From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   May 14th - Blessed Giles of Santarem, OP (AC)   
      
   Born at Vaozela near Coimbra, Portugal, c. 1185-1190; died at Santarem,   
   Portugal, 1265; cultus approved in 1748.   
      
   So many romantic legends intertwine themselves with the story of Blessed   
   Giles that it is difficult to see the man himself. His life, even stripped   
   of its legend, however, is the story of the triumph of grace in the human   
   soul.   
      
   He was the son of Rodrigues de Vagliaditos, governor of Coimbra under King   
   Sancho the Great. From his childhood, Giles was destined for the priesthood   
   for which he studied at Coimbra. He was ordained at an early age, but with   
   no good intention, for he saw in the priesthood only a chance to wield   
   power. His father's influence gained for him a number of rich benefices,   
   which he used sinfully for power and pleasure.   
      
   Being a brilliant student, he advanced rapidly in his chosen field of   
   medicine, an art that was at the time often linked with necromancy or black   
   magic. He neglected his priestly duties and seemed bent only on the   
   pleasures of life.   
      
   Legend takes up the story from here and relates that Giles, a thoroughly   
   irreligious and pleasure-seeking young man, set out for Paris to work for   
   higher degrees in medicine. On the advice of a stranger he met on the way,   
   he went to Toledo instead and became a student of the black arts. According   
   to one legend, he met the devil and signed a contract with him, in which he   
   promised his soul in return for a universal knowledge of medicine. Thereupon   
   he spent seven years in bondage to his evil master, learning all his arts.   
      
   Having gained the highest degrees in medicine, Giles went to Paris and   
   became a successful physician. At the peak of worldly success, he began to   
   have horrible visions. He saw himself in a cemetery of a monastery of which   
   he enjoyed the revenues. There he saw a specter who carried a skull and an   
   hourglass. The specter knocked at one and then another of the tombs, calling   
   out, "Arise, faithful monk!" At each summons another fearful specter   
   appeared, until at one tomb there was no answer.   
      
   "Giles," he called. "What-not there?" He poised the hourglass and murmured,   
   "There are yet a few sands to run!" After this fearful vision, says the   
   legend, Giles repented of his misspent life, destroyed his magic books and   
   potions, and set out in haste for Coimbra on foot.   
      
   At Palencia he met the friars of the newly founded Order of Preachers. He   
   was still troubled by diabolical attacks, but they helped him to make his   
   peace with God. Joining them, he spent seven years in terrible penance,   
   after which Our Lady returned to him the fateful scroll he had signed with   
   Satan.   
      
   Such a legend adds color to the calendar of saints, but it would be hard to   
   tell how much of it is true. It is known that Giles had spent his youth   
   badly, and that after entering the Dominicans he did fervent penance. By   
   nature he was witty and charming, and he found the silence hard to keep.   
   Actual violence to his natural disposition was necessary to make him into   
   the humble and reserved religious he later became.   
      
   Blessed Giles occupied several positions of authority in the order,   
   including provincial of Portugal, and his medical skill proved to be a   
   blessing in the care of his sick brethren. He made a practice of going about   
   the dormitories, cleaning up the students' rooms while they were at class.   
   His heroic penance did much to undo the scandal he had caused in his early   
   years.   
      
   Giles was sent back to Portugal after his early training, and his preaching   
   was noteworthy, even in that age of renowned preachers. He founded a number   
   of monasteries and did much to establish the Dominicans in Portugal. His   
   last years were filled with visions and ecstasies. He lived to be very old,   
   regarded by all but himself as a very great saint (Benedictines, Dorcy).   
      
   Also Today:   
   May 14th - Saint Matthias, Apostle   
      
   Matthias was one of the 72 disciples of Our Lord; he was chosen to replace   
   Judas   
   Iscariot in the College of the Twelve Apostles. There is not much   
   information   
   about him.   
      
   According to a Greek tradition, he preached the Gospel in Cappadocia and in   
   regions bordering the Caspian Sea. Tradition tells us he suffered martyrdom   
   in   
   present day Ethiopia, where he was stoned, and then beheaded.   
      
   Some parts of his doctrine were conserved by Clement of Alexandria. This   
   sentence is attributed to the Apostle:   
      
       "We must combat the flesh, taking what advantages we can without giving   
   it   
   blameworthy delights. Regarding the soul, we should develop it through   
   intelligence and faith."   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than one that is cast down.   
   -Saint Philip Neri   
      
   Bible Quote   
   1 An ancient man rebuke not, but entreat him as a father: young men, as   
   brethren: 2 Old women, as mothers: young women, as sisters, in all chastity.   
   3 Honour widows, that are widows indeed.  (1 Tim 5:1-3)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Saint Anthony, Zealous for Justice   
      
   Dear St. Anthony, you were prompt to fulfill all justice. You   
   gave God and His creation the service He required from you.   
   You respected other people's rights and treated them with   
   kindness and understanding. St. Anthony, Zealous for   
   justice, teach me the beauty of this virtue. Make me prompt   
   to fulfill all justice toward God and toward all creation. Help   
   me also in my pressing needs. (Name them.)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)