From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   From Journey of the Mind to God:   
      
   Christ is both the way and the door. Christ is the staircase and the   
   vehicle, like the "throne of mercy over the Ark of the Covenant," and   
   "the mystery hidden from the ages." A man should turn his full   
   attention to this throne of mercy, and should gaze at him hanging on   
   the cross, full of faith, hope, and charity, devoted, full of wonder   
   and joy, marked by gratitude, and open to praise and jubilation. Then   
   such a man will make with Christ a "pasch," that is, a passing-over.   
   Through the branches of the cross he will pass over the Red Sea,   
   leaving Egypt and entering the desert. There he will taste the hidden   
   manna, and rest with Christ in the sepulcher, as if he were dead to   
   things outside. He will experience, as much as is possible for one who   
   is still living, what was promised to the thief who hung beside   
   Christ: "Today you will be with me in paradise."   
   --by Saint Bonaventure   
      
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   September 11th - Saint Paphnutius, Bishop in Egypt   
      
   The holy confessor Paphnutius was an Egyptian who, after having spent   
   several years in the desert under the direction of the great St.   
   Antony, was made bishop in the Upper Thebaid. He was one of those   
   confessors who under the Emperor Maximinus 305-313 lost the right eye,   
   were hamstrung in one leg, and were afterwards sent to work in the   
   mines.   
      
   Peace being restored to the Church, Paphnutius returned to his flock,   
   bearing all the rest of his life the glorious marks of his sufferings   
   for the name of his Crucified Master. He was one of the most zealous   
   in defending the Catholic faith against the Arian heresy and for his   
   holiness. As one who had confessed the Faith before persecutors and   
   under torments, he was an outstanding figure of the first General   
   Council of the Church, held at Nicaea in the year 325.   
      
   Paphnutius, a man who had observed the strictest continence all his   
   life, is said to have distinguished himself at the Council by his   
   opposition to clerical celibacy. Paphnutius said that it was enough to   
   conform to the ancient tradition of the Church, which forbade the   
   clergy marrying after their ordination. To this day it is the law of   
   the Eastern Churches, whether Catholic or dissident, that married men   
   may receive all Holy Orders below the episcopate, and continue to live   
   freely with their wives. St. Paphnutius is sometimes called "the   
   Great" to distinguish him from other saints of the same name; the year   
   of his death is not known.   
      
    The most celebrated personage of this name was bishop of a city in   
   the Upper Thebaid in the early fourth century, and one of the most   
   interesting members of the Council of Nicæa (325). He suffered   
   mutilation of the left knee and the loss of his right eye for the   
   Faith under the Emperor Maximinus (308-13), and was subsequently   
   condemned to the mines. At Nicæa he was greatly honoured by   
   Constantine the Great, who, according to Socrates (H. E., I, 11), used   
   often to send for the good old confessor and kiss the place whence the   
   eye had been torn out.   
      
    He took a prominent, perhaps a decisive, part in the debate at the   
   First Œcumenical Council on the subject of the celibacy of the clergy.   
   It seems that most of the bishops present were disposed to follow the   
   precedent of the Council of Elvira (can. xxxiii) prohibiting conjugal   
   relations to those bishops, priests, deacons, and, according to   
   Sozomen, sub-deacons, who were married before ordination. Paphnutius   
   earnestly entreated his fellow-bishops not to impose this obligation   
   on the orders of the clergy concerned. He proposed, in accordance   
   "with the ancient tradition of the Church", that only those who were   
   celibates at the time of ordination should continue to observe   
   continence, but, on the other hand, that "none should be separated   
   from her, to whom, while yet unordained, he had been united".   
      
    The great veneration in which he was held, and the well known fact   
   that he had himself observed the strictest chastity all his life, gave   
   weight to his proposal, which was unanimously adopted. The council   
   left it to the discretion of the married clergy to continue or   
   discontinue their marital relations. Paphnutius was present at the   
   Synod of Tyre (335).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
    We ought not, as soon as we leave church, to plunge into business   
   unsuited to church, but as soon as we get home, we should take the   
   Scriptures into our hands, and call our wife and children to join us   
   in putting together what we have heard in church.   
   --John Chrysostom   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Bear ye one another's burdens: and so you shall fulfil the law of   
   Christ. For if any man think himself to be some thing, whereas he is   
   nothing, he deceiveth himself.  [Galatians 6:2-3] DRB   
      
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   O God, the House of My Soul is Narrow   
   By St Augustine (354-430)   
   Father & Doctor of Grace@#   
      
   O God,   
   the Light of the heart, which sees Thee,   
   The Life of the soul, which loves Thee,   
   The Strength of the mind, which seeks Thee,   
   May I ever continue to be steadfast in Thy love.   
   Be the Joy of my heart,   
   Take all of me to Thyself and abide therein.   
   The house of my soul is, I confess,   
   too narrow for Thee.   
   Enlarge it, that Thou may enter.   
   It is ruinous but do repair it.   
   It has within it what must offend Thine Eyes,   
   I confess and know it,   
   But whose help shall I seek in cleansing it   
   but Thine alone?   
   To Thee, O God, I cry urgently.   
   Cleanse me from secret faults.   
   Keep me from false pride and sensuality,   
   that they may not get dominion over me.   
   Amen   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)