From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   May 4th - Saint Pelagia of Tarsus   
      
   Born in the town of Tarsus of pagan but noble and wealthy parents, she heard   
   about Christ and the salvation of the soul from Christians, became inflamed   
   with   
   love for the Savior and was a Christian in her soul. There was at that time   
   a   
   terrible persecution of Christians. It happened that the Emperor Diocletian   
   himself stopped in Tarsus and that, during the time of his stay in the town,   
   his   
   son, the heir, fell deeply in love with Pelagia and wanted to make her his   
   wife.   
   Pelagia replied through her mother - a wicked woman - that she was already   
   promised to her betrothed husband, Christ the Lord.   
      
   Fleeing from the foul heir and her wicked mother, Pelagia sought and found   
   Bishop Linus, a man renowned for his holiness. He instructed her in the   
   Faith   
   and baptized her. Then Pelagia gave away her luxurious clothing and great   
   wealth, returned home and confessed to her mother that she was already   
   baptized.   
   Hearing of this, the Emperor's son, losing all hope of getting this holy   
   maiden   
   as his wife, ran himself through with a sword and died. Then the wicked   
   mother   
   denounced her daughter to the Emperor and she was taken for trial. The   
   Emperor   
   marveled at the girl's beauty and, forgetting his son, burned with an impure   
   passion for her. But when Pelagia remained unfaltering in her faith, the   
   Emperor   
   condemned her to be burned in a metal ox heated by fire. When they stripped   
   the   
   martyr, she signed herself with the sign of the Cross and, with prayers of   
   thanksgiving to God on her lips, went into the ox, where, in the twinkling   
   of an   
   eye, she melted like wax. She suffered with honor in 287.   
      
   Bishop Linus hunted for the remains of her bones and buried them on a hill   
   under   
   a stone. In the time of the Emperor Constantine Copronymos (741-775), a   
   beautiful church was built on that site in honor of this holy virgin and   
   martyr   
   Pelagia, who was sacrificed for Christ to reign eternally with Him.   
      
      
   <><><><><>   
   Troparion Tone 3   
      
   Thou didst abandon dark ignorance through knowledge of the Faith,   
   / O Pelagia, fair virgin of Christ.   
   / Thou wast refreshed by His dew and didst finish thy contest by fire.   
   / O glorious Martyr,   
   / entreat Christ our God to grant us His great mercy.   
      
   Kontakion Tone 2   
      
   Abandoning thy mortal betrothed   
   / to be wedded to the Immortal,   
   / thou didst offer thy dowry of chastity and contest.   
   / Wherefore, O Pelagia, we acclaim thee.   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth. -Matt. 5:4   
      
   "Meekness and mildness of heart is a virtue rarer than chastity, and yet it   
   is   
   more excellent than that and all other virtues, for it is the end of   
   charity,   
   which, as St. Bernard says, is in its perfection when we are not only   
   patient,   
   but also kind. It is necessary, however, to have a great esteem for this   
   virtue,   
   and to use every effort to acquire it"   
   -St. Francis de Sales   
      
   St. Francis de Sales himself had the very highest regard for this virtue. He   
   spoke of it so frequently and with so much love, as to show clearly it was   
   his   
   chosen one among all. So, though he excelled in all the virtues, he was   
   singular   
   and remarkable in this. He always wore a serene countenance, and there was a   
   special grace upon his lips, so that he generally appeared to be smiling,   
   and   
   his face breathed a sweetness which charmed everyone. Though he usually   
   showed   
   great recollection, he sometimes thought it desirable to give proof of   
   amiability, and then he consoled all who met him, and won the love and   
   regard of   
   whoever looked upon him. His words, gestures and actions were never without   
   great suavity and gentleness, so that it seemed that this virtue had taken   
   in   
   him the form of man, and that he was rather meekness itself than a man   
   endowed   
   with that quality. He, too, justly merited the praise bestowed by the Holy   
   Spirit upon Moses, "that he was the meekest man of his time upon earth" And   
   so   
   St. Jane Frances de Chantal was able to say that there was never known a   
   heart   
   so sweet, so gentle, so kind, so gracious and affable, as his. St. Vincent   
   de   
   Paul expressed the same sentiment, saying that he was the kindest man he had   
   ever known, and the first time he saw him, he noticed in the serenity of his   
   countenance and in his manner of conversing such a close resemblance to the   
   meekness of Christ our Lord as instantly won his heart.   
      
   (Taken from the book "A Year with the Saints".  May - Meekness)   
      
   Bible Quote   
   29 Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble   
   of   
   heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. (Matthew 11:29)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Litany of Humility   
      
   O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.   
      
   From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, O Jesus.   
   From the desire of being loved, deliver me, O Jesus.   
    From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, O Jesus.   
   From the desire of being honored, deliver me, O Jesus.   
   From the desire of being praised, deliver me, O Jesus.   
   From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, O Jesus.   
   From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, O Jesus.   
   From the desire of being approved, deliver me, O Jesus.   
      
   From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, O Jesus   
   From the fear of being despised, deliver me, O Jesus.   
   From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, O Jesus.   
   From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, O Jesus.   
   From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, O Jesus.   
   From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, O Jesus.   
   From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, O Jesus.   
   From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, O Jesus.   
      
   That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire   
   it.   
   That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire   
   it.   
   That in the opinion of the world, others may increase, and I may decrease,   
   Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.   
   That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to   
   desire   
   it.   
   That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to   
   desire   
   it.   
      
   That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus   
   grant me the grace to desire it.   
   That others may become holier than I,   
   provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus   
   grant me the grace to desire it.   
   .   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)