From: hildegard8@excite.com   
      
   November 17th - St. Dionysius of Alexandria B (RM)   
   (Also known as Dionysius the Great)   
      
   Died at Alexandria in 265. A native of Alexandria, Egypt, Saint Dionysius   
   was   
   converted to Christianity by a vision. He became a pupil of Origen in the   
   Alexandria catechetical school and succeeded him in 232 as its head, which   
   he   
   directed for about 14 years. In 247-48 he was made patriarch (bishop) of   
   Alexandria. Persecution soon broke out there, and Dionysius was arrested;   
   but he   
   was enabled to escape, and directed his church from a hiding-place in the   
   Libyan   
   Desert until the death of the persecuting Emperor Decius in 251.   
      
   In the controversy that followed about those who had lapsed under   
   persecution   
   and then repented, Dionysius was a zealous supporter of lenient treatment   
   for   
   them. He upheld Pope Saint Cornelius against the antipope Novatian, and   
   denounced and fought Novatianism.   
      
   Dionysius was reproved by Pope Saint Stephen I for his mistaken view in   
   supporting Cyprian that baptism by heretics was invalid and by Pope Saint   
   Dionysius for his view on the Trinity, which Dionysius explained in an   
   apologia   
   to the Pope. Nevertheless, he is considered an indefatigable defender of the   
   faith.   
      
   At the beginning of Valerian's persecution in 257, Dionysius was again   
   arrested,   
   and was exiled from Alexandria to Kephro in Libya by Emilian, prefect of   
   Egypt.   
   Restored under Gallienus in 261, he returned to a city that was demoralized   
   by   
   civil strife, plague, and famine: it was as dangerous for a man to stay at   
   home   
   as to go out, wrote the bishop, easier to go from East to West than from one   
   street in Alexandria to another. He devoted himself to aiding the persecuted   
   Christians and the victims of the plague. He died in Egypt in 265.   
      
   Despite all the disturbances of his 17 years as bishop, Saint Dionysius took   
   an   
   active part in church affairs and wrote extensively, but few of his writings   
   have been preserved. He was a student of pagan as well as Christian   
   literature,   
   but he is best known as an outstanding theologian and Biblical scholar.   
      
   His virtues and learning were widely recognized; Saint Athanasius styles him   
   "the teacher of the whole Church" and Saint Basil referred to as Dionysius   
   "the   
   Great." Several of his works, Extant Fragments, Exegetical Fragments, Letter   
   to   
   Basilides, are available on the Internet (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney,   
   Encyclopedia).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   "The sacrament or Baptism may be wanting to someone ... both in reality and   
   in   
   desire; as is the case with those who neither are baptized, nor wished to be   
   baptized: which clearly indicates contempt of the sacrament, in regard to   
   those   
   who have the use of the free-will.   
   Consequently those to whom Baptism is wanting thus, cannot obtain salvation:   
   since neither sacramentally nor mentally are they incorporated in Christ,   
   through Whom alone can salvation be obtained."   
   -St. Thomas Aquinas (Doctor, 1225-74) - "Summa Theologica"   
      
   Bible Quotes:   
   "Jesus answered: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of   
   water   
   and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God"  (John 3:5 )   
      
   "One body and one Spirit: as you are called in one hope of your calling. One   
   Lord, one faith, one Baptism"  (Eph 4:5)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   A Prayer to Redeem Lost Time   
      
   My God! Source of all mercy! I acknowledge Your sovereign power, while   
   recalling the wasted years that are past, I believe that You, Lord, can in   
   an instant turn this loss to gain. Miserable as I am, yet I firmly believe   
   that You can do all things. Please restore to me the time lost, giving me   
   Your grace, both now and in the future, that I may appear before You in   
   "wedding garments." - Amen.   
   -Saint Teresa of Ávila   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)