From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On the Excellence of a Free Mind  [I]   
      
   THE DISCIPLE:   
   Lord, one who desires perfection must make it his first task to keep   
   his mind at all times set on heavenly things. By so doing, he can pass   
   carefree through many troubles, not as one who has not the wit to   
   realize the dangers that beset him, but in the strength of a free   
   mind, unfettered by undue attachment to worldly things.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3  Ch 26   
      
   ===========   
   July 18th - St. Pambo, Man of Few Words   
   (Fourth Century)   
      
   The hermits of the Egyptian deserts, like the early followers of St.   
   Francis of Assisi, included many unique personalities, and many a tale   
   is recorded of their wise words and deeds.   
      
   One of the most notable of the “desert fathers” in the fourth century   
   Egypt was St. Pambo. Pambo first came to the monasteries of the   
   Nitrian desert seeking guidance from Egypt’s pioneer abbot, St.   
   Anthony. “What shall I do?” he asked Anthony. Old Anthony replied, “Be   
   not confident of thy own righteousness; grieve not over a thing that   
   is past; and be continent of thy tongue and belly.”   
      
   Pambo undertook the typical discipline of the hermits around him. He   
   was strong on self-denial. He wore cast-off clothing (although his   
   personal bearing was so majestic that nobody noticed the meanness of   
   his garb). He fasted. He prayed for long periods. He also engaged, of   
   course, in self-supporting manual labor, weaving mats and baskets out   
   of palm-fronds.   
      
   But he took a special fancy to Anthony’s advice to control his speech   
   – “be continent of tongue.” In fact, when he was given his very first   
   reading lesson, his monk-teacher began with Psalm 39, line one: “I   
   said, I will watch my ways, so as not to sin with my tongue.” “That   
   will do for today,” said Pambo. He rose abruptly to ponder this single   
   verse and its implications. Thinking it through took him six months!   
   Then he returned to his teacher for lesson number two.   
      
   Some people speak little because they have little to say. Pambo had   
   much to say, but spoke with great economy. Other spiritual people   
   realized this, and came to him for advice that they knew would be   
   carefully considered, even if a bit gruffly spoken. The famous writer   
   Rufinus visited him for counsel. So did St. Athanasius the Archbishop   
   and St. Melania the Abbess. Once, when somebody gave him some money   
   for the poor, the donor suggested that he count it. “No,” said Abbot   
   Pambo, “God does not ask how much, but how.” End of conversation.   
      
   Pambo was not, however, like some hermits who held that the hermit’s   
   life is the only way to save one’s soul. Two monks were once disputing   
   which would be the better man – he who gave away all his fortune and   
   entered a monastery, or he who did not become a monk but expended his   
   all on corporal works of mercy. Pambo answered, “Before God both are   
   perfect. There are other roads to perfection besides being a monk.”   
      
   Two other hermits gave him a list of their many acts of self-denial   
   and almsgiving. “Will these save our souls?” Said Pambo: “I do the   
   same things, but I do not thereby become a good monk. Seek never to   
   offend your neighbor, and you will be saved.”   
      
   Pambo found that his formula of hard work and deliberate speech served   
   him well. The day he died he was plaiting a basket for one of his   
   disciples. He said to his gathered monks (in perhaps his longest   
   speech ever): “Since I came into the desert, I have eaten nothing that   
   I have not earned by work, and do not remember that I have ever said   
   anything for which I had need to be sorry afterwards. Nevertheless I   
   must now go to God, before I have even begun to serve Him.”   
      
   St. Melania was present at his death, took care of his funeral, and   
   bore off the unfinished basket as a relic to remind her of this man   
   who never spoke an unnecessary, (and therefore, regrettable) word.   
      
   Hermit or not, we must all be cautious about what we say. The Bible   
   must have had people, like Pambo, in mind when it said: “A wise man is   
   silent till the right time comes, but a boasting fool ignores the   
   proper time.” (Sir. 20:6). St. Pambo, help me to know when to shut up!   
   –Father Bob   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to him. That is all the   
   doing you have to worry about.   
   -- Saint Jeanne de Chantal   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   He that speaketh of himself, seeketh his own glory: but he that   
   seeketh the glory of him that sent him, he is true, and there is no   
   injustice in him.  (John 7:18)  DRB   
      
   <><><><>   
   I Adore Thee, O Jesus, True God and True Man   
      
       I adore Thee, O Jesus,   
       true God and true Man,   
       here present in the Holy Eucharist,   
       humbly kneeling before Thee   
       and united in spirit with all the faithful on earth   
       and all the blessed in heaven.   
       In deepest gratitude for so great a blessing,   
       I love Thee, my Jesus,   
       with my whole heart,   
       for Thou art all perfect and all worthy of love.   
      
       Give me grace nevermore in any way to offend Thee,   
       and grant that I,   
       being refreshed by Thy Eucharistic presence here on earth,   
       may be found worthy to come to the enjoyment with Mary   
       of Thine eternal and ever-blessed presence in heaven.   
      
       Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)