From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   March 19th - Blessed Clement of Dunblane, OP (AC)   
      
   Died 1256-58. One of the pioneers about whom we hear little is the colorful   
   and resourceful Bishop Clement of Dunblane, who received his habit from   
   Saint Dominic's hands and introduced the Dominicans as he preached in   
   Scotland. The monasteries he founded within a few years of the beginning of   
   the Dominican Order served the Church well, and the Church annals are   
   begemmed with the names of the people who made history in that interesting   
   country.   
   We read the names of Robert Bruce and Lord Douglas on the rolls of   
   benefactors of the Blackfriars. James Beaton, archbishop of Saint Andrews,   
   fled for sanctuary to the Dominican church in 1517; and in 1554, John Knox   
   was called to give an account of his strange doctrines in the Blackfriars   
   Church of Edinburgh.   
      
   Clement was Scottish by birth, and having met Saint Dominic at the   
   University of Paris and being received into the order, he was vocal and   
   active in bringing the friars to his homeland. Tradition holds that the   
   Scottish king, Alexander II, in Paris on a diplomatic mission, made a   
   personal appeal to Saint Dominic for missionaries. It is an historical fact   
   that this monarch was their first benefactor when the mission band at last   
   arrived, shortly after Dominic's death.   
      
   The priory in the lovely, seaside town of Ayr was founded in 1230, and seven   
   other large houses soon followed. There is record of transactions with the   
   rulers of the region at this time, and, a few years later, King Robert Bruce   
   granted the Dominicans the privilege of grinding their grain at his mill.   
      
   Clement was appointed bishop of Dunblane in 1233, by Pope Gregory IX, a   
   devoted friend of Saint Dominic. He worked in this see for 23 years, and,   
   according to an old record, he "labored with unflagging zeal to uproot   
   superstition and destroy vice, to make true and solid piety known and   
   practiced, and to draw the faithful entrusted to his charge to the imitation   
   of all the virtues of Christian perfection, as he himself fulfilled all the   
   duties of a watchful and loving pastor"-a description of a bishop that can   
   hardly be bettered. He is described as being poor himself, and the father of   
   the poor, and all the old writers speak of his zeal in restoring the ruined   
   churches and the neglected rights of the Church.   
      
   According to surviving records, he must have been a busy man, this rugged   
   missionary in an equally rugged land. He rebuilt Dunblane Cathedral, visited   
   tirelessly among the outlying regions of his diocese, setting things in   
   order, and solicited most of the funds for reconstruction himself. He was   
   appointed on several papal commissions, once to inquire into the heroic   
   virtues of Margaret of Scotland, another time to determine the validity of a   
   bishop's appointment. He was sent to collect alms for the Holy Land in 1247,   
   at a time when he badly needed the money to rebuild his own diocese.   
      
   Through his influence, the episcopal see was transferred from the Isle of   
   Iona, which was frequently inaccessible and always in danger from stormy   
   seas, to a place where it could be readily in touch with the rest of   
   Scotland. He attended the general chapter of the Order held in London in   
   1250. At one time he had to pronounce a sentence of excommunication on all   
   those who had tried to murder the king.   
      
   In spite of these varied and absorbing labors, we are interested to find   
   that he wrote at least three books: a life of Saint Dominic, a book on   
   pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and the history of the Dominican Order in   
   Scotland.   
      
   When Clement died, he left a legacy of personal holiness so great that even   
   a Protestant historian would say of him: "This man was an excellent   
   preacher, learned above many of that time, and of singular integrity of   
   conversation" (Benedictines, Dorcy).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most   
   certainly that of suffering, patiently endured.   
   -Saint Colette   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   31. But he said to him: Son, thou art always with me, and all I have is   
   thine. 32. But it was fit that we should make merry and be glad, for this   
   thy brother was dead and is come to life again; he was lost, and is found.   
   (Luke 15:31-32)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   A POWERFUL NOVENA TO ST. JOSEPH   
   This novena has proven to be highly efficacious. It seems to be pleasing to   
   St. Joseph and helpful to souls. This form of novena was originally devised   
   by the celebrated Fr. Louis Lallemant, S.J. (1587-1633). It has proved   
   particularly effective in obtaining favors through the intercession of St.   
   Joseph. In the Life of this saintly priest and great master of the spiritual   
   life, to whom St. Joseph never refused anything he asked, the story is told   
   that on one occasion he urged two young priests to make this novena,   
   promising that they would obtain everything they asked through the   
   intercession of St. Joseph if, in turn, they would show him special honor   
   and spread devotion to him among others. Both did as Fr. Lallemant   
   suggested. One of them asked for grace to speak and write worthily of Our   
   Lord. But the next day he came to Fr. Lallemant to tell him that, upon   
   reflection, he wished to ask for a different grace, which he considered more   
   conducive to his perfection. Fr. Lallemant replied, "It is too late now to   
   ask for another grace. The first one has already been granted." This grace   
   was conspicuously displayed throughout the whole course of the priest's   
   life, as he became one of the most noted preachers and writers of his day.   
      
   How to Make this Novena   
   No particular prayers need be said for this novena. Every day for nine days,   
   turn to St. Joseph in spirit four times during the day and honor him in the   
   following four points. (These "visits" may be made anywhere-at home, at   
   work, on the street, in the car or bus-and at any time.)   
      
   1. During the first visit, consider St. Joseph's fidelity to grace. Reflect   
   upon the action of the Holy Ghost in his soul. At the conclusion of this   
   brief meditation, thank God for so honoring St. Joseph, and ask, through his   
   intercession, for a similar grace.   
   2. Later in the day, consider St. Joseph's fidelity to the interior life.   
   Study his spirit of recollection. Think, thank God, and ask.   
   3. Later still, consider St. Joseph's love for Our Lady. Think, thank God,   
   and ask.   
   4. Finally, in a fourth visit, reflect upon St. Joseph's love for the Divine   
   Child. Think, thank God, and ask.   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   The first sorrowful mystery prayer of the Eucharistic Rosary,   
   to be offered before the Blessed Sacrament:   
      
   The Agony in the Garden, offered for fervor in prayer and   
   sorrow for sin:   
      
   Divine Saviour, under the weight of sorrow and sadness   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)