From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   October 25th - Sts. Crispin and Crispinian MM (RM)   
      
   It is difficult to separate truth from legend in the story of Saint Crispin   
   and   
   his brother Saint Crispinian, who were martyred about the year 287. They may   
   actually have been Christians who fled the persecutions in Rome and put   
   their   
   exile to good effect by evangelizing. The legend which follows is very late   
   and   
   without historical value.   
      
   There is a tradition that they were born of a noble Roman family in the 3rd   
   century and went to preach in Gaul (Soissons) with Saint Quintinius and a   
   number   
   of other missionaries. According to this tradition they adopted the trade of   
   shoemakers because they had left all their possessions behind them in Rome,   
   or   
   mainly as a disguise since Christians were still being persecuted in Gaul.   
   It   
   seems more probable that they were natives of Noviodunum (Soissons) and   
   followed   
   their trade as a matter of course.   
      
   Like Saint Paul, they preached by day and worked with their hands by night.   
   Many   
   conversions were attributed to them, for they preached not only by word of   
   mouth   
   but also by setting an example of charity and generosity, providing the poor   
   with shoes for nothing and indeed taking no payment unless it was offered.   
      
   Their martyrdom took place at a time when the Emperor Maximian was traveling   
   through Gaul. Crispin and Crispinian were accused and the Emperor ordered   
   them   
   to be taken before Rictiovarus who (if he really existed) was a fanatical   
   persecutor of Christians.   
      
   The two brothers were subjected to a number of brutal tortures; they were   
   immersed in water, molten lead, and boiling water. However they survived   
   them   
   all, and it is said that Rictiovarus became so furious at this that he   
   jumped   
   into the fire that had been prepared for them and killed himself (or other   
   traditions say he drowned himself). Finally, on the orders of Maximian, the   
   brothers were beheaded.   
      
   The truth may well be that they were Roman martyrs whose relics were brought   
   to   
   Soissons and enshrined there. These martyrs are particularly venerated in   
   Soissons, France, where there was a church in their honor in the 6th   
   century.   
      
   Tradition has it that a church was built over their tomb and their shrine   
   was   
   embellished by Saint Eligius the Smith, who was also one of the most popular   
   saints of the Middle Ages. See the references to Crispin and Crispinian in   
   Shakespeare's Henry V, Act 4, Scene 3.   
      
   Their cult spread through many countries, and there is a legend that they   
   settled for a while at Faversham, Kent, on the south coast of England, when   
   they   
   fled from persecution. Formerly, there was an altar in Faversham bearing   
   their   
   names in the parish church.   
      
   To this day they are recognized as the patron of shoe-makers, cobblers, and   
   leather-workers (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia).   
   Their   
   emblem in art is a shoe or a last (Roeder).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   When one has succeeded in placing his heart wholly upon God, he loses his   
   affection for all other things, and no longer finds consolation in anything,   
   nor   
   clings to anything except God, forgetting his own honor and every interest   
   of   
   his own.   
   -St. Teresa   
      
   Bible Quote   
   18 And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in   
   heaven   
   and in earth. 19 Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in   
   the   
   name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 20 Teaching them   
   to   
   observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you   
   all   
   days, even to the consummation of the world.   (Matthew 28:18-20)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Is the Cross you wear too Heavy to Bear?   
      
   Complainingly I told myself,   
   "this cross is too heavy to wear"   
   And I wondered discontentedly   
   why God gave it to me to bear.   
   And I looked with envy at others   
   whose crosses seemed lighter than mine   
   And wished that I could change my cross   
   for one of a lighter design -   
   And then, in a dream, I beheld the cross   
   I impulsively wanted to wear,   
   It was fashioned of pearls and diamonds   
   and gems that were precious and rare.   
   And when I hung it around my neck   
   the weight of the jewels and the gold   
   Was much too heavy and cumbersome   
   for my small, slender neck to hold -   
   So I tossed it aside and before my eyes   
   was a cross of rose-red flowers   
   And I said with delight as I put it on,   
   "this cross I can wear for hours" -   
   For it was so dainty and fragile,   
   so lovely and light and thin,   
   But I had forgotten about the thorns   
   that started to pierce my skin -   
   And then in my dream I saw "my cross,"   
   rugged and old and plain,   
   That clumsy old cross I had looked upon   
   with discontented disdain -   
   And at last I knew that God had made   
   this "special cross for me,"   
   For God in His great wisdom knew   
   what I before could not see,   
   That often the loveliest crosses   
   are the heaviest crosses to bear,   
   For only God is wise enough   
   to choose the cross we can wear -   
   So never complain about YOUR CROSS,   
   for your cross has been blest,   
   God made it JUST FOR YOU to wear   
   and remember, GOD KNOWS BEST!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)