From: trudie.Miller@cox.net   
      
   November 29th - John of Monte Corvino   
      
   (1247-1328)   
      
   At a time when the Church was heavily embroiled in nationalistic rivalries   
   within Europe, it was also reaching across Asia to spread the gospel of Jesus   
   Christ to the Mongols. John of Monte Corvino went to China about the same time   
   Marco Polo was returning.   
      
   John was a soldier, judge and doctor before he became a friar. Prior to going   
   to   
   Tabriz, Persia (present-day Iran), in 1278, he was well known for his preaching   
   and teaching. In 1291 he left Tabriz as a legate of Pope Nicholas IV to the   
   court of Kublai Khan. John, an Italian merchant and a Dominican friar traveled   
   to western India, where the Dominican died. When John and the Italian merchant   
   arrived in China in 1294, Kublai Khan had recently died.   
      
   Nestorian Christians, successors to the dissidents of the fifth-century Council   
   of Ephesus' teaching on Jesus Christ, had been in China since the seventh   
   century. John converted some of them and also some of the Chinese, including   
   Prince George from Tenduk, northwest of Beijing. Prince George named his son   
   after this holy friar.   
      
   John established his headquarters in Khanbalik (now Beijing), where he built   
   two   
   churches; his was the first resident Catholic mission in the country. By 1304   
   he   
   had translated the Psalms and the New Testament into the Tatar language.   
      
   Responding to two letters from John, Pope Clement V named John Archbishop of   
   Khanbalik in 1307 and consecrated seven friars as bishops of neighboring   
   dioceses. One of the seven never left Europe. Three others died along the way   
   to   
   China; the remaining three bishops and the friars who accompanied them arrived   
   there in 1308.   
      
   When John died in 1328, he was mourned by Christians and non-Christians. His   
   tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage. In 1368, Christianity was banished   
   from China when the Mongols were expelled and the Ming dynasty began. John's   
   cause has been introduced in Rome.   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one thinks   
   about reforming himself.   
   -St. Peter of Alcantara   
      
   Bible Quotes   
   17 And the world passeth away, and the concupiscence thereof: but he that doth   
   the will of God, abideth for ever.   (1 John 2:17)   
      
    Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come:   
   but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh. (Mat 18:7)   
      
      
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   Daily Thoughts and Prayers for Our Beloved Dead   
      
   "Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of   
   the Lord hath touched me" Job. 19-21.   
      
   EIGHTH DAY   
      
   Despite the sorrowful farewells and vows of undying remembrance, the dead are   
   all too soon universally forgotten.  "Forgotten is all my life, which never a   
   word recalls; forgotten is my name which no one utters; forgotten is my tomb,   
   which no one visits; forgotten is my death, which no one morns.   
      
   Prayer:  Our Father, Three Hail Marys, Gloria, De Profundis.   
      
   De Profundis   
      
      Out of the depths, I have cried to Thee,   
   O Lord, Lord, hear my voice.   
      Let Thine ears be attentive to the   
   voice of my supplication.   
      If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark my iniquities,   
   O Lord, who shall stand it?   
      For with Thee there is merciful   
   forgiveness: and by reason of Thy   
   law I have waited for Thee, O Lord.   
   My soul hath relied on His word; my soul   
   hath hoped in the Lord.   
      From the morning watch even until   
   night; let Israel hope in the Lord.   
   Because with the Lord there is mercy;   
   And with Him plenteous redemption.   
      And He shall redeem Israel from   
   all its iniquities.   
      Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,   
   And let perpetual light shine upon them:   
      May they rest in peace. Amen.   
      
   O God, who hast commanded us to honor our father and our mother, in Thy loving   
   kindness have mercy on the souls of my parents. Forgive them their sins, and   
   grant that I may see them face to face amid the joy s of life everlasting.   
   Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)