From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Rash Judgments   
      
   “How displeasing to God are rash judgments! The judgments of the   
   children of men are rash because they usurp the office of Our Lord,   
   the just Judge. They are rash because the principal malice of sin   
   depends on the intention and the counsel of the heart, and these are   
   hidden things not known to human judges. They are rash because every   
   person has things that could be judged, and, indeed, on which one   
   should judge oneself. On the cross our Savior could not entirely   
   excuse the sin of those who crucified him, but he extenuated the   
   malice by pleading their ignorance. When we cannot excuse a sin, let   
   us at least make it worthy of compassion by attributing the most   
   favorable cause we can to it, such as ignorance or weakness. We can   
   never pass judgment on our neighbor.”   
   --Saint Francis de Sales   
      
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   January 9th - St. Marciana   
      
   At the end of the 3rd century in Rusuccur, a small city in Mauritania,   
   Algeria, there lived a young lady called Marciana, as pious as she was   
   beautiful. While very young, she consecrated her virginity to God, and   
   abandoned everything to live in a cave near that Roman city.   
      
   One day, certainly moved by some divine inspiration, she left her cell   
   to walk among the agitated and restless multitude of that city, for   
   this was the time of the bloody persecution of Christians made by   
   Diocletian throughout the Roman Empire.   
      
   Entering the city by the Tipasia door, Marciana saw a marble statue of   
   the goddess Diana in the middle of a square. At its feet flowed clear   
   waters in a pool also made of marble. The brave virgin could not bear   
   the sight of that impure idol. She stepped forward and threw the idol   
   from its base, broke its head and smashed the entire statue into   
   pieces.   
      
   A furious mob dragged her to the Pretorium before an imperial   
   magistrate. The Christian virgin laughed at the stone and wood gods,   
   and glorified the true God she adored. In loud, eloquent words, she   
   praised Him there in the Pretorium. The pagan judge handed her over to   
   the gladiators to be infamously abused at their pleasure. Marciana   
   remained fearless and serene. For three hours the gladiators were   
   rendered immobile by an unknown terror, and were unable to touch the   
   virgin. Through her prayers one of them converted and professed Jesus   
   Christ as the true God.   
      
   Confused by this development of events, the judge remained firm in his   
   hatred. Unable to dishonor the virgin, he condemned her to be torn to   
   pieces by wild beasts. When the hour arrived, she entered the arena as   
   to a joyful feast, giving praise and thanks to Jesus Christ. She was   
   tied to a stake and a lion was set upon her. The beast, however,   
   approached her, touched her with its claws, and then retired as though   
   moved by a stronger force.   
      
   In admiration, the populace called out loudly demanding that she be   
   set free. But a group of Jews who were part of the multitude, always   
   thirsty for Christian blood, changed the mood of the crowd by calling   
   for a wild bull. The beast gored the breast of Marciana opening a   
   terrible wound. The blood poured out and St. Marciana fell to the sand   
   in agony. Servants removed her from the arena, stopped the   
   hemorrhaging, and nurtured what little life remained to her.   
      
   The judge, however, called for her to be tied to the stake again. She   
   raised her eyes to Heaven, a smile illuminating her face marked by   
   suffering, and spoke her last words:   
      
     O Christ, I adore and love Thee. Thou wert with me in the prison and   
   kept me pure. Now Thou dost call me--O my Divine Master--and I go   
   happily to Thee. Receive my soul.   
      
   After she spoke these words, a ferocious leopard tore her apart,   
   opening the road of Heaven to her.   
      
      
   Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)   
      
   It is a most beautiful selection that deserves some comments from a   
   perspective different from the first that appears.   
      
   What we see at first sight is the spectacle of an extraordinary,   
   startling and miraculous heroism. Marciana was a hermit near a small   
   city in Africa during a time when Northern Africa was made up of Roman   
   colonies as Latinized as Eastern Europe. St. Marciana, as the name   
   indicates, was probably a Latin young woman. One day, touched by the   
   grace, she went to the city. She came across a statue of Diane,   
   goddess of the hunt, placed over a fountain in a public square. She   
   was overcome by a just ire against that idol, a symbol affirming a   
   religion opposed to the religion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.   
      
   In this episode, St. Marciana revealed a strength that is not natural.   
   The selection presents her as gracious and beautiful, which normally   
   supposes fragility in a woman. But she became strong enough to push   
   the idol from its base, separate the head from the body, and smash the   
   entire statue to pieces.   
      
   From a Roman point of view, this was a great crime. For a pagan, a   
   statue is not only a representation of the god, but the god itself.   
   They imagine the god is inside the idol, which is why they are called   
   idolaters.   
      
   So, filled with a beautiful epic spirit, she pushed the idol to the   
   ground. The fragile, young, and recollected hermit went to the city to   
   accomplish a task that strong Catholic men did not have courage to do:   
   she broke the idol into pieces.   
      
   Then, she stood before the tyrannical magistrate who, on behalf of   
   Emperor Diocletian, was condemning all Catholics to death. She faced   
   death with serenity. Here also she gave a demonstration of the   
   strength of God.   
      
   Next, the magistrate handed her over to the gladiators, persons of the   
   lowest level, to abuse her as they so desired. Something truly   
   incredible happened. She loved virginity above all else on earth, yet   
   she remained serene in that distressing situation. For three hours   
   those men strong enough to do whatever they liked were rendered   
   immobile and could not approach her. A mysterious force prevented   
   them. One of these gladiators converted, confirming the supernatural   
   presence of God.   
      
   Then, the judge condemned her to be killed by wild beasts in the   
   arena. A lion approached her, but only touched her and then walked   
   away. It was yet another intervention of God. The populace felt this   
   and called for clemency. But the Jews, always experts in maneuvering   
   public opinion, created an agitation that moved the fickle crowd from   
   clemency to anticipation for another spectacle. They called for a bull   
   to enter the arena against her.   
      
   What pagan ferocity did not achieve, Jewish perfidy managed to do. God   
   defended St. Marciana against the former; He did not defend her   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)