From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
    — 1 John 2:17 —    
   The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God   
   lives forever.   
   =================   
   "Blessed are the ears that catch the pulses of the divine whisper and   
   give no heed to the whispering of the world."   
   Thomas á Kempis   
      
      
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   November 13th - St. Brice of Tours B (RM)   
   (also known as Brictio, Britius, Brixius)   
      
   Died 444. God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every   
   saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea. As the liturgy   
   says: Non est inventus similis illis—there are no two exactly alike.   
   It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on   
   all the saints.   
      
   God loves variety. And He has a remarkable sense of humor. Sometimes   
   He seemingly takes mischievous pleasure in placing side by side two   
   saints whose characters should make it impossible for them to get   
   along together. No doubt God wants to teach them humility, by showing   
   them that each represents only a small part of the mystery of   
   saintliness; and perhaps God also wants to reassure us, by telling us   
   that if there are many mansions in heaven, there are also many roads   
   leading there.   
      
   And so it was in the 4th century in Touraine, France. God set the   
   impeccable Saint Martin of Tours side- by-side with the insufferable   
   Saint Brice. Unlike his master, Brice was a proud, ambitious, and,   
   perhaps, even licentious cleric.   
      
   When still very young, Brice entered the monastery that Martin had   
   founded at Marmoûtier, just outside Tours. At first he was just an   
   ordinary, boisterous young monk, but soon he grew up. By the time he   
   was 18, he had become a deacon and had his own stables and slaves.   
      
   Martin, whose enemies reproached him for his excessive poverty and for   
   what Gaston Boissier has called his 'rather democratic' outlook, was   
   worried about the way the young deacon was behaving and remonstrated   
   him like a father.   
      
   Brice bristled and answered the bishop with biting sarcasm. How could   
   a barbarian from the wilds of Hungary tell him, who had been born on   
   the banks of the Loire, how to behave? Was he, who had been educated   
   properly, to take instruction from an improperly educated old   
   legionary? Anyone who has ever dealt with teenagers can imagine the   
   encounter.   
      
   Unlike most adults, however, Martin listened calmly and replied   
   gently. He even predicted that Brice would one day become bishop, but   
   that his episcopate would not be a peaceful one. The vicars- general   
   and the canons of Tours, who didn't relish the idea of one day being   
   ruled by this spitfire, urged Martin to send him packing. But Martin   
   replied, "If Christ put up with Judas, then surely I can put up with   
   Brice."   
      
   Brice continued to hold Martin in contempt, but despite Brice's   
   attitude Martin dealt patiently with him, and eventually Brice   
   repented with great remorse and begged Martin's forgiveness.   
      
   When Martin died, Brice succeeded him in 397 as bishop of Tours— not   
   by tricks or intrigue but by the regular open vote of the people. For   
   30 years Brice taught, baptized, confirmed, administered, and   
   fulfilled all his duties as bishop. Several times Brice was accused of   
   laxness but nothing really extraordinary happened, none of those   
   miracles or scandals that were as dear to the hearts of the   
   chroniclers then as they are to journalists today.   
      
   Nevertheless, Brice slept badly; he couldn't forget that Martin had   
   predicted that he would be put to the test, and with a man like Martin   
   there wasn't the slightest hope that the prediction would prove false.   
   It might be late coming, but come it would. And every day for 30 years   
   Brice waited for the fulfillment of the prophecy. It was uncomfortable   
   but God had chosen it as a way of deflating the excessive conceit of   
   youth.   
      
   Then it happened. One morning the rumor ran through the streets of   
   Tours that a seamstress belonging to the bishop's palace had borne him   
   a son. What a windfall for the town's gossips!   
      
   The accusation was false, but how to prove it? Since blood tests for   
   paternity hadn't been discovered, Brice had to find another way. He   
   had the infant brought to him, and, in his most episcopal voice, said,   
   "I admonish you in the name of Jesus Christ to say, in the presence of   
   everybody, if I am the man who fathered you." To which the baby   
   replied, "You are not my father."   
      
   Such precociousness seemed suspicious to those present, and they   
   thought that there must be some trick (unless it is we who have been   
   tricked by Saint Gregory of Tours, who recorded the story). At any   
   rate Brice's people were so far from being convinced that they   
   expelled their bishop by physical force.   
      
   Brice didn't resist, for he realized that Martin's prophecy was now   
   being fulfilled. About 430, he used his free time to make a journey ad   
   limina, which took him seven years. During his 'exile' Brice had an   
   opportunity to repent of his ways and completely changed his   
   lifestyle. On his way back home he founded several new Christian   
   centers.   
      
   When the seven years had passed, Brice returned to Tours. Just as he   
   was coming into sight of the town, a providential fever killed the   
   bishop who had been elected his successor. Not wanting to be lacking   
   in politeness, Brice quickened his step and arrived in time to perform   
   the funeral rites for this most tactful of bishops. He then resumed   
   the episcopate himself for the remaining years of his life and ruled   
   with humility, holiness, and ability.   
      
   At his death he was held to be a saint, and rightly so, such was the   
   change of his manners after his conversion in Rome. He was buried in   
   the same church as Saint Martin, for now that they were both saints   
   there was no reason why they shouldn't sleep side-by- side. God had   
   destined them to be together and to serve as foundations for the   
   church of Tours. By joining the serenity of Martin to the vigor of   
   Brice, harmony was ensured for a town where the Loire and Vouvray meet   
   (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Holy Spirit, inspire me. Love of God consume me. Along the true road,   
   lead me. Mary, my good mother, look down upon me. With Jesus, bless   
   me. From all evil, all illusion, all danger, preserve me.   
   -- Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Apocalypse 18 7  "As much as she hath glorified herself, and lived in   
   delicacies, so much torment and sorrow give ye to her   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and   
   preferences. Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)