From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   February 4th - Saint Andrew Corsini, Bishop of Fiesole   
   (1302-1373)   
      
   Saint Andrew was born in Florence in 1301 of the illustrious Corsini family.   
   A short time before the birth of Saint Andrew, his mother experienced a   
   strange dream, in which she had given birth to a wolf which became a lamb   
   upon entering a Carmelite church. After a dissolute youthful life Andrew   
   repented, when one day in 1318 his desolate mother told him of her dream. He   
   rose and went to the altar in the church where his parents had offered to   
   God the child they hoped to obtain from His mercy; there he prayed to the   
   Blessed Virgin with tears, then went to beg his admission to the Carmelite   
   Order.   
      
   He began a life of great mortification. Ordained a priest in 1328, he   
   studied in Paris and Avignon, and on his return became the Apostle of   
   Florence, and Prior of his convent there. In 1360 he was consecrated Bishop   
   of Fiesole, near Florence, and gained a great reputation as a peacemaker   
   between rival political factions and for his love of the poor. He was also   
   named papal nuncio to Bologna, where he pacified dissenting factions and won   
   the hearts of the nobility with whom he was associating. He wrought many   
   miracles of healing and conversion during his lifetime.   
      
   At the age of 71, while he was celebrating the midnight Mass of Christmas,   
   the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and told him he would leave this world on   
   the feast of the Epiphany, to meet the beloved Master he had served so   
   faithfully. In effect, he died on that day in 1373, in the thirteenth year   
   of his episcopacy. Miracles were so multiplied thereafter that Pope Eugenius   
   IV permitted a public cult immediately. The city of Florence has always   
   invoked him with confidence and happy results. He was canonized in 1629.   
      
   He is often represented holding his crosier, with a wolf and a lamb at his   
   feet, or hovering over a battlefield on a cloud or a white steed - this in   
   memory of his miraculous intervention in a battle the Florentine people won   
   by his assistance.   
      
   Sources: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin   
   (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 2; Little Pictorial Lives of the   
   Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other   
   sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on   
   material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it   
   depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone.   
   -St Frances Xavier Cabrini   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.  (Matthew 5:44)   
      
      
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   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.   
      
   EIGHTEENTH DAY   
      
   Your loved one, whom God has called to Himself, does not cease to cherish   
   you. Purified in Purgatory, made more loving by union with God, he continues   
   to be with more light and strength, all that he was to you on earth.   
      
   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.   
      
   Mother of Mercy, thy power is so great that thy Divine Son will refuse thee   
   nothing. Implore Him, therefore, to release from the pains of Purgatory, our   
   parents, friends and benefactors, that they may join the Heavenly Chorus in   
   praising Him and in interceding for us.   
      
   See Whole Prayer at:   
   http://www.dailycatholic.org/deprofun.htm   
      
      
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   To Prevent One Mortal Sin   
      
   IF EVERY DAY WE BEGGED MARY FOR GRACE TO HINDER ONE MORTAL SIN,   
   WHAT A YEAR'S SERVICE TO GOD AND SOULS!   
      
   O MARY, Immaculate Mother of Jesus, we beseech thee, offer to the   
   Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, to prevent at least   
   one mortal sin from being committed somewhere in the world today. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)