From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Shallow and rootless minds   
      
      "Let us look, from a broader perspective, at what it means to be   
   on the road. In a way, every road is hardened and foolish on account   
   of the fact that it lies beneath everyone's feet. No kind of seed   
   finds there enough depth of soil for a covering. Instead, it lies on   
   the surface and is ready to be snatched up by the birds that come by.   
   Therefore those who have in themselves a mind hardened and, as it   
   were, packed tight do not receive the divine seed but become a   
   well-trodden way for the unclean spirits. These are what is here meant   
   by 'the birds of the heaven.' But 'heaven' we understand to mean this   
   air, in which the spirits of wickedness move about, by whom, again,   
   the good seed is snatched up and destroyed. Then what are those upon   
   the rock? They are those people who do not take much care of the faith   
   they have in themselves. They have not set their minds to understand   
   the touchstone of the mystery [of communion with Christ]. The   
   reverence these people have toward God is shallow and rootless. It is   
   in times of ease and fair weather that they practice Christianity,   
   when it involves none of the painful trials of winter. They will not   
   preserve their faith in this way, if in times of tumultuous   
   persecution their soul is not prepared for the struggle."   
    by Cyril of Alexandria  (Excerpt from FRAGMENT 168)   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   August 1st - Saint Agrippina Di Mineo   
      
   Saint Agrippina Di Mineo was a beautiful blond princess who was   
   unmercifully tortured to death by the Emperor Valerian in 256 AD.   
   After her death, her body was taken from Rome to Mineo, Sicily, by   
   three holy women; Bassa, Paula and Agatonica.   
      
   The Greeks also honor her and claim to have relics of her. Sant'   
   Agrippina is the patron saint of thunderstorms, leprosy and evil   
   spirits. Her Feast day is celebrated on the first weekend in August.   
      
   Each year since 1914 a group of devoted people come together to renew   
   their faith in her in Boston's North End, as was the custom in the   
   land of origin, Mineo, Sicily. Each year everyone is invited to   
   witness the respect and honor that is bestowed on this young,   
   beautiful martyred saint.   
      
   The story of the journey of the martyred body of St. Agrippina from   
   Rome to Mineo, Sicily is full of the miraculous.   
      
   The fragrance that accompanied the body of St. Agrippina wherever it   
   went, the veneration of the sailors and the farmers, the miraculous   
   light weight of the reliquary so that the three young girls could   
   carry it, the quickness of the voyage from Rome to Sicily, the   
   miraculous cloud that covered the girls and transported them and the   
   relics at certain times of danger in the journey, the angels that   
   protected them from harm, the devils that were defeated and swept out   
   at the sight of the sacred relics, and the miracle of Teogonia—these   
   are all signs that it was the will of God that Agrippina should be the   
   Saint of this blessed city of Mineo.   
      
   As the sacred tradition affirms, the relics of St. Agrippina arrived   
   in Mineo on Wednesday, May 17, in the year 261. Her feast day is   
   celebrated on the first weekend in August in Boston. Each year for the   
   past 86 years, groups of devoted people come together in Boston's   
   North End to renew their faith in Saint Agrippina, as was the custom   
   in Mineo, Sicily. Each year everyone is invited to witness the respect   
   and honor that is bestowed on this young, beautiful martyred Saint.   
      
   Feast Day Celebrations   
      
   Since 1914, members of the St. Agrippina Di Mineo Society gather in   
   Boston's North End to honor the Saint and raise money to help keep the   
   churches in good repair. This is a tradition that can be traced back   
   to Mineo, Sicily, the city where she was buried.   
      
   Posters advertising the event proclaim that "twenty devoted men" will   
   carry a one-ton statue of the saint for several hours. The statue is   
   decked with ribbons, to which those at the festival pin dollar bills.   
   First, a priest says a brief prayer, and unveils the statue amid   
   fireworks and music. When the signal is given, the devoted men lift   
   the statue on their shoulders and begin the procession. The twenty   
   devoted men stop frequently and set the statue down, both to give   
   themselves a rest from carrying it, and to give onlookers a chance to   
   pin their money on the statue. Each time they set the statue down, the   
   twenty devoted men yell out "Viva Agrippina!" several times. Sometimes   
   they would even sing the words, "Viva Saint Agrippina!" to the tune   
   "Deep in the Heart of Texas." The Roma Band then plays several songs   
   while money is pinned on the statue. The devoted men then pick up the   
   statue again, walk for about 20 feet, and then set the statue down   
   again and repeat the whole procedure.   
      
      
   Saint Quote   
   We therefore grossly deceive ourselves in not allocating more time to   
   the study of divine truths. It is not enough barely to believe them,   
   and let our thoughts now and then glance upon them: that knowledge   
   which shows us heaven, will not bring us to the possession of it, and   
   will deserve punishments, not rewards, if it remain slight, weak, and   
   superficial. By serious and frequent meditation it must be concocted,   
   digested, and turned into the nourishment of our affections, before it   
   can be powerful and operative enough to change them, and produce the   
   necessary fruit in our lives. For this all the saints affected   
   solitude and retreats from the noise and hurry of the world, as much   
   as their circumstances allowed them.   
   --St. Apollinaris   
      
   Bible Quote   
   But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave   
   thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God,   
   the pillar and ground of the truth.  (1 Tim 3:15)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Saint Alphonsus Liguori, from The Redeeming Love of Christ   
      
   God says to each of us: "Give me your heart, that is, your will." We,   
   in turn, cannot offer anything more precious than to say: "Lord, take   
   possession of us; we give our whole will to you; make us understand   
   what it is that you desire of us, and we will perform it."   
      
   If we would give full satisfaction to the heart of God, we must bring   
   our own will in everything into conformity with his; and not only into   
   conformity, but into uniformity also, as regards all that God ordains.   
   Conformity signifies the joining of our own will to the will of God;   
   but uniformity signifies, further, our making of the divine and our   
   own will one will only, so that we desire nothing but what God   
   desires, and his will becomes ours. This is the sum and substance of   
   that perfection to which we ought to be ever aspiring; this is what   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)