From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Alas, my dear brethren   
      
   Alas, my dear brethren, the man who lives according to the direction   
   of his passions and abandons the service of God is both unhappy and   
   capable of so little! Put an army of one hundred thousand men around a   
   dead man and let them employ all their power to bring him back to   
   life. No, no, my dear children, he will not come to life again. But   
   let someone who is despised by the world, but who enjoys the   
   friendship of God, command this dead man to take up life again;   
   immediately you will see him arise and walk. We have other proofs of   
   this too. If it were necessary to be wealthy or to be very learned to   
   serve God, a great many people would be unable to do it. But, no, my   
   dear children, extensive learning or great wealth are not at all   
   necessary for the service of God. On the contrary, they are often a   
   very big obstacle to it. Yes, my dear brethren, let us be rich or   
   poor, in whatever state we may be, learned or otherwise, we can please   
   God and save our souls.   
   -- Excerpt from sermon of St. John Vianney   
      
      
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   August 31st - Saint Raymund Nonnatus   
      
   Saint Raymund Nonnatus was born in Catalonia, Spain, in the year 1204.   
   Motherless from infancy, in his childhood he seemed to find pleasure   
   only in his devotions and serious duties. He chose the Blessed Virgin   
   for his mother, almost as soon as the light of reason made this choice   
   available to him. His father, perceiving in him an inclination to the   
   religious state and unwilling to give up his son, took him from school   
   and sent him to take care of a farm which he owned in the country.   
   Raymund readily obeyed, and, in order to enjoy holy solitude, kept the   
   sheep himself and spent his time in the mountains and forests in holy   
   meditation and prayer. He found there an ancient hermitage containing   
   a portrait of his Blessed Mother, and made this his asylum. There the   
   devil found him and, assuming the disguise of a shepherd, attempted to   
   turn him away from his devotions; but Raymund turned his back on his   
   visitor and called Mary to his assistance. The sole name of the Mother   
   of God caused the demon to disappear, and the hermit prostrated   
   himself and blessed Her for Her assistance.   
      
   Some time afterward, he joined the new Order of Our Lady of Mercy for   
   the redemption of captives, and was admitted to profession at   
   Barcelona by the holy founder, Saint Peter Nolasco. Within two or   
   three years after his profession, he was sent into Barbary with a   
   considerable sum of money; in Algiers he purchased the liberty of a   
   great number of slaves. When all his treasure was exhausted, he gave   
   himself up as a hostage for the ransom of others, according to the   
   Rule of his Order. This magnanimous sacrifice served only to   
   exasperate the Moslems, who treated him with uncommon barbarity, until   
   they began to fear that if he died in their hands, they would lose the   
   ransom which had been asked for his deliverance. A crier announced in   
   the streets that anyone who mistreated him would answer for it, if he   
   died.   
      
   Therefore he was permitted to go abroad in the streets, which liberty   
   he utilized to comfort and encourage the Christians in chains, and to   
   convert and baptize certain Moslems. Learning of this, their pasha,   
   furious, condemned him to be impaled, but his barbarous sentence was   
   commuted at the insistence of those who had an interest in the ransom   
   payments for the slaves he was replacing. He underwent instead a cruel   
   bastinade, but that torment did not daunt his courage. So long as he   
   saw souls in danger of perishing eternally, he thought he had yet done   
   nothing.   
      
   Saint Raymund had no more money to employ in releasing poor captives;   
   and to converse with those of the local beliefs on the subject of   
   religion meant death. He enjoyed sufficient liberty nonetheless to   
   continue the same endeavors, and he did so, hoping either for success   
   or martyrdom. The governor, enraged, ordered our Saint to have his   
   lips pierced and padlocked, then to be imprisoned until his ransom   
   would be brought by members of his Order. He remained in jail for   
   eight months before his brethren arrived with the required sum, sent   
   by Saint Peter Nolasco.   
      
   Upon his return to Spain, he was nominated Cardinal by Pope Gregory   
   IX, and the Pope called him to Rome. The Saint was on his way, but had   
   gone no farther than Cardona when he was seized with a violent fever.   
   He died on August 31, 1240, in his 37th year. His face in death became   
   beautiful and radiant like that of Moses when he descended from the   
   mountaintop, where he had spoken with God. A heavenly fragrance   
   surrounded his body, and cures were effected on behalf of those who   
   came and touched him.   
      
   Reflection: This magnanimous Saint gave not only his substance but his   
   liberty, and exposed himself to the most cruel torments and death for   
   the redemption of captives and the salvation of souls. But we, alas!   
   do we not, merely to gratify our prodigality, vanity, or avarice,   
   refuse to give even the superfluity of our possessions to the poor,   
   who for want of it are perishing with cold and hunger? Let us not   
   forget the terrible Judgment of the Last Day, awaiting those who   
   neglect their brethren in need. (Cf. Matt. 25:31-46)   
      
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Now there are diversities of graces, but the same Spirit. And there   
   are diversities of ministries. but the same Lord.  And there are   
   diversities of operations, but the same God, who worketh all in all.   
   (1 Corinthians 12:4-6 )  DRB   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Those who can enclose within the little paradise of the soul Him who   
   created heaven and earth, may well believe they are in a good road,   
   and that they shall not fail to arrive at length at the fountain of   
   life, because they will make great progress in a short time.   
   -- St. Teresa   
      
      
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   Prayer to St. Francis of Assisi   
      
   St Francis of Assisi, Seraphic Father who assists all souls who invoke   
   you, intercede for me in these difficult times of spiritual hunger and   
   emptiness.  Pray to Our Lady of Good Success so that I may increase in   
   virtue, bless and support me so that I may finally be found worthy to   
   enter into Eternal Happiness.   
   Amen   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)