From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   June 28th - St. Paul I   
   757 - 767 AD   
      
   Paul was the brother of Pope Stephen III, and like him was educated under   
   the tutelage of the popes. Paul served his brother on many diplomatic   
   missions. The two brothers seem to have been quite close, and when Stephen   
   fell ill in 757 Paul devotedly nursed him. Even while Stephen was dying, a   
   party began an intrigue to seat the archdeacon Theophylact on the papal   
   throne. But when Stephen was buried, the great majority chose Paul to   
   succeed his brother. He was consecrated on May 29, 757.   
      
   Naturally Paul continued the policy of his brother. He maintained close   
   relations with Pippin and relied on his aid to hold the Papal States against   
   Lombard and Greek. The greatest danger was from the Lombards. Aistulf had   
   died shortly after his final defeat and he was succeeded by Desiderius, duke   
   of Istria. But the new king met a sudden and strange challenge, ex-king   
   Ratchis, who had abdicated in 768 to become a monk, now left his monastery   
   to dispute the iron crown with Desiderius. Desiderius promised peace to the   
   Pope if he would help him, and Stephen had sent an embassy including Paul   
   which had persuaded Ratchis to return to his duties in the cloister.   
      
   Desiderius, forgetful of this act of friendliness, had designs on the Papal   
   States. He even made an alliance, strange enough, with the Eastern Empire.   
   Pope Paul pleaded with Pippin for help, but the Frankish king was so   
   involved in wars with the dukes of Aquitaine and Bavaria, that he could help   
   the Pope only by diplomacy. Actually Paul succeeded in holding on to his   
   kingdom without any major war. Toward the end of his pontificate he even   
   asked Pippin to get Desiderius to help him against the Greeks!   
      
   The threat from the Greeks was not too serious. The Emperor, with no army to   
   spare for Italy, relied on diplomacy. He tried to pervert Pippin to his   
   iconoclast heresy, but his pleas were resisted by the stout-hearted Frank.   
   The Pope, of course, was not idle. He wrote to Pippin and encouraged him to   
   remain loyal and orthodox. The Pope's care was rewarded. The Frankish   
   bishops assembled in a synod at Gentilly in 767 and reaffirmed their belief   
   in traditional Catholic doctrines, especially in the correct veneration of   
   holy images.   
      
   Paul also wrote to Emperors Constantine and Leo to win them back from their   
   heresy, but again in vain.   
      
   Paul was a man of noble character, outstanding even among the popes for his   
   charity to the poor. During the night he would often visit prisons and   
   perform acts of mercy. His only defect was, perhaps, a poor choice of   
   officials; but if he discovered any injustice, he hastened to make up for   
   it. He died outside the city on June 28, 767. Paul I is venerated as a   
   saint. His feast is kept on June 28.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Now it is within the power of anyone who cares to find out the truth, to   
   know the tradition of the Apostles, professed throughout the world in every   
   church. We can name those too who were appointed bishops by the Apostles in   
   the churches and their successors down to our own time.... But inasmuch as   
   it would be very tedious in a book like this to rehearse the lines of   
   succession in every church, we will put to confusion all those who, either   
   from waywardness or conceit or blindness or obstinacy combine together   
   against the truth, by pointing to the tradition, derived from the Apostles,   
   of that great and illustrious Church founded and organized at Rome by the   
   two glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, and to the faith declared to mankind   
   and handed down to our own time through its bishops in their succession. For   
   with this Church, because of its more powerful leadership, every church,   
   that is to say, the faithful from everywhere, must needs agree, and in it   
   the tradition that springs from the Apostles has been continuously preserved   
   by men from everywhere....   
   -Saint Irenaeus of Lyons   
      
   Bible quote:   
   If anyone serves Me, My Father will honor him. St. John 12:26   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Novena in Honor of Jesus as True King   
   Over a period of 9 consecutive days:   
      
   Pray one Our Father   
   Pray one Hail Mary   
   Pray one Glory Be   
      
   O Lord our God, You alone are the Most Holy King and   
   Ruler of All Nations. We pray to You, Lord, in the great   
   expectation of receiving from You, O Divine King, mercy,   
   peace, justice and all good things.   
      
   Protect, O Lord our King, our families and the land of our   
   birth. Guard us, we pray, Most Faithful One! Protect us from   
   our enemies and from Your Just Judgement.   
      
   Forgive us, O Sovereign King, our sins against You. Jesus,   
   You are a King of Mercy. We have deserved Your Just   
   Judgement. Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive us. We   
   trust in Your Great Mercy.   
      
   O Most Awe-inspiring King, we bow before You and pray;   
   may Your reign, Your kingdom, be recognized on earth!   
   Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)