From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   July 14th - St. Francis Solano   
      
   St. Francis Solano was born at Montilla in Andalusia in 1549, did his   
   studies in   
   the school of the Jesuits, and in 1569, joined the Franciscan Observance at   
   his   
   birthplace. He was duly professed and in 1576 ordained priest. Full of zeal   
   and   
   charity and an ardent desire for the salvation of souls, he divided his time   
   between silent retirement and the ministry of preaching. Francis exercised   
   his   
   ministry in southern Spain for many years, and during the plague of 1583 at   
   Granada, he was struck down but made a quick recovery.   
      
   After the epidemic had passed, Francis was selected to go with Father   
   Balthazar   
   Navarro to Peru. The missionaries to Panama crossed the Isthmus, and again   
   took   
   ship on the other side. But approaching Peru, they ran into a bad storm and   
   were   
   driven aground on a sandbank. The ship looked as if she were going to pieces   
   and   
   the master ordered that she be abandoned, leaving aboard a number of negro   
   slaves for whom there was no room in the single lifeboat. Francis had these   
   men   
   under instruction and refused to leave them, so he remained behind on the   
   ship,   
   which was breaking up. He gathered them around him, encouraged them to trust   
   in   
   the mercy of God and the merits of Jesus Christ, and then baptized them.   
   This he   
   had scarcely done when the vessel parted amidship and some of the negroes   
   were   
   drowned. The remainder were on the part of the hull that was firmly aground   
   and   
   there they remained for three days, Francis keeping up their courage and   
   rigging   
   signals of distress.   
      
   When the weather broke, the ship's boat returned and took them off to join   
   the   
   others in a place of safety, from which they eventually were transported to   
   Lima, Peru. Now began twenty years of untiring ministry among the Indians   
   and   
   Spanish colonists.   
      
   It is said that St. Francis had the "gift of tongues," and for his miracles   
   he   
   was called the "wonder-worker of the New World." In his funeral sermon,   
   Father   
   Sabastiani, S.J., said that God had chosen him to be "the hope and   
   edification   
   of all Peru, the example and glory of Lima, the splendor of the Seraphic   
   order."   
   A habit of his, very reminiscent of his religious father and namesake, was   
   to   
   take a lute and sing to Our Lady before her altar. He died on July 14, 1610,   
   while his brethren were singing the conventual Mass, at the moment of   
   consecration, saying with his last breath, "Glory be to God." His whole   
   life,   
   says Alvarez de Paz, was a holy uninterrupted course of zealous action, yet   
   at   
   the same time, a continued prayer. St. Francis Solano was canonized in 1726.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   A great help to you always be a great love for, and unlimited confidence in,   
   Our   
   Blessed Lady, Help of Christians, Mother of God, and your Mother also. She   
   says   
   to you: "Whoever is little, let him come to me." If you will love her, she   
   will   
   shower on you many graces in this life, and be an assurance to you of Heaven   
   hereafter.   
   --St. John Bosco   
      
   Bible Quote   
   For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his   
   wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two,   
   but   
   one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.   
   (Matt. 19:5-6)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   The Fiery Prayer for Apostles of the Latter Times   
   By - St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort   
      
   6th Day   
   "That they may extinguish the fire in the House of God"   
      
   Remember, O Lord, Thy congregation: It is Thy Grace alone that must form   
   this   
   company. If man touches it first, nothing will be done. If he interferes   
   with   
   Thy work, he will spoil all, overturn all. Thy congregation: It is Thy work,   
   great God. Do Thy work: do Thy all-divine work; collect, call, gather   
   together   
   Thy elect from all places over which Thou has domination and make of them a   
   strong army to defend Thy heritage against Thy enemies.   
      
      
   The battalions pay homage to the God of battles.   
      
   Seest Thou, Lord, God of battles, seest Thou the captains who are forming   
   full   
   battalions, the potentates who are assembling whole fleets, the merchants   
   gathering in large numbers at the markets and the fairs? Crowds of robbers,   
   drunkards, libertines, impious men are uniting against Thee every day - and   
   so   
   easily and promptly. The sound of a whistle, the beat of a drum, the sight   
   of a   
   blunt sword-tip, the promise of a withered laurel wreath, the offer of a bit   
   of   
   gold or silver; in a word, a breath of fame and earthly interest, a vile   
   pleasure for which they long can, in a moment, unite robbers as one, call   
   forward soldiers, assemble battalions, bring together merchants, fill houses   
   and   
   market places and cover the earth and the sea with an innumerable multitude   
   of   
   the reprobate, who, although divided among themselves by the places whence   
   they   
   come, by the differences in their dispositions or by their personal   
   interests,   
   are nevertheless united as one man, until death, to fight against Thee under   
   the   
   banner and the leadership of the demon.   
      
   And we, great God! Although there is so much glory and profit, so much   
   sweetness   
   and so many advantages to be gained by serving Thee, shall there be so few   
   to   
   take up Thy cause? Hardly any soldiers under Thy banner! Nary a St. Michael   
   to   
   proclaim among Thy brethren in zeal for Thy glory: Who is like unto God?   
      
   Ah, let me cry out everywhere: Fire! Fire! Fire! Help! Help! Help! Fire even   
   within the sanctuary! Help for our brother who is being murdered! Help for   
   our   
   children whose throats are being cut! Help for our Father, who is being   
   stabbed!   
   If any man be on the Lord's side, let him join with me (Ex. 32:26).   
      
   Let all good priests who are spread over the Christian world, and those who   
   are   
   actually on the battlefield and those who have withdrawn from the combat to   
   bury   
   themselves in deserts and solitude, let them all come forward and unite with   
   us - in unity there is strength - so that we may form, under the banner of   
   the   
   Cross, a well-regulated army in battle array, and together attack the   
   enemies of   
   God who have already sounded the alarm. They have shouted; they have raged;   
   they   
   have swelled their ranks. Let us break their bonds asunder; let us cast away   
   their yoke from us. He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them (Ps.   
   2:3-4).   
   Let the Lord arise, and let His enemies be dispersed.   
      
   Arise, O Lord, why sleepest Thou? Arise: Arise, O Lord, why feignest Thou to   
   sleep? Arise in Thy might, Thy mercy, and Thy justice, to form Thyself a   
   chosen   
   bodyguard to keep Thy house, to defend Thy glory, and to save the souls   
   bought   
   at the price of Thy Precious Blood, so that there may be but one fold and   
   one   
   shepherd, and that all may glorify Thee in Thy holy temple: And in His   
   temple   
   all shall proclaim His glory. Amen.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)