From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   November 18th - Saint Odon Of Cluny, Abbot   
   (Also known as Eudes)   
      
   (d. 942)   
      
   On Christmas Eve of the year 877, a pious but childless Christian nobleman   
   of Aquitaine implored Our Lord, by the fecundity of His Holy Mother and His   
   Incarnation, to grant him a son. His prayer was heard; Odon was born, and   
   his grateful father, in a prayer offered him - still an infant in his arms -   
   to Saint Martin of Tours (d. 400) to be his spiritual son. Odon was later   
   taught by a wise priest, then was placed in the court of the Count of Anjou   
   and that of the Duke of Aquitaine. There he was influenced by the passions   
   which reign in courts, and neglected his prayers to think only of games,   
   hunting, and military pursuits. But God did not abandon him, and he was   
   haunted in his dreams by the dangers of a disordered life. He prayed to the   
   Blessed Virgin and begged Her one Christmas Eve to lead him on the narrow   
   path of sanctity.   
      
   He was then sixteen years old, and the next day he fell ill with a sickness   
   which increased and for three years kept him on the verge of death. When his   
   father told him he had consecrated him to Saint Martin, Odon renewed this   
   consecration and promised to enter into his service; suddenly then his   
   headaches left him and he recovered from his illness.   
      
   He went to Tours to serve in the church of Saint Martin for a time. But when   
   a hermitage was built nearby he retired there to devote himself to prayer   
   and study, while continuing to visit the tomb of Saint Martin every night.   
   He began to study the Scriptures and abandoned all pagan readings. Later he   
   was inspired to enter the monastery of Baume in the diocese of Besançon, and   
   there he received the habit from Saint Bernon, the abbot, in the year 909.   
   He was charged with the instruction of novices and boarding students. When   
   later he returned home on a visit to his parents, they were so touched by   
   his words that despite their age they renounced the world and entered a   
   monastery. When Odon returned to Baume he was ordained a priest.   
      
   When Saint Bernon, who had governed six monasteries, died, three of those   
   were entrusted to Saint Odon; these were Cluny, newly founded in 910,   
   Massay, and Deols. He resided in Cluny, of which he is often titled the   
   Founder, because he organized and enlarged this new house. His reputation   
   attracted a large number of vocations. His special care was for children; at   
   that period the schools had taken refuge in the cathedrals and monasteries.   
   He watched with gentleness over the habits, studies, and repose of these   
   dear children. He personally taught them as well as the monks. The Rule of   
   Saint Benedict, providing for the education of children as well as the   
   formation of monks, was followed zealously. Many alms were given to the   
   poor, without concern for the morrow. The charity of Cluny was so abundant   
   that in one year food was distributed to more than seven thousand indigent   
   persons.   
      
   Saint Odon visited Rome three times; there he reformed a monastery, and   
   later in France he submitted several abbeys to the discipline of Cluny.   
   These were organized into a federation under the sole abbot of Cluny, with   
   great unity of statutes and regime. It was said that "from Benevent to the   
   Atlantic Ocean, the most important monasteries of Italy and Gaul rejoiced in   
   being under his commandment." After celebrating the feast of Saint Martin at   
   Tours in 942, Saint Odon fell ill; and having exhorted all the religious who   
   had come there to see him and learn how to be regular in their observance,   
   he blessed them and gave up his soul to God. He was buried at Tours in the   
   church of Saint Julian.   
      
   Reflection: "It needs only for a Catholic to show devotion to any Saint,"   
   says Father Newman, "in order to receive special benefits from his   
   intercession."   
      
   Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin   
   (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 13.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   If I love Jesus, I ought to resemble Him; If I love Jesus, I ought to love   
   what He   
   loves, what He does, what He prefers to all else: humility. How may we   
   acquire this   
   virtue? Neither logic or reflection will help us any; thinking nice thoughts   
   about it or   
   taking heroic resolutions would lead us to believe we had already acquired   
   it, and we   
   would content ourselves with that. We must examine our actions to see if we   
   not   
   sought our own interest in them. Let us repeat often, " Jesus, so humble of   
   heart,   
   make our hearts like unto thine."   
   --St. Peter Eymard   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   All who want to live piously in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.  (2   
   Tim. 3:12)   
      
      
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   Rosary of the Holy Wounds of Our Lord Jesus Christ OR the Chaplet of Mercy   
      
   May be said on the standard Dominican (Five Decade) Rosary beads.   
      
   On the large beads: Eternal Father, I offer Thee the WOUNDS of Our Lord   
   Jesus Christ - To heal the wounds of our souls   
      
   On the small beads: My Jesus, pardon and mercy - Through the merits of Thy   
   HOLY WOUNDS.   
      
   Sacred Penetentiary, January 15, 1924.   
      
   These two invocations were taught by Our Lord to Sr. Mary Martha Chambon,   
   deceased, in the Visitation of Chambery, France, Marcy 21, 1907.  The Sister   
   received from Our Lord a double "Mission": constantly to invoke the HOLY   
   WOUNDS herself, and to revive this devotion in the world.   
      
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   O Lord, You received affronts   
   without number from Your blasphemers,   
   yet each day You free captive souls   
   from the grip of the ancient enemy.   
      
   You did not avert Your face   
   from the spittle of perfidy,   
   yet You wash souls in saving waters.   
      
   You accepted Your scourging without murmur,   
   yet through your meditation   
   You deliver us from endless chastisements.   
      
   You endured ill-treatment of all kinds,   
   yet You want to give us a share   
   in the choirs of angels in glory everlasting.   
      
   You did not refuse to be crowned with thorns,   
   yet You save us from the wounds of sin.   
      
   In your thirst You accepted the bitterness of gall,   
   yet You prepare Yourself to fill us with eternal delights.   
      
   You kept silence under the derisive homage   
   rendered You by Your executioners,   
   yet You petition the Father for us   
   although You are his equal in Divinity.   
      
   You came to taste death,   
   yet You were the Life   
   and had come to bring it to the dead.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)