~ The Majesty of God ~
"He turned the desert into pools of water and
the parched ground into flowing springs."
Psalm 107:35
The desert can look bleak and dry ... hopeless. Many are walking through a
scorching, blinding desert today.
The spirit will either join with flesh and look at it through the eyes of
the
natural, or will decide to join with Faith, and look, with hope, to God.
There
is a choice, Family!
God is able to turn the desert into pools of water ... the parched ground
into
flowing springs. He is moved by our Faith!
Grumbling and mumbling will not change the situation, but praise and
thanks
certainly will! Stirring one's Faith is needed in the desert storms of
life.
It
may be the very reason one is treading upon dry sands to begin with. Faith
needs
to be stirred in this nation!
God can move, and change things ... in an instant! Give Him some hope
today,
and
release your Faith to Him. Take your eyes off the desert and cast them
upward.
Motivate Him to reach forth with His ready hand to help you.
It will not be the first time He delivers you ... and, it will most
certainly
not be the last!
Praise God!
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April 11th - St. Stanislaus Bishop of Cracow, Martyr
(1030-1079)
Saint Stanislaus was born in answer to prayer, when his parents were
advanced in
age. Out of gratitude they educated him for the Church. When his parents
died,
he sold their vast properties and gave the price to the poor. He was
ordained,
and being a holy priest, soon afterwards became a Canon of the Cracow
cathedral.
It was necessary to have recourse to the Pope to have him accept the see
of
Cracow when it became vacant. But the bishop of Cracow's virtues increased
with
his dignity and obligations; Saint Stanislaus donned a hair ****rt, which
he
wore
until he died. He had a list drawn up of every poor person of the city,
and
gave
orders to his servants never to refuse anything to anyone.
Boleslaus II was at that time King of Poland; he was a prince of good
disposition, but spoilt by a long series of victories and successes. After
many
acts of lust and cruelty, he outraged the whole kingdom by carrying off
the
wife
of one of his nobles. Against this public scandal the chaste and gentle
bishop
alone raised his voice. Having commended the matter to God, he went to the
palace and openly rebuked the king for his crime against God and his
subjects,
and threatened to excommunicate him if he persisted in his sin. Boleslaus,
with
the intention of irrevocably ruining the bishop's good reputation,
suborned
the
nephews of a man named Paul who had recently died, to swear that their
uncle
had
never been paid for land which the bishop had bought for the Church. Saint
Stanislaus stood fearlessly before the king's tribunal, though all his
frightened witnesses forsook him, and guaranteed to bring the dead man to
witness in his favor within three days.
On the third day, after many prayers and tears, he raised the dead man to
life
and led him in his grave-clothes before the king, where Paul testified
that
the
bishop had reimbursed him fully for the terrain he had sold. He was then
taken
back to the grave, where he lay down and again relapsed into his former
state,
before a large number of witnesses.
Boleslaus for a while made a show of a better life. Soon, however, he
returned
to the most scandalous excesses, and the bishop, finding all remonstrance
useless, pronounced the sentence of excommunication. In defiance of the
censure,
on May 8, 1079, the king went to a chapel where Saint Stanislaus was
saying
Mass
and commanded three groups of soldiers in succession to slay him at the
altar.
Each in turn came out, saying he had been alarmed by a light from heaven.
At
this the king himself rushed in and slew with his own hand the Saint at
the
altar during the Holy Sacrifice.
The Pope placed the kingdom of Poland under interdict, excommunicated the
king
and declared his royalty null and void. Boleslaus repented, took refuge in
another country for a time, then set out dressed as a pilgrim for Rome. On
the
way he knocked on a monastery door to ask for an alms, then decided to
enter
there anonymously, and was received. He spent seven years there as a
Benedictine
lay brother, rendering every humble service to the monks, patiently
bearing
rude
treatment. Only on his deathbed did he identify himself, taking out his
royal
ring which he had concealed until then. He had spent hours praying before
a
statue of Our Lady in the chapel, by which we may conclude that the Mother
of
God had obtained for him the grace of conversion and a happy death. His
body
remains in the church of the same monastery of Ossiach.
Saint Stanislaus was canonized by Pope Innocent IV in 1253.
Reflection. The safest correction of vice is the Christian's blameless
life.
Yet
there are times when silence would make us answerable for the sins of
others. At
such times let us, in the name of God, rebuke the offender without fear.
Saint Quote:
If you have done nothing, or if what you have done has been fruitless
because it
was done for a human motive, begin immediately to do good works so that at
death
you will be able to offer something to Jesus Christ in order that He may
give
you eternal life.
--St John Vianney
Bible Quote:
If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. St. John 7:37
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TO A MIRACULOUS MOTHER
Blessed Mother, be my guide!
Be here always at my side!
Take me through this world of sorrow,
Show me there's a bright tomorrow!
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