From: trudie.Miller@cox.net   
      
   September 20th - Saint Eustachius and His Family, Martyrs   
      
   (d. ca. 118)   
      
   The remarkable story of Saint Eustachius, named Placidus before his   
   conversion, is a lesson given by God Himself on the marvels of His Divine   
   Providence. He was a distinguished and very wealthy officer of the Roman   
   army under the Emperor Trajan, in the beginning of the second century. He   
   practiced generous charity to the poor, although he had not yet perceived   
   the errors of idolatry.   
      
   One day, while this distinguished officer was vainly pursuing a deer, the   
   animal suddenly stood immobile before him in the light of a hilltop, and he   
   perceived between its horns a luminous cross. On the cross was the image of   
   the crucified Saviour, and a voice said to him, "I am the Christ whom you   
   honor without knowing it; the alms you give to the poor have reached Me."   
   Like Saint Paul, he fell from his horse and remained inert for a time.   
   Coming to himself, he said interiorly, "What is this voice I have heard? You   
   who speak to me, who are you, that I may believe in you?" And the Lord told   
   him interiorly that He was the Creator of the light, of the seasons, of man   
   and all things visible, that he had suffered to save the human race, died   
   and been buried, but had risen the third day.   
      
   This was sufficient, and the officer went home to fulfill the prescription   
   he had received to be baptized with his wife and two young sons. His spouse   
   had received a similar revelation at the same time as himself, and they all   
   went to the Christian authority of the region in secret, to be baptized the   
   same night.   
      
   In a short time he lost all his possessions through natural catastrophes and   
   robbers. But he had been advised beforehand that the Lord wanted to make of   
   him another Job, that already the ancient enemy had plotted against him, and   
   that he was not to allow any thought of blasphemy to arise in his heart amid   
   the sufferings that were awaiting him. He prayed for strength, and retired   
   from the region after the calamities, with his wife and children. When by   
   unforeseeable and extraordinary accidents, his wife and children were also   
   taken from him, and he believed the children dead, he was close to despair   
   and wished his life might end; but the warning of the Lord returned to his   
   mind, and he entered into the service of a land-owner of a village called   
   Badyssus, to tend the fields. He remained for fifteen years in this   
   occupation. During this time his loved ones were well and safe, all spared   
   in the perilous circumstances which had removed them from his sight, but   
   separated, each one like himself, from the three others.   
      
   In those days the empire was suffering greatly from the ravages of   
   barbarians, and was sinking under the assaults. The emperor Trajan had   
   Eustachius sought out, and when he was found, had him clothed in splendid   
   garments to give him command over the troops he intended to send against the   
   invaders. During the celebration that accompanied his return, he related to   
   the emperor all that had occurred to him. When the troops were being   
   assembled, his own sons were conscripted. Seeing them, he noticed them as   
   young men taller than most and of great nobility of bearing and countenance,   
   and kept them near him without yet recognizing them. One of the two, while   
   on bivouac near the very house of his own mother, who like Eustachius had   
   taken employment in the garden of a landowner, related the confused memories   
   of his childhood to his companion. Suddenly, the two brothers recognized one   
   another and embraced in an effusion of joy.   
      
   Their mother, by a delicate attention of Providence, had chanced to overhear   
   them, and reflecting on what she heard, became certain they were her own   
   sons. She went to the captain of the campaign to inquire about them, and   
   immediately recognized him. Not wishing to startle him, she began to relate   
   her story, identifying herself as the wife of a certain Placidus, and saying   
   she believed she was now in the presence of her two sons from whom she had   
   been separated, and whom she had not seen for long years. One must imagine   
   the sentiments of the captain on hearing this narration, the reunion which   
   followed, and the prayers of thanksgiving sent up to God by the family and   
   also the troops, who joined them in their joy and prayers.   
      
   Returning to Rome victorious, Eustachius was received in triumph and greatly   
   honored, but when commanded to sacrifice during the celebration to the false   
   gods, refused. The infuriated emperor Hadrian - for Trajan had died -   
   ordered him with his wife and children to be exposed to a starved lion. But   
   instead of harming these servants of God, the beast came up to them, lowered   
   its head as if in homage, and left the arena. The emperor, more furious   
   still, caused the martyrs to be shut up inside a brazen bull, under which a   
   fire was to be kindled that they might be roasted to death. Saint Eustachius   
   prayed aloud and thanked God, asking Him who had reunited them to cause that   
   their lives end at the same time, so they might be received together by Him   
   into the happiness of His presence. They expired, but neither their bodies   
   nor even their hair was injured. They were found entire the next day, and at   
   first it was believed they were still alive. Many believed in Christ through   
   this final miracle, which to us today seems perhaps less miraculous than the   
   story of their existence while alive. A church in honor of the martyrs still   
   exists in Rome: Saint-Eustachius in Thermis.   
      
   Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin   
   (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 11.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   "Of how much greater faith and salutary fear are they who . . .   
   confess their sins to the priests of God in a straightforward manner   
   and in sorrow, making an open declaration of conscience. . . . I   
   beseech you, brethren, let everyone who has sinned confess his sin   
   while he is still in this world, while his confession is still   
   admissible, while the satisfaction and remission made through the   
   priests are still pleasing before the Lord" (ibid., 28).   
   -St Cyprian of Carthage.   
      
   Bible Quote:   
    We preach Christ crucified-to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the   
   Gentiles foolishness. I Cor. 1:23   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   O Sacred Blood, that flowed so copiously seven times for my salvation,   
   I love Thee, I praise Thee, I adore Thee with the deepest feeling of   
   gratitude! The purest fountain from which Thou didst flow makes Thy memory   
   so sweet. O Precious Blood, with trumpet tones Thou speakest to me of the   
   love of my God and Redeemer. How I deplore my coldness and indifference   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)