From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Of a Pure Mind and Simple Intention   (3)   
      
   As iron cast into fire loses its rust and becomes glowing white, so he   
   who turns completely to God is stripped of his sluggishness and   
   changed into a new man. When a man begins to grow lax, he fears a   
   little toil and welcomes external comfort, but when he begins   
   perfectly to conquer himself and to walk bravely in the ways of God,   
   then he thinks these things less difficult which he thought so hard   
   before.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 2, Chapter 4   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   November 3rd – St. Sylvia of Rome, Widow    
   (also known as Silvia)   
      
   Died c. 572. Like all expectant mothers heavy with child--Sylvia was   
   expecting the great event, greater than a hurricane or a revolution,   
   the supreme phenomenon, the most extraordinary, historical, magical,   
   wonderful, fundamental event--great by the miracle of man and great by   
   the grace of God. For what do we know about Saint Sylvia? That she was   
   the mother of Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the Church.   
      
   What sudden emotion to feel everything germinating, everything   
   connecting with the vast and mysterious workings of the universe!   
   Yesterday still only a girl, but from now on a leading character on   
   the stage of life. Yesterday young and charming love, sweet nothings,   
   carefree days, and then suddenly "crossing the line" and entering   
   another world--something unknown, like a bird from strange islands,   
   like the flutter of a palm tree in the desert, a whole new feeling of   
   life, a mysterious dance, a new wine . . . a quickening in the womb, a   
   son in the flesh.   
      
   To bear a child . . . as God bears mankind. In her womb and in her   
   mind, Sylvia feels responsible for her child. Her mission is not just   
   to give birth to the child but to compose the whole life of the man:   
   his body and soul, she will devote herself completely to him--for if   
   the mother gives birth to the body, does she not also wish to   
   influence the soul? " And so for nine months Sylvia waited and   
   planned.   
      
   The child was to be a boy, no doubt about that--though she cherished   
   her whole family, it was the son that stood out. She's already seen   
   him: a vision, a positive, creative vision. Will he be a senator, like   
   his father Gordian, a consul, the emperor? Will he be pope? A saint?   
   There is no limit to the imagination of a mother.   
      
   Now all this took place in Rome in AD 540. Vigilius was pope and   
   Vetegis was emperor—but who knows anything about them? It was a world   
   still in transition. On one side were the invasions, on the other were   
   the heresies. The child did brilliantly in his studies. He received a   
   fine Latin education that would serve to rule men and defend dogmas.   
   Already she saw him wearing the tri-colored toga of a Roman praetor.   
      
   But of what importance is the toga of man when compared with the robe   
   of God? Suddenly Gregory divested himself of all his responsibilities   
   and wealth and became a monk. The six villas that he owned in Sicily   
   he turned into six monasteries. He was 35. And Sylvia felt in her body   
   that the whole delicate structure of history was trembling.   
      
   There was a plague and the pope died. Sylvia decided that the next   
   pope was to be Gregory. In vain did he refuse, escape from Rome in a   
   wicker basket, hide in the forests and Pontine marshes. In the end of   
   course he was found--or betrayed--and with great rejoicing brought   
   back to the fold, where on Sept. 3, 590, he was consecrated pope.   
   Gregory was pope, and Sylvia had been his prophet. "I have lost all   
   the pleasures of peace," he murmured.   
      
   It was to be an heroic pontificate. The Lombards, who were devastating   
   Italy, had to be checked. The emperor in Constantinople had to be   
   confronted. Gregory wrote several works (particularly the Morals),   
   reformed the Church, brought the Arian Visigoths back to the true   
   faith, and evangelized England.   
      
   It was he who invented the phrase: Servant of the servants of God. His   
   most characteristic victory was to stamp out the heresy of Eutyches,   
   the patriarch of Constantinople, who maintained that the resurrection   
   of the body would take place in a subtle form, in an ethereal flesh.   
   Gregory replied that we will be resurrected in flesh and blood, as   
   literally palpable as was the body of Christ to Saint Thomas.   
      
   "I shall be clothed again with my flesh," says the Book of Job, and at   
   the Last Supper Jesus said: "This is my Body." One of the most moving   
   aspects of the Catholic faith is the dominion of the body,   
   semi-incorruptible and eternal.   
      
   By the time Gregory became pope, Sylvia had already entered a convent   
   and her husband had become a priest—simultaneously, like twins. It was   
   a time when Christianity was flourishing and it was the fashionable   
   thing to do. But Sylvia's role had been consummated. The mother   
   blended, merged, and rejoiced with the son (from the Encyclopedia).   
      
   Over her former house on the Coelian Hill in Rome a chapel was built   
   in her honor (Benedictines).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any   
   way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits   
   of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my   
   quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire.   
   -- Saint Ignatius of Antioch   
      
   Bible Quote:   
    "In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains   
   his lips is wise." (Proverbs 10:19)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Thy will be done   
      
      "Thy will be done" must be your oft-repeated prayer. And in the   
   willing of God's will there should be gladness. You should delight to   
   do that will because when you do, all your life goes right and   
   everything tends to work well for you in the long run. When you are   
   honestly trying to do God's will and humbly accepting the results,   
   nothing can seriously hurt you. Those who accept the will of God in   
   their life may not inherit the earth, but they will inherit real peace   
   of mind.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)