From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Grace bear us   
      
      "'My yoke is easy and my burden light.' ... The prophet says this   
   about the burden of sinners: 'Because my iniquities lie on top of my   
   head, so they have also placed a heavy burden on me' (Psalm 38:4)'   
   ...'Place my yoke upon you, and learn from me that I am gentle and   
   humble of heart.' Oh, what a very pleasing weight that strengthens   
   even more those who carry it! For the weight of earthly masters   
   gradually destroys the strength of their servants, but the weight of   
   Christ rather helps the one who bears it, because we do not bear   
   grace; grace bears us. It is not for us to help grace, but rather   
   grace has been given to aid us.'   
      
   by an anonymous early author from the Greek church (excerpt from   
   INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY, the Greek fathers).   
      
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   December 20th - St. Dominic of Silos, Abbot   
      
      
   This Dominic was born at the beginning of the 11th century at Cañas in   
   Navarre, on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. His people were   
   peasants, and for a time he followed their way of life, looking after   
   his father’s flocks among the foothills of the mountains. This work   
   encouraged his taste for solitude and quietness, and he soon became a   
   monk at the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla. He made great   
   progress in his new state, was entrusted with works of reform, and   
   became prior of his monastery. In this office he came into conflict   
   with his sovereign, Garcia III of Navarre, because he refused to give   
   up some possessions of the monastery, which were claimed by the king.   
   Garcia at length drove Dominic and two other monks away, and they were   
   welcomed by Ferdinand I of Old Castile, who sent them to the monastery   
   of St. Sebastian at Silos, of which Dominic was appointed abbot. The   
   monastery was in a remote and sterile part of the diocese of Burgos,   
   and was in a state of extreme decay, both materially and spiritually.   
   Under the government of St. Dominic this decay was arrested, then the   
   house began to progress, and eventually he made it one of the most   
   famous in Spain. Many miracles were recorded of Dominic in the course   
   of his work, and it was said that there were no diseases known to man   
   not been cured by his prayers.   
      
   The Roman Martyrology refers to the belief that Christian slaves among   
   the Moors, to the number of 300, were liberated when they   
   called upon God in his name. Dominic died on December 20, 1073.   
      
   St. Dominic of Silos is especially venerated in the order of Friars   
   Preachers, because a century less four years after his death, he   
   appeared, according to the tradition, to Bl. Joan of Aza who had made   
   a pilgrimage from Calaroga to his shrine, and promised her that she   
   should bear another son. That son was the founder of the Preachers,   
   and he was named Dominic after the holy abbot of Silos. Until the   
   revolution of 1931 it was the custom for the abbot of Silos to bring   
   the staff of St. Dominic to the royal palace whenever a queen of Spain   
   was in labour and to leave it by her bedside until the birth had taken   
   place.   
      
   There is a life by a monk, Grimaldus, who purports to be a   
   contemporary. This has been printed, with a few slight omissions, in   
   Mabillon, vol. vi, pp. 299-320. A metrical life by Gonzalo de Berceo   
   (edited by J. D. Fitzgerald in 1904), which was written about 1240,   
   adds little to our historical knowledge but is perhaps the earliest   
   verse composition in Castilian speech. Much interest has been taken in   
   St. Dominic since the treasures of the library of Silos have become   
   known: see, for example, M. Férotin, Histoire de l’Abbaye de Silos   
   (1897); A Andrea in the Boletin de la real Academia Española, vol. iv   
   (1957), pp. 172-194 and 445-458; L. Serrano, El Obispado de Burgos y   
   Castilla primitiva (1935), vol. ii; and a short life by R. Alcocer   
   (1925).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The saints are like the stars. In his providence Christ conceals them   
   in a hidden place that they may not shine before others when they   
   might wish to do so. Yet they are always ready to exchange the quiet   
   of contemplation for the works of mercy as soon as they perceive in   
   their heart the invitation of Christ.   
   --Saint Anthony of Padua   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Therefore thou art magnified, O Lord God, because there is none like   
   to thee, neither is there any God besides thee, in all the things that   
   we have heard with our ears. (2 Samuel 7:22)  DRB   
      
      
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   How when we Lack Strength for Higher Work we should Undertake Humble Tasks   
      
   CHRIST.   
      
   My Son, you cannot always burn with zeal for virtue, nor   
   remain constantly in high contemplation; the weakness of sinful human   
   nature will at times compel you to descend to lesser things, and bear   
   with sorrow the burdens of this present life. So long as you wear this   
   mortal body, you will be subject to weariness and sadness of heart.   
   Therefore, in this life, you will often lament the burden of the body,   
   which hinders your giving yourself wholly to the life of the spirit   
   and to divine contemplation.   
      When this happens, you will be wise to resort to humble, exterior   
   tasks, and to restore yourself by good works. Await My coming with   
   unshakeable trust, and bear your exile and desolation of spirit with   
   patience until I come again and set you free from all anxiety. Then   
   you will forget all your former toil, and will enjoy inward peace. I   
   will unfold before you the fair fields of the Scriptures, and you   
   shall advance in the way of My commandments with heart at liberty.(Ps.   
   119:32) Then you shall say, `The sufferings of this present time are   
   not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.   
   (Rom. 8:18)   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3 Ch 51   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)