From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   NEVER do evil   
      
     NEVER do evil for anything in the world, or for the love of any man.   
   For one who is in need, however, a good work may at times be purposely   
   left undone or changed for a better one. This is not the omission of a   
   good deed but rather its improvement.   
     Without charity external work is of no value, but anything done in   
   charity, be it ever so small and trivial, is entirely fruitful   
   inasmuch as God weighs the love with which a man acts rather than the   
   deed itself.   
     He does much who loves much. He does much who does a thing well. He   
   does well who serves the common good rather than his own interests.   
   Imitation of Christ--a Kempis,  Ch 15,  Works Done in Charity   
      
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   May 21st - St. Godric of Finchale, Visionary, Hermit   
      
   Born at Walpole, Norfolk, England, c. 1065; died in Finchale, County   
   Durham, May 21, c. 1170. We know a good deal about medieval saints   
   (and non-saints) who came from upper-class families. Godric of   
   Finchale is one of those rare men of humble origin about whose varied   
   career a good deal is known. It took a long time for him to find his   
   true calling. Many of us are late bloomers, and it is consoling to   
   know of a saint who was a peddler, a pilgrim, a sailor, a ship’s   
   captain, a bailiff, and a sacristan before he discovered that God   
   wanted him to be a hermit.   
      
    Normally he would have stuck to small farming. Instead, he chose to   
   be a travelling peddler. Apparently he had gifts as a bargainer. In   
   1089 he made his first pilgrimage to Rome. (There was always this   
   piety in his makeup.) On returning to England, however, he decided to   
   expand his commercial efforts. Now he went to sea, trading in   
   Scotland, Flanders and Denmark. He was so successful that he bought a   
   share in two ships, becoming a captain of one of them. In 1101 he went   
   on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, presumably in his own ship. On the   
   return trip he visited the shrine of St. James at Compostela in Spain.   
   Back in England he took a job as a bailiff (property manager), but   
   before long he was again a pilgrim to Rome and Saint-Gilles in   
   southern France. He made yet a third pilgrimage to the Eternal City,   
   this time with his aged mother as companion. It is a fair guess that   
   he got his piety from this dauntless old lady, who is said to have   
   made the journey barefoot!   
      
   After that Roman pilgrimage, Godric finally gave signs of having made   
   up his mind – partially, at least. He sold all his goods and began to   
   experiment with a hermit’s life in a forest in northern England. To   
   better learn the eremitical ropes, he returned to the Holy Land, spent   
   some time with other hermits in the desert of St. John the Baptist,   
   and worked for a while in the crusader hospital in Jerusalem. Back in   
   England, he became a peddler again for a while. Then he went to   
   Durham, was engaged as sacristan of a local church, and attended   
   school with the choirboys at St. Mary-le-Bow. Finally he settled down   
   for good in the woods of Finchale on the River Wear. He was by then   
   over 40.   
      
   The life of a solitary is pretty drastic. St. Godric made it even more   
   so, doing penance for the sins of his youth. He had no spiritual   
   guidance at first. That was remedied when Roger, the prior of the   
   monastery at nearby Durham, gave him a rule of life to follow.   
      
   The routine was typically eremitical. Long prayers of the liturgy were   
   followed by silent contemplation of the mysteries of faith, all   
   carried on in penitential austerity. Loneliness itself had its   
   challenges: not from the wild beasts of the forest, which he quickly   
   befriended, but from diabolical manifestations; grave illnesses; a   
   near-drowning; and even being beaten up by Scottish soldiers who   
   believed he had a hidden treasure. Godric stuck to his rule   
   nevertheless. Gradually he won the respect of neighboring villagers   
   and monks, and even received a letter of encouragement from Pope   
   Alexander III.   
      
   How did the Hermit of Finchale appear to those who received permission   
   to speak with him? A contemporary writer noted that he was “strong and   
   agile, and in spite of his small stature his appearance was very   
   venerable. He had a broad forehead, sparkling grey eyes, and bushy   
   eyebrows that almost met. His face was oval, his nose long, his beard   
   thick. ” Visitors found him a good listener, always serious, and   
   sympathetic to those in trouble. Among his charismatic gifts were   
   prophecy and the knowledge of distant happenings.   
      
   St. Godric also became noted as a writer of hymns. His lyrics are   
   among the oldest to employ rhyme and measure rather than the   
   alliteration characteristic of Anglo-Saxon verse. The tunes to which   
   he set the poems were simple ones, taught him, he said, in various   
   visions. Four of these melodies and texts have been preserved in the   
   British Museum and were recorded in 1965.   
      
   Stricken with a long illness at the end of threescore years in his   
   little hermit’s cell, Godric died May 11, 1170. His tomb then became a   
   shrine at which many miracles of healing were performed, especially on   
   women. Like many ancient saints, Godric was never formally canonized,   
   but his cult has continued at Finchale, at Durham, and among the   
   Cistercian monks.   
      
   Godric was remarkable for his austerities, supernatural gifts, and his   
   familiarity with wild animals (Benedictines, Delaney, White).   
      
   Men and women called belatedly to the religious life should find in   
   St. Godric of Finchale a sympathetic patron. Before he finally settled   
   down, he, too, had been around!   
   –Father Robert   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Love does not consist in shedding tears, nor in tasting sweetness and   
   that tenderness in which one seeks consolation; it consists in serving   
   God in justice, in strength of soul, and in humility.   
   --St. Teresa of Avila   
      
   Bible Quote   
   For the spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world: and that,   
   which containeth all things, hath knowledge of the voice.  (Wisdom   
   1:7)   
      
   <><><><>   
    For a Sick Person   
      
    O Father of mercies and God of all comfort, our only help in time of   
   need: We humbly beseech thee to behold, visit, and relieve thy sick   
   servant N. for whom our prayers are desired. Look upon him with the   
   eyes of thy mercy; comfort him with a sense of thy goodness; preserve   
   him from the temptations of the enemy; and give him patience under his   
   affliction. In thy good time, restore him to health, and enable him to   
   lead the residue of his life in thy fear, and to thy glory; and grant   
   that he may dwell with thee in life everlasting; through Jesus Christ   
   our Lord. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)