From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   How is the body to become a sacrifice?   
      
      Let the eye look on no evil thing, and it has already become a   
   sacrifice.  Let the tongue say nothing filthy, and it has become an   
   offering.  Let your hand do nothing evil, and it has become a whole   
   burnt offering.  But even this is not enough, for we must have good   
   works also.  The hand must do alms, the mouth must bless those who   
   curse it, and the ears must find time to listen to the reading of   
   Scripture.  Sacrifice allows of no unclean thing.  It is the first   
   fruits of all other actions.   
   St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans 20.   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   12 July – Saints Nabor and Felix of Milan   
      
   Died c 304   
   Martyrs, Roman Soldiers. Martyred during the Persecution under the   
   Roman emperor Maximian.   
      
   12 July is traditionally the Feast day of two early Martyrs of the   
   Church of Milan, Saints Nabor and Felix, who have long occupied a   
   prominent place in the Ambrosian Rite. Together with their fellow   
   Soldier St Victor, they are named in the Communicantes of the   
   Ambrosian Canon. In the Roman Rite, they have been kept as a   
   commemoration on the Feast of St John Gualbert, since the early 17th   
   century.   
      
   The Hymn for Vespers of their Feast, which was composed by St Ambrose   
   himself, refers to them as “Mauri genus – Moors by birth”, since they   
   were from the Roman Province of Mauretania in Africa. It is also sung   
   on the Feast of St Victor on 8 May, as he was also a Moor and Martyred   
   in the same persecution – they may have all belonged to a Berber tribe   
   known as the Gaetuli, a great many of whom served in the Roman armies   
   in the 3rd and 4th centuries. A later tradition associates all three   
   of them with the Theban Legion, partly because they were in Milan in   
   service to the Emperor Maximian, who made his headquarters in that   
   City and was the persecutor of that legion.   
      
   Their 5th century Acts recount that they refused to sacrifice to the   
   gods worshipped by the Empire and the army and were, therefore,   
   beheaded at the City of Laus Pompeia (now called Lodi Vecchio). A   
   noblewoman named Savina, a native of Milan married to a Patrician of   
   Laus Pompeia, is said to have comforted them in prison and then to   
   have secretly buried them in her own home after their execution. Once   
   the persecution had ceased, in the year 310, she brought their relics   
   to Milan, where they were laid to rest in the Chapel of her family,   
   the Valerii. This Chapel then came to be known as the Basilica   
   Naboriana.   
      
   Within the Basilica of St Ambrose in Milan, the Chapel known as “San   
   Vittore in Ciel d’Oro – St Victor in the Heaven of Gold” contains a   
   mosaic portrait of the Bishop of Milan at the time of this   
   translation, St Maternus, with the Martyrs to either side of him. On   
   the opposite wall are St Ambrose with Ss Gervasius and Protasius,   
   underlining the parallels between the two Bishops in their devotion to   
   the Martyrs. And in point of fact, the place where St Ambrose   
   discovered the relics of Gervasius and Protasius, was very close to   
   the Basilica Naboriana.   
      
   By 1249, the ancient Church was in very poor condition, and it was   
   decided to entrust it to the then very new order of the Franciscans,   
   recently arrived in Milan. A much larger Church was built to replace   
   it, which was long known as San Francesco Grande. Devotion to the   
   Martyrs was renewed, to such an extent, that in 1396, their Feast was   
   declared a public holiday in Milan. In 1472, the relics were moved to   
   be closer to the High Altar – the skulls of the two Martyrs were   
   separated from the other bones and placed in their own bust-shaped   
   Reliquaries, which were traditionally exposed on the Altar on major   
   Feast days.   
      
   In 1798, when the French armies under Napoleon invaded northern Italy   
   and the religious Orders were suppressed throughout the region, the   
   Church of San Francesco Grande was destroyed. The Martyrs’ relics were   
   fortunately saved and brought to the Basilica of St Ambrose. Since   
   1960, they have been enclosed within the Sarcophagus below, although   
   some still reside in the Reliquary above.   
      
   It was probably at this point that the Reliquaries containing the   
   skulls disappeared, most likely stolen by French soldiers. It was not   
   until 1959 that they were rediscovered, with both the relics and   
   authentication papers sealed and intact, in an antique shop in Namur,   
   Belgium. The Bishop of Namur, André Charue, to whom they had been   
   handed over, then generously returned them to Milan. The Cardinal   
   Archbishop Giovanni Battista Montini, the future Pope Paul VI, had   
   them installed in a new Parish built on the outskirts of the City,   
   where they remain to this day, after solemn expositions at both Milan   
   and Lodi.   
      
   https://anastpaul.com/2022/07/12/   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   What toil we must endure, what fatigue, while we are attempting to   
   climb hills and the summits of mountains! What, that we may ascend to   
   heaven! If you consider the promised reward, what you endure is less.   
   Immortality is given to the one who perseveres; everlasting life is   
   offered; the Lord promises His Kingdom.   
   --St. Cyprian of Carthage   
      
   Bible Quote:   
    Is Yahweh pleased by burnt offerings and sacrifices or by obedience   
   to Yahweh's voice?  Truly, obedience is better than sacrifice,   
   submissiveness than the fat of rams.  Rebellion is a sin of sorcery,   
   presumption a crime of idolatry!" [1 Samuel 15:22-23]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Two prayers:   
      
   Grant me grace, O merciful God, to desire ardently all   
   that is pleasing to Thee, to examine it prudently, to   
   acknowledge it truthfully, and to accomplish it perfectly,   
   for the praise and glory of Thy Name.  Amen.   
      
   <><>   
      
   O Mary, Mother of mercy and Refuge of sinners, we   
   beseech thee, be pleased to look with pitiful eyes upon   
   poor heretics and schismatics.  Thou who are the Seat of   
   Wisdom, enlightened the minds that are miserably   
   enfolded in the darkness of ignorance and sin, that they   
   may clearly know that the Holy Catholic Church is the   
   one true Church of Jesus Christ, outside of which neither   
   holiness nor salvation can be found.  Call them to the   
   unity of the one fold, granting them the grace to accept   
   all the truths of our holy Faith, and to submit themselves   
   to the Supreme Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Jesus Christ   
   on earth; that so, being united with us in the sweet chains   
   of divine charity, there may soon be one only fold under   
   the same one Shepherd; and may we all, O glorious   
   Virgin, sing forever with exultation: Rejoice, O virgin   
   Mary, thou only last destroyed all heresies in the whole   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)