From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On Putting our Entire Trust in God  [III]    
      
   But the man who keeps no guard over his heart, and does not regard   
   God, is easily unsettled by a word of reproof; whereas he who trusts   
   in Me and does not cling to his own judgement will fear no man. For I   
   am the judge and discerner of secrets; I understand the motives of   
   every action; I know both him who inflicts the wrong and him who   
   suffers it. It is by My will and permission that events happen, in   
   order that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. (Luke 2:35) I   
   will judge the guilty and the innocent, but firstly I wish to test   
   them in secret judgement.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3 Ch 46   
      
   ============   
   August 13th - St. Benildus   
   Also known as Benilde, Peter Romancon, Pierre Romancon   
      
   Memorial   
   13 August   
   29 January (optional for the De La Salle Brothers)   
      
   (1805-1862)   
      
   Peter Romancon was born in a village of southeast France in 1805. The   
   bright son of respected parents, he impressed his school teachers from   
   the start as a child of promise.   
      
   One day, when he was only six, Peter’s father took him on a trip to   
   Clermont, the nearest large city. There his eyes happened to fall on   
   some men wearing black cassocks with white collar-tabs, and big black   
   cloaks. “Who are they?” he asked his dad.   
      
   “They are Brothers of the Christian Schools,” Mr. Romancon told him.   
   Today, in the United States, we call these men “Christian Brothers.”   
   They are a religious community who take the vows of poverty, chastity   
   and obedience but do not become priests. St. John Baptist de la Salle   
   founded them in 1684 to conduct schools for boys, especially the   
   children of poor parents.   
      
   Peter was fascinated by this information. He told his father and   
   mother that he wanted to become a Christian Brother himself. The older   
   he got, the more he insisted on this desire, especially after he   
   himself began to attend a school run by the Brothers. When he was   
   fourteen, he asked to be admitted to the order. No, they told him; he   
   was too young. Two years later he made another try. To test his   
   mettle, Mr. Romancon told Peter that if he left home now he would cut   
   him off without a cent in his will. Peter replied that he wouldn’t   
   mind. In that case he would “only be exchanging earthly goods for   
   heavenly goods.”   
      
   Actually, his parents gave him their blessings in 1820 when he set off   
   for the Brothers’ novitiate. The Brothers soon realized what a   
   treasure Peter was. His spiritual director did not hesitate to say,   
   “This young brother will be one of the glories of our congregation one   
   day.”   
      
   Brother “Benildus” (the name given him by the Order) prepared himself   
   well for the teaching that was to be his life work. Only two years   
   after he had taken his vows he was put in charge of a school in the   
   town of Billom near Clermont. He was so successful that in 1840, when   
   he was 36, he was sent to found a new school in the village of   
   Saugues, near the city of LePuy. Here he spent the rest of his life.   
      
   School teachers do not often become famous, but they play a most   
   important role in the formation of upcoming generations. Teachers who   
   run Catholic schools are called upon not only to instruct the children   
   but to form them in strong practicing Catholicism. Benildus was   
   eminently qualified for both tasks. Later one of his pupils said of   
   him, “Brother Benildus was as good as an angel and looked like a   
   saint. He was fine teacher, a bit strict but always fair. He would   
   encourage the backward ones, and made us work hard. His pupils were   
   good, and knew their religion properly.” Even the government   
   inspectors agreed. They were so pleased with his school at Saugues   
   that they awarded Benildus a silver medal.   
      
   The Brother may have taught all subjects well, but he paid most   
   attention to religious instruction--a difficult course. Benildus was   
   so good at it that he riveted the attention of his pupils, and they   
   were sorry when his classes came to an end. Well over twenty of his   
   former students joined the Christian Brothers. The “secret” was   
   doubtless his own holiness. As one priest who knew him said, “Brother   
   Benildus did not worship God like an angel only when he was in church   
   and saying his prayers, but always and everywhere--even among his   
   cabbages in the garden.”   
      
   Benildus died on August 13, 1862, surrounded by his fellow brothers.   
   From the hour of his burial, his tomb became a center of pilgrimage.   
   In 1967, Pope Paul VI canonized him.   
      
   Saint Benildus was an ornament not only to his own community but to   
   the other orders of teaching brothers like the Irish Christian   
   Brothers and the Holy Cross Brothers. For the rest of us, too, he set   
   a fine example of constant prayer--not only when we are in church but   
   even when we are tending our cabbages!   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The chief point is to beware not of men, but to beware of displeasing   
   the majesty of God.   
   --St. Theresa   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another,   
   that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power   
   in its effects.  [James 5:16]  RSVCE   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   A Eucharistic Offering   
      
   Lord, all things in heaven and earth are Yours.   
   I desire to offer myself to You   
   in free and perpetual oblation,   
   so that I may forever be with You.   
   Lord, in simplicity of heart,   
   I offer myself this day to You,   
   to be Your servant in service   
   and sacrifice of perpetual praise.   
   Accept me with the oblation of Your precious Body,   
   which this day I offer You in the presence   
   of Your holy angels, here invisibly present,   
   so that it may be to my salvation   
   and to the salvation of all people. Amen   
   By Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)