From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   September 11th - St. John Gabriel Perboyre   
      
   Following the French Revolution, Napoleon in 1801 brought religious peace to   
   France. The country was still Catholic, especially rural France. Pierre   
   Perboyre   
   and his wife Marie on a small farm in Puech near Cahors typified the French   
   peasant's faith. God blessed them with eight children. Three sons became   
   priests   
   in the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians), and two daughters entered   
   the   
   Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.   
      
   The eldest son of Pierre and Marie, John Gabriel, was born on the 6th of   
   January   
   1802. In 1816 John Gabriel accompanied a younger brother, Louis, to a high   
   school in Montauban that had been started by their uncle, Fr. Jacques   
   Perboyre,   
   C.M., to prepare young men for the seminary. In the Spring of 1817, his   
   teachers   
   noting John Gabriel's intelligence and piety suggested he remain with his   
   brother and continue his studies. Though willing to return home if needed on   
   the   
   farm, John Gabriel wrote to his father that he believed that the Lord was   
   calling him to the priesthood.   
      
   From his earliest days in the seminary, John Gabriel had longed for the   
   China   
   mission. In 1832, however, his superiors appointed him a novice director in   
   the   
   Vincentian Motherhouse. The departure of some Vincentians to China in 1835   
   renewed his missionary longing. Poor health stood in the way, but finally   
   his   
   doctor saw the voyage to the Orient as a possible cure. Five months at sea   
   brought John Gabriel to Macao where he studied Chinese.   
      
   In December of 1835, Father Perboyre, along with several missionaries, set   
   sail   
   from Macao in a Junk. Since the Chinese law forbade the entry of Christian   
   missionaries, the Christian captain and crew disguised themselves as   
   merchants   
   and smuggled John Gabriel on to the mainland of China.   
      
   Following a five month overland journey to the Vincentian mission center in   
   Ho-nan, Father Perboyre suffered a severe attack of fever that forced him to   
   rest for three months. But he was able enough to continue his mastering of   
   the   
   Chinese language. In the company of two Chinese Vincentians he spent the   
   years   
   1837 and 1838 reanimating the faith in Catholic villages by preaching,   
   catechizing and administering the sacraments. Some of the Vincentian mission   
   areas were desperately poor and John Gabriel shared the meager fare of his   
   flock.   
      
   For more than a century, China outlawed Christianity and had a death penalty   
   on   
   all Europeans attempting to spread the faith. Authorities often overlooked   
   this   
   law, but in 1839 the Viceroy of the province of Hu-pei began a persecution   
   and   
   used his local Mandarins to obtain the names of priests and catechists in   
   their   
   areas. In September 1839, the Mandarin of Hu-pei, where there was a   
   Vincentian   
   mission center, sent soldiers to arrest the missionaries. Warned of the   
   danger   
   by some Christians, the priests scattered in different directions. John   
   Gabriel   
   hid in a bamboo forest, but a beaten and tortured catechist led the soldiers   
   to   
   him.   
      
   Frequently tortured in prison, Father Perboyre refused to betray his faith   
   and   
   his associates. In May 1840 his case went to the Emperor where he was found   
   guilty of preaching Christianity and condemned to death. John Gabriel   
   Perboyre   
   was executed on September 11, 1840, in the Chinese custom of being tied to a   
   stake and triple strangled. Andrew Fong, a generous and valiant catechist   
   who   
   had aided Father Perboyre in his imprisonment, retrieved his body and buried   
   it   
   in the Christian cemetery where Blessed Francis Regis Clet, C.M., was   
   buried.   
   Both their remains now repose in the chapel of the Vincentian Motherhouse in   
   Paris, France.   
      
   The heroic suffering and death of John Gabriel led to his beatification in   
   1889.   
   And in recent times, Pope John Paul II canonized him as Saint John Gabriel   
   Perboyre, C.M., on June 2nd 1996.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   "Do not disturb your soul at the sad spectacle of human injustice .... One   
   day   
   you will see the inevitable triumph of Divine justice over it."   
   -St. Padre Pio   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God. Acts   
   14:21   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Oratio Universalis (Universal Prayer) of Pope Clement XI (1649-1721):   
      
   Lord, I believe in Thee: increase my faith. I trust in Thee: strengthen my   
   trust. I love Thee: let me love Thee more and more. I am sorry for my sins:   
   deepen my sorrow.   
   I worship Thee as my first beginning, I long for Thee as my last end, I   
   praise   
   Thee as my constant helper, and call on Thee as my loving protector.   
   Guide me by Thy wisdom, correct me with Thy justice, comfort me with Thy   
   mercy,   
   protect me with Thy power.   
   I offer Thee, Lord, my thoughts; to be fixed on Thee; my words: to have Thee   
   for   
   their theme; my actions: to reflect my love for Thee; my sufferings: to be   
   endured for Thy greater glory.   
   I want to do what Thou asketh of me: in the way Thou asketh, because Thou   
   asketh.   
   Lord, enlighten my understanding, strengthen my will, purify my heart, and   
   make   
   me holy.   
   Help me to repent of my past sins and to resist temptation in the future.   
   Help   
   me to rise above my human weakness and to grow stronger as a Christian.   
   Let me love Thee, my Lord and my God, and see myself as I really am: a   
   pilgrim   
   in this world, a Christian called to respect and love all whose lives I   
   touch,   
   those in authority over me or those under my authority, my friends and my   
   enemies.   
   Help me to conquer anger with gentleness, greed by generosity, apathy by   
   fervor.   
   Help me to forget myself and reach out toward others.   
   Make me prudent in planning, courageous in taking risks. Make me patient in   
   suffering, unassuming in prosperity.   
   Keep me, Lord, attentive at prayer, temperate in food and drink, diligent in   
   my   
   work, firm in my good intentions.   
   Let my conscience be clear, my conduct without fault, my speech blameless,   
   my   
   life well-ordered.   
   Put me on guard against my human weaknesses. Let me cherish Thy love for me,   
   keep Thy law, and come at last to Thy salvation.   
   Teach me to realize that this world is passing, that my true future is   
   happiness   
   of heaven, that life on earth is short, and the life to come eternal. Help   
   me to   
   prepare for death with a proper fear of judgment, but a greater trust in Thy   
   goodness. Lead me safely through death to the endless joy of heaven.   
   Though Christ our Lord. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)