From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Searching for the greatest treasure of all   
      
   The pearl of great price also tells us a similar lesson (Matthew   
   13:45). Pearls in the ancient world came to represent the supremely   
   valuable. Why would a merchant sell everything for a single pearl of   
   peerless value? No doubt because he was attracted to what he thought   
   was the greatest treasure he could possess for himself. On another   
   occasion Jesus told his disciples, "do not throw your pearls before   
   swine" (Matthew 7:6). Beautiful unblemished pearls were intended to   
   enhance the beauty and value of those who wore them. Do you recognize   
   and value the hidden treasure of God's kingdom and the peerless pearl   
   which the Lord Jesus offers to all who believe in him?   
      
   =============   
   August 9th - St. Emygdius (Emidius)   
   Martyr beheaded together with three companions, SS. Eupolus, Germanus   
   and Valentinus.   
      
      Chiefly because he is regarded as patron against earthquakes, St.   
   Emygdius (Emidius) is greatly honoured in Italy: for the same reason   
   his cultus has, in later years, been extended to San Francisco and Los   
   Angeles in the United States.  The saint's true history has long since   
   been forgotten, but his legend is preserved in his so-called "acts".   
   He is there described as a German who, after being converted to   
   Christianity, left his native city of Trier and came to Rome during   
   the pontificate of Pope Marcellus I. Full of zeal for the faith,   
   Emygdius entered a heathen temple and dashed a statue of Aesculapius   
   to the ground.  Pagans of Rome were so incensed by this action that   
   Pope Marcellus, in order to protect Emygdius from their vengeance,   
   ordained him, consecrated him a bishop, and sent him to evangelize the   
   territory of Ascoli Piceno.  There he laboured with success, making   
   many converts.   
      
      He was beheaded during the persecution of Diocletian, together with   
   three companions, SS. Eupolus, Germanus and Valentinus.  Seeing that   
   St. Marcellus did not occupy the chair of St. Peter until 308, he   
   could scarcely have been the pope who ordained St. Emygdius, but   
   popular tradition is notoriously indifferent to chronology.  On the   
   other hand, it is possible that a careless scribe may have substituted   
   the name of Marcellus for that of Marcellinus, who was his   
   predecessor.  The festival of St. Emygdius is kept throughout Italy on   
   August 9 and other dates, in accordance with local use and tradition.   
      
   The Bollandists have printed the supposed passio of St. Emygdius in   
   the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. ii, but they regard the story as   
   altogether untrustworthy.  Several booklets have been written by   
   devout inhabitants of Ascoli and others about their patron, but most   
   of these are entirely uncritical.  The most considerable seem to be   
   the volumes by P. A. Appiani (1702), A. G. Andreucci (1729), C. Masdeu   
   (1794) and C. Levis (1809).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
    Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were   
   to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow   
   His grace to mold them accordingly.   
   --St. Ignatius Loyola   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   He who keeps his mouth and his tongue   
       keeps himself out of trouble. Proverbs 21:23  RSVCE   
      
      
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   Reflection and Prayer from the Imitation of Christ   
      
    Obedience   
      
   We must not be satisfied with exteriorly submitting to obedience and   
   in things that are easy, but we must obey with our whole heart, and in   
   things the most difficult. For the greater the difficulty, the greater   
   also is the merit of obedience. Can we refuse to submit to man for   
   God’s sake, when God, for love of us, submits to man, even to His very   
   executioners?   
      Jesus Christ was willingly obedient during His whole life, and even   
   unto the death of the Cross; and am I unwilling to spend my life in   
   the exercise of obedience, and to make it my cross and my merit?   
   Independence belongs to God, who has made man dependent upon others,   
   that his subordination may be to him the means of his sanctification.   
   I will therefore form myself upon the model of my submissive,   
   dependent, and obedient Saviour, and dispose of nothing in myself, not   
   even of my own will.   
      
   Prayer:   
   O my Saviour, Who, in obedience to Thy Father, wast conceived in the   
   womb of Mary, Who didst go down to Nazareth, and wast subject to Thy   
   parents for thirty years, Who wouldst be born and live, and die in   
   obedience, induce us to follow Thine example, to obey Thee in all   
   things in the persons of our superiors, who hold Thy place in our   
   regard. Grant that, doing willingly what is ordained us, and   
   endeavoring to believe it best, we may spend our whole lives in   
   continual obedience, and thus secure for ourselves Thy grace in time,   
   and Thy glory for all eternity. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)