From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The shepherds   
      
      The simple hasten eagerly to see the newborn king lying in a   
   manger; they find him and acknowledge him; they adore and rejoice and   
   mingle their artless praises with the heavenly hymns. These men and   
   women are the first stones of the ecclesiastical structure: they are   
   the first members of the new Church, and the Shepherd of shepherds at   
   his very birth hired them, men skilled in feeding flocks, to care for   
   his own sheepfold. Because he had determined that he would later on   
   buy a great flock for himself with his own blood, from the outset he   
   hired shepherds to whom he might afterward entrust the care of his   
   sheepfold. How the Virgin rejoiced at the devotion of these simple   
   folk! How delighted and gladdened she was by their praises! For by his   
   own announcement God had begun to make known to human beings the   
   mystery of divine condescension which had occurred in her womb for   
   their salvation.   
   --Thomas of Villanova, O.S.A.   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   21 December – Blessed Dominic Spadafora OP   
      
   Memorial   
   21 December   
   3 October on some calendars   
      
   (1450-1521)   
      
   Dominican Priest, renowned Preacher. He was a noted   
   evangelist and attracted countless to the Dominican fold while also   
   converting the hearts of others who led dissolute lives. His body is   
   incorrupt.   
      
   Dominic was born in Sicily, of an old and noble family. His father was   
   Baron of Miletto, and members of the family were connected with the   
   nobility of Venice and Palermo. As a child, Dominic attended school in   
   the Convent of St Rita in Palerno, which had been founded some years   
   before by Blessed Peter Geremia. He studied in Perugia after moving   
   there in 1477 and was later sent to Padua where he earned his   
   Bachelor’s degree on 23 June 1479 and shortly thereafter, was ordained   
   to the Priesthood. In Venice on 7 June 1487 he was granted his   
   Master’s degree in theological studies after a public dissertation   
   alongside 11 other candidates. He joined the Order of Preachers at the   
   convent of Santa Zita in Palermo after returning there, where, for   
   some time he lived quietly conducting classes for the brethren and the   
   secular clergy.   
      
   He participated at the General Chapter of the order in Venice in 1487.   
   He was supposed to be assigned to a convent in Messina in 1487 but the   
   Father General of the order, Gioacchino Torriani, decided to have him   
   as his collaborator in Rome. Also in 1487 he participated in the   
   General Chapter in Le Mans in the Kingdom of France.   
      
   Blessed Dominic became a noted preacher and evangelist and won the   
   hearts of converts that had led dissolute lives – such an example of   
   holiness also prompted countless others to join the Dominican fold as   
   religious themselves. He was known for his intense devotion to the   
   passion of Jesus Christ. Amidst this activity he also taught   
   theological studies in the Sicilian area.   
      
   He founded the convent of Madonna delle Grazie – that housed a   
   miraculous image of the Madonna – in 1491 in Monte Cerignone and   
   served for the remainder of his life as its first superior. This came   
   about when the faithful of the area wanted to enhance the small chapel   
   and thus the Master General of the Dominicans sent for Spadaforo to   
   oversee its renovation. The priest arrived there in the town on 15   
   September 1491 and set off on foot to Rome in 1492 to receive papal   
   approval for this work. At this point Pope Innocent VII died and Pope   
   Alexander VI was elected in a chain of events that postponed their   
   meeting until 22 February 1493 when papal permission was granted. He   
   returned with the decree of approval in 1493 and began construction of   
   the church in 1494. The work concluded in 1498. The Bishop Marco   
   Vigerio della Rovere consecrated the new church on 16 July 1498.   
      
   What we have considered to be the usual virtues of a Dominican friar   
   were practised faithfully by Dominic Spadafora. He spent most of his   
   Dominican life in the Convent of Our Lady of Grace, directing   
   societies and confraternities, zealous for regular observance and   
   scrupulously exact in his own behaviour.   
      
   Dominic Spadafora died in 1521 aged 71, after the celebration of Mass.   
   He had revealed earlier to the community that he knew he was about to   
   die. He attended all religious exercises up to the hour of his death   
   and he died as every Dominican hopes he will – the community was   
   around him, singing the “Salve Regina.”   
      
   Blessed Dominic’s remains were exhumed in 1545 and were deemed to be   
   incorrupt. His remains were relocated on 3 October 1677.  His remains   
   were relocated once more on 4 April 2005 to the Chiesa della   
   Santissima Trinità. He was Beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1921 after   
   the pontiff confirmed the late priest’s ‘cultus’.   
      
   from Anastpaul 2019   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   What toil we must endure, what fatigue, while we are attempting to   
   climb hills and the summits of mountains! What, that we may ascend to   
   heaven! If you consider the promised reward, what you endure is less.   
   Immortality is given to the one who perseveres; everlasting life is   
   offered; the Lord promises His Kingdom.   
   --St. Cyprian of Carthage   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   And Jesus saith to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air   
   nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.  (Matthew   
   8:20)  DRB   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   A Prayer before reading the Bible   
      
   Our Father, who art in heaven,   
   sacred is Your Word.   
   Your kingdom come,   
   Your Words be heard on earth as they are in heaven.   
   Give us today Your Sacred Word.   
   Forgive our neglect of it in the past   
   as we forgive those who neglect us.   
   Lead us toward an encounter with You   
   each time we delve into the Scriptures.   
   For Your presence, Your power,   
   and Your glory   
   are ever present among us   
   now and forever.   
      
   Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)