From: hildegard8@excite.com   
      
   November 30th - Sts. Sapor, Isaac & Comp. BM (AC)   
   (Also known as Shapur)   
      
   Died 339. Bishop Sapor of Beth-Nictor and Bishop Isaac of Beth-Seleucia were   
   martyred with members of their flock under the Persian King Shapur II,   
   including Saints Mahanes, Abraham, and Simeon. Sapor died in prison; Isaac   
   was stoned to death.   
      
   Their genuine acta have been preserved in Chaldaic, which relate that the   
   Persians complained to the king that they could no longer worship the   
   heavenly bodies or the elements without the Christians despising them.   
   Shapur immediately ordered the arrest of all the followers of Christ.   
   Mahanes, Abraham, and Simeon were the first to be captured. When the king   
   learned that Sapor and Isaac were building churches and evangelizing the   
   people in distant outposts, he sent soldiers to track them down and bring   
   them to trial within three days.   
      
   The day after their capture, all five were brought before the king, who   
   inquired: "Have not you heard that I derive my pedigree from the gods? Yet I   
   sacrifice to the sun, and pay divine honors to the moon. And who are you who   
   resist my laws, and despise the sun and fire?"   
      
   The martyrs with one voice answered: "We acknowledge one God, and Him alone   
   we worship."   
      
   The king asked: "What God is better than Hormisdatas, or stronger than the   
   angry Armanes? And who is ignorant that the sun is to be worshipped."   
      
   Sapor replied: "We confess one only God, who made all things, and Jesus   
   Christ born of him."   
      
   At this the king commanded that he should be beaten on the mouth; all the   
   bishop's teeth were knocked out. Then he was beaten with clubs, until his   
   whole body was bruised and his bones broken. After this he was loaded with   
   chains.   
      
   Isaac appeared next. The king scolded him for having built churches; but the   
   martyr maintained the cause of Christ with inflexible constancy. The king   
   next commanded that several of the chief men of the city who had apostatized   
   be summoned. With threats he cowed them into stoning Bishop Isaac to death.   
      
   When Saint Sapor heard of Isaac's happy martyrdom, he was exultant and died   
   of his wounds two days later in prison. The king nevertheless severed the   
   bishop's head from his body. The other three were called again to court.   
   Mahanes was flayed from the top of his head to the navel, dying in the   
   process. Abraham's eyes were bored out with a hot iron, and he died of his   
   wounds two days later. Simeon was buried alive and shot through with arrows.   
   The faithful Christians managed to obtain and privately bury the remains of   
   the martyrs (Attwater 2, Benedictines, Coulson, Husenbeth).   
      
      
   Quote:   
   "We have loved her during life, let us not abandon her until we have   
   conducted her by our prayers in the House of the Lord."   
   -St. Ambrose (AD 340-397)   
      
   Bible Quote   
   16 So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but   
   few chosen.   (Matthew 20:16)   
      
      
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   Novena to the Immaculate Conception   
      
   Say once a day for nine days, especially starting on November 29 and ending   
   on December 7 the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception   
      
   Immaculate Virgin! Mary, conceived without sin! Remember, thou wert   
   miraculously preserved from even the shadow of sin, because thou wert   
   destined to become not only the Mother of God, but also the mother, the   
   refuge, and the advocate of man; penetrated therefore, with the most lively   
   confidence in thy never-failing intercession, we most humbly implore thee to   
   look with favor upon the intentions of this novena, and to obtain for us the   
   graces and the favors we request. Thou knowest, O Mary, how often our hearts   
   are the sanctuaries of God, Who abhors iniquity. Obtain for us, then, than   
   angelic purity which was thy favorite virtue, that purity of heart which   
   will attach us to God alone, and that purity of intention which will   
   consecrate every thought, word, and action to His greater glory. Obtain also   
   for us a constant spirit of prayer and self-denial, that we many recover by   
   penance that innocence which we have lost by sin, and at length attain   
   safety to that blessed abode of the saints, where nothing defiled can enter.   
      
   O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.   
      
   V. Thou are all fair, O Mary.   
   R. Thou art all fair, O Mary.   
   V. And the original stain is not in thee.   
   R. And the original stain is not in thee.   
   V. Thou art the glory of Jerusalem.   
   R. Thou art the joy of Israel   
   V. Thou art the honor of our people.   
   R. Thou art the advocate of sinners.   
   V. O Mary.   
   R. O Mary.   
   V. Virgin, most prudent.   
   R. Mother, most tender.   
   V. Pray for us.   
   R. Intercede for us with Jesus our Lord.   
   V. In thy conception, Holy Virgin, thou wast immaculate.   
   R. Pray for us to the Father Whose Son thou didst bring forth.   
   V. O Lady! aid my prayer.   
   R. And let my cry come unto thee.   
      
   Let us pray   
      
   Holy Mary, Queen of Heaven, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and mistress of   
   the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one, look upon me, O Lady!   
   with an eye of pity, and entreat for me of thy beloved Son the forgiveness   
   of all my sins; that, as I now celebrate, with devout affection, thy holy   
   and immaculate conception, so, hereafter I may receive the prize of eternal   
   blessedness, by the grace of Him whom thou, in virginity, didst bring forth,   
   Jesus Christ Our Lord: Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and   
   reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)