also noted for deep faith in the Lord, and led   
   a virtuous and God-fearing life. Having married quite young, both he   
   and his wife were recognized for their piety and charity.   
      
   As was common in noble families at that time, Saint Conrad spent much   
   of his time hunting. During one such outing, he ordered his attendants   
   to scatter some brush and light it on fire in attempts to smoke out   
   some game hiding there. Without warning, a great wind arose, and   
   mercilessly spread the fire beyond that planned, causing severe damage   
   to neighbors homes and land. Authorities mistakenly arrested a   
   mendicant friar living in the area, and the man was tried and   
   sentenced to death.   
      
   Both Conrad and his wife, seeing the injustice and unable to stand   
   their role in it, agreed to confess. As the friar was being led to   
   execution, Saint Conrad made a public confession of the crime. He sold   
   all his possessions, giving them away to those who had lost property.   
   Now destitute, he and his wife separated, Saint Conrad entering a   
   monastery of the Franciscan Order, and his wife entering the Order of   
   Poor Clares.   
      
   Saint Conrad spent the remainder of his life in Rome, and then in   
   Sicily, living a life of repentance, penance, and austerity. As news   
   of his piety and holiness spread, he received many visitors which   
   forced him to relocate numerous times, preferring the solitude of   
   penitence. He fled to the valley of Noto, Italy, where he lived as a   
   hermit for 36 years. During his hermitude, he lived a life of extreme   
   austerity, sleeping on the bare ground with a stone for a pillow, and   
   with dry bread and raw herbs for food.   
      
   Numerous miracles have been attributed to him while he lived, and   
   subsequently at his tomb in Noto, Italy. Holy legend records, for   
   example, that when the Bishop of Syracuse visited him, he asked   
   Saint Conrad if he had anything to offer guests. Conrad said he would   
   check in his cell and returned moments later carrying newly baked   
   cakes, which the bishop accepted as a miracle. Saint Conrad was also   
   reported to have traveled surrounded by a cloud of fluttering birds,   
   keeping him company.   
      
   Conrad died while praying before a crucifix in 1350, surrounded by a   
   bright light, in the presence of his confessor, who was unaware for   
   some time of his death because of his position. While he is recognized   
   and referred to as saint, Conrad has never been officially canonized.   
   Through Papal authority, he is recognized throughout the Franciscan   
   Order on February 19, but has also an established devotion throughout   
   the world.   
      
   Saint Conrad reminds us that holiness lies within each of us,   
   regardless of the acts or sins we have committed. In turning to the   
   Lord, and renouncing his ties to the world, Conrad entered a deeply   
   mystical and prophetic connection with God, atoning for his sins and   
   receiving the grace of forgiveness. Saint Conrad of Piacenza may be   
   looked to as a reminder of all we have done, and how the Lord graces   
   us with forgiveness and love, if only we ask for forgiveness.   
      
   Almighty God,   
   You attracted Saint Conrad through his zeal for justice to serve You   
   faithfully in the desert.   
   Through his prayers may we live justly and piously, and happily   
   succeed in coming to You.   
   Amen.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   I know well that many of the rich show mercy to the poor, but they do   
   it by the hands of others. They give their gold, but not their   
   personal services, because the sight of misery inspires disgust and   
   makes them ill. I will not find fault with this weakness, nor will I   
   call it unmerciful. But I must be allowed to say that true love and   
   perfect faith raise the mind above such infirmities and make it strong   
   for holy services of love.   
   --St. Jerome   
      
   Bible Quote:   
    In all truth [amen, amen] I tell you, whoever listens to my words,   
   and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without being   
   brought to judgment such a person has passed from death to life.   
   [John 5:24]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Reflection:   
    Do you listen to Jesus' words as if your life depended on it? Jesus   
   made a claim which only God can make--"if any one keeps my word, he   
   will never see death."   
   St. Augustine of Hippo, explains this verse from John 8:51:   
      
   "It means nothing less than he saw another death from which he came to   
   free us--the second death, eternal death, the death of hell, the death   
   of the damned, which is shared with the devil and his angels! This is   
   the real death; the other kind of death is only a passage" (Tractates   
   on the Gospel of John 43.10-11).   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)