From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Misguided zeal and pride   
      
      Jesus warned the scribes and Pharisees, the teachers and rulers of Israel,   
   to teach and serve their people with humility and sincerity rather than with   
   pride and self-seeking privileges and honor. They went to great lengths to   
   draw attention to their    
   religious status and practices. In a way they wanted to be good models of   
   observant Jews. "See how well we observe all the ritual rules and regulations   
   of our religion!" In their misguided zeal for religion they sought recognition   
   and honor for    
   themselves rather than for God. They made the practice of their faith a burden   
   rather than a joy for the people they were supposed to serve.   
      True respect for God inclines us to humble ourselves and to submit to his   
   wisdom and guidance. We cannot be taught by God unless we first learn to   
   listen to his word and then obey his instruction.   
      
   ==============   
   May 5th – St. Maurontius of Douai, OSB    
    (also known as Maurantius, Mauron, Mauront)   
      
   Born in 634; died May 5, c. 701. Saint Maurontius was the   
   heir-apparent to SS. Adalbald and Rictrudis. He was baptized by Saint   
   Riquier and reared at the court of Clovis II and Saint Bathildis. Upon   
   the death of his father, he succeeded him as lord of Douai (Tournai)   
   and inherited other estates. He was on the point of marrying, in fact   
   the marriage contract had been signed, when he heard a discourse by   
   the retired Bishop Saint Amandus on the dangers of the world.   
   Maurontius immediately quit the world and joined the Benedictines at   
   Marchiennes, a monastery that had been founded by his mother. Within a   
   short time he received the clerical tonsure from Amandus, and some   
   years later he was ordained a deacon (apparently he was never ordained   
   to the priesthood) and prior of Hamage Abbey.   
      
   Eventually, he became the abbot-founder (and patron) of   
   Breuil-sur-lys, built on his estate near Douai in the diocese of   
   Thérouanne. There he cared for Saint Amatus, who had been banished by   
   King Theodoric III. Maurontius respected and learned so much from   
   Amatus that he resigned his abbacy in his favor and lived under his   
   obedience. When the holy bishop died in 690, Maurontius resumed the   
   leadership of the monastery and directed the monks at the double   
   monastery of Marchiennes at the same time, while his sister Saint   
   Clotsend was abbess of the nuns.   
      
   Maurontius was buried at Breuil, but during the Nordic invasions at   
   the end of the 9th century, King Charles the Simple had the relics of   
   Maurontius and Amatus moved to the church of Saint Amatus at Douai.   
   Maurontius's body is kept in a rich shrine in this church, in which is   
   a chapel dedicated to him and his parents, where there is a statue of   
   him between those of his parents. The abbey of Saint Guislin in   
   Hainault possesses his skull in a shrine of silver gilt. The cathedral   
   of Arras, and some churches, show particles of his relics   
   (Benedictines, Husenbeth).   
      
   In art Saint Maurontius is a nobleman holding an abbey   
   (Breuil-sur-lys) in his hand with a fleur-de-lys on his shield   
   (Roeder). In his chapel, his statue shows him holding in his right   
   hand a scepter, and in his left a building with a tower or belfry   
   (Husenbeth).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   When you feel the assaults of passion and anger, then is the time to   
   be silent as Jesus was silent in the midst of His ignominies and   
   sufferings.   
   --St. Paul of the Cross   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   The just shall stand with great constancy against those that have   
   afflicted them, and taken away their labors. These seeing it, shall be   
   troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the suddenness of   
   their unexpected salvation, saying within themselves, repenting, and   
   groaning for anguish of spirit. These are they whom we had some time   
   in derision, and for a parable of reproach. We fools esteemed their   
   life madness, and their end without honor. Behold how they are   
   numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints   
    (Wisdom 5:1-5)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer Before a Crucifix   
      
   O good Jesus, hide me within Thy wounds.   
      
   Behold, O good and sweetest Jesus,   
    before Thy Face I humbly kneel,   
    and with the greatest fervour of my soul I pray   
   and beseech Thee to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments   
   of faith, hope, and charity, with true contrition for my sins and   
   a most firm purpose of amendment, whilst I contemplate with   
   great sorrow and affection Thy five wounds and ponder them   
   over in my mind, having before my eyes the words which long   
   ago David the prophet spoke in Thy own person concerning   
   Thee, O good Jesus: "They have pierced My hands and My   
   feet, they have numbered all My bones."   
      
   Grant, O Lord Jesus Christ, that we who devoutly cherish   
   Thy wounds, having them impressed on our hearts,   
   may honour them by our actions and our life.   
      
   Glory be to the Father, etc., five times.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)