From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The Word of Life was seen and touched   
      
   "Given that this same John also said, 'No one has ever seen God' (John   
   1:18, 1 John 1:4:12), how can he assure us that the living Word of   
   Life has been seen and touched? It is clear that it was in his   
   incarnate and human form that he was visible and touchable. What was   
   not true of him by nature became true of him in that way, for he is   
   one and the same indivisible Word, both visible and invisible, and   
   without diminishing in either respect he became touchable in both his   
   divine-human nature. For he worked his miracles in his divinity and   
   suffered for us in his humanity."   
    by Severus of Antioch (488-538 AD) (excerpt from CATENA)   
      
      
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   February 6th – Saint Dorothy of Caesarea, Virgin, Martyr   
   (Also known as Dora of Caesarea, Dorothea of Caesarea)   
      
   d. 311   
      
    Saint Dorothy’s faith brought angels from heaven at the time of her   
   martyrdom, converting the soul of the skeptic. She has been venerated   
   since her martyrdom, and her relics are honored in a church dedicated   
   to her honor in Rome.   
      
   Saint Dorothy, whose name means “Gift of God,” was born during the   
   time of great Christian persecutions. Dorothy’s family was born into   
   the line of Roman governors, but even from a young age, Dorothy   
   refused to worship idols in the pagan tradition. The family--Dorothy’s   
   father, mother, and two sisters--was forced to sell their possessions   
   and flee Rome to Cappadocia, settling in Caesarea. Dorothy was sent to   
   school, under the instruction of bishop Saint Appollinarius who   
   christened her. From that time on, she pledged herself to Christ,   
   filled with the Holy Spirit, and vowed a promise of perpetual   
   chastity.   
      
   Being recognized for her Christianity, the local magistrate,   
   Sapricius, was determined to convert Dorothy to paganism. He placed   
   her under the care of two pagan sisters, who Dorothy brought back to   
   the Christian faith.  She was again brought before Sapricius, who had   
   her tortured. She was stretched upon the rack, and offered marriage if   
   she would consent to sacrifice, or death if she refused. But she   
   replied, that “Christ was her only Spouse, and death her desire.”   
   Sapricius himself was amazed at the heavenly look she wore, and asked   
   her the cause of her joy. “Because,” she said, “I have brought back   
   two souls to Christ, and because I shall soon be in heaven rejoicing   
   with the angels.” Her joy grew as she was buffeted in the face, and   
   her sides burnt with plates of red-hot iron.   
      
   Enraged, Sapricius martyred her parents and sisters by binding them   
   back to back, dipping them in pitch, and setting them afire. He then   
   sentenced Dorothy to death by decapitation. “Blessed be Thou,” she   
   cried, when she was sentenced to be beheaded, - “blessed be Thou, O   
   Thou Lover of souls’ who dost call me to Paradise, and invitest me to   
   Thy nuptial chamber.”   
      
   As Saint Dorothy was being led to execution, due to her refusal to   
   worship idols and recant her faith in Christ, she prayed, "I thank   
   You, 0 Lover of souls, for having called me to Your paradise. Leadest   
   me to Thy most holy court"   
      
   An official of the Roman governor, Theophilus, observed her being led   
   past him, and overheard her prayer. He mocked her, stating, “Farewell,   
   bride of Christ, send me apples or roses from your Bridegroom's garden   
   of bliss."   
      
   Saint Dorothy answered, "I most certainly will."   
      
   Moments before she was martyred, a beautiful youth appeared before   
   her, carrying three apples and three roses in a napkin. Saint Dorothy   
   prayerfully asked him, “I implore you to take these to Theophilus."   
   With that accomplished, she was martyred, joining her family.   
      
   Theophilus, for his part, was dining with some friends, gleefully   
   recounting his mockery of the young virgin martyr. As he told his   
   story, a young man appeared before him holding a linen in which were   
   wrapped three beautiful apples and three magnificent roses.   
      
   "See, the virgin Dorothy sends you these from the garden of her   
   Bridegroom, even as she promised you,” the young man said, handing the   
   linen-wrapped heavenly bounty to Theophilus. He was highly astonished,   
   for it was February and everything in nature was frozen.   
      
   Receiving the gift, Theophilus cried out: "Truly indeed, Christ is   
   God." And soon he too died a martyr's death for publicly confessing   
   the faith.   
      
   Saint Dorothy’s faith never wavered. She endured mockery and eventual   
   death for her convictions. We look to her example as inspiration for   
   remaining true to Our Lord, even in times of difficulty, struggle, and   
   mockery of the Church.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Dismiss all anger, and look a little into yourself. Remember that he   
   of whom you are speaking is your brother, and, as he is in the way of   
   salvation, God can make him a Saint, notwithstanding his present   
   weaknesses. You may fall into the same faults or perhaps into a worse   
   fault. But supposing that you remain upright, to whom are you indebted   
   for it, if not to the pure mercy of God?   
    --Saint Thomas of Villanova   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   He who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall   
   never thirst. (John 6:35)   
      
      
   Prayer:   
      
   The Lord Jesus will give us perceiving eyes and listening ears to   
   understand the message of his kingdom if we approach him with faith   
   and humility and the readiness to be taught. The proud cannot see nor   
   hear the truth of God's kingdom because they trust in their own   
   opinion and perception of what is true or real. They have shut their   
   minds to supernatural truth of God and his word. Do you approach God's   
   word with trust and humility or with doubtful pride and   
   skepticism?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)