From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The Spirit Within   
      
       "Brothers and sisters, we are part of one Body, and we have one   
   Head, in heaven. Our two physical eyes do not see one another, but   
   they know each other in virtue of the love that knits them together.   
   Together they meet in and are directed to one object. Their aim is   
   one; their places are diverse.   
       If then all who with you love God have one aim with you, it is of   
   no significance that in the Body you are separated in place. You have   
   the eyesight of your heart fixed alike on the light of truth."   
   --St. Augustine--Sermon on 1 John 6, 10   
      
   Prayer: I ask you, my God, to reveal me to myself.   
   --St. Augustine--Confessions 10, 1   
      
   ================   
   December 24th - St. Delphinus, Bishop of Bordeaux   
   (d. 403)   
      
   Little is known of the origins of Saint Delphinus; it is after his   
   elevation to the episcopate that he became famous among the bishops of   
   his time as a vigilant protector of the truth. We have written   
   evidence, however, that his piety and learning made him so celebrated   
   that the saintliest bishops of the Church were honored to be his   
   friends and to correspond with him.   
      
   He was present at the Council of Saragossa in 380, at which the   
   Priscillian heretics were condemned. Later he assembled a Council in   
   Bordeaux, his episcopal city, which the heretics had entered and where   
   they were working havoc; this assembly condemned once again the same   
   propagators of error. The bishop’s force and preaching so reduced   
   their influence that they abandoned the region entirely and fled to   
   Italy.   
      
   Delphinus, who became bishop of Bordeaux, was to Aquitaine what Saint   
   Martin of Tours was to Gaul in the opinion of Saint Paulinus of Nola,   
   whom he baptized. He was an unremitting opponent of the   
   Priscillianists   
      
   Saint Delphinus baptized Saint Paulinus, later Bishop of Nola, in 388,   
   and inspired in him the desire to live a life of perfection. He, in   
   several letters, speaks of Saint Delphinus as his father and his   
   master. Saint Delphinus died on the 24th of December, at the beginning   
   of the fifth century.   
      
   Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin   
   (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882)   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Sometimes, when the soul least thinks of it, and when it least desires   
   it, God touches it divinely causing certain recollections of Himself.   
   --John of the Cross   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, The face thereof was   
   covered with nettles, And the stone wall thereof was broken down.   
   Then I beheld, and considered well; I saw, and received instruction:   
   Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep;   
   So shall thy poverty come as a robber, And thy want as an armed man.   
   [Pro 24:30-34]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Daily Thoughts and Prayers for Our Beloved Dead   
      
   "Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because   
   the hand of the Lord hath touched me" Job. 19-21.   
      
   11th Day   
      
   St. Francis de Sales tells us: "Devotion to the Souls in Purgatory   
   contains in itself all the works of mercy, which super-naturalized by   
   a spirit of Faith, should merit us Heaven.''   
      
   Prayers:   Our Father, Three Hail Marys, Gloria, De Profundis.   
      
   De Profundis   
      
      Out of the depths, I have cried to Thee,   
   O Lord, Lord, hear my voice.   
      Let Thine ears be attentive to the   
   voice of my supplication.   
      If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark my iniquities,   
   O Lord, who shall stand it?   
      For with Thee there is merciful   
   forgiveness: and by reason of Thy   
   law I have waited for Thee, O Lord.   
   My soul hath relied on His word;   
   my soul hath hoped in the Lord.   
      From the morning watch even until   
   night; let Israel hope in the Lord.   
   Because with the Lord there is mercy;   
   And with Him plenteous redemption.   
      And He shall redeem Israel from   
   all its iniquities.   
      Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,   
   And let perpetual light shine upon them:   
      May they rest in peace. Amen.   
      
   O Lord Jesus Christ, deliver the souls of the faithful departed from   
   the flames of hell, and let Thine angels bring them into the holy   
   light. We offer Thee, O Lord, a sacrifice of prayer and praise, accept   
   them in behalf of all the Souls in Purgatory, that they may pass from   
   death to life everlasting with Thee in Heaven.   
      
   Also see entire 31day prayer at:   
   http://www.faithfuldeparted.net/prayers.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)