From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Simple acceptance of God's will   
      
      "Our Lord and our God, be it done unto us according to Thy will. "   
   Simple acceptance of God's will in whatever happens is the key to   
   abundant living. We must continue to pray. "Not my will but Thy will   
   be done." It may not turn out the way you want it to, but it will be   
   the best way in the long run, because it is God's way. If you decide   
   to accept whatever happens as God's will for yourself, whatever it may   
   be, your burdens will be lighter. Try to see in all things some   
   fulfillment of the Divine Intent.   
      I pray that I may see the working out of God's will in my life. I   
   pray that I may be content   
   with whatever He wills for me.   
   --From Twenty-Four Hours a Day   
      
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   January 5th - St. Simeon Stylite   
   (d. 459)   
      
   If on a drive out into the country you should suddenly come upon a   
   hermit living atop a 60-foot column, would you conclude that he was   
   holy or daft?   
      
   In the fifth century, people crossing Syrian wastelands saw just such   
   a hermit, and at first shook their heads about his sanity. But the man   
   on the pillar was indeed a saint – St. Simeon the Stylite (i.e. the   
   column-sitter). Those who got to know him, despite his unusual   
   lifestyle, quickly reached that conclusion.   
      
   Simeon (or Simon), born near the border of Syria, tended sheep for his   
   father until he was thirteen. Then one day in church he heard the   
   beatitudes read. Of the eight, “Blessed are they that mourn” and   
   “Blessed are the clean of heart” impressed him particularly. Moved by   
   them, he decided to become a monk and commit himself to a life of   
   prayer and mortification.   
      
   Having learned in a couple of monasteries the ways of monastic life,   
   and having become adept at fasting and other forms of self-denial (for   
   instance, he did not eat or drink at all during Lent), Simeon set up   
   as a lone hermit living without shelter on a mountain top.   
      
   Before long, however, people began to hear of this “escapist”, and to   
   visit him, whether out of devotion or curiosity. He cured many of   
   their ailments, and gave counsel to those who asked. Many wanted just   
   to touch him, an indication of their deep reverence.   
      
   Simeon was glad to help others, but he wanted to be free to carry on   
   his prayers. Therefore in 423 AD he asked some masons to build him a   
   column 15 feet high, with a five or six-foot-square platform on top.   
   When it was finished, he mounted it, resolved never again to descend.   
      
   The column helped him both to achieve and to symbolize a greater   
   detachment from the world, although he eventually replaced column No.   
   1 with higher columns: 20 feet high, 36 feet high, and finally 60 feet   
   high. For the rest of his life, at any rate, he lived and prayed on   
   these eyries, exposed to all the elements. Since he was not a priest,   
   a neighboring priest or bishop would climb up to give him Holy   
   Communion.   
      
   Now, at the time Simeon climbed his first pillar, the local bishops   
   and abbots, to test his humility, sent word to him to come down “and   
   cease this odd way of life.”   
      
   Simeon started at once to descend. That was enough for the delegate.   
   “You have shown yourself obedient,” he told the hermit. “Stay where   
   you are, and God be with you!”   
      
   The warm popularity that Simeon enjoyed thereafter was nothing short   
   of marvelous. Twice a day he would give a gentle but firm exhortation   
   to the pilgrims who visited him. He especially warned them against   
   swearing and against dishonesty in business. He reminded them of the   
   need of cultivating piety, and the importance of praying for the   
   salvation of others.   
      
   Christians (including three emperors) were not the only visitors who   
   sought his advice. Persians, Armenians, and Iberians of Caucasus   
   journeyed far to hear his engaging addresses. Many were converted to   
   Christianity by his words and miracles. Simeon died in the summer of   
   459.   
      
   It was a peaceful death. He simply bowed over as if in prayer, and   
   passed away. The whole country honored him when he was buried in   
   Antioch, and many were the miracles wrought on that occasion.   
      
   God usually directs souls along routine ways. Every now and then,   
   however, He gives to chosen ones an apostolate or a grace so striking   
   that the world takes notice. One of these chosen souls was Simeon, the   
   “holy aerial martyr”. When people wanted to look at him, they had to   
   look up.   
      
   We, too, should live so that others may look up to us.   
   –Father Robert   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   We need not fear to be puffed with the knowledge of what God has done   
   for us, if we keep well before us the truth that whatever good there   
   may be in us, is not of us. Though a mule is laden with the precious   
   treasures of a prince, is it not still a clumsy, filthy beast?   
   -- Saint Francis de Sale   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, The face thereof was   
   covered with nettles, And the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then   
   I beheld, and considered well; I saw, and received instruction: Yet a   
   little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to   
   sleep;   
   So shall thy poverty come as a robber, And thy want as an armed man.   
   [Pro 24:30-34]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
    Novena to the Holy Spirit    
      
   Holy Spirit you who solve all problems, who light all roads so that I   
   can attain my goal. You, who gave me the divine gift, forget all evil   
   against me & who in all instances of my life are with me. I want in   
   this short prayer to thank you for all things & to confirm once again   
   that I never want to be separated from you even in spite of all   
   material illusion. I wish to be with you in eternal glory. Thank you   
   for your mercy toward me and mine.   
      
   (Make your request)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)