From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Truth Speaks Inwardly Without the Sound of Words  (2)   
      
      The children of Israel once said to Moses: “Speak thou to us and we   
   will hear thee: let not the Lord speak to us, lest we die.” Exod.   
   20:19.  Not so, Lord, not so do I pray. Rather with Samuel the prophet   
   I entreat humbly and earnestly:   
   “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.” Do not let Moses or any of the   
   prophets speak to me; but You speak, O Lord God, Who inspired and   
   enlightened all the prophets; for You alone, without them, can   
   instruct me perfectly, whereas they, without You, can do nothing.   
   They, indeed, utter fine words, but they cannot impart the spirit.   
   They do indeed speak beautifully, but if You remain silent they cannot   
   inflame the heart. They deliver the message; You lay bare the sense.   
   They place before us mysteries, but You unlock their meaning. They   
   proclaim commandments; You help us to keep them. They point out the   
   way; You give strength for the journey. They work only outwardly; You   
   instruct and enlighten our hearts. They water on the outside; You give   
   the increase.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 3, Chapter 2   
      
      
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   February 22nd - SS. Thalassius and Limnaeus   
   d. 450   
      
   WE read of the holy hermits Thalassius and Limnaeus in the Philotheus   
   of Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, who wrote of them from personal   
   knowledge. He describes Thalassius as an ascetic of wonderful   
   simplicity and meekness, who outshone all his contemporaries in   
   holiness. “I often visited the man”, he says, “and had sweet converse   
   with him.” Thalassius had taken up his abode in a cave on a hillside   
   south of the town of Tillima in Syria, and Limnaeus, who was much   
   younger than he, came to live with him as his disciple. To control too   
   free a tongue, Limnaeus kept complete silence for a long period, and,   
   by similar practices, obtained complete mastery over himself.   
      
   Later on Limnaeus left Thalassius to attach himself to another   
   solitary—the famous St Maro—under whom he completed his training. He   
   then went to live alone on a neighbouring mountain peak, where he   
   built himself a rough stone enclosure without mortar and without a   
   root It had a little window through which he could communicate with   
   the outside world, and a door which was usually cemented up and only   
   opened to admit Theodoret, his bishop.   
      
   The anchoret was widely famed for his healing powers: sick people and   
   those afflicted with evil spirits used to come to his window and he   
   healed them in the name of Jesus by making over them the sign of the   
   cross. Once he trod on a snake and it bit the sole of his foot, and   
   when he tried to remove it, it bit his hands also he suffered great   
   pain, but was healed by prayer. He had a special affection for blind   
   people, and used to gather them together and teach them to sing hymns.   
   He also built two houses for them near his cell and did all he could   
   to help them. Theodoret says that Limnaeus had lived 38 years in this   
   way in the open air at the time he was writing his history.   
      
   The Philotheus of Theodoret is our main authority, but these saints   
   also have a detailed notice in the Greek synaxaries.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The more a person loves God, the more reason he has to hope in Him.   
   This hope produces in the Saints an unutterable peace, which they   
   preserve even in adversity, because as they love God, and know how   
   beautiful He is to those who love Him, they place all their confidence   
   and find all their repose in Him alone.   
   --Saint Alphonsus Liguori   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   For neither did his brethren believe in him. 6 Then Jesus said to   
   them: My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. 7 The   
   world cannot hate you; but me it hateth: because I give testimony of   
   it, that the works thereof are evil.  (John 7:5-7)   
      
      
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   ACT OF CONSECRATION TO   
   OUR LADY OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL   
      
   O Virgin Mother of God, Mary Immaculate,   
   we dedicate and consecrate ourselves to you   
   under the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.   
   May this Medal be for each one of us   
   a sure sign of your affection for us   
   and a constant reminder of our duties towards you.   
   Ever while wearing it,   
   may we be blessed by your loving protection   
   and preserved in the grace of your Son.   
   O most powerful Virgin,   
   Mother of our Saviour,   
   keep us close to you every moment of our lives.   
   Obtain for us, your children,   
   the grace of a happy death;   
   so that, in union with you,   
   we may enjoy the bliss of heaven forever.   
      
   Amen.   
      
   O Mary, conceived without sin,   
   pray for us who have recourse to you.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)