From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   How Burdens must be Borne to win Eternal Life [II]   
      
   Labor with all your might. Work faithfully in My vineyard;(Matt. 20:7)   
   I myself will be your reward. (Gen. 15:1) Write, study, worship, be   
   penitent, keep silence and pray. Meet all your troubles like a man:   
   eternal life is worth all this and yet greater conflicts. Peace will   
   come at a time known only to the Lord. It will not be day or night as   
   we know it, (Rev. 22:5) but everlasting light, boundless glory,   
   abiding peace and sure rest. You will not say then, 'Who will free me   
   from this mortal body?; (Rom 7:4) nor cry, 'Alas, how long is my   
   exile!' (Ps. 120:5) for the power of death will be utterly broken,   
   (Isa. 25:8) and full salvation assured. No anxiety will remain, but   
   only blessed joy in the fair and lovely fellowship of the Saints.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3 Ch 47   
      
   ==============   
   June 14th – St. Joseph the Hymnographer   
   (Also known as Joseph of the Studium)   
      
   Died c. 845-883.   
      
   The monk Saint Joseph of the Studium was a prolific hymn-writer. Born   
   of Christian parents in Sicily, he was obliged to flee with other   
   Christians during an invasion by the Saracens, and reaching   
   Thessalonica became a monk. Afterwards he migrated to Constantinople,   
   where he joined the famous monastery of the Studium. Here he found   
   himself a member of a distinguished Christian fellowship, led by   
   Theodore Studites, its abbot, who was one of the outstanding   
   Christians of his day; but when persecution reached the city, Theodore   
   was scourged and imprisoned, and Joseph took ship for Rome.   
      
   There followed a period of misfortune and adventure in small sailing   
   ships. A sea voyage in those days was fraught with peril, for methods   
   of navigation were extremely primitive, time and distance were   
   calculated by the position of the sun and stars, and travellers were   
   not only exposed to hazards of wind and weather, but were at the mercy   
   of pirates who waylaid them as they made their slow and cautious   
   progress round the coasts.   
      
   As his ship passed through the islands of the Ionian Sea, it was   
   captured by pirates, and all on board were taken to Crete as prisoners   
   and there became slaves. For many years Joseph lived in servitude, but   
   even as a slave he pursued his active ministry and converted many in   
   Crete to the Christian faith.   
      
   Finally, regaining his liberty, he resumed his journey to Rome, where   
   he was received with great kindness, and afterwards returned to   
   Constantinople. The rest of his life was lived in retreat and was   
   mainly devoted to the writing of hymns, so that he became known as   
   Joseph the Hymnographer. Among them was one which vividly describes   
   his experiences at sea:   
      
   Safe home, safe home in port!   
   Rent cordage, shattered deck,   
   Torn sails, provisions short,   
   And only not a wreck.   
      
    When we sing those words we can remember that they came from the   
   heart of a man who had known storm and shipwreck, and that they   
   reflect his own bitter suffering.   
      
   In another of his hymns, "O happy band of pilgrims," we also catch   
   echoes of his stormy pilgrimage: of the trials and sorrows which he   
   had known as a slave and an exile, and pointing to the greater agony   
   of "the Cross that Jesus carried."   
      
   Even in those last years, however, Joseph was not to be left in peace.   
   There came a day when once again he was called upon to suffer for   
   Christ, this time to die as a martyr. But, before the end, he shared   
   in a great missionary enterprise, for during his time in   
   Constantinople he was among those who inspired the first missionaries   
   to Russia.   
      
   I'm not absolutely sure that Joseph the Hymnographer is identical to   
   Joseph of the Studium who is also celebrated on this day. The dates   
   are approximately the same. Joseph the Hymnographer was the bishop of   
   Salonika and the brother of Theodore Studites. Both are cited as great   
   liturgical poets (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Gill).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   How can it concern you to know of what stock I am? If you want to know   
   my religion, I will tell you--I am a Christian, and am bound by   
   Christian obligations. I am called Alban by my parents, and I worship   
   and adore the true and living God, who created all things.   
   --Saint Alban   
      
   Bible quote:   
   "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye   
   shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye   
   shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than   
   raiment?"   (Mat 6:25)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   For the Lord's Cleansing, Defense,   
   and Governance of the Church   
      
   May your continual pity, O Lord,   
   cleanse and defend Your Church; and,   
   because without you she cannot endure in safety,   
   may she ever be governed by Your bounty.   
   Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,   
   Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,   
   God, world without end.   
    Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)