From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Jesus the Chief Physician   
      
   "'Now Simon's mother-in-law was kept in her bed sick with a fever.'   
   May Christ come to our house and enter in and by his command cure the   
   fever of our sins. Each one of us is sick with a fever. Whenever I   
   give way to anger, I have a fever. There are as many fevers as there   
   are faults and vices. Let us beg the apostles to intercede for us with   
   Jesus, that he may come to us and touch our hand. If he does so, at   
   once our fever is gone. He is an excellent physician and truly the   
   chief Physician. Moses is a physician. Isaiah is a physician. All the   
   saints are physicians, but he is the chief Physician."   
    by Jerome (347-420 AD)(excerpt from HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK 75.1)   
      
      
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   September 17th - Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis   
      
   Francis imitated Christ so perfectly that towards the end of his life   
   our Lord wished to point him out to the world as the faithful imitator   
   of the Crucified, by imprinting His five wounds upon his body.   
      
   Two years before his death, when, according to his custom, Francis had   
   repaired to Mt. La Verna to spend the 40 days preceding the feast of   
   St. Michael the Archangel in prayer and fasting, this wonderful event   
   took place. St. Bonaventure gives the following account of it:   
      
   "Francis was raised to God in the ardor of his seraphic love, wholly   
   transformed by sweet compassion into Him, who, of His exceeding   
   charity, was pleased to be crucified for us. On the morning of the   
   feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, as he was praying in a   
   secret and solitary place on the mountain, Francis beheld a seraph   
   with six wings all afire, descending to him from the heights of   
   heaven. As the seraph flew with great swiftness towards the man of   
   God, there appeared amid the wings the form of one crucified, with his   
   hands and feet stretched out and fixed to the cross. Two wings rose   
   above the head, two were stretched forth in flight, and two veiled the   
   whole body.   
      
   "Francis wondered greatly at the appearance of so novel and marvelous   
   a vision. But knowing that the weakness of suffering could nowise be   
   reconciled with the immortality of the seraphic spirit, he understood   
   the vision as a revelation of the Lord and that it was being presented   
   to his eyes by Divine Providence so that the friend of Christ might be   
   transformed into Christ crucified, not through martyrdom of the flesh,   
   but through a spiritual holocaust.   
      
   "The vision, disappearing, left behind it a marvelous fire in the   
   heart of Francis, and no less wonderful token impressed on his flesh.   
   For there began immediately to appear in his hands and in his feet   
   something like nails as he had just seen them in the vision of the   
   Crucified. The heads of the nails in the hands and feet were round and   
   black, and the points were somewhat long and bent, as if they had been   
   turned back. On the right side, as if it had been pierced by a lance,   
   was the mark of a red wound, from which blood often flowed and stained   
   his tunic."   
      
   Thus far the account of St. Bonaventure. Although St. Francis strove   
   in every way to conceal the marvelous marks which until then no man   
   had seen, he was not able to keep them a complete secret from the   
   brethren. After his death they were carefully examined, and they were   
   attested by an ecclesiastical decree. To commemorate the importance of   
   the five wounds, Pope Benedict XI instituted a special feast which is   
   celebrated on September 17th, not only by all branches of the   
   Franciscan Order, but also in the Roman missal and breviary.   
      
   ON LOOKING UP TO THE CROSS   
   1. With the example of our holy Father St. Francis in mind, consider   
   what effect a glance at the cross should have on us. It led Francis   
   from the service of the world to the service of God and to penance. A   
   look at the crucifix should remove from our hearts all delight in the   
   world and fill us with sorrow for the sins we have committed in the   
   service of the world, and of our evil passions. For what other reason   
   was Christ nailed to the cross, and his whole body bruised? The   
   Prophet tells us: "He was wounded for our iniquities. He was bruised   
   for our sins" (Is 53:5). Meditation on the sufferings of our Savior   
   caused St. Francis to shed so many tears that his eyes became   
   inflamed.--Do you also kneel before the crucifix and bewail the sins   
   through which you nailed your Savior to the Cross?   
   2. Consider that a look at the cross is also a consolation for the   
   sinner. Our crucified Lord assured St. Francis of the complete   
   remission of his sins. The Prophet also tells us: "By His bruises we   
   are healed" (Is 53.5). Moses gave us a picture of our Savior on the   
   Cross when he raised a brazen serpent on high in the desert, so that   
   those who had been bitten by the poisonous serpent in punishment for   
   their murmuring might be healed by looking up to this sign of our   
   redemption. On the crucifix you behold our Savior Himself. "Behold the   
   Lamb of God; behold Him who takes away the sins of the world" (Jn   
   1:29).--Look up to Him with sincere contrition and lively confidence;   
   He will also take away your sins.   
   3. Consider how the contemplation of the Crucified finally pierced St.   
   Francis through and through with the fire of love, so that our Lord   
   made him even externally like Himself. A look at the crucifix should   
   also awaken ardent charity in us. St. Augustine points this out to us   
   when he says: "Behold the head that is bent to kiss you, the heart   
   that is opened to receive you, the arms stretched out to embrace you."   
   Do not look at the image of your crucified Savior in the cold and   
   indifferent way that one looks at a work of art, to marvel at the   
   painful expression there represented. Let it speak to your heart and   
   let your heart speak to it. Serve Him faithfully so that you may one   
   day be united with Him in eternity.   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Jesus is happy to come with us, as truth is happy to be spoken, as   
   life to be lived, as light to be lit, as love is to be loved, as joy   
   to be given, as peace to be spread.   
   --Saint Francis of Assisi   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer in Honor of the Sacred Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi   
      
     O Lord Jesus Christ, Who when the world was growing cold, in order that   
   the hearts of men might burn anew with the fire of Your love, did in the   
   flesh of the most blessed Francis reproduce the stigmata of Your passion: be   
   mindful of his merits and prayers; and in Your mercy vouchsafe to us the   
   grace ever to carry Your cross, and to bring forth worthy fruits of penance.   
      
     -To all the faithful who, upon the five Sundays which immediately precede   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)