From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Do you wish to be great?   
      
   "Just imagine the incredible kindness and mercy! He was the only Son,   
   but He did not want to remain alone. So that humans might e born of   
   God God was born of humans. Begotten of God is He through Whom we were   
   created--Born of a woman is He through Whom we are to be re-created.   
   The Word first wished to be born of humans, so that you might be   
   assured of being born of God"   
   --St. Augustine--(excerpt from Sermon on John 2, 13)   
      
   ==============   
   April 2nd - Bl. Vilmos Apor, Bishop   
   (Also known as Vilhelm Apor, Gulielmus Apor, William Apor)   
      
   (1892-1945)   
      
   During World War II, Hungary sided with the Germans. That meant that   
   as the Nazis were defeated, Russia took control of the country, and a   
   communist government was set up that lasted until 1989. The Church   
   suffered much during those years, especially during the initial   
   Russian invasion of 1944-1945. One of the victims then was the Bishop   
   of Gyor, Vilmos Apor.   
      
   Apor was born in Sevesgar, Transylvania, on February 20, 1892.   
   Transylvania, then a part of eastern Hungary, was detached from it and   
   added to Rumania after World War I. Vilmos came from a noble family,   
   as had many of the Hungarian bishops, for it was customary for the   
   second son of noble couples to enter the priesthood. Vilmos’ brother,   
   Baron Gabor Apor, was Hungarian ambassador to the Holy See from 1939   
   to 1945.   
      
   Vilmos’ early career as a priest was apparently impressive, for on   
   January 21, 1941, he was named Bishop of Gyor, a sizable city in   
   northwest Hungary, with a Catholic population of 500,000. An American   
   priest of Hungarian background describes Apor as an imposing person,   
   “But very kind and personable”. Despite his aristocratic background,   
   he was hardworking and had a strong sense of social justice. “Pastor   
   of the poor,” they called him. In 1944 he provided emergency supplies   
   to Jews being deported through his town.   
      
   The Russian invaders of 1945 were noted for their brutality. The   
   terrorized women in particular, and did not hesitate to kill anybody   
   who tried to defend them.   
      
   One who could not leave Hungarian women undefended was Bishop Apor.   
      
   The Bishop had hidden several pursued women from the predatory Russian   
   soldiery in the cellar of his residence at Gyor. On Good Friday, March   
   30, 1945, a drunken band of armed Russian soldiers, intent on   
   abducting them, approached the Bishop’s cellar determined to get in.   
   Bishop Apor was standing in front of the door. The soldiers tried to   
   push him away.   
      
   “No, you can’t go in,” he said.   
      
   Their answer? They shot him, wounding him mortally, and pressed on   
   with their mad search.   
      
   The Bishop of Gyor had laid down his life in defense of the lives and   
   virtue of a group of helpless women. He had obeyed the command of the   
   Scriptures: “Defend the lowly and the fatherless… from the hand of the   
   wicked deliver them” (Ps. 82:3-4). In the twinkling of an eye he had   
   become a martyr, a new paschal victim.   
      
   Pope John Paul II acknowledge that fact officially when he beatified   
   Vilmos Apor, Bishop and Martyr, in St. Peter’s Basilica on November 9,   
   1997.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Be assured that he who shall always walk faithfully in God's presence,   
   always ready to give Him an account of all his actions, shall never be   
   separated from Him by consenting to sin.   
   -- St. Thomas Aquinas   
      
   Bible Quote:   
    "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You,   
   through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies;    
   For they are ever with me." [Psalm 119:97-98]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   "Heavenly Father, you offer us abundant grace, mercy, and forgiveness   
   through your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Help me to live a   
   grace-filled life as Mary did by believing in your promises and by   
   giving you my unqualified 'yes' to your will and plan for my life."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)