From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   John points to Jesus' saving mission   
      
   "No longer does John need to 'prepare the way,' since the one for whom   
   the preparation was being made is right there before his eyes... But   
   now he who of old was dimly pictured, the very Lamb, the spotless   
   Sacrifice, is led to the slaughter for all, that he might drive away   
   the sin of the world, that he might overturn the destroyer of the   
   earth, that dying for all he might annihilate death, that he might   
   undo the curse that is upon us... For one Lamb died for all (2   
   Corinthians 5:14), saving the whole flock on earth to God the Father,   
   one for all, that he might subject all to God."   
    by Cyril of Alexandria (excerpt from the COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.1)   
      
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   January 22nd - Saint Vincent of Saragossa, Deacon and Martyr   
   Also known as   
   Vincent of Zaragoza   
   Vincent the Deacon   
   Vincent Tourante   
   Vincent of Aragon   
   Vincent of Huesca   
      
   Memorial   
   22 January   
   11 January (Orthodox)   
   23 January (United States)   
      
   (d. 304)   
      
   Saint Vincent was archdeacon of the church at Saragossa, Spain.   
   Valerian, the bishop, was prevented from preaching by a speech   
   impediment, and named Vincent to preach in his stead. He answered in   
   the bishop’s name when, during the persecution of Diocletian, both   
   were brought before Dacian, the presiding officer. When the bishop was   
   sent into banishment, Vincent was retained, to suffer and to die.   
      
   First he was stretched on the rack; and when he was almost torn   
   asunder, Dacian asked him in mockery “how he fared now.” Vincent   
   answered, with joy on his countenance, that he had always prayed to be   
   as he was then. It was in vain that Dacian struck the executioners and   
   goaded them on in their savage work. The martyr’s flesh was torn with   
   hooks; he was bound to a chair of red-hot iron; lard and salt were   
   rubbed into his wounds; and amid all this he kept his eyes raised to   
   heaven, and remained unmoved.   
      
   The holy martyr was cast into a solitary dungeon, his feet placed in   
   the stocks; but the Angels of Christ illuminated the darkness, and   
   assured Vincent that he was near his triumph. His wounds were now   
   ordered to be tended, to prepare him for fresh torments, and the   
   faithful were permitted to gaze on his mangled body. They came in   
   troops, kissed his wounds and carried away as relics, cloths colored   
   with his blood. Before the tortures could resume, Saint Vincent’s hour   
   came, and he breathed forth his soul in peace.   
      
   Even the dead bodies of the Saints are precious in the sight of God,   
   and the hand of iniquity cannot touch them. A raven guarded the body   
   of Vincent where it lay flung upon the earth. When it was sunk out at   
   sea, the waves cast it ashore; and his relics are preserved to this   
   day in the Augustinian monastery at Lisbon, for the consolation of the   
   Church of Christ.   
      
   Reflection. Do you wish to be at peace amid suffering and temptation?   
   Then make it your principal endeavor to grow in habits of prayer and   
   in union with Christ. Have confidence in Him. He will make you   
   victorious over your spiritual enemies and over yourself. He will   
   enlighten your darkness and sweeten your sufferings, and in your   
   solitude and desolation He will draw near to you with His holy Angels.   
      
   Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on   
   Butler’s Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea   
   (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   In the twilight of life, God will not judge us on our earthly   
   possessions and human successes, but on how well we have loved.   
   --St. John of the Cross   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Never repay evil with evil. As scripture says: Vengeance is mine--I   
   will pay them back, says the Lord. But there is more: If your enemy is   
   hungry, you should give him food, and if he is thirsty, let him drink.   
   Resist evil and conquer it with good.  (Romans 12:17,19-20,21 )   
      
      
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   Reading   
   "To you has been granted in Christ's behalf not only that you should   
   believe in him but also that you should suffer for him."   
   Vincent had received both these gifts and held them as his own. For   
   how could he have them if he had not received them? And he displayed   
   his faith in what he said, his endurance in what he suffered.   
   No one ought to be confident in his own strength when he undergoes   
   temptation. For whenever we endure evils courageously, our   
   long-suffering comes from him Christ.   
   He once said to his disciples: "In this world you will suffer   
   persecution," and then, to allay their fears, he added, "but rest   
   assured, I have conquered the world."   
   There is no need to wonder then, my dearly beloved brothers, that   
   Vincent conquered in him who conquered the world. It offers temptation   
   to lead us astray; it strikes terror into us to break out spirit.   
   Hence if our personal pleasures do not hold us captive, and if we are   
   not frightened by brutality, then the world is overcome. At both of   
   these approaches Christ rushes to our aid, and the Christian is not   
   conquered.   
   --from a sermon by Saint Augustine of Hippo   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)