From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Integrity is a hardship for the morally corrupt   
      
   "John aroused Herod by his moral admonitions, not by any formal   
   accusation. He wanted to correct, not to suppress. Herod, however,   
   preferred to suppress rather than be reconciled. To those who are held   
   captive, the freedom of the one innocent of wrongdoing becomes   
   hateful. Virtue is undesirable to those who are immoral; holiness is   
   abhorrent to those who are impious; chastity is an enemy to those who   
   are impure; integrity is a hardship for those who are corrupt;   
   frugality runs counter to those who are self-indulgent; mercy is   
   intolerable to those who are cruel, as is loving-kindness to those who   
   are pitiless and justice to those who are unjust. The Evangelist   
   indicates this when he says, "John said to him, ‘It is not lawful for   
   you to have the wife of your brother Philip.'" This is where John runs   
   into trouble. He who admonishes those who are evil gives offense. He   
   who repudiates wrongdoers runs into trouble. John was saying what was   
   proper of the law, what was proper of justice, what was proper of   
   salvation and what was proper certainly not of hatred but of love. And   
   look at the reward he received from the ungodly for his loving   
   concern!"   
    by Peter Chrysologus (400-450 AD) (excerpt from SERMONS 127.6-7)   
      
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   August 26th – Our Lady of Czestochowa   
    Also known as• Black Madonna of Czestochowa, Czarna Madonna,   
   Hodegetria, Imago thaumaturga Beatae Virginis Mariae Immaculatae   
   Conceptae, Matka Boska Czestochowska, One Who Shows the Way.   
      
   Our Lady of Czestochowa is a revered icon of the Virgin Mary housed at   
   the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa, Poland. Several Pontiffs have   
   recognised the venerated icon, beginning with Pope Clement XI who   
   issued a Canonical Coronation to the image on 8 September 1717 via the   
   Vatican Chapter.  Patron of Poland.   
      
   According to tradition, the icon of Jasna Góra (Bright Mountain) was   
   painted by Luke the Evangelist on a tabletop built by Jesus himself   
   and the icon was discovered by St Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine   
   and collector of Christian relics in the Holy Land. The icon was then   
   enshrined in the imperial city of Constantinople, according to the   
   legend, where it remained for the next 500 years.   
      
   In 803, the painting is said to have been given as a wedding gift from   
   the Byzantine emperor to a Greek princess, who married a Ruthenian   
   nobleman. The image was then placed in the royal palace at Belz, where   
   it remained for nearly 600 years.   
      
   History first combines with tradition upon the icon’s arrival in   
   Poland in 1382 with a Polish army fleeing the Tartars, who had struck   
   it with an arrow.   
      
   Legend has it that during the looting of Belz, a mysterious cloud   
   enveloped the chapel containing the image. A monastery was founded in   
   Częstochowa to enshrine the icon in 1386 and soon King Jagiello built   
   a cathedral around the chapel containing the icon.   
      
   However, the image soon came under attack once again. In 1430,   
   Hussites (pre-Reformation reformers) attacked the monastery, slashed   
   the Virgin’s face with a sword, and left it desecrated in a puddle of   
   blood and mud.   
      
   It is said that when the monks pulled the icon from the mud, a   
   miraculous fountain appeared, which they used to clean the painting.   
   The icon was repainted in Krakow, but both the arrow mark and the   
   gashes from the sword were left and remain clearly visible today.   
      
   The miracle for which the Black Madonna of Częstochowa is most famous   
   occurred in 1655, when Swedish troops were about to invade   
   Częstochowa. A group of Polish soldiers prayed fervently before the   
   icon for deliverance and the enemy retreated. In 1656, King John   
   Casimir declared Our Lady of Częstochowa “Queen of Poland” and made   
   the city the spiritual capital of the nation.   
   The Virgin again came to the aid of her people in 1920, when the   
   Soviet Russian Red Army gathered on the banks of the Vistula River,   
   preparing to attack Warsaw. The citizens and soldiers fervently prayed   
   to Our Lady of Częstochowa and on September 15, the Feast of Our Lady   
   of Sorrows, she appeared in the clouds above Warsaw. The Russians were   
   defeated in a series of battles later dubbed the “Miracle at the   
   Vistula.”   
      
   During Nazi occupation, Hitler prohibited pilgrimages to Jasna Góra   
   but many still secretly made the journey. In 1945, after Poland was   
   liberated, half a million pilgrims journeyed to Czestochowa to express   
   their gratitude. On September 8, 1946, 1.5 million people gathered at   
   the shrine to rededicate the entire nation to the Immaculate Heart of   
   Mary. During the Cold War, Jasna Góra was a centre of anti-Communist   
   resistance.  Czestochowa is regarded as the most popular shrine in   
   Poland, with many Polish Catholics making a pilgrimage there every   
   year. A pilgrimage has left Warsaw every August 6 since 1711 for the   
   nine-day, 140-mile trek.  Elderly pilgrims recall stealing through the   
   dark countryside at great personal risk during the German Nazi   
   occupation. Pope John Paul II secretly visited as a student pilgrim   
   during World War II. He was a fervent devotee of the Virgin Mary and   
   of her icon at Czestochowa. As pope, he made pilgrimages to pray   
   before the Black Madonna in 1979, 1983, 1991 and 1997.   
      
   The four-foot-high painting displays a traditional composition well   
   known in the icons of Eastern Christians. The Virgin Mary is shown as   
   the “Hodegetria” (“One Who Shows the Way”). In it the Virgin directs   
   attention away from herself, gesturing with her right hand toward   
   Jesus as the source of salvation. In turn, the child extends his right   
   hand toward the viewer in blessing while holding a book of gospels in   
   his left hand.  The icon shows the Madonna in fleur-de-lis robes.   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   “He who does not acquire the love of God will scarcely persevere in   
   the grace of God, for it is very difficult to renounce sin merely   
   through fear of chastisement.”   
   --Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a   
   sincere love of the brethren, love one another earnestly from the   
   heart. (1 Pet 1:22)   RSVCE   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer to Our Lady of Czestochowa   
   Our Lady of Czestochowa,   
   Queen of Poland, pray for us.   
   Holy Mother of Czestochowa,   
   you are full of grace, goodness and mercy.   
   I consecrated to you all my thoughts,   
   words and actions – my soul and body.   
   I beseech your blessings   
   and especially prayers for my salvation.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)