- Psalm 46:1-3 -
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
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When we are in God's will, we're in his perfect love; and perfect love
casts
out fear (1 John 4:18). If you're fearful today, perhaps you're
underestimating the keeping power of his care and concern for you.
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February 16th - St. Juliana of Nicomedia VM (RM)
Died at Cumae or Naples, 305. Juliana's struggle with the devil was one of
the favorite stories of the medieval Church. What still fascinates is its
deep psychological meaning: for the devil is said to have appeared to the
saint as an angel of light. His aim was to persuade her that what she had
renounced in this world was in fact good. On the face of it, the devil was
right, for Juliana had turned against both her father and her suitor, a
Roman prefect named Evilasius.
Her father, Africanus, an ambitious functionary in the Roman legions,
despised her simply because she had become a Christian. When her suitor
realized that she would not become his wife, he decided that she should be
no one's bride. Her calling left her without a family of her own. Both
men,
failing to get their own way with this determined saint, treated her
brutally: Juliana's father scourged and tortured her. Evilasius flung her
into jail where she was seen to be fighting with the disguised devil,
finally binding him and throwing him to the ground.
Juliana died a martyr's death. First she was partially burned in flames;
then she was plunged into a boiling cauldron of oil; finally the
long-suffering saint was freed from the torments of this world by the
mercifully instantaneous act of beheading.
The Roman Martyrology describes Juliana's suffering at Nicomedia in Asia
Minor, but it is more probable that she died in Naples, perhaps Cumae,
where
her relics are said to be enshrined. Some of them are now in Brussels,
Belgium, in the church of Our Lady of Sablon. Though her story was the
source of many romantic tales, Juliana is clearly an historical figure as
attested by Saint Gregory the Great, who requested relics of her from
Bishop
Fortunatus of Naples for an oratory that a lady had built on her estate in
Juliana's honor, and others. Her cultus in England dates back to Bede's
martyrology, and her feast was on the Sarum Calendar (Benedictines,
Bentley,
Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
In art, Saint Juliana is hung up naked by her hair. Sometimes she may be
shown in a cauldron, leading the devil in chains, or crowned wearing a
cross
on her breast. She is invoked against infectious diseases (Roeder). In the
paintings and stained glass of the Middle Ages, Saint Juliana is
frequently
shown battling with a winged devil; usually she carries a chain in order
to
bind him (Bentley). She may also be seen with a dragon at her feet (as in
stained glass at Martham and on screens at Hampstead and North Elmham,
Norfolk) (Farmer).
Saint Quote:
Why do we talk and gossip so continually, seeing that we so rarely resume
our silence without some hurt done to our conscience? ... Devout
conversation on spiritual things helpeth not a little to spiritual
progress,
most of all where those of kindred mind and spirit find their ground of
fellowship in God.
-Thomas à Kempis, Of the Imitation of Christ
Bible Quote:
Take heed not to do your good before men, in order to be seen by them. St.
Matthew 6:1
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IDLE TALK
A sin that is most common and very little recognized is the sin of idle
talk. Let us ponder what the Holy Bible has to say on this subject and
then
adjust our lives accordingly. From the Holy Bible: "But I tell you that of
every idle word men speak, they shall give account on the day of judgment.
For by thy words thou wilt be condemned" (Matt. 12:36-37). What is the
general rule about the use of the tongue? "But let every man be swift to
hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. For the wrath of man does not work
the justice of God" (James 1:19-20). What does idle talking lead to? "But
avoid profane and empty babblings, for they contribute much to ungodliness
and their speech spreads like a cancer" (2 Tim. 2:16:18).
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