From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   God has not promised us tomorrow   
      
   If we knew at what time we were to depart from this world, we would be   
   able to select a season for pleasure and another for repentance. But   
   God, who has promised pardon to every repentant sinner, has not   
   promised us tomorrow. Therefore we must always dread the final day,   
   which we can never foresee. This very day is a day of truce, a day for   
   conversion. And yet we refuse to cry over the evil we have done! Not   
   only do we not weep for the sins we have committed, we even add to   
   them.   
   -- Pope Saint Gregory the Great   
      
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   November 24th - St. Romanus of Le Mans   
   Died at Blaye, France, in 385.   
      
   We all know people who, if you look at their lives, aren’t   
   “special”—they are not like Mother Teresa or some great preacher—and   
   yet their commitment to letting Christ soak every thread in their   
   life’s fabric is no less profound. They are the quiet saints, the ones   
   who don’t get any attention. One of the best examples of them is St.   
   Romanus of Le Mans.   
      
   Romanus was a reserved homebody who would have stayed in Italy if his   
   uncle, St. Julian, bishop of Le Mans, had not requested his   
   assistance. God used Romanus to bless that city’s people in myriad   
   ways, including conversions, the odd resurrection, and other miracles.   
   And like some star athletes who kneel and point heavenward after   
   scoring, the shy young Italian always gave the credit to God.   
      
   Within short order St. Julian ordained his nephew to the priesthood,   
   and then he sent him to evangelize along the Gironde River. There   
   Romanus won even more conversions, especially among the sailors. What   
   makes this odd is that Romanus was inarticulate and scatterbrained.   
   However, he also was sincere. The gospel had so convicted his heart,   
   and he spoke of it so lovingly, that often after hearing him people   
   immediately asked for baptism.   
      
   When Uncle Julian died, Romanus would simply not leave the tomb,   
   neither day nor night. And so, when St. Thuribe was elected Julian’s   
   successor, he asked Romanus to be the tomb’s caretaker. In time   
   Thuribe too died, and Romanus watched over his grave as well. Because   
   the early Christians desired to be buried near the saints, a cemetery   
   began to mushroom around the sepulchers of these two saints, and   
   Romanus became a member of a minor order called the Fossors   
   (Gravediggers). When Christians died, these brothers performed   
   services not unlike those of undertakers today. They also tended the   
   tombs and ministered to the bereaved.   
      
   When he perceived that his own race had run its course, Romanus asked   
   Bishop Pavace leave to go to Rome. The bishop gave it on the condition   
   he come back, which he did. Romanus died shortly thereafter. For many   
   centuries his tomb was the site of significant pilgrimages. Then, like   
   a photograph left too long in the sun, remembrance of him faded.   
      
   Why St. Romanus of Le Mans deserves our attention and devotion   
      
   Sanctity comes from one thing and one thing only: uncompromising love   
   for God over ourselves and for his will over our own. Our Savior   
   taught us to show that love through our treatment of others. This   
   consists not only in easing their burdens but also in loving them so   
   much that we try to bring them to Christ. St. Romanus is a great   
   example of how to do both very well.   
      
   Dearest God, you call us to make disciples. By St. Romanus’s prayers,   
   daily help us discover ways to imitate his example, so that our love   
   will bring many into your kingdom.   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   When you feel the assaults of passion and anger, then is the time to   
   be silent as Jesus was silent in the midst of His ignominies and   
   sufferings.  O holy silence, rich in great virtues! O holy silence,   
   which is a key of gold, keeping in safety the great treasure of holy   
   virtues!   
    --St. Paul of the Cross   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   "No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place,   
   neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in   
   may see the light."  (Luke 11:29-11:33)  DRB   
      
      
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   A prayer from The Imitation of Christ, of Thomas `a Kempis:   
      
   I offer up unto Thee my prayers and intercessions, for those especially who   
   have in any matter hurt, grieved, or found fault with me, or who have done   
   me any damage or displeasure. For all those also whom, at any time, I may   
   have vexed, troubled, burdened, and scandalized, by words or deeds,   
   knowingly or in ignorance; that Thou wouldeth grant us all equally pardon   
   for our sins, and for our offences against each other. Take away from our   
   hearts, O Lord, all suspiciousness, indignation, wrath, and contention, and   
   whatsoever may hurt charity, and lessen brotherly love. Have mercy, O   
   Lord, have mercy on those that crave Thy mercy, give grace unto them that   
   stand in need thereof, and make us such as that we may be worthy to enjoy   
   Thy grace, and go forward to life eternal. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)