- Ephesians 6:10-18 -
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the
full
armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against
the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the
full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to
stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand
firm
then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplate
of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness
that
comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the
shield
of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil
one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is
the
word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of
prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on
praying
for all the saints.
_____________________________________________________________
"If you do not know that life is war...
You will not know what prayer is for."
- John Piper
<<>><<>><<>>
April 12th - Saint Julius I, Pope
(d. 352)
Saint Julius was by birth a Roman; he was chosen Pope on the 6th of
February
in
337, and was remarkable for the sanctity of his life and his zeal in
strengthening the Christian faith.
The impious heresy of Arius was progressing dangerously everywhere in the
East,
and many holy bishops were obliged to leave their sees. Saint Julius
received
them warmly in Rome, Saint Athanasius in particular, and he defended them
to
the
end against their adversaries. He condemned the synods which the Arians
had
assembled in Tyre and in Antioch, with the intention of abolishing the
faith
of
Nicea. He assembled two councils in Rome, where he heard the exiled
bishops
and
proclaimed their innocence.
By his counsel, the Emperor Constans, the pious prince of the West,
influenced
his brother Constantius to recall Saint Athanasius from exile.
Saint Julius rejected a deceptive formula of faith, imagined by the
Eusebians,
who were partisans of Arius at the second council of Antioch. He assembled
the
second Council of Sardica, composed of both Western and Oriental bishops.
His
legates presided there, and he saw to it that useful measures for the
maintenance of the Catholic faith and the re-establishment of
ecclesiastical
discipline were drafted and implemented.
He built two basilicas in Rome and adorned them with sacred paintings. He
had
three cemeteries constructed, on the Flaminian and Aurelian ways, and at
Porto.
He regulated legal questions concerning the clergy, ordaining that they
would
plead nowhere but in ecclesiastical courts.
Saint Julius reigned for fifteen years, and died on the 12th of April,
352.
Reflection. The great Popes have all pleased God by their outstanding
humility.
When the Lord gives the graces of a good administrator to souls, He
requires
in
them more than ordinary virtue, for it is His Authority which they merely
share,
by His permission. He does not permit that they attribute their success to
their
own imaginary powers.
Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et
Barral:
Paris, 1882), Vol. 4.
Saint Quote:
Repentance is the returning from the unnatural to the natural state, from
the
Devil to God, through discipline and effort.
-St. John of Damascus
Bible Quote
10 When thou shalt pour out thy soul to the hungry, and shalt satisfy the
afflicted soul then shall thy light rise up in darkness, and thy darkness
shall
be as the noonday. 11 And the Lord will give thee rest continually, and
will
fill thy soul with brightness, and deliver thy bones, and thou shalt be
like
a
watered garden, and like a fountain of water whose waters shall not fail.
(Isaias 58:10-11)
<><><><>
Prayer Against the Seven Deadly Sins
Let me use all things for one sole reason: to find my joy in giving You
glory.
Therefore, keep me, above all things, from sin. Keep me from the death of
deadly
sin which puts hell in my soul. Keep me from the murder of lust that
blinds
and
poisons my heart. Keep me from the sins that eat a man's flesh with
irresistible
fire until he is devoured. Keep me from loving money in which is hatred,
from
avarice [greed] and ambition that suffocate my life. Keep me from the dead
works
of vanity and the thankless labor in which artists destroy themselves for
pride
and money and reputation, and saints are smothered under the avalanche of
their
own importunate zeal. Staunch in me the rank wound of covetousness and the
hungers that exhaust my nature with their bleeding. Stamp out the serpent
envy
that stings love with poison and kills all joy.
Untie my hands and deliver my heart from sloth. Set me free from the
laziness
that goes about disguised as activity when activity is not required of me,
and
from the cowardice that does what is not demanded, in order to escape
sacrifice.
But give me the strength that waits upon You in silence and peace. Give me
humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride which is the
heaviest
of burdens. And possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of
love.
Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love, that
I
may
love not for the sake of merit, not for the sake of perfection, not for
the
sake
of virtue, not for the sake of sanctity, but for You alone.
Thomas Merton, 1961, Gethsemani. Imprimatur Francis Cardinal Spellman,
Archbishop of New York
<><><>
Hungry for God
Additionally, I sought for something to love, for I was in love with love.
There was a hunger within me from a lack of inner food, which is none
other
than
yourself,
my God. Yet that hunger did not make me hungry.
I had no desire for incorruptible food. This was not because I was already
filled with it but
because the more I was empty of it the more it was loathsome to me.
-Confessions 3, 1 Augustine
|
