From: trudie.Miller@cox.net   
      
   December 5th - St. Crispina   
      
   Saint Crispina (d. December 5, 304) was a martyr of Africa who suffered during   
   the Diocletian persecution. She was born at Thagara (Thacora, Tagora) (now an   
   archaeological site in Tunisia) in the Roman province of Africa. She died by   
   beheading at Theveste, in Numidia.   
      
   Crispina belonged to a distinguished family and was a wealthy matron with   
   children. At the time of the persecution she was brought before the proconsul   
   Annius Anullinus; on being ordered to sacrifice to the gods she declared she   
   honoured only one God.   
      
   Her head was shaved at the command of the judge, and she was exposed to public   
   mockery, but she remained steadfast in the Faith and was not moved even by the   
   tears of her children. When condemned to death, she thanked God and offered her   
   head with joy for execution.   
      
   The Acts of her martyrdom, written not long after the event, form a valuable   
   historical document of the period of the persecution. The day of St. Crispina's   
   death was observed in the time of St. Augustine of Hippo; in his sermons   
   Augustine repeatedly mentions her name, as well known in Africa and worthy to   
   be   
   held in the same veneration as the names of St. Agnes and St. Thecla.   
      
   Thierry Ruinart in his collection of the Acts of the martyrs gives the account   
   of her examination.   
      
      
   Quote:   
   "When you perceive that God is chastening you, fly not to his   
   enemies...but to his friends, the martyrs, the saints, and those who   
   were pleasing to him, and who have great power in God."   
   -John Chrysostom: Orations 396 AD   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   19 And I will shew wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath:   
   blood and fire, and vapour of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,   
   and the moon into blood, before the great and manifest day of the Lord come. 21   
   And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord,   
   shall be saved.   (Acts 2:19-21   
      
      
      
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   O My Crucified God   
      
   O my crucified God, behold me at Thy feet; deign to cast me not out, now   
   that I appear before Thee as a sinner. I have offended Thee exceedingly in   
   the past, my Jesus, but it shall be so no longer. Before my God, I put all   
   my sins; I have now considered them and behold, they do not deserve Thy   
   pardon; but do Thou cast one glance upon Thy sufferings and see how great is   
   the worth of that Precious Blood that flows from Thy veins. O my God, at   
   this hour close Thine eyes to my want of merit and open them to Thine   
   infinite merit, and since Thou has been pleased to die for my sins, grant me   
   forgiveness for them all, that I may no longer feel the burden of my sins,   
   for this burden dear Jesus, oppresses me beyond measure. Assist me, my   
   Jesus, for I desire to become good whatsoever it may cost; take away,   
   destroy, utterly root out all that Thou findest in me contrary to Thy holy   
   will. At the same time I pray Thee, O Jesus, to enlighten me, that I may be   
   able to walk in Thy holy light. - Amen.   
      
   -Blessed Gemma Galgani   
      
      
      
   <><><><>   
   The angels are friends   
      
   The angels are friends of the bridegroom, so they listen to the   
   soul's words, and make them known to the bridegroom.   
   The soul's words are its desires, which the  friends, that is the   
   angels, listen to and delight in. They make them known,   
   and they invite the  soul to come; they console it, and advise   
   it to seek and knock, because anyone who seeks finds,   
   and to anyone who knocks the door is opened.   
     Meanwhile, until the bridegroom comes, they frequently visit   
   such a  fervent soul, and by an increase of grace prepare it   
   more fully for his arrival. They draw its  thoughts toward a   
   perception of their presence, and an awareness of their   
   friendship, so that through this knowledge it may   
   to divine knowledge.   
   -Richard of Saint Victor   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)