From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   April 4th - St. Benedict the African   
   (Also known as Benedict the Moor)   
      
   Born near Messina, Italy, in 1526; died at Palermo, Italy, April 4, 1589;   
   beatified in 1743; canonized in 1807. Benedict was the son of freed negro   
   slaves of Sicily. He was about 21 when he was publicly insulted on account   
   of his race, and his patient and dignified demeanor on that occasion was   
   observed by the leader of a group of Franciscan hermits.   
      
   Benedict was invited to join the group at Montepellegrino. When their   
   superior died, he was made superior of the community. When he was about 38   
   (1564), Pope Pius IV disbanded communities of hermits and they were absorbed   
   into the Friars Minor of Observance. Thus, Benedict became a Franciscan lay   
   brother and the cook at Saint Mary's monastery near Palermo.   
      
   In 1578, Benedict was appointed superior (guardian) of the convent when it   
   opted for the reform, though he was an illiterate laybrother. With   
   understandable reluctance he accepted the office, and ruling with many   
   evidences of direct supernatural aid, successfully carried through the   
   adoption of a stricter interpretation of the Franciscan.   
      
   After serving as superior, he became novice master but asked to be relieved   
   of this post and returned to his former position as cook. Benedict's   
   reputation for holiness, working miracles, and as a sympathetic and   
   understanding religious counsellor brought hordes of visitors to see the   
   obscure and humble cook.   
      
   Saint Benedict is the patron of African-Americans in the United States. The   
   surname 'the Moor' is a misnomer originating from the Italian il moro (the   
   black) (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Gill).   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Whoever taketh not up his cross and followeth Me, is not worthy of   
   Me. -Matt. 10:38   
      
   "By working out our salvation through sufferings, the Son of God has wished   
   to teach us that there is nothing in us so fitted to glorify God and to   
   sanctify our souls as suffering. Yes, yes, to suffer for love of the Lord is   
   the way of truth! Therefore, the more one can suffer, the more let him   
   suffer, for he will be the most fortunate of all; and whoever does not   
   resolve upon this, will never make much progress"   
   -St. Teresa   
      
    St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi was so much enamored of suffering that she   
   said: "I do not desire to die soon, because in Heaven there is nothing to   
   suffer; but I desire to live a long time, because I wish to suffer long for   
   love of my Spouse. Nor would I have a brief martyrdom only, but an   
   accumulation of pains, calumnies, misfortunes, and all adversities that can   
   possibly happen to me." And when she went through a long and painful illness   
   this not only failed to extinguish in her this great thirst for suffering,   
   but after tasting it in such a way, she longed for it the more, so that   
   while the Superior endeavored to lessen her hardships for the preservation   
   of her health, she was at the same time seeking in every way to invent new   
   kinds of sufferings that no one would perceive. It happened one day, in the   
   course of her last illness, that having received a marked affront, she not   
   only bore it patiently, but showed signs of particular friendship for the   
   offender. When one of the Sisters manifested astonishment, she told her that   
   she was glad she had not died before it occurred, that she might not lose   
   such an excellent opportunity for suffering.   
      
   (Taken from the book "A Year with the Saints".  April - Patience)   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   33 Jesus therefore said to them: Yet a little while I am with you: and then   
   I go to him that sent me. 34 You shall seek me, and shall not find me: and   
   where I am, thither you cannot come. (John 7:33-34)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   An Offering of the Holy Face Of Jesus Christ   
      
   Eternal Father, turn away Your angry gaze from all guilty people whose faces   
   have become unsightly in Your eyes. Look instead upon the face of Your   
   beloved Son, for this is the Face of Him in whom You are well pleased. We   
   now offer You this Holy Face, covered with shame and disfigured by bloody   
   bruises, in reparation for the crimes of our age, in order to appease Your   
   anger, justly provoked against us. Because Your divine Son, our redeemer,   
   has taken upon His head all the sins of His people that they might be   
   spared, we now beg of You, Eternal Father, to grant us mercy. - Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)