From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The Proving of Christians   
      
    "The tempting of Christians is the proving of Christians. Either   
   they are shown what they have or else they are shown what they lack.   
    Abraham was tempted, not for him to be shown what he didn't have,   
   but for us to be shown what we should imitate."   
   --St. Augustine--Sermon 16A, 12   
      
   Prayer: You are the one God: come to me with your aid. Under you the   
   whole world keeps balance in the order and repetition of time: in the   
   days, changing from daylight to night; in the months, with the waxing   
   and waning of the moon; in the years with the passing of seasons.   
   --St. Augustine--Soliloquies 1, 1   
      
   ================   
   November 27th - St. Sechnall of Dunshaughlin   
      
   November 27 is the feastday of a fifth-century saint – Sechnall, a   
   bishop associated with Saint Patrick and credited with the authorship   
   of two important hymns found in both the Irish Liber Hymnorum and the   
   Bangor Antiphonary. I have posted a translation of his hymn to Saint   
   Patrick here. Sechnall is perhaps better known under his Latin name   
   Secundinus, and is one of the trio of bishops (along with Auxilius and   
   Iserninus) said to have worked alongside our national apostle. In his   
   commemorative volume of studies on Saint Patrick, scholar David   
   Dumville looks at the name Secundinus and what it might tell us about   
   the man behind it:   
   Secundinus is a well known Late Latin name, a derivative of Secundus   
   ... Several known fifth-century bishops bore the name and in Gaul it   
   continued to be used into the seventh century when we find bishops of   
   Lyon and Sisteron called Secundinus.   
      
   In Irish sources the vernacular name-form Sechnall is found for   
   Secundinus. The equation has been accepted by scholars but the   
   detailed philological history of the loan has never been worked out...   
      
   St Sechnall is known as the patron of Dunshaughlin in Co. Meath, a   
   short distance from Tara. His cult seems to have been attested from as   
   early as appropriate sources are available: his feast day is 27   
   November. ...compound personal names embodying the saint's name were   
   created in the central middle ages.   
      
   On this basis, while it would be possible to allow that Bishop   
   Secundinus could have been a literary invention of the seventh   
   century, the existence of the vernacular name (and everything which   
   pertains to it ) effectively disallows such speculation. It is   
   simplest to suppose that Secundinus was a fifth-century cleric (though   
   not necessarily a bishop) who worked in Ireland; it is at least   
   possible that he was a Continental and could thus be assigned to a   
   date as early as the mid-fifth century if we associate him with the   
   Palladian Church. The possibility is not to be excluded, however, that   
   he was a Christian and perhaps a cleric of the earlier time...   
   D.N. Dumville (ed.), Saint Patrick A.D. 493-1993 (Boydell Press, 1993), 99-100.   
      
   Saint Sechnall is honoured in the Martyrology of Saint Aengus with   
   this entry, which mentions his authorship of the hymn in praise of   
   Saint Patrick:   
   B. v. cal. Decembris.   
      
   27. A stream of wisdom with   
   splendour, Sechnall diadem of   
   our lords, has chanted a melody   
   noble profit ! a praise of   
   Patrick of Armagh.   
      
   The later scholiast adds another note on the same theme but attributes   
   the saint's origin to Lombardy and makes him not merely the   
   hymnographer of Saint Patrick, but also his nephew:   
   27. Sechnall, i.e. from Domnach Sechnall in the south of Bregia.   
      
   He spread (?) a road, great his choice,   
   Sechnall, diadem of our sages,   
   throughout Erin's host, beautiful, blessed,   
   the praise of Patrick of Armagh.   
      
   i.e. a son of Patrick's sister, i.e. from Domnach Sechnaill in Fir   
   Breg, and of the Lombards of Italy was he. He was sprung from   
   Lombardy, and there his name was Secundinus.   
   The later Martyrology of Donegal repeats that Saint Secundinus is a   
   blood relative of Saint Patrick, but adds that in the list of parallel   
   saints he is equated with Saint Hilary, another revered episcopal   
   hymnographer:   
   27. B. QUINTO KAL. DECEMBRIS. 27.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Oh! happy is he who can say, "I have despised the kingdom of the   
   world, and all the glory of the time, for the love of my Lord Jesus   
   Christ.   
   --St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of us all,   
   who is above all and through all and in all.  (Eph 4:5-6)  RSVCE   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SOULS 28th Day   
      
   THEY HAVE GREAT REASON TO FEAR, WHO SHOW NO MERCY TOWARDS THE SOULS DEPARTED   
      
        "With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again."   
   (Matt. vii. 2) It will be readily seen that this word of the Divine   
   Saviour is applicable also to the assistance we should render the   
   souls departed. The learned Cardinal Cajetan says: "Those who in this   
   life forget the departed, will, hereafter, in my opinion, be deprived   
   in Purgatory of all participation in good works and devout prayers,   
   though ever so many be offered for them by others; for Divine justice   
   is wont in this manner to punish their cruelty and hardness of heart."   
   Hence, he who shows no mercy towards the suffering souls and remains   
   cold and indifferent to their pains, shall, even though his soul may   
   have escaped eternal damnation, languish in the flames of Purgatory,   
   without relief and consolation, and look in vain for friends and   
   intercessors. The faithful, however, who do not forget the suffering   
   souls completely, but seldom think of them, will not be deprived of   
   friends and intercessors entirely, but will derive very little help   
   and comfort, and their complaints will be answered by the words of St.   
   Paul: "He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly." (2 Cor.   
   ix. 6.)   
      
   Prayer:  O God Whose goodness and mercy are infinite, have pity on the   
   souls of those, who, on account of their want of charity, are   
   undeserving of Thy bounty, and accept our fervent prayers, in   
   reparation for their faults, that they may not suffer without   
   consolation. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.   
      
   Special Intercession: Pray for the souls who suffer for their want of charity.   
      
   Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine   
   upon them; may they rest in peace. Amen.       (Three times)   
      
   Practice: Bear patiently the ingratitude of others, and offer it for   
   the souls in Purgatory.   
      
   Invocation:     My Jesus, mercy!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)