From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Angels--Their Discourse   
      
   In the Book of Tobias (xii. 6-15) the Archangel Raphael delivers to   
   the family of Tobias a model sermon.   
      
   He puts in the front the duty of giving glory to God. "Bless ye the   
   God of Heaven; give glory to Him in the sight of all that live." He   
   knew that unless we give glory to God in all our actions, they are   
   worthless in God's sight. To take the glory to ourselves instead of   
   giving it to God was the sin of the Pharisees and of the heathen   
   world. Do I give glory to God in all my actions?   
      
   He recommends prayer as a means of obtaining a treasure far greater   
   than treasures of gold, but it must be accompanied (1) with fasting or   
   some sort of mortification, (2) with almsgiving, (3) with tears and   
   earnest desires for what we ask. Such prayers of ours the Angels   
   themselves offer to God. Such prayers are sure to meet with an answer   
   from Him. Are these the characteristics of my prayers?   
      
   He tells the aged Tobias that his trials and temptations, far from   
   being a sign of God's anger, were on the contrary a sign of His love.   
   "Because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation   
   should prove thee." The troubles that befell him were sent simply   
   because he was pleasing in God's sight. We must not therefore despair   
   if we are sorely tried, but take courage, and regard it as a proof of   
   God's love.   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   December 27th – St. Fabiola of Rome, Widow   
   (d. 339 A.D.)   
      
   As Isaiah had prophesied, Christ came to preach the gospel to “the   
   poor”. His church has always given a special option to the penniless.   
   But sometimes rich people are even poorer than paupers because they   
   are subject to greater temptations.   
      
   Fabiola was a member (as her name indicates) of the Fabii, one of   
   ancient Rome’s most aristocratic and wealthy families. She was a   
   Christian, but a socialite, and rather headstrong, probably because   
   she had been raised to have her own way.   
      
   When Fabiola married, it was also to a man of social prominence. But   
   through no fault of hers, he proved to be so dissolute that she was   
   unwilling to continue living with him. She therefore obtained a civil   
   divorce. This was understandable. But then, as so often happens today,   
   Fabiola, still young, vigorous and companionable, took another spouse   
   while her separated husband was still alive. Then as now, this was   
   adultery. Fabiola remained strong in faith perhaps, but proved weak in   
   morals.   
      
   Providentially, Fabiola’s second mate did not live long. His death   
   gave her the long-desired opportunity to seek reconciliation with the   
   Church. Having performed the long public penance that was demanded in   
   those days of public sinners, this Roman divorcee was readmitted to   
   the sacraments by Pope St. Siricius. Thenceforth she sought to make   
   amends for her waywardness by expending her great wealth on worthy   
   causes. To churches and congregations in Rome and elsewhere she gave   
   large sums. She also founded a Roman hospital for the sick poor, whom   
   she gathered in from the streets and alleys, and took care of   
   personally. As far as is known, this was the first great Christian   
   public hospital to be opened in western Europe.   
      
   In those days, St. Jerome, the famous monk and scripture scholar, was   
   exercising an influential apostolate among Roman Christian women of   
   high position. Some of these had become nuns and gone to live near the   
   saint in his chosen locale, Bethlehem. In 395 Fabiola herself went to   
   the Holy Land to visit and learn from him. She stayed with two of his   
   spiritual advisees, the nuns Sts. Paula and Eustochium, both also   
   Romans by origin. Fabiola revered St. Jerome and would have liked to   
   join his community, but the silent monastic life did not appeal to   
   this gregarious and sociable woman.   
      
   Bye and bye, the rumor reached St. Jerome’s little community that the   
   Asiatic Huns were about to swarm into the area of Jerusalem and   
   Bethlehem. Jerome and all his associates quickly fled for safety to   
   the seacoast. The alarm proved to be false, however, so they moved   
   back to Bethlehem--all except Fabiola, who had decided to return to   
   Rome.   
      
   There is some indication that Fabiola was tempted once more to   
   remarry. At least she did not yield to that temptation. Once back in   
   Rome she renewed her program of good works. Cooperating with another   
   prominent Roman Christian, a man named Pammachius, she set up a large   
   hospice at Porto, the Roman port of entry on the Mediterranean coast.   
   Intended to serve travelers and paupers arriving by sea, this   
   guest-house, like her hospital in Rome, was both novel and welcome. As   
   St. Jerome tells us, within a year of its foundation, the good news of   
   Fabiola’s hospice had spread across the Roman Empire from Britain to   
   Persia. Even after the hospice, St. Fabiola started to plan still   
   another institution of charity, but death now spoiled her plans. All   
   Rome, it is said, attended the funeral of its benefactress, who had   
   shared her wealth with the needy.   
      
   The story of Fabiola has a curiously modern quality. This socially   
   gifted woman can serve as a good example to today’s women whose   
   marriages break up. Woman is endowed by God with talents both as a   
   wife and a mother. Even when she loses her status as wife, she can   
   still live out her status as mother, not only to her own children but   
   to all who need a mother’s touch and a mother’s love.   
   –   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Think well. Speak well. Do well. These three things, through the mercy   
   of God, will make a man go to Heaven.   
   -- St. Camillus de Lellis   
      
   Bible Quote:   
    Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in   
   him, and he in God.  (1 John 4:15) DRV   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   THE TWO FLOWER PRAYERS OF ST. GERTRUDE   
      
   HAIL, White Lily, of the ever-peaceful and glorious Trinity!   
   Hail, Vermilion Rose, the delight of Heaven, of whom the King   
   of Heaven was born and by whose milk He was nourished!   
   Do thou feed our souls with the effusions of your divine influences.   
   Hail! Vivifying Gem of Divine Nobility!   
   Hail, Most Loving Jesus, Unfading   
   Flower of Human Dignity!   
   You are my Sovereign and only Good.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)