From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   June 9th - St. Ephrem of Edessa, Deacon, Doctor (RM)   
      
   Many wonderful lessons can be derived from the life of this Saint, known in   
   particular for his unfailing and remarkable humility. Born at Nisibe in   
   Syria,   
   his forebears were poor folk, and he as a child tended the herds in the   
   fields.   
   St. Ephrem would be baptized only as a young adult.   
      
   One day, while still an adolescent, he pursued the only cow of a neighbor,   
   throwing stones at the poor beast to see it run, until it fell exhausted and   
   died. To add to his fault, he denied having seen the animal when its owner   
   came   
   to look for it. All his life he wept over this double prevarication, and   
   later   
   he related to the religious who were his followers how he was punished for   
   it:   
   About a month later, he was with a shepherd who drank too much one evening,   
   and   
   through neglect lost the sheep of the owner's flock when wolves entered into   
   the   
   fold. Ephrem was taken to prison with the shepherd and confined there. From   
   the   
   stories his companions there narrated, he realized that they too were   
   detained   
   for crimes not committed, but that they had committed others which had   
   remained   
   unpunished. Recognizing in these facts the effects of Divine Justice, he was   
   warned to do penance by a severe Angel who appeared to him several times,   
   helping him also to accept his chastisement. He was released after two   
   months,   
   but never forgot the lessons in humility he had received.   
      
   Never did St. Ephrem think himself anything other than a great sinner; we   
   can   
   read in his various writings his self-accusations and his confessions. He   
   had   
   the gift of tears and for years he wept, literally without ceasing,   
   according to   
   the testimony of St. Gregory of Nyssa, who wrote: "At times he was weeping   
   over   
   the sins of men, and again over his own. His sighs succeeded his tears, and   
   then   
   brought them forth again." It was also said that the tears he shed so   
   profusely,   
   instead of disfiguring his face, seemed to augment its serenity and grace;   
   all   
   who had seen or heard St. Ephrem were inspired to venerate his holiness.   
      
   The death of St. James of Nisibe and of another St. who had lived in a cell   
   near   
   his own solitary dwelling, decided him to make a pilgrimage to Edessa, a   
   very   
   Christian city, to honor the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas, venerated   
   there.   
   While in Edessa he was ordained a deacon and attached permanently to the   
   church   
   of Edessa, then obliged under obedience to preach. The ministry of preaching   
   is   
   not usually that of deacons, but his virtue and capacities were recognized   
   at   
   once. He had not studied and knew only his own language, but he had absorbed   
   Holy Scripture and profited from his intelligence of it. It is he who wrote:   
   "You do not understand all that you read there? If you were traveling and,   
   being   
   thirsty, came upon a spring of fresh water, would you be incensed because   
   you   
   could not drink all of it? No, you would be happy that, on another journey,   
   the   
   spring would still be there to quench your thirst."   
      
   St. Gregory of Nyssa remarked of the preaching of St. Ephrem: "Although his   
   tongue was prompt and the words flowed from his mouth like a torrent, these   
   were   
   too slow to express his thoughts. For this reason he prayed God: 'Hold back,   
   Lord, the waves of Your grace!' The sea of understanding which was seeking   
   an   
   outlet through his tongue bore heavily upon him, because the organs of   
   speech   
   did not suffice for what his mind presented to him, for the benefit of   
   others."   
   In the Syrian Liturgy, St. Ephrem still is called the Harp of the Holy   
   Spirit.   
      
   After many years of good works, preaching and writing, for he also had great   
   gifts of poetry and written discourse, he died a holy death in the year 378.   
   This occurred one month after the death of St. Basil, whom he had visited in   
   Caesarea, wanting to profit from the renowned bishop's conversation and   
   sermons.   
   They had found great consolation in one another's company. St. Ephrem was   
   declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XV in October of 1920.   
      
   Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin   
   (Bloud et   
   Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 2.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   My little children, reflect on these words: the Christian's treasure is not   
   on   
   earth but in heaven. Our thoughts, then, ought to be directed to where out   
   treasure is. This is the glorious duty of man: to pray and to love. If you   
   pray   
   and love, that is where a man's happiness lies.   
   -- Saint John Vianney   
      
   Bible quote:   
   Things that are impossible with men are possible with God. For all things   
   are   
   possible with God.  (Mark 10:27)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Act of Entrustment to St. Joseph   
      
   O dearest St. Joseph, I entrust myself to you that you may   
   always be my father, my protector and my guide in the way   
   of salvation. Obtain for me a greater purity of heart and   
   fervent love of the interior life. After your example may I do   
   all my actions for the greater glory of God, in union with the   
   Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. O   
   Blessed St. Joseph, pray for me, that I may share in the peace   
   and joy of your holy death. Amen.   
      
   <<>><<>>   
   Indulgenced Prayers:   
      
   May the most just, most high, and most amiable will of God be done in all   
   Things--praised and magnified forever!   
      
   May the Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored,   
   and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles   
   of the world, even to the end of time.  Amen.   
      
   O Mary! my Queen! my Mother! remember I am thine own.  Keep me, guard me,   
   as thy property and possession.   
      
   All in the name of Jesus!   
      
   All is for the greater glory of God!   
      
   All for the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)