- Colossians 3:5-10 -
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:
sexual
immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Because
of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in
the
life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as
these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Do not
lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its
practices and
have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image
of
its Creator.
________________________________________________________________________
Every Christian is in a continuing education program. The more we know
Christ
and his work, the more we are being changed to be like him. Because this
process
is lifelong, we must never stop learning and obeying. There is no
justification
for drifting along, but there is an incentive to find the rich treasures
of
growing in him. It takes practice, ongoing review, patience and
concentration to
keep in line with his will.
<<>><<>><<>>
November 12th - St Astrik, Archbishop of The Hungarians
(Also known as Anastasius)
(c. A.D. 1040)
It is agreed that the first archbishop in Hungary was called Astrik, but
there
is a great deal of uncertainty about his identity. There are three
"candidates",
all associated with St Adalbert of Prague: viz. Anastasius, the first
abbot of
Brevnov in Bohemia, Astericus, one of Adalbert's clergy, and Radla,
Adalbert's
fellow student at Magdeburg and his close friend. The first two of these
may be
really one person.
On the whole it seems likely to have been Radla, a Czech or Croat from
Bohemia
who is known to have been a monk in Hungary. He probably received the
habit at
Brevnov, taking the name of Anastasius, of which Astrik seems to be an
equivalent. Then, when St Adalbert failed to consolidate his position in
Bohemia, and left Prague, Astrik Radla went to help the missionaries among
the
Magyars. He is known to have been in the service of the wife of Duke Geza
in
997; and he was almost certainly the first abbot of St Martin's
(Pannonhalma),
the first ecclesiastical institution of Hungary, founded by Geza. On the
duke's
death and the accession of his son St Stephen I the evangelization of the
Magyars was taken seriously in hand, and St Astrik was active in the work
of
preaching the gospel and establishing an ecclesiastical organization. In
connection with this Stephen sent him to Rome to confer with Pope
Silvester II,
and soon after his return the sovereign was crowned with a royal crown,
granted
no doubt at the instance of the Emperor Otto III, in 1001. There is a good
case
for Radla being the Astrik who was now promoted to be archbishop of the
new
Hungarian church.
When Astrik attended a synod at Frankfurt in 1006 he was styled simply
Ungarorum
episcopus, and it seems that his seat was not at Esztergom, which before
long
became the primatial see; Veszprem is the first Hungarian diocese for
which
there is documentary evidence, but Astrik's see may have been at Kalocsa.
Throughout the remainder of his long life he worked hand in hand with King
St
Stephen for the proper settlement of the Church in his dominions and for
the
conversion of the fierce Magyars to the faith of Christ. He died soon
after his
royal master, about the year 1040.
Of the personality and personal life of St Astrik nothing is known; but it
is
significant that St Adalbert of Prague had so much affection for and trust
in
him: Adalbert wrote to Geza's wife asking her to send "his master" back to
him
in Poland and to Astrik Radla himself he wrote saying that if the duchess
would
not release him, he should slip away secretly and rejoin "your Adalbert".
But to
Astrik his duty was clear that he must stay among the Magyars.
The best examination of the problem is doubtless that of F. Dvornik in his
Making of Central and Eastern Europe (1949), pp. 159-166, which shows
clearly
how confused and uncertain is the history of the conversion of Hungary,
even for
scholars who are natives of Eastern Europe. Cf. C. Kadlec in the Cambridge
Medieval History, vol. iv, p. 214. See also St Bruno's Life of St Adalbert
in
Fontes rerum Bohemicarum (1871), vol. i; the Life of St Stephen in MGH.,
Scriptores, vol. xi, and cf. vol. iv, pp. 547, 563; and Lexikon für
Theologie
und Kirche, vol. i (1930), c. 394.
Quote:
With the exception of formal hatred against God, which constitutes the
deadliest of all sins and of which the creature is rarely culpable -unless
he
be in Hell--the gravest of all sins are those against faith. The reason
is
evident. Faith is the foundation of the supernatural order, and sin is
sin
insofar as it attacks this supernatural order at one or another point;
hence
that is the greatest sin which attacks this order at its very
foundations...
Hence, heretical doctrines--and works inspired by them --constitute the
greatest of all sins, with the exception of formal hatred of God, of which
only
the demons in Hell and the damned are capable. Liberalism, then, which is
heresy, and all the works of Liberalisn, which are heretical works, are
the
gravest sins known in the code of the Christian law."
-(Fr. Felix Sarda y Salvany, Liberalism is a Sin, Rockford IL: TAN, p.
19;
emphasis in the original. This work, at the time of its publication in
1899,
was given the highest praise and endorsement by the Holy Office.)
Bible Quote
19 Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of
the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 20 Teaching them to observe
all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days,
even
to the consummation of the world . (Matthew 28:19-20)
<><><><>
Canticle Ephesians 1
God the Saviour
Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us, in Christ, with every spiritual blessing in heaven.
In love, he chose us before the creation of the world,
to be holy and spotless in his sight.
He predestined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ,
simply because it pleased him to do so.
This he did for the praise of the glory of his grace,
of his free gift of us in his Beloved,
in whose blood we have gained redemption,
and the forgiveness of our sins.
This he did according to the riches of his grace,
which he gave us in abundance,
with all wisdom and discernment,
revealing to us the mysteries of his will,
because it pleased him to do so.
In this action he has planned, in the fulfilment of time,
to bring all things together in Christ,
from the heavens and from the earth.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
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