From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   April 15th -  St. Hunna, Matron   
      
   St. Hunna, or Huva, came of the reigning ducal family of Alsace and was   
   married   
   to a nobleman, Huno of Hunnaweyer, a village in the diocese of Strasbourg.   
   Because she undertook to do the washing for her needy neighbours, she was   
   nicknamed by her contemporaries "The Holy Washerwoman". Her family seems to   
   have   
   been influenced by St Deodatus (Dié), Bishop of Nevers, for St. Hunna's son,   
   who   
   was his namesake, was baptized by him and subsequently entered the monastery   
   which he founded at Ebersheim. St. Hunna died in 679 and was canonized in   
   1520 by   
   Leo X at the instance of Duke Ulric of Würtemberg.   
      
   It is difficult to find satisfactory authority for what is recounted above.   
   There is mention of Hunus and of "his holy wife" in the eleventh-century   
   Life of   
   St. Deodatus of Nevers, and Henschenius in his note on the passage quotes a   
   French work of John Ruyms upon the saints of the Vosges. See the Acta   
   Sanctorum,   
   June, vol. iv (3rd ed), p. 731 and Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxvi, pp.   
   343-345.   
   There seems, however, to be a local cultus of St. Hunna, and the Abbé   
   Hunckler in   
   his Saints d'Alsace writes on the subject at some length.   
      
   Hunna of Alsace,   
   Matron (AC) also known as Huva); canonized by Pope Leo X in 1520 at the   
   urging   
   of Duke Ulric of Würtemberg. The daughter of an Alsatian duke and widow of   
   the   
   nobleman Huno of Hunnaweyer, Saint Hunna devoted herself to the poor of   
   Strasbourg. Hunna earned the title of "holy washerwoman" because she would   
   lend   
   a hand with any job--even to doing the laundry for the poor.   
      
   Her family appears to have been influenced by Bishop Saint Deodatus of   
   Nevers,   
   because Hunna's son was named for and baptized by him. When he was of age,   
   he   
   entered the monastery founded by Deodatus, Ebersheimmünster near Strasbourg.   
   A   
   local cult developed after her death (Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney,   
   Encyclopedia, Walsh).   
      
   Saint Hunna is represented as a noblewoman with linen near her; sometimes   
   she is   
   washing it for the poor and sick. She is venerated in Alsace. Patroness of   
   laundresses (Roeder).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   As for what concerns our relations with our fellow men, the anguish in our   
   neighbor's soul must break all precept. All that we do is a means to an end,   
   but   
   love is an end in itself, because God is love.   
   --St. Edith Stein   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the foolish prophets that follow their own   
   spirit, and see nothing.   (Ezechiel 13:3)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SOULS   
   FROM THE PURGATORIAN MANUAL   
    (Imprimatur 1946)   
      
   Twenty-Eighth Day   
      
   THEY HAVE GREAT REASON TO FEAR, WHO SHOW NO MERCY TOWARDS THE SOULS DEPARTED   
      
        "With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Matt.   
   vii. 2) It will be readily seen that this word of the Divine Saviour is   
   applicable also to the assistance we should render the souls departed. The   
   learned Cardinal Cajetan says: "Those who in this life forget the departed,   
   will, hereafter, in my opinion, be deprived in Purgatory of all   
   participation in   
   good works and devout prayers, though ever so many be offered for them by   
   others; for Divine justice is wont in this manner to punish their cruelty   
   and   
   hardness of heart." Hence, he who shows no mercy towards the suffering souls   
   and   
   remains cold and indifferent to their pains, shall, even though his soul may   
   have escaped eternal damnation, languish in the flames of Purgatory, without   
   relief and consolation, and look in vain for friends and intercessors. The   
   faithful, however, who do not forget the suffering souls completely, but   
   seldom   
   think of them, will not be deprived of friends and intercessors entirely,   
   but   
   will derive very little help and comfort, and their complaints will be   
   answered   
   by the words of St. Paul: "He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap   
   sparingly."   
   (2 Cor. ix. 6.)   
      
   Prayer:  O God Whose goodness and mercy are infinite, have pity on the souls   
   of   
   those, who, on account of their want of charity, are undeserving of Thy   
   bounty,   
   and accept our fervent prayers, in reparation for their faults, that they   
   may   
   not suffer without consolation. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.   
      
   Special Intercession: Pray for the souls who suffer for their want of   
   charity.   
      
   Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon   
   them;   
   may they rest in peace. Amen.            (Three times)   
      
   Practice: Bear patiently the ingratitude of others, and offer it for the   
   souls   
   in Purgatory.   
      
   Invocation:       My Jesus, mercy!   
      
   See entire 31day prayer at:   
   http://www.faithfuldeparted.net/prayers.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)