From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   May 19th - Saint Yves, Confessor   
    (1253-1303)   
      
   Saint Yves Helori, descended from a noble and virtuous family near Treguier   
   in   
   Brittany, was born in 1253. At fourteen years of age he went to Paris, and   
   afterwards to Orleans to pursue his studies. His mother was accustomed to   
   say to   
   him often that he ought to live in such a way as became a Saint, to which   
   his   
   answer always was that he indeed hoped to be one. This resolution took deep   
   root   
   in his soul, and was a constant spur to virtue and a check against the least   
   shadow of any dangerous course. His time was chiefly divided between study   
   and   
   prayer. For his recreation he visited the hospitals, where he attended the   
   sick   
   with great charity, and comforted them in the severe trials which their   
   sufferings occasioned.   
      
   Saint Yves made a private vow of perpetual chastity; but this was not known,   
   and   
   many honorable matches were proposed to him, which he modestly rejected as   
   incompatible with his studious life. He deliberated long whether to embrace   
   the   
   religious or the clerical state; but his desire to serve his neighbor   
   determined   
   him at length in favor of the latter. He wished, out of humility, to remain   
   in   
   the lesser orders; but his bishop compelled him to receive the priesthood, a   
   step which cost him many tears, though he had qualified himself for that   
   sacred   
   dignity by his perfect purity of mind and body, as well as a long and   
   fervent   
   preparation.   
      
   He was appointed ecclesiastical judge for the diocese of Rennes. Saint Yves   
   protected orphans and widows, defended the poor, and administered justice to   
   all   
   with an impartiality, application, and tenderness which gained him the   
   good-will   
   even of those who lost their causes. He was surnamed the advocate of the   
   poor.   
   He built near his own house a hospital for the poor and sick; he washed   
   their   
   feet, cleansed their ulcers, served them at table, and ate only the scraps   
   which   
   they left. He distributed among the poor his grain, or the price for which   
   he   
   sold it, immediately after the harvest. When a certain person endeavored to   
   persuade him to keep it for a few months, that he might sell it at a better   
   price, he answered, "I know not whether I shall then be alive to give it."   
   Another time the same person said to him, "I have gained a 20% profit by   
   keeping   
   my grain." "But I," replied the Saint, recalling the Lord's promises, "a   
   hundredfold, by immediately giving it away."   
      
   During the Lent of 1303 he felt his strength failing him; yet, far from   
   abating   
   anything in his austerities, he thought himself obliged to redouble his   
   fervor   
   in proportion as he advanced nearer to eternity. On the eve of the Ascension   
   he   
   preached to his people and said Mass supported at the altar by two persons,   
   and   
   he gave advice to all who addressed themselves to him. After this he lay   
   down on   
   his pallet of plaited twigs and branches, and received the Last Sacraments.   
   From   
   that moment on he spoke with God alone, until his soul went to possess Him   
   in   
   His glory. His death occurred in May, 1303, in his fiftieth year.   
      
   Reflection. Saint Yves was a Saint amid the dangers of the world. He   
   preserved   
   his virtue untainted only by arming himself carefully against its perils by   
   conversing assiduously with God in prayer and holy meditation, and by   
   watchfully   
   shunning the snares of bad company. Without these precautions all the   
   instructions of parents and all other means of virtue are ineffectual. The   
   soul   
   which does not steer wide of danger is sure to founder on the reef.   
      
   Source: 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:   
   The entire Church must formally pray for [vocations] because the purpose of   
   the   
   prayer to gain vocations must concern all the faithful, every Christian who   
   has   
   at heart the good of souls and, in a particular way, the Bishops who are the   
   shepherds of the spiritual flock and to whom souls are entrusted. They are   
   the   
   living Apostles of Jesus Christ today.   
   -Saint Hannibal Mary Di Francia   
      
   Bible Quote   
   14 Now when the apostles, who were in Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had   
   received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. 15 Who, when   
   they   
   were come, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. 16 For   
   he   
   was not as yet come upon any of them; but they were only baptized in the   
   name of   
   the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received   
   the   
   Holy Ghost.  (Acts 8:14-17)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   THE CROSS   
      
    A young man was at the end of his rope, seeing no way out, he dropped to   
   his   
   knees in prayer "Lord, I can't go on," he said. "I have too heavy a cross to   
   bear." The Lord replied, "My son, if you can't bear its weight, just place   
   your   
   cross inside this room. Then, open that other door and pick out any cross   
   you   
   wish." The man was filled with relief and said, "Thank you Lord," and he did   
   as   
   he was told. Upon entering the other room, he saw many crosses; some so   
   large   
   the tops were not visible. Then, he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a   
   far   
   wall. "I'd like that one, Lord," he whispered. The Lord replied, "My son,   
   that   
   is the cross you just brought in." When life's problems seem overwhelming,   
   it   
   helps to look around and see what other people are coping with. You may   
   consider   
   yourself far more fortunate than you imagined.   
      
   Whatever your cross whatever your pain   
   There will always be sunshine after the rain   
   Perhaps you may stumble perhaps even fall   
   But God's always there to help you through it all   
      
   Funny how you can send a thousand "jokes" through e-mail and they spread   
   like   
   wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people   
   think   
   twice about passing it on. Funny, isn't it, when you go to forward this   
   message,   
   how many on your buddy list will not receive it because you're not sure they   
   believe in anything? Funny? No! Sad, and thought-provoking... May God give   
   you   
   the strength and courage to pass this along to everyone on your email buddy   
   list.... I JUST DID!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)