From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The Comforter is with us in our troubles   
      
      "He is called the Comforter because he comforts and encourages us   
   and helps our infirmities. We do not know what we should pray for as   
   we should, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us, with   
   groanings that cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26), that is, he makes   
   intercession to God. Very often, someone has been outraged and   
   dishonored unjustly for the sake of Christ. Martyrdom is at hand;   
   tortures on every side, and fire, and sword, and savage beasts and the   
   pit. But the Holy Spirit softly whispers to him, 'Wait on the Lord'   
   (Psalm 27:14). What is now happening to you is a small matter; the   
   reward will be great. Suffer a little while, and you will be with   
   angels forever. 'The sufferings of this present time are not worth   
   comparing to the glory that shall be revealed in us' (Romans 8:18). He   
   portrays to the person the kingdom of heaven. He gives him a glimpse   
   of the paradise of delight."   
    by Cyril of Jerusalem, (excerpt from CATECHETICAL LECTURES 16.20)   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   July 19th - St. Macrina the Younger   
      
   Macrina was born in 327 in Cesarea, the eldest child of Basil and   
   Emmelia. She was the granddaughter of St. Macrina the Elder and sister   
   of St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Peter of Sebastea. Her   
   mother based herself on the Book of Wisdom of Scriptures to raise her   
   children, and used to chant the psaltery with them. At age 12, Macrina   
   was engaged to be married, but when her fiancé died, she decided she   
   would not marry. She dedicated her life to help raise her brothers   
   well and to assist her mother. After her siblings had grown up and   
   were completely formed, they used to call her Macrina the Great, as   
   they had in their childhood, a sign of the high respect they had for   
   her.   
      
   When she became gravely ill and was close to death, St. Gregory of   
   Nyssa went to see her. He found her laying on a wood board and wearing   
   a hair-shirt. He carefully lifted her and placed her on a bed. The   
   dying woman, seeing her last hour was at hand, remembered all the good   
   things God had given her during her lifetime and gave glory to Him.   
      
   She said:   
    “Oh, Lord! Thou didst destroy the fear of death. Because of Thy   
   sacrifice, true life begins when the present life finishes. We will   
   sleep for a while and then, to the sound of the trumpet, we will   
   resurrect. Thou didst save us from the curse of the sin, redeeming us   
   from both sin and its curse.”   
      
   Kissing an iron Crucifix that held the relics of the Cross of the   
   Savior, which she always had close to her, St. Macrina serenely died   
   in the year 379. She was buried beside her parents.   
      
      
   Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira:   
      
   This selection appears a bit sparse, since it only tells us the names   
   of her parents and brothers, and that she helped to raise the latter.   
   Afterward, she died piously. Let me see if this sparseness can be   
   filled with some considerations on the feminine life suggested by the   
   life of St. Macrina.   
      
   Until the explosion of the feminist movement in the post-World War I   
   era, there was an idea about the feminine lifestyle that we should   
   conserve and emphasize, above all in this epoch when the disgusting   
   unisex way of life has been accepted. This idea is born from a most   
   elementary truth: Woman and men are very different, even if both are   
   part of the same human genre. Therefore, they have different roles in   
   life.   
      
   It is proper for the man to provide for the needs of the family and to   
   work to earn sufficient means for that. For the woman it is proper to   
   stay inside the home and provide for man a warm and ordered house, a   
   true treasure. That is, the woman should bear his children and raise   
   them well. After the children’s education is complete and they have   
   married, the role of the woman is to be the natural center of the   
   family. Her home becomes the meeting point for the children and   
   grand-children. Therefore, it is normal that she spends her life   
   inside the home.   
      
   I am not saying that the woman should live in a kind of Muslim harem,   
   never going out. But I am supporting the idea that to go out everyday   
   is not proper for a lady with an authentic feminine spirit. The place   
   where a woman finds her entertainment and completes her personality is   
   her own home. As an extension of it, she also visits the homes of her   
   close relatives and special friends. She should visit them often, but   
   not everyday. What should the lady do inside her home? She should be   
   receiving her children and grandchildren, taking care of the home,   
   leading a calm and serene life, and praying. The nature of a woman   
   calls for recollection, calm, and tranquility.   
      
   While the nature of a man calls for him to go outside the home, to   
   engage in activities and battles, the nature of a woman asks for this   
   recollected lifestyle. This kind of life offers circumstances for her   
   to save her soul and become a saint.   
      
   Until the feminist movement, this was the traditional way of being for   
   women. It was normal for ladies to not leave their homes. They went   
   out to go to Sunday Mass and make some visits. The daughters who   
   wanted to marry used to go out a little more, often for shopping or   
   for some infrequent and very respectable party. Otherwise, their   
   normal life revolved around the home. This way of life permeated with   
   calm and piety could lead a lady with the proper spirit to a high   
   level of sanctity. At any rate, this tranquil lifestyle tended to lead   
   to the formation of solid feminine virtue, which made the woman the   
   moral axis of the entire family.   
      
   You can see that this most probably was how St. Macrina lived. She   
   accomplished her mission on earth by helping to raise three saints for   
   the Church and transmitting to them the education she received from   
   her parents, who were also saintly. She was, therefore, a kind of   
   funnel through which sanctity passed from two reservoirs of sanctity   
   to three others. She stayed at home, leading a normal life, taking   
   care of the house, cooking, directing the servants, and dedicating a   
   good part of her time to prayers. She did all this with a supernatural   
   spirit and became a great saint. She is, for that reason, a model to   
   those ladies who should live normal holy lives. She also represents   
   the opposite of the frenetic agitation of today’s lifestyle that is   
   contrary to the feminine spirit.   
      
   The selection showed how the end of her life was crowned with many graces:   
      
   First, it was crowned by the presence of St. Gregory of Nyssa who   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)