From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   October 27th - Blessed Contardo Ferrini   
      
   Contardo was born in 1859. His father was a teacher of mathematics and   
   physics.   
   Mr. Ferrini began very early to teach his little son his own love for study.   
   As   
   a young man, Contardo could speak many languages besides Italian. He did   
   very   
   well in every school and college he went to. His great love for study and   
   for   
   his Catholic faith made his friends nickname him their own "St. Aloysius."   
   (St.   
   Aloysius Gonzaga was a young Jesuit saint known for the goodness and   
   generosity   
   of his life.) It was Contardo who first started clubs for college students   
   to   
   help them become good Christians.   
      
   When he was twenty-one, he was offered a chance to study at the University   
   of   
   Berlin in Germany. It was hard for him to leave his home in Italy, but he   
   was   
   happy to meet devout Catholics at the university. He wrote down in a little   
   book   
   what he felt the first time he received the sacrament of Reconciliation in a   
   foreign land. It thrilled him to realize that the Catholic Church is really   
   the   
   same everywhere a person goes.   
      
   By the next year, Contardo was trying to decide whether he should become a   
   priest or a monk, or whether he should marry. He kept asking himself just   
   what   
   he should do. As it turned out, he took a vow to give himself only to God.   
   He   
   lived that vow as a lay person; he never became a priest or brother. He went   
   on   
   teaching and writing. He tried always to become a more perfect Christian.   
   While   
   enjoying his favorite sport of mountain-climbing, he would think of God, the   
   Creator of all the beauty he saw. People noticed that there was something   
   different about Professor Ferrini. Once when he had passed by with his usual   
   warm smile, someone exclaimed, "That man is a saint!"   
      
   Contardo Ferrini died of typhoid fever on October 17, 1902. He was only   
   forty-three years old. He was declared "blessed" by Pope Pius XII in 1947.   
      
   Reflection: Gifted with great intelligence, Bl. Contardo put his learning at   
   the   
   service of others.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The measure of charity may be taken from the want of desires.  As desires   
   diminish in a soul, charity increases in it; and when it no longer feels any   
   desire, then it possesses perfect charity.   
   -St. Augustine   
      
   Bible Quote   
   13 I had many things to write unto thee: but I would not by ink and pen   
   write to   
   thee. 14 But I hope speedily to see thee, and we will speak mouth to mouth.   
   Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Salute the friends by name.  (3   
   John   
   1:13-14)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Holy Holy Holy,   
      
   Holy Holy Holy, O Lord of Hosts, Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory and   
   Thy dignity. Have mercy O God the Father Almighty. O Holy Trinity have mercy   
   on us. O Lord God of powers be with us, for we have no other helper in our   
   tribulations and adversities but Thee.   
      
   O God, release, remit, and forgive us our transgressions which we have   
   committed willingly and which we have committed unwillingly, which we have   
   committed knowingly and which we have committed unknowingly, the hidden and   
   the manifest. O Lord, remit them for us, for the sake of Thy Holy Name,   
   which is called upon us according to Thy mercy, O Lord, and not according to   
   our sins.   
      
   (The Lord's Prayer.)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   IDLE TALK   
      
   A sin that is most common and very little recognized is the sin of idle   
   talk.   
   Let us ponder what the Holy Bible has to say on this subject and then adjust   
   our   
   lives accordingly. From the Holy Bible: "But I tell you that of every idle   
   word   
   men speak, they shall give account on the day of judgment. For by thy words   
   thou   
   wilt be condemned" (Matt. 12:36-37). What is the general rule about the use   
   of   
   the tongue? "But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to   
   wrath. For the wrath of man does not work the justice of God" (James   
   1:19-20).   
   What does idle talking lead to? "But avoid profane and empty babblings, for   
   they   
   contribute much to ungodliness and their speech spreads like a cancer" (2   
   Tim.   
   2:16:18).   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)