From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   December 30th - Saint Sabinus, Bishop, and Companions, Martyrs   
   (d. 303)   
      
   When the cruel edicts of Diocletian and Maximin Hercules were published   
   against   
   the Christians in the year 303, it required more than ordinary force in the   
   bishops and clergy, to encourage the people to undergo martyrdom rather than   
   apostatize. All were forbidden even to draw water or grind wheat, if they   
   would   
   not first incense idols placed for that purpose in the markets and on street   
   corners.   
      
   Saint Sabinus, Bishop of Spoleto, with Marcellus and Exuperantius, his   
   deacons,   
   and several other members of his clergy who were worthy of their sacred   
   mandate,   
   were apprehended in Assisi for revolt and thrown into prison by Venustianus,   
   Governor of Etruria and Umbria. He summoned them before him a few days later   
   and   
   required that they adore his idol of Jupiter, richly adorned with gold. The   
   holy   
   bishop took up the idol and threw it down, breaking it in pieces. The   
   prefect,   
   furious, had his hands cut off and his deacons tortured on the rack and   
   burnt   
   with torches until they expired.   
      
   Saint Sabinus was put back into prison for a time. He was aided there by a   
   Christian widow of rank, who brought her blind nephew to him there to be   
   cured.   
   Fifteen prisoners who witnessed this splendid miracle were converted to the   
   Faith. The prefect left the bishop in peace for a month, because he himself   
   was   
   suffering from a painful eye ailment. He heard of the miracle and came to   
   the   
   bishop in prison with his wife and two sons, to ask him for help in his   
   affliction. Saint Sabinus answered that if Venustianus would believe in   
   Jesus   
   Christ and be baptized with his wife and children, he would obtain that   
   grace   
   for him. The officer consented, they were baptized, and he threw into the   
   river   
   the pieces of his broken statue. Soon all the new converts gave their lives   
   for   
   having confessed the Gospel, sentenced by Lucius, whom Maximus Hercules sent   
   to   
   Spoleto after hearing of their decision, to judge and condemn them.   
      
   As for Saint Sabinus, he was beaten so cruelly that on December 7, 303, he   
   expired under the blows. The charitable widow, Serena, after seeing to his   
   honorable burial near the city, was also crowned with martyrdom. A basilica   
   was   
   later built at the site of the bishop's tomb, and a number of monasteries in   
   Italy were consecrated under his illustrious name.   
      
   Reflection: How powerfully do the martyrs cry out to us by their example,   
   exhorting us to detach from a false and wicked world!   
      
   Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin   
   (Bloud et   
   Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 14.   
      
      
   Saint Quote :   
   The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends, but let us not   
   despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other. The more   
   we   
   are united to Him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to Him.   
   --Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Those whom I love, I rebuke and chastise; be zealous, therefore, and do   
   penance.   
   (Apoc. 3:19)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
    Daily Thoughts and Prayers for Our Beloved Dead   
      
   "Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand   
   of   
   the Lord hath touched me" Job. 19-21.   
      
   SIXTEENTH DAY   
      
   St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians (I Cor. 111:13-15), tells us,   
   "Every   
   man's work shall be manifest, for the day of the Lord shall declare it,   
   because   
   it shall be revealed in fire. And the fire shall try every man's work of   
   what   
   sort it is. If a man's work burn, he shall suffer loss; but he shall be   
   saved,   
   yet so as to fire."   
      
   Prayers:  Our Father, Three Hail Marys, Gloria, De Profundis.   
      
   De Profundis   
      
      Out of the depths, I have cried to Thee,   
   O Lord, Lord, hear my voice.   
      Let Thine ears be attentive to the   
   voice of my supplication.   
      If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark my iniquities,   
   O Lord, who shall stand it?   
      For with Thee there is merciful   
   forgiveness: and by reason of Thy   
   law I have waited for Thee, O Lord.   
   My soul hath relied on His word;   
   my soul hath hoped in the Lord.   
      From the morning watch even until   
   night; let Israel hope in the Lord.   
   Because with the Lord there is mercy;   
   And with Him plenteous redemption.   
      And He shall redeem Israel from   
   all its iniquities.   
      Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,   
   And let perpetual light shine upon them:   
      May they rest in peace. Amen.   
      
   O Lord Jesus, have mercy on the Souls in Purgatory who suffer because of   
   some   
   slight human frailty. Deliver them from their agonies, that they may   
   forevermore   
   praise and glorify Thee in Heaven. Amen.   
      
   See whole prayer at:   
   http://halfthekingdom.com/daily%20thoughts%20and%20prayers.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)