From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   March 29th - Saint Mark of Arethusa   
      
   In a startling departure from the script expected of a saint who has died in   
   martyrdom, St. Mark miraculously managed to survive an ordeal of torture to   
   transform his tormentors into compassionate human beings and go on to great   
   glory in the name of Jesus Christ. Just when he was about to die a   
   remarkable reversal of the customary ending of a saintly life served to make   
   the invincible St. Mark unique among those who have suffered and died for   
   the Messiah.   
      
   After the proclamation of Constantine the Great granting Christianity   
   toleration, the transition from paganism to Christianity was not   
   accomplished immediately. Mark of Arethusa lived in a period of turmoil in   
   the early fourth century, during which time he was of inestimable value as a   
   young priest who shouldered the responsibility of bringing order out of   
   religious chaos and conflict.   
      
   With the mandate from the emperor several priests came forward to replace   
   pagans and temples with Christians and churches, but nowhere in the empire   
   could they find a more capable promoter for the Prince of Peace than the   
   ebullient Mark. He was a young priest with great promise when he emerged   
   from his small parish near the city of Arethusa (in the province of   
   Thessalonike) to undertake the spiritually rewarding, but ever hazardous,   
   chore of physically transforming pagan temples into Christian churches. He   
   left the tranquility of his parish on the banks of the river Strymon, later   
   called Rendina, to assume much more awesome and demanding duties in the name   
   of the Savior. These duties eventually brought him glory and grief, but   
   eventually brought him the highest in spiritual attainment. He was well into   
   this laudable campaign when he was appointed bishop of Arethusa, an office   
   whose influence he would bring to many other areas in the course of his holy   
   work.   
      
   Specially appointed to direct the changeover, Mark countered the expected   
   resistance in some areas with compelling oratory which won enough converts   
   to acquire a strength in numbers sufficient to offset the last-ditch   
   defenders of paganism. Then came the actual transformation whereby temples   
   became churches with the replacement of the sacred cross of Jesus Christ for   
   idols. When the architecture of a temple did not allow for conformity with a   
   church, it was simply taken down piece by piece and rebuilt to Christian   
   standards. Those edifices that posed too many problems were made into   
   hospitals or places of refuge for the needy.   
      
   Mark showed not only a bold administrative capacity while these proceedings   
   were taking place, but a genuine concern for the populace as a whole. Thus   
   he acquired a reputation for generosity, compassion and humility which   
   stamped him as a rare human being and dedicated servant of God and man. Even   
   those who opposed him grudgingly admitted that for all of his quiet demeanor   
   he was not a man to be trifled with, nor one who would slacken the pace of   
   his mission.   
      
   Years of devotion to this procedure brought Mark and his Christian community   
   a hitherto unknown tranquility. But this peace was shattered when the   
   Emperor Julian the Apostate succeeded to the throne in AD 361 and disavowed   
   Jesus to revert to paganism. Almost overnight the advances of Christianity   
   were stemmed. With this shabby disavowal came a persecution of Christians.   
      
   Mark found himself the target of the rabble he had put to rout. These people   
   had been given heart by a perfidious ruler who was not the least interested   
   in having his people live in harmony. Instead, he encouraged the pagans to   
   vent their spleen on Christians once again. Mark was dragged into the   
   streets by a frenzied mob who tortured him without mercy, again and again   
   inflicting the cruelest of punishment they could devise. Their rage subsided   
   in the face of the durability of the holy Mark who summoned renewed strength   
   and convinced the mob that the Lord had given him a seeming   
   indestructibility. He went on about conversion until he died on 28 March   
   389.   
      
   Saint Quote:   
    When you are before the altar where Christ reposes, you ought no longer to   
   think that you are amongst men; but believe that there are troops of angels   
   and archangels standing by you, and trembling with respect before the   
   sovereign Master of Heaven and earth. Therefore, when you are in church, be   
   there in silence, fear, and veneration.   
   --Saint John Chrysostom   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   And because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your   
   hearts, crying: Abba, Father.   
   Therefore now he is not a servant, but a son. And if a son, an heir also   
   through God. (Galatians 4:6-7)   
      
      
   <<>><<>>   
   A pair of prayers, one for morning, the other for evening:   
      
   O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer Thee   
   my prayers, works, and sufferings of this day for all the   
   intentions of Thy sacred Heart, in union with the holy sacrifice   
   of the Mass throughout the world, for the intentions of all our   
   associates, and in particular for the intention recommended   
   this month by the Holy Father.   
      
   <<>>   
   Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this habitation, and drive far   
   from it all the snares of the enemy: let Thy holy angels dwell   
   herein, to keep us in peace, and may Thy blessing be always   
   upon us.  Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who   
   liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost,   
   one God, world without end.  Amen.   
      
   [sprinkle your bed with holy water, and bless yourself with the   
   holy water  as you go to bed, then say:]   
      
   Lord, into Thy Hands I commend my spirit.   
      
   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)