From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   February 6th - St. Dorothy Virgin and Martyr   
      
   (died 304)   
      
   Saint Dorothy was a young virgin celebrated already in Caesarea of   
   Cappadocia,   
   where she lived, for her angelic virtue. Her parents are believed to have   
   been   
   martyred before her in the Diocletian persecution; thus, when the Governor   
   Sapricius came to Caesarea and called her to appear before him, he sent this   
   child of martyrs to the eternal home where they were waiting for her.   
      
   She explained that the God she adored was majestic - above all emperors, who   
   were mortal, and their gods, none of whom created either heaven or earth.   
   She   
   was stretched upon the rack, and offered honors if she would consent to   
   sacrifice, or death if she refused. And they waited. She asked why they   
   delayed   
   to torture her; they were expecting she might cede out of fright. She said   
   to   
   them, "Do what you have to do, that I may see the One for whose love I fear   
   neither death nor torments, Jesus Christ." She was asked, "Where is this   
   Christ?" and she replied: "As Almighty He is everywhere, but for weak human   
   reason we say that the Son of God has ascended into heaven, to be seated at   
   the   
   right hand of the Almighty Father. It is He who invites us to the garden of   
   His   
   delights, where at all times the trees are covered with fruits, the lilies   
   are   
   perpetually white, the roses ever in their freshness. If you believe me, you   
   too   
   will search for the true liberty, and will labor to earn entry into the   
   garden   
   of God's delights." She was then placed in the custody of two women who had   
   fallen away from the faith, in the hope that they might pervert her; but the   
   fire of her own heart rekindled the flame in theirs, and led them back to   
   Christ.   
      
   When she was set once more on the rack, Sapricius himself was amazed at the   
   heavenly expression on her face, and asked her the cause of her joy.   
   "Because,"   
   she said, "I have brought back two souls to Christ, and because I shall soon   
   be   
   in heaven rejoicing with the Angels." Her joy grew as she was buffeted in   
   the   
   face and her sides were burned with plates of red-hot iron. "Blessed art   
   Thou,"   
   she cried, when she was sentenced to be beheaded, "Blessed art Thou, O Lover   
   of   
   souls, who call me to paradise, and invite me to Thy nuptial chamber!"   
      
   Saint Dorothy suffered in mid-winter, and on the road to her execution a   
   lawyer   
   called Theophilus, who had grown accustomed to calumniating and persecuting   
   the   
   Christians, asked her, in mockery, to send him "apples or roses from the   
   garden   
   of her Spouse." The Saint promised to grant his request. Just before she   
   died, a   
   little child stood by her side bearing three apples and three roses. She   
   told   
   him to take them to Theophilus, and to tell him it was the present he sought   
   from the garden of her Spouse. Saint Dorothy had gone to heaven, and   
   Theophilus   
   was still making merry over his challenge to her, when the child entered his   
   room. He recognized that the fruit and flowers were of no earthly growth,   
   and   
   that the child was an Angel in disguise. He was converted to the faith, and   
   then   
   shared in the martyrdom of Saint Dorothy.   
      
   Reflection. Do you wish to be safe amid the pleasures and happy despite the   
   troubles of this world? Pray for heavenly desires, and say with the Saints,   
   "Paradise, paradise!"   
      
   Sources: 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); Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul   
   Guérin   
   (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 2.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   I am hungry for the work and I wish with all my heart to be one of the   
   chosen   
   Ones, whose privilege it will be, to sacrifice themselves for the salvation   
   of   
   the souls of the poor Islanders.. I am not afraid of any disease, hence it   
   would   
   be my greatest delight even to minister to the abandoned 'lepers.'   
   -Blessed Mother Marianne Cope   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   If you love those that love you, what reward shall you have? Do not even the   
   publicans do that? St. Matthew 5:46   
      
      
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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.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)