From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On Inconstancy of Heart:  [I]   
      
   CHRIST.   
   My son, do not trust your affections, for they are changeable and   
   inconstant. All your life you are subject to change, even against your   
   inclination.(Rom.8:20) At one time you are cheerful, at another sad;   
   now peaceful, now troubled: now full of devotion, now wholly lacking   
   it; now zealous, now slothful; now grave, now gay. But the wise man,   
   who is well versed in spiritual matters, stands above these changing   
   emotions. He pays small regard to his momentary feelings and whims,   
   but directs all the powers of his mind towards the right and true end.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3, Ch 33   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   September 4th - Saint Rose of Viterbo, Virgin, Visionary   
   c.1233-1251   
      
   This Italian girl made public speeches in the streets of Viterbo when   
   she was only 12 years old. It was the time when Emperor Frederick II   
   was struggling to make Rome the civil as well as the ecclesiastical   
   capital of the known world, with himself as the chieftain of a united   
   empire of Germany and Italy. Pope Gregory IX had entered an alliance   
   with the Lombards and several other groups when Frederick attacked the   
   Lombards, Gregory excommunicated him. Frederick then set out to   
   conquer the papal states and the independent cities of the north. By   
   1240 he had occupied Viterbo, dividing the city into two noisy   
   factions, Guelfs and Ghibellines.   
      
   Such was the world into which Saint Rose of Viterbo was born, the   
   child of poor parents. She showed a degree of virtue unusual in a   
   child, and a legend tells that at the age of 3 she raised her aunt   
   from death by her prayers. At seven, Rose wished to live a solitary   
   life in a room in her parents' home but shortly afterward became ill   
   and was believed near death. After a vision of our Lady, who told her   
   she was to receive the habit of Saint Francis, Rose recovered and   
   became a Franciscan tertiary.   
      
   Involved in the political disturbances of the time was an heretical   
   faction called the Patareni, whose teachings were akin to the   
   Albigensian heresy in France. After a brief preparation in prayer and   
   meditation on the Passion of Christ, Rose began to traverse the   
   streets of Viterbo with a crucifix or other sacred image in her hand,   
   calling out the names of Jesus and Mary and urging the people to   
   return to church-going. She was only 12 years old! Standing on a stone   
   because of her short stature she would cry out against the vices and   
   disorders of the day, explain the truths of the faith, and condemn the   
   errors and false doctrines of the heretics. This was a situation   
   distressing enough to the government, but when her speeches were   
   rumored to be attended by certain miracles, the crowds about her house   
   increased until her father forbade her to appear in public under the   
   penalty of being beaten. Rose's answer was: "if Jesus could be beaten   
   for me, I can be beaten for Him." She knew what God wanted her to do.   
   Through the intervention of the parish priest, Rose was permitted by   
   her father to preach, and for two years she continued to preach   
   fidelity to the faith and to the pope. The ire of the heretics was   
   unbounded and they finally persuaded the official who governed the   
   city in the name of the emperor to banish Rose and her parents. At   
   Soriano, Rose continued her apostolic mission and on December 3, 1250,   
   prophesied the death of Frederick, which took place 11 days later.   
      
   After the death of Frederick, the papal forces regained control of   
   Viterbo, and Rose and her parents returned. She applied for admission   
   to the convent of Saint Mary of the Roses but was refused by the   
   abbess. Rose took the refusal calmly: "You will not have me now, but   
   perhaps you will be more willing when I am dead."   
      
   Through the help of the parish priest a chapel near the convent was   
   opened as a religious center for Rose and a few companions. But the   
   convent demanded the privilege that no other religious community of   
   women should be situated within a given distance of their own, and an   
   order was obtained from Pope Innocent IV for the closing of Rose's   
   chapel. She returned to her parent's home where she continued her life   
   of prayer and penance, and died there a few months later at the age of   
   18.   
      
   Once more God had used one of the weak ones of the world to vanquish   
   the mighty. The people of Viterbo still honor Rose as protectress of   
   their city and there are two gay and colorful festivals every year to   
   celebrate her life and miracles and remind men that prayer and penance   
   can turn the tide of history.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Rose's dying words to her parents were: "I die with joy, for I desire   
   to be united to my God. Live so as not to fear death. For those who   
   live well in the world, death is not frightening, but sweet and   
   precious."   
   --Saint Rose of Viterbo   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all   
   sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in   
   all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God   
   who is working in all of them.  (1 Corinthians 12:4-6 )   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer To Mary Consoler of the Afflicted   
      
   O Immaculate Mary, Dear Mother, Consoler, I take refuge in   
   your most lovable Heart with all the trust of which I am capable.   
   You shall be dearest object of my love and my veneration.   
      
   From you, the dispenser of heavenly treasures, I shall always   
   seek peace in my troubles, light in my doubts, defence in my   
   dangers, help in my needs.   
      
   Be therefore my refuge, my strength,   
   my consolation O Mary Consoler.   
      
   At the hour of my death, graciously receive the last beats of my heart,   
   and obtain for me a place in that heavenly country, where as one,   
   all hearts shall praise forever the adorable Heart of Jesus,   
   with your most lovable Heart, O Mary, my Mother.   
      
   Consoler of the Afflicted, pray for us, who have recourse to you.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)