From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Of a Pure Mind and Simple Intention  (1)   
      
   MAN is raised up from the earth by two wings-simplicity and purity.   
   There must  be simplicity in his intention and purity in his desires.   
   Simplicity leads to  God, purity embraces and enjoys Him. If your   
   heart is free from ill-ordered  affection, no good deed will be   
   difficult for you. If you aim at and seek  after nothing but the   
   pleasure of God and the welfare of your neighbor, you will  enjoy   
   freedom within.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 2, Chapter 4   
      
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   February 13th – Bl. Archangela Girlani, Virgin   
   d.1494   
      
   ELEANOR GIRLANI was born at Trino in northern Italy in the year 1460,   
   and from earliest childhood showed herself intensely serious and   
   devout. She went to the neighbouring Benedictine convent of Rocca   
   delle Donne for her education, but found that her people came to see   
   her too often and that the discipline observed by the nuns was not   
   strict enough. Being bent on consecrating herself to God, and her   
   father refusing his consent, she implored the intervention of the   
   Marquess of Monferrato. In the end her father yielded, but only on   
   condition that she took the veil in the Benedictine house already   
   mentioned. We are told that every preparation had been made for   
   celebrating her entry into religion there with great solemnity. The   
   marquess himself was present in state, and the procession set out, but   
   when the horse which Eleanor was riding had gone but a little way it   
   stood stock still and nothing could make it advance further. In the   
   end the company dispersed, and Eleanor returning home was met soon   
   afterwards by a Carmelite friar who gave her a glowing account of the   
   edifying life led by the nuns of his order at Parma. Taking Archangela   
   as her name in religion, the girl entered there on her 17th birthday   
   and took her vows a year later, in 1478.   
      
   It is strange to read that very shortly afterwards she was made   
   prioress. How soon exactly we are not told, but since she was sent at   
   the request of the Gonzagas to found a new Carmelite convent at   
   Mantua, where she died, and had raised this new community to a state   
   of great perfection before she was taken from them, the delay in   
   advancing her to the office of superior cannot have been long. We   
   probably must attribute a great deal of this precipitancy to her   
   social position. As appears plainly from the records of the religious   
   houses of women in the early middle ages, a princess or great lady who   
   took the veil and proved herself to be reasonably observant and   
   virtuous was almost always elected abbess as soon as a vacancy   
   occurred. This practice seems to have lingered on through later   
   centuries. In Archangela’s case the deference paid to rank does not   
   seem to have been misplaced. She was the model of every religious   
   virtue, most austere in her practice of penance, charitable to all and   
   possessed of a marvellous spirit of prayer. Many times, we are told,   
   she was found in her cell rapt in ecstasy and raised several yards   
   from the ground. On one occasion an ecstasy in which she was   
   completely insensible to outward impressions lasted more than 24   
   hours. When, owing to inundations, the convent at Mantua was   
   threatened with absolute starvation, she fell on her knees in prayer   
   and straightway an unknown person came to the gate bringing an   
   adequate supply of provisions.   
      
   Certain strange happenings were recorded after her death, which   
   occurred on January 25, 1494, of which the most interesting perhaps is   
   the pear tree tradition. Shortly after her arrival at Mantua Mother   
   Archangela had planted a pear tree in the convent garden. Now it was   
   believed that the tree always produced as many blossoms, and in due   
   course as many pears, as there were sisters in the community. What is   
   more, if a pear fell off, this was a certain indication that one of   
   the community would die within the year. The prioress herself, as long   
   as she was in charge, always, when a pear fell, exhorted her community   
   to make a good preparation for death, seeing that they none of them   
   knew for whom the warning was intended. It is also averred that the   
   same marvel continued for many years, long after Bl. Archangela’s   
   death. Her cultus was confirmed in 1864   
   .   
   It is difficult to form any idea of the value of the evidence upon   
   which these and similar details connected with the life of Bl.   
   Archangela are based. They may be read in a tiny booklet written by   
   the Abbe Albarei from notes supplied by a Piedmontese Dominican. It   
   bears the Carmelite device of cross and stars, and is entitled Notice   
   sup la Vie de la bse. Archangela Girt oni (Poitiers, 1865).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The Lord has arrayed Joseph, like with a sun, in all which the saints   
   possess together in regard to light and splendor.   
   --St. Gregory of Nazianzus   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Let your speech be, "Yes, yes"; "No, no"; and whatever is beyond these   
   comes from the evil one.  (Matthew 5:37)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Pruning and bearing good fruit in Christ   
      
   How can I practically "die" to myself so that the Lord Jesus can live   
   in me and transform me into his likeness and holiness? It certainly   
   means that what is contrary to God's will must be "put to death"   
   within me. God gives us grace to say "yes" to his will and the   
   strength we need to reject whatever is contrary to his commands and   
   plan for our lives. The Lord Jesus promises that we will bear much   
   "fruit" for him, if we choose to deny ourselves for his sake and   
   embrace his will for our lives.   
   Jesus used strong language to describe the kind of self-denial he had   
   in mind for his disciples. "He who loves his life loses it, and he who   
   hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John   
   12:25). What did Jesus mean when he said that a follower of Christ   
   must hate himself or herself? The expression to hate something often   
   meant to prefer less. Jesus says that nothing should get in the way of   
   our preferring him and the will of our heavenly Father above all else.   
   Paul the Apostle reminds us that "what is sown in the earth is subject   
   to decay, what rises is incorruptible" (1 Corinthians 15:42). Do you   
   believe in the power and victory of Christ's saving cross and   
   resurrection? And are you ready to reject whatever is contrary to   
   God's commands and to trust him for the strength and joy to embrace   
   his will for your life?   
      
   Prayer:   
    "Lord Jesus, let me be wheat sown in the earth, to be harvested for   
   you. I want to follow wherever you lead me. Give me fresh hope and joy   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)