From: trudie.Miller@cox.net   
      
   December 20th - Saint Dominic of Silos, Abbot, Mystic   
   (d. 1073)   
      
   Saint Dominic, a Saint of the eleventh century, was given the surname of   
   Silos because of his long sojourn in the monastery of that name. He was of   
   the line of the ancient kings of Navarre. He undertook on his own to study   
   his religion, having virtually no teacher but the Holy Spirit. Ordained a   
   priest, he entered a monastery of the Order of Saint Benedict, where his   
   sanctity soon placed him in the first ranks as its Abbot.   
      
   The monastery of Silos had greatly declined from its former glory and   
   fervor. The monk Licinian, who was deploring this situation, was offering   
   Holy Mass on the day when Dominic entered the church. By a special   
   permission of God, when the priest turned towards the people at the   
   Offertory to chant: Dominus vobiscum, he said instead: Behold, the restorer   
   cometh! and the choir responded: It is the Lord who has sent him! The oracle   
   was soon to be visibly fulfilled. The charity of the Saint was not   
   concentrated only in his monastery, but was extended to all who suffered   
   afflictions. His gift of miracles drew to the convent the blind, the sick,   
   and the lame; and it was by the hundreds that he cured them, as is still   
   evident today from the ex-votos of the chapel where his relics are   
   conserved. The balls-and-chains, iron handcuffs and the like, which are seen   
   suspended from the vault there, attest also to his special charity for the   
   poor Christians held captive by the Spanish Moors. He often went to console   
   them and pay their ransom, thus preluding the works of the Order of Our Lady   
   of Ransom, founded in 1218, 145 years after his death.   
      
   After many years of good works, Dominic felt the moment of the recompense   
   approaching, and was advised of it by the Blessed Virgin. "I spent the night   
   near the Queen of Angels," he said one day to his religious. "She has   
   invited me to come in three days where She is; therefore I am soon going to   
   the celestial banquet to which She invites me." In effect, he fell ill for   
   three days, and then his brethren saw his soul rise in glory to heaven.   
      
   At his tomb Saint Joan of Aza, mother of Saint Dominic of Guzman, Founder of   
   the Order which bears his name, later obtained the birth of her son,   
   baptized under the name of his holy patron.   
      
   Source: Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, by Abbé L. Jaud   
   (Mame: Tours, 1950).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   We must begin with a strong and constant resolution to give ourselves wholly   
   to God, professing to Him, in a tender, loving manner, from the bottom of   
   our hearts, that we intend to be His without any reserve, and then we must   
   often go back and renew this same resolution.   
   -St. Francis de Sales   
      
   Bible Quote   
   40 In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.   
   (Ecclesiasticus 7:40)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Divine precepts we must live by:   
      
   The Eleven Moral Virtues   
   Prudence - Justice - Fortitude - Temperance - Filial Piety -Obedience -   
   Veracity - Liberality - Patience - Humility - Chastity or Purity   
      
   The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy   
   Admonish the sinner - Instruct the ignorant - Counsel the doubtful -   
   Comfort the sorrowful - Bear wrongs patiently - Forgive all injuries  -   
   Pray for the living and the dead   
      
   The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy   
   Feed the hungry - Give drink to the thirsty - Clothe the naked  -   
   Visit the imprisoned - Shelter the homeless -   
   Visit the sick - Bury the dead   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)