From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The One Vow All Must Make   
      
   "Do not make vows and then neglect to keep them. What vow are we all   
   expected to make without distinction? The vow of believing in Christ,   
   hoping for eternal life from him and living a good life in keeping   
   with the ordinary norms of good conduct.   
      
   As for any other vows, let each of us make any we wish. But let us   
   also take care to observe the ones we have made!"   
   --St. Augustine--Commentary on Psalm 75, 16   
      
   Prayer: Lord, all that I am I am with your me   
   --St. Augustine--Sermon 16A, 6   
      
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       • November 25th - Blesseds Louis Martin & Marie-Zélie Guérin   
      
   By Miriam Díez i Bosch ROME, NOV. 25, 2008 Zenit.org   
      
   As if to emphasize that marriage is a vocation to holiness, the Church   
   will commemorate the feast of Blesseds Louis Martin and Marie-Zélie   
   Guérin, St. Thérèse's parents, on their wedding anniversary. Louis and   
   Marie-Azélie Martin were declared "venerable" on 26 March 1994 by Pope   
   John Paul II. They were beatified on 19 October 2008 by Jose Cardinal   
   Saraiva Martins, the legate of Pope Benedict XVI in the Basilique de   
   Sainte-Thérèse, Lisieux. The faithful are now invited to pray for a   
   miracle attributed to their joint and sole intercession. After such a   
   miracle is deemed credible by officials at the Congregation for Causes   
   of Saints in the Vatican, they can be counted among the saints of God.   
      
   ZENIT spoke with Eva Carlota Rava, a consecrated virgin and spiritual   
   theology professor at the Pontifical Lateran University, about the   
   beatification and what it means for married couples around the world.   
      
   We must first clarify--as has been done on several occasions--that the   
   basis of St. Thérèse's parents' beatification is not their daughter's   
   holiness but the heroic virtues they lived in their lives as spouses   
   and parents.   
      
   However, the beatification of the Martin spouses manifests the   
   importance of the family environment and the concrete education given,   
   for the formation of the children--an integral education sealed by the   
   life of faith, undoubtedly transmitted with words, but above all by   
   daily example. If, as Pius XI said, Thérèse is "the greatest saint of   
   modern times," this is explained in part by the extraordinary father   
   and mother she had.  I was given the grace of being able to go to   
   Lisieux for the beatification and I think the joy of that day will   
   remain forever in those who were present. Although I have participated   
   in other beatifications, it was always in Rome. This was the first   
   time I could attend one in the blessed's place of origin, and that   
   made it more intimate. What impressed me most was the family   
   atmosphere of that day: There were people from very different places   
   and continents, not only from Europe but also from Africa and   
   Asia--all united by their common devotion to Thérèse and her parents,   
   as well as many young people and married couples with their children.   
   It seemed to be the celebration of one great family. Added to this is   
   the fact it was a brilliant day, mild, really spring-like, as Thérèse   
   would have liked....   
      
   Beginning with Pope John Paul II's pontificate, the Church became   
   increasingly interested in promoting the causes of laypeople who lived   
   their Christian faith by assuming all their temporal commitments in a   
   heroic way.   
      
   In general, blesseds and saints are remembered in the liturgy on the   
   day of their death. With the beatification of the Martin spouses, the   
   Church has established for the first time that the commemoration of   
   these spouses not be the day of their death, but of their marriage.   
   With this I understand that the Church wishes to point out the   
   importance of marital union as a way of sanctification and source of   
   elevation of society.   
      
   Although the Martins lived in a historic time and circumstances that   
   are very different from our own, their experience is an example for us   
   in many aspects. Above all, they teach us the truth of Jesus' words:   
   "Seek first the Kingdom of God and his justice and all the rest will   
   be given unto you." Indeed, they experienced the happiness of profound   
   and generous spousal and family Christian love and had the fortitude   
   necessary to face all the sacrifices. Although they suffered the loss   
   of four small children, the difficulties and demands of indispensable   
   work to support the family, and serious illnesses--she died of cancer   
   at 46 and her husband, then widowed, suffered from cerebral   
   arteriosclerosis--love, trust and gratitude among them and toward God   
   always prevailed.   
      
   Also an example for us is the way they were able to reconcile and face   
   the demands of often exhausting work with the family, educating each   
   one of their children with loving and firm dedication in religious   
   practice to overcome all obstacles.   
      
   Moreover, the Martin spouses’ show that the family is not an ambit (a   
   sphere of operation or influence; range; scope) closed in on itself   
   but open to others. They showed solicitude and help to all those who   
   entered into contact with them; women laborers who worked for the   
   family business, the domestic servants, the city's poor. In addition,   
   they gave witness of their Christian spirit by living the harsh   
   moments of the Franco-German war when it affected Alençon and its   
   surroundings, with patriotism and compassion, free of hatred.   
      
   Louis Martin and Marie-Zélie Guérin can give light and strength to   
   Christian spouses and parents to make their marital life a source of   
   joy and a way of holiness. They give witness to the fact that, when   
   the Christian family is animated by reciprocal love it is the ambit   
   where everyone--parents and children--can grow and develop to the   
   point of attaining holiness and thus make an irreplaceable   
   contribution to society and the Church.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   In spiritual life, when you cease to climb, you begin to descend.   
    --Saint Bernard   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   "The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me,   
   these do, and the God of peace will be with you."  (Philippians 4:9)   
      
      
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   Saint Anthony, Model of Perfection   
      
   Dear St. Anthony, you took the words of Jesus seriously,   
    "Be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect."   
   The Church honors you as a Christian hero, a man wholly   
   dedicated to God's glory and the good of the redeemed. St.   
   Anthony, Model of Perfection, ask Jesus to strengthen my   
   good dispositions and to make me more like you, more like   
   Him. Obtain for me the other favors I need. (Name them.)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)