From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Who do you love first--above all else?   
      
   The love of God compels us to choose who or what will be first in our   
   lives. To place any relationship or any possession above God is a form   
   of idolatry. Jesus challenges his disciples to examine what they love   
   first and foremost. Jesus' way to glory and power is opposite the   
   world's way of glory, power, and success. The choice is ours, but the   
   Lord does not leave us alone if we choose to follow him. Does the love   
   of Christ compel you to put God first in all you do (see 2 Corinthians   
   5)?   
      
      
   ===========   
   March 28th – Saint Stephen Harding   
   Also known as Esteban Harding, Etienne Harding, Stefano Harding   
      
   Memorial 28 March   
   formerly 17 April   
      
   (died 1134)   
      
   Saint Stephen Harding was founder of the Cistercian monasteries, and   
   third abbot of the monastery at Citeaux. Referred to by his brothers   
   as “the Pragmatic Englishman,” Citeaux grew in membership and   
   prosperity under his leadership, allowing the expansion and   
   sustainability of the Order, which he would later formalize in the   
   Carta Caritatis (the Charter of Love).   
      
   Stephen Harding was born in Dorset, England, the son of a nobleman. At   
   a young age, Stephen’s parents delivered him to the abbey at   
   Sherbourne, consecrating him to the Lord, and entrusting the monks   
   there to raise their son. Proficient in English, French, and Latin,   
   Stephen demonstrated an incredible aptitude for his studies, but   
   became dissatisfied with the corruption in the monastery at   
   Sherbourne. He became a traveling scholar, continuing his studies in   
   Paris and Rome. Eventually, Stephen settled at the abbey of Molesme in   
   Burgundy, serving the abbot there, Saint Robert of Molesme.   
      
   When Saint Robert left Molesme, attempting to distance himself from   
   corruption and laxity that had developed there, Stephen and Saint   
   Alberic accompanied him. Eventually, twenty-one additional monks   
   deserted Molesme to join Saint Robert, Stephen, and Saint Alberic, and   
   the three leaders formed a new monastery at Citeaux.   
      
   Initially, Saint Robert served as abbot, but left to return to Molesme   
   after one year. Saint Alberic served as abbot until his death in 1108,   
   at which point, Saint Stephen assumed the role. As abbot, Stephen   
   guided the new monastery over a period of great growth. Saint Bernard   
   of Clairvaux visited in 1112 and brought with him his followers.   
   Between 1112 and 1119, a dozen new Cistercian houses were founded to   
   contain the monks coming to the new movement. In 1115, for example,   
   Saint Stephen built the abbey of Clairvaux, and installed St. Bernard   
   as its Abbot. From it 800 abbeys were born.   
      
   In 1119, Stephen wrote the Carta Caritatis, ('Charter of Love'), the   
   document which established the charter and unifying principles for the   
   Cistercian Order. The Charter of Love (also referred to as the Charter   
   of Charity) was a six page constitution which laid out the   
   relationship between the Cistercian houses and their abbots, set out   
   the obligations and duties inherent in these, and ensured the   
   accountability of all the abbots and houses to the underlying themes   
   of charity and living according to the rule of Benedict.   
      
   Saint Stephen served the monastery at Citeaux for 25 years, and while   
   the initial 3 abbots are considered founders of the Order, none are   
   considered as responsible for shaping the beliefs and growth of the   
   Order as Saint Stephen. Saint Stephen was guided by practicality, in   
   both his administration of the monastery complex and his scholarship.   
   He revised the Cistercian Breviary, eradicating corruptions that had   
   crept in chant, and translated many works personally by consulting   
   ancient texts and consulting with rabbis on the difficult Hebrew   
   passages. The monks at Citeaux labored endlessly to copy and   
   illuminate these passages, and the scriptorium at Citeaux was regarded   
   as famous in its day.   
      
   In 1133, Saint Stephen resigned as head of the order, due to age and   
   disability. He died the following year. The account of his death is   
   particularly moving for its humility. When confronted by his   
   contemporaries, who assured him that he had nothing to fear in the   
   next world, Saint Stephen replied: "I assure you that I go to God in   
   fear and trembling. If my baseness should be found to have ever done   
   any good, even in this I fear, lest I should not have preserved that   
   grace with the humility and care I ought."   
      
   In the words of author Stephen Tobin, "Stephen Harding found Cîteaux   
   just another reformed abbey, and left it the head of the first   
   (European) religious order ... Nothing like it had ever been seen   
   before ... At the head of a flourishing family of daughter houses,   
   with a clearly defined manifesto and full legal constitution, Cîteaux   
   was a force for change, and a force to be reckoned within a world   
   where (other leaders) vied to outdo each other in accruing and   
   displaying wealth and power.”   
      
   Saint Stephen instructed and formalized his brothers in the tenets of   
   monastic life: Obedience, Poverty, Chastity, Silence, Prayer and Work.   
   His life was a balance of practicality and devotion, spending his days   
   in prayer for the blessings of the Lord upon the order, while   
   attending to the practical daily management of many monasteries.   
   Throughout his accomplishments, he remained humble and penitent, never   
   taking credit for the successes and growth of the Cistercians, but   
   instead, attributing all good things to the Lord. Today, we pray for   
   the practicality and devotion of Saint Stephen Harding, as we journey   
   toward Easter.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Depend upon it, it is better to learn how to live without being angry   
   than to imagine one can moderate and control anger lawfully; and if   
   through weakness and frailty one is overtaken by it, it is far better   
   to put it away forcibly than to parley with it; for give anger ever so   
   little way, and it will become master, like the serpent, who easily   
   works in its body wherever it can once introduce its head.   
   --St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Dearly beloved: Rejoice in the measure that you share Christ’s   
   sufferings. When his glory is revealed, you will rejoice exultantly.   
   Happy are you when you are insulted for the sake of Christ, for then   
   God’s spirit in its glory has come to rest on you.  [1 Peter 4:13-14]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   The Good Morning God Prayer   
      
   Good Morning God!   
   You are ushering in another day,   
   untouched and freshly new.   
   So here I am to ask you, God,   
   if You'll renew me too.   
      
   Forgive the many errors that I made yesterday   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)