From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   February 15th - St. Sigfrid of Wexlow   
   (also known as Sigfrid Vaxjo)   
      
   Born in Glastonbury, England (?); died at Växjö, Sweden, c. 1045; canonized   
   by Pope Adrian IV (?). Untrustworthy accounts say that the patron saint of   
   Sweden is an Englishman, Sigfrid, who reached Sweden as a result of a call   
   from King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, who had been converted himself by   
   another Englishman, Saint Alphege. Sigfrid is said to have been born in   
   Northumberland, become a priest at York or Glastonbury, and was sent by King   
   Ethelred as a missionary to Norway with two other bishops, Grimkel and John.   
      
   They labored under the protection of the archbishop of Bremen (Germany).   
   After converting many pagans, Sigfrid continued on to Sweden in 1008. Saint   
   Ansgar had planted the seeds of faith in Sweden in 830; but the country had   
   relapsed into paganism soon after his time. A second wave of missionary   
   saints, including Sigfrid, followed about two centuries later.   
      
   There he built himself a wooden church at Växjö in southern Sweden, and   
   labored with success in the Smaeland and Västergötland districts. He   
   converted twelve of the principal men of the province, then many others   
   followed their example. The fountain near the mountain of Ostrabo, since   
   called Wexlow) in which Sigfrid baptized the catechumens, long retained the   
   names of the first 12 converts, engraved on a monument.   
      
   Others, including the King Saint Olaf Skotkonung of Sweden, were attracted   
   out of curiosity to see the rich fabrics and beautiful vessels used during   
   the celebration of the Mass, to hear his preaching, and to observe the   
   dignity and majesty of the Christian worship. That attracted them first. But   
   it was the example of the lives of Sigfrid and his companion missionaries   
   that open their eyes of faith and led to the baptism of so many others   
   including the king, who was baptized at Husaby (one of the sites in Sigrid   
   Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter) in a spring that later bore Sigfrid's name   
   and was the channel of many miracles.   
      
   Sigfrid ordained and consecrated two native bishops to govern neighboring   
   territories, but he retained the episcopacy of Växjö while he lived. His   
   three nephews--Unaman, a priest; Sunaman, a deacon; and Winaman, a   
   subdeacon--were his chief assistants in his apostolic efforts.   
      
   Sigfrid also labored in Denmark. During one of Sigfrid's absences from   
   Sweden, he instructed his three nephews to carry on the missionary work. A   
   troop of idolatrous rebels-perhaps out of hatred for Christianity, perhaps   
   in search of booty--plundered the church of Växjö and barbarously murdered   
   Sigfrid's nephews by cutting off their heads, putting them in a box, and   
   flinging them into a lake. The bodies they buried in the midst of the forest   
   where they were never found.   
      
   Sigfrid returned, recovered the three heads and claimed that they could   
   still talk. He asked whether the crime would be avenged. "Yes," replied the   
   first head. "When?" asked the second. "In the third generation," answered   
   the third. And so it was. The saint had brilliantly used the dead heads to   
   terrorize his living enemies. Their heads were placed in a shrine. The king   
   was angered by their deaths and resolved to execute the murderers, but at   
   Sigfrid's earnest entreaties Olaf spared their lives-an early testimony   
   against capital punishment. Olaf compelled the guilty to pay a heavy fine to   
   Sigfrid, but the saint refused to accept it even though he was living in   
   extreme poverty and had to contend with rebuilding his church. Thenceforth,   
   he was invincible.   
      
   The saint became so renowned that the Germans claimed him as their own,   
   insisting that he had been born either in Bremen or Hamburg. He died in old   
   age, and his bones rest beneath the high altar of the cathedral of Växjö,   
   and were famous for miracles. Sigfrid was so successful that he is called   
   the Apostle of Sweden, where he is still venerated. A metrical office for   
   his feast survives in both Sweden and Denmark.   
      
   Saint Sigfrid is pictured as a bishop with two companion monks crossing the   
   sea in a ship. He may also be shown baptizing King Olaf of Sweden, or   
   menaced by devils. There is a 14th century wall-painting possibly of him at   
   Stoke Orchard, Worcestershire (Roeder). He may also be represented as a   
   bishop carrying the heads of his three nephews, which are sometimes   
   misrepresented as three loaves (Farmer).   
      
      
   Quote:   
   "I hear around me reformers who want to dismantle the Holy Sanctuary,   
   destroy the universal flame of the Church, to discard all her adornments,   
   and smite her with remorse for her historic past."   
   --Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, later Pope Pius XII, to Count Enrico P. Galeazzi   
      
   Bible Quote   
   1 And when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all   
   together in one place: 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of   
   a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.   
   3 And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat   
   upon every one of them:  (Acts 2:1-3)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Short Acts Of Trust   
      
   Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Thy love for me.   
   Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee!   
      
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   A versicle, response and prayer to the Holy Ghost:   
      
   V. Emitte Spiritum tuum et creabuntur.   
   R. Et renovabis faciem terrae.   
      
   Oremus: Deus, qui corda fidelium Sancti Spiritus illustratione docuisti,   
   da nobis in eodem Spiritu recta sapere, et de ejus semper consolatione   
   gaudere. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.   
      
   <<>>   
   V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created.   
   R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.   
      
   Let us pray: O God, Who hast taught the hearts of the faithful by the   
   light of the Holy Spirit; grant that, by the gift of the same Spirit,   
    we may be always truly wise, and ever rejoice in His consolation.   
   Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   
      
   Imprimatur: John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York, Sept 19, 1908.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)