From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   December 22nd - Blessed Marianus Scotus, Abbot   
      
   Marianus Scotus was one of those rare Irish monks who migrated to the   
   continent   
   and influenced the spread of a Christian culture throughout Europe. He was a   
   scribe and calligrapher of great skill. He became a monk at a very early age   
   and   
   in 1067 he set out with a few companions on a pilgrimage to Rome. En route,   
   they   
   stopped in Germany, and were invited by the bishop of Regensburg to settle   
   there.   
      
   Marianus and his companions had brought with them that marvelous love of   
   learning and beauty so distinctive of Irish monasticism, and their monastery   
   became a center for the creation of beautiful manuscripts and commentaries   
   on   
   the Scriptures, done with consummate skill and artistry. The fame of their   
   monastery, named St. Peter's, soon spread throughout the whole of Europe.   
   Like   
   Bobbio in Italy and St. Gall in Switzerland, their monastery became a center   
   of   
   Christian learning and culture.   
      
   St. Peter's and a companion monastery dedicated to St. James became the   
   headquarters of a renaissance of Irish monasticism on the continent. In   
   time,   
   their congregation numbered twelve monasteries, and the monks were highly   
   regarded for their holiness, their devotion to learning, and for the   
   beautiful   
   manuscripts that came forth from their hands. In their scriptoria, they   
   carried   
   on the tradition of the Book of Kells and the Book of Durrow. For almost   
   four   
   centuries, all of the monks were recruits from Ireland, and Ireland   
   continued to   
   supply monks, funds, and other resources for the growth of the abbey and its   
   foundations.   
      
   The significance of the work of Marianus Scotus is indicated in  by Arnold Toynbee: "The period of Irish cultural superiority over   
   the   
   continent and over Britain may be conveniently dated from the foundation of   
   the   
   monastic university of Clonmacnoise in Ireland A.D. 548 to the foundation of   
   the   
   Irish Monastery of St. James at Ratisbon, circa A.D. 1090. Throughout those   
   five   
   and a half centuries, it was the Irish who imparted culture and the English   
   and   
   the continentals who received it."   
      
   Blessed Marianus Scotus died on February 9,1098.   
      
   Thought for the Day: Holiness and learning go hand in hand, and the   
   cultivation   
   of learning is at the very heart of a Christian culture. The Irish monks   
   shared   
   their learning with the world and became the schoolmasters of Europe. They   
   took   
   seriously the words of Jesus: "You are the light of the world."   
      
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   "What are all the gains, all the fortunes, all the offices and careers, even   
   all   
   the kingdoms of the world, compared to an offence against God, to a sin   
   which is   
   the greatest evil in the world? There is no work greater or more noble   
   either in   
   heaven or on earth than this: to prevent offences [sins] against God."   
   -St. Joseph Cafasso (Confessor, 1811-1860) - "The Priest The Man Of God. His   
   Dignity and Duties   
      
   Bible Quotes:   
   "I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that   
   doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance"  (Luke   
   15:7)   
      
   "My brethren, if any of you err from the truth, and one convert him: He must   
   know that he who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way,   
   shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins"  (James   
   5:19-20)   
      
      
      
   <><><><>   
   THE PROMISES OF OUR LORD   
   to Saint Margaret Mary   
   for Souls Devoted to His Sacred Heart   
      
            1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of   
   life.   
            2. I will establish peace in their houses.   
            3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.   
            4. I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all in   
   death.   
            5. I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings.   
            6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean   
   of   
   mercy.   
            7. Tepid souls shall grow fervent.   
            8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.   
            9. I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be   
   set up   
   and honored.   
           10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened   
   hearts.   
           11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names   
   written   
   in Heart, never to be blotted out.   
           12. I promise thee in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My   
   all-powerful love grant to all those who communicate on First Friday in nine   
   consecutive months grace of final penitence; they shall not in My disgrace   
   nor   
   without receiving their Sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe   
   refuge   
   in this lost moment.   
      
   With Ecclesiastical Approbation   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)