From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On Knowing Ourselves:  (II)   
      
   The spiritual man puts the care of his soul before all else;   
   (Matt.16:26) and whoever diligently attends to his own affairs is   
   ready to keep silence about others. You will never become interior and   
   devout unless you refrain from criticism of others, and pay attention   
   to yourself. If you are wholly intent on God and yourself, you will be   
   little affected by anything outside this (I Cor.4:3). Where are you   
   when you fail to attend to yourself? And when you have occupied   
   yourself in countless affairs, what have you gained, if you have   
   neglected your soul (Mark 8:36)? If you really desire true peace and   
   union with God, attend to yourself, and set aside  all else.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ, Bk 2 Ch 5   
      
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   September 28th – St. Eustochium V (RM)   
      
   People clamour for stories about the irascible Saint Jerome, and Saint   
   Eustochium's story converges with his. St. Jerome was obviously   
   well-loved by the matrons of Rome, though he did have a biting tongue.   
   His counsel to St. Eustochium: "Set before your eyes the blessed   
   Virgin Mary, whose purity was such that she earned the reward of being   
   the mother of the Lord."   
      
   Saint Paula's life was such a powerful witness that she inspired her   
   own daughter Eustochium, who was born in Rome c. 368, to sainthood.   
   Eustochium was single for the Lord—she consecrated herself to a life   
   of virginity, having learned austerity from her widowed mother and St.   
   Marcella.   
      
   The home of the widow Saint Marcella became a sort of monastery/school   
   for the ladies, who devoted themselves to intense, scientific study of   
   the Scriptures on their own. These patrician women of the capital   
   city--Saints Paula, Eustochium, Blaesilla, Marcella and her ward   
   Principia, Marcellina (sister of St. Ambrose), Fabiola, Asella, and   
   Lea (all saints)--encouraged one another to strive for Christian   
   perfection. Living just prior to the fall of Rome, they did not wait   
   until disaster forced the ascetic life upon them; they saw that luxury   
   is out of place in a Christian.   
      
   When young, sarcastic Jerome arrived in Rome in 382, Marcella   
   prevailed upon him to teach their group Hebrew and exegesis. And he   
   did. Eustochium was given spiritual guidance and scriptural   
   instruction by St. Jerome between 382-385 during his stay in Rome.   
   Eustochium's sister St. Blaesilla threw herself so vehemently into the   
   ascetic life that she died in 384. Paula was almost crazy with grief,   
   but Jerome rebuked her and promised to glorify Blaesilla by writing   
   about her. The group was very close urging each other on to sanctity.   
   In fact, St. Paulina (Eustochium's other sister) married one of   
   Jerome's school friends. When Paulina's children were stillborn and   
   she died young, her husband became a monk.   
      
   When Jerome left Rome, St. Paula and her daughter Eustochium followed   
   and joined St. Jerome at Antioch, Egypt, and Bethlehem.   
      
   Paula's fortune was added to what money Jerome possessed to found a   
   monastery near Bethlehem. Jerome lived in a cave nearby 'to make sure   
   (said Paula) that if Mary and Joseph came again to Bethlehem, there   
   would be somewhere for them to stay.'   
      
   Three communities of women were founded close by St. Jerome's   
   monastery, and Paula took charge of one of them. Eustochium took care   
   of every material need, including the cooking. But Jerome relied on   
   her for much more. He was busy translating the Bible into Latin. When   
   his eyes began to fail, he would have been obliged to abandon the   
   work, had not Eustochium and her mother been there to help him. He   
   reckoned that they were better able to judge the value of his work   
   than most men, and dedicated some of his writings to them.   
      
   When Paula died in 404, Eustochium (said Jerome) wished she could have   
   been buried with her. But instead she took over the community abbey.   
   She died in 418 or 419.   
      
   Eustochium's life is also documented by the many surviving letters and   
   scriptural commentaries of St. Jerome, which are directed to Paula and   
   Eustochium. Eustochium in her youth was the addressee of one of   
   Jerome's most famous letter (Ep. 22)—a lengthy treatise on virginity.   
   (In his letters to the women St. Jerome demonstrated true humanity and   
   fatherly care.)   
      
   (Note: Since the universal Church celebrates St. Wenceslas, the   
   martyr-king of Bohemia, on September 28 (died 929), St. Eustochium's   
   feast is only celebrated locally.)   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   There is a beauty of form, a dignity of language, a sublimity of   
   diction which are, so to speak, spontaneous, and are the natural   
   outcome of great thoughts, strong convictions, and glowing feelings.   
   The Fathers [of the Church] often attain to this eloquence without   
   intending to do so, without self-complacency and all unconsciously.   
   --St. Augustine (354-430)   
      
   Bible Quote   
   An ancient man rebuke not, but entreat him as a father: young men, as   
   brethren:  Old women, as mothers: young women, as sisters, in all   
   chastity. Honour widows, that are widows indeed.  (1 Tim 5:1-3)  DRB   
      
   <><><><>   
   Grant me, O my God   
   By St Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419)   
      
   Good Jesus,   
   let me be penetrated with love   
   to the very marrow of my bones,   
   with fear and respect toward Thee.   
   Let me burn with zeal for Thy honour,   
   so that I may deeply resent,   
   all the outrages committed against Thee,   
   especially those of which,   
   I myself have been guilty.   
   Grant further, O my God,   
   that I may humbly adore   
   and acknowledge Thee,   
   as my Creator and penetrated with gratitude for all Thy benefits,   
   I may never cease to render Thee thanksgiving.   
   Grant that I may bless Thee in all things,   
   praise and glorify Thee,   
   with a heart full of joy and gladness   
   and obeying Thee with docility   
   in every respect, I may one day,   
   despite my ingratitude and unworthiness,   
   be seated at Thine table   
   together with Thine Holy Angels and Apostles,   
   to enjoy ineffable delights for all eternity!   
   Amen   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)