From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Only by hope   
      
   "'Turn, O my soul, into your rest: for the Lord has been bountiful to   
   you' (Psalm 114:7). The brave contestant applies to himself the   
   consoling words, very much like to Paul, when he says: 'I have fought   
   the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. For   
   the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice.' These things   
   the prophet also says to himself: Since you have fulfilled   
   sufficiently the course of this life, turn then to your rest, 'for the   
   Lord has been bountiful to you.' For, eternal rest lies before those   
   who have struggled through the present life observant of the laws, a   
   rest not given in payment for a debt owed for their works but provided   
   as a grace of the munificent God for those who have hoped in him."   
      by Basil the Great, 329-379 A.D.(excerpt from HOMILIES 22)   
      
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   July 6th - Saint Goar of Aquitaine (Latin: Goaris)   
      
   Saint Goar was a priest and hermit of the 7th century. He was offered   
   the position of Bishop of Trier, but prayed to be excused from the   
   position, He then died of an overwhelming fever. He is noted for his   
   piety, and is revered as a miracle-worker.   
      
   Goar was born in 585 to a noble family in Aquitaine, and was noted for   
   piety even in his youth. When he was finally ordained a priest, he   
   became famous for his forceful preaching. However, Goar wanted to   
   serve God more discreetly, and so traveled abroad to the diocese of   
   Trier in 618 to become a hermit near the town of Oberwesel. Despite   
   his intention to live in solitude and obscurity, his renown for   
   holiness spread all over the country.   
      
   Goar was frequently visited by travelers seeking advice. On one   
   occasion, he was derided by two pilgrims, who told Rusticus, the   
   Bishop of Trier, that the hermit was a hypocrite and did not live true   
   to his vows of poverty and chastity. Goar was called upon by the   
   bishop to defend himself. When Goar appeared to argue his case before   
   Rusticus, legend says that he effected a decisive miracle, by which   
   the hermit proved his innocence; even more, the miracle indicated that   
   Rusticus was guilty of the very same charges of imprudence and   
   lasciviousness. As a result, Sigebert III, King of Austrasia, called   
   Goar to Metz and requested that he fill Rusticus's position in Trier.   
      
   Another version of the story states that Goar was accused of sorcery   
   by Rusticus himself, cleared by Sigebert in Metz, and then, after   
   Rusticus was deposed for his dishonesty, the saint was offered the see   
   of Trier.   
      
   In any case, it is certain that Goar did not want to saddle himself   
   with the responsibilities and pressures of a bishopric, and asked for   
   time to reflect on the decision. Upon returning to Oberwesel, however,   
   he fell ill and died on 6 July 649, having never become bishop.   
      
   The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that "a small church" was dedicated to   
   Goar in 1768 "in the little town on the banks of the Rhine which bears   
   his name (St-Goar)."[It is also reported that Charlemagne built a   
   church over the site of Goar's hermitage. It is around this church   
   that the town of Sankt Goar am Rhein grew on the left bank of the   
   Rhine between Wesel and Boppard.   
      
   A life of Saint Goar (Vita Sancti Goaris) was written in 839 by a   
   monk, Wandalbert of Prüm. This semi-legendary account of Goar's life   
   details various miracles relevant to the life of the saint. The first   
   was the one by which Goar proved Rusticus's unsavory nature. A   
   foundling, recovered in a nearby church, was brought to the saint. The   
   bishop called upon Goar to name the father of the baby as a proof of   
   his innocence. Goar did not fail the test; he named the bishop   
   Rusticus his father, upon which Rusticus was shocked and begged for   
   forgiveness.   
      
   Another miracle explains Goar's depiction as hanging his hat on a   
   sunbeam. When the saint refused Sigebert's invitation to the See of   
   Trier, he threw his cappa over a sunbeam: the garment was suspended   
   "as though the shaft of light were solid." The purpose of this miracle   
   was not merely a display of bravado, but to show that the saint's   
   action in refusing the position was divinely justified.   
      
    He is variously depicted in art as a hermit being given milk by three   
   hinds, as holding a pitcher, with the devil on his shoulder or under   
   his feet, and as holding the church of Saint Goar am Rhein. He is a   
   patron saint of innkeepers, potters, and vine growers.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   "When you close the doors to your dwelling and are alone you should   
   know that there is present with you the angel whom God has appointed   
   for each man...This angel, who is sleepless and cannot be deceived, is   
   always present with you; he sees all things and is not hindered by   
   darkness. You should know, too, that with him is God, who is in every   
   place; for there is no place and nothing material in which God is not,   
   since He is greater than all things and holds all men in His hand."   
   --St. Antony the Great.   
      
   Bible Quote   
   Fight the good fight of faith.  Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto   
   thou art called and be it confessed a good confession before many   
   witnesses. I charge thee before God who quickeneth all things, and   
   before Christ Jesus who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate, a good   
   confession:  (1 Tim. 6:12-13)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Hymn from Corpus Christi.   
      
   Jesus! my Lord, my God, my All! How can I love Thee as I ought?   
   And how revere this wondrous gift, So far surpassing hope or thought?   
      
   Had I but Mary's sinless heart To love Thee with, my dearest King!   
   O, with what bursts of fervent praise Thy goodness, Jesus, would I sing!   
   Sweet Sacrament! We Thee adore! O, make us love Thee more and more!   
      
   F. Faber: Corpus Christi. (19th cent.)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)