[continued from previous message]   
      
   Geoffrey pressed the point and suggested he could at least wear cat.   
   But ‘Believe me,’ answered Wulfstan, ‘the Agnus Dei is more often   
   chanted than the Cattus Dei.’ That made Geoffrey laugh – he was   
   pleased that he could be made fun of and that Wulfstan could not be   
   moved (SL, 107-9).”   
      
   Many post-Conquest Bishops embarked on ambitious building projects at   
   their Cathedrals, replacing the Anglo-Saxon Churches with larger, more   
   impressive buildings in the new style. Wulfstan did the same at   
   Worcester but he mourned the loss of the old cathedral:   
      
   “When the bigger church, which he had himself started from the   
   foundations, had grown large enough for the Monks to move across to   
   it, the word was given for the old church, the work of St Oswald, to   
   be stripped of its roof and demolished. Wulfstan stood there in the   
   open air to watch and could not keep back his tears. His friends   
   mildly reproved him, saying that he should rather rejoice that in his   
   lifetime, so much honour had accrued to the Church that the increased   
   number of Monks made larger dwellings necessary. He replied: “My view   
   is quite different. We unfortunates are destroying the works of   
   Saints, in order to win praise for ourselves. In that happy age men   
   were incapable of building for display; their way was to sacrifice   
   themselves to God under any sort of roof and to encourage their   
   subjects to follow their example. But we strive to pile up stones   
   while neglecting souls.” He said more along these lines, undermining   
   opposed views with his own assertions (GP, 429-31).”   
      
   Wulfstan can be regarded as a modern man through his efforts to decry   
   and abolish the slave trade. The Diocese of Worcester extended as far   
   down as Gloucestershire, which included the city of Bristol. Wulfstan   
   made regular journeys to Bristol and would reside there for 2 to 3   
   months at a time, in order that his residence there, would make an   
   impression upon the community. Bristol was one of the capitals of the   
   slave trade in Britain and traded slaves native to England, Scotland   
   and Wales. People resorted to slavery when they were severely   
   impoverished, often families would sell their children into the trade.   
   When a person was enslaved in Bristol, the process had to be   
   undertaken in a public place with witnesses so that the slave could   
   not deny their slavery at a later date. Thus, this measure reveals,   
   that it would have been nigh impossible to work a way out of the slave   
   trade as, during the public process, you had relinquished all personal   
   rights to your master. Wulfstan succeeded in abolishing the slave   
   trade in Bristol by converting the traders, this accomplishment   
   initiated a reform of the slave trade elsewhere in Britain.   
      
   Wulfstan’s unworldliness was fondly remembered:   
   “If he was ever forced to go to the Shire Court, he started by   
   pronouncing a curse on evil judges and a blessing on upright ones.   
   Then he would sit down and if some religious matter was under   
   consideration, he would concentrate hard but if it was secular, as   
   more often happened, he would grow bored and go to sleep. But if   
   anyone thought fit to speak against him, he soon found out that   
   Wulfstan was no dullard when it came to replying (GP, 429).”   
      
   St Wulfstan died on 20 January 1095 after a protracted illness, the   
   last surviving pre-Norman Conquest Bishop. After his death, an Altar   
   was dedicated to him in Great Malvern Priory, next to those of St   
   Thomas Cantilupe and St King Edward the Confessor. At Easter of 1158,   
   Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, visited Worcester   
   Cathedral and placed their Crowns on the Shrine of Wulfstan, vowing   
   not to wear them again. Their son King John is buried at Worcester   
   Cathedral.   
      
   Soon after Wulfstan’s death, a hagiography, or saint’s life, was   
   written about him in English by his former Chancellor Coleman. It was   
   translated into Latin by the medieval chronicler and historian William   
   of Malmesbury. One of the many miracles, which were granted through   
   the intercession of St Wulfstan was the curing of King Harold’s   
   daughter.   
   Wulfstan was Canonised on 14 May 1203 by Pope Innocent III and he was   
   much venerated by later English Kings, including Henry II and John,   
   who chose to be buried in Worcester Cathedral next to St Wulfstan’s   
   tomb. John is still there, in pride of place, although Wulfstan’s tomb   
   is gone, probably desecrated by the minions of Henry VIII.   
      
   https://anastpaul.com/2021/01/19/   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   A man who has been assiduous in acquiring the fruits of love will not   
   cease loving even if he suffers a thousand calamities. Let Stephen,   
   the disciple of Christ, and others like him persuade you of the truth   
   of this (cf. Acts 7:60). Our Lord Himself prayed for His murderers and   
   asked the Father to forgive them because they did not know what they   
   were doing (cf. Luke 23:34).   
   --St. Maximos the Confessor   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   "But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of   
   you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." (Heb 3:13)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   The Truth Speaks within Us without Noise of Words   
      
    God speaks to the understanding by the light of His Spirit, and to   
   the heart by His holy inspirations. All that the Prophets deliver in   
   the Word of God, all the truths which preachers announce to us, cannot   
   enlighten the understanding nor touch the heart, if God Himself speak   
   not to us by the motions of His grace. We should therefore entreat the   
   Lord to speak to our interior while we exteriorly attend to or read   
   divine truths, for fear that hearing the word of God and not keeping   
   it, knowing His doctrines and not following them, conscious of His   
   will and not doing it we should become more and more culpable in His   
   sight.   
      
   Prayer: Speak to me, O Lord, speak in such a manner to my soul that I   
   may hear and obey Thee. Make known to me Thy designs for my salvation   
   and enable me to execute them. Teach me and all Christians, O Jesus,   
   what Thou art to us, and what we ought to be to Thee. Instruct us in   
   the sacred maxims of Thy Gospel, and induce us to practice them, for   
   what will it avail us to believe Thy heavenly doctrines, if we   
   endeavor not to follow them, and to live, as well as to believe, as   
   becometh Christians? O eternal Word of the Father, by which He spoke,   
   and all things were made, speak to my soul, say to it, I am thy   
   salvation. Work in me to will and to do, and consummate my salvation.   
   Amen.   
   --Thomas à Kempis, From the Imitation of Christ   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)