Be still my soul
Be still, my soul! thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past,
Thy hope, they confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul! the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.
Be Still, My Soul (v2) , Katharina Amalia von Schlegel (1697-?)
Whatever your circumstances, if you believe the first line of this great
hymn, you will be at rest. In the midst of the psalmist's troubles, the
Lord
said, "Be still, and know that I am God." It was these same words that
spoke
to Katharina von Schlegel in the turbulent times of post-Reformation
Germany. A century after Luther's reforms, central Europe was racked by
the
Thirty Years' War, which pitted Catholics against Protestants. The
Lutheran
church lapsed into formalism and dead orthodoxy. In the darkness of that
time, God raised up the Pietist movement, which stressed personal
holiness,
charity, missions, and music.
The songs of the Pietists were largely unknown outside of Germany until
three British women-Jane and Sarah Borthwick and Catherine Winkworth-began
to translate them into English a hundred years later. This hymn, penned by
the leading woman of the Pietist movement, a canoness of a women's
seminary,
was among those forgotten songs.
<<>><<>><<>>
November 9th - St. Benen of Ireland.
(Also known as Benignus)
Died c. 468. Son of the Meath chieftain Sechnan (Sessenen or Sesgne),
Benen
grew up in the district around Duleek. He and his family were converted in
his childhood and baptized by Saint Patrick. The story is told that Benen
worshipped Patrick as a hero. He had heard the tale of the great saint's
chariot driver laying down his life to save Patrick. He was in awe, but
too
young to do much. So when after baptizing Benen, Patrick fell into an
exhausted sleep in a quiet corner of the family's garden, he wondered what
he could do to honor the saint. He noticed the dust of the road on
Patrick's
clothes was attracting insects, so he scattered some strongly scented
flowers over the sleeping man. When the boy was chastised for doing this,
Patrick responded: "Don't send him away. He's a good boy. It may be that
he
will yet do wonderful things for the Church." At that moment Benen became
the apostle's disciple and companion. We are told that when the apostle
wanted to continue his journey, Benen rolled himself into a ball in
Patrick's chariot, clung to the saint's feet, and begged to accompany him
to
Tara. Patrick agreed to take the youngster with him, although everyone
else
thought he was too immature. Patrick assured them that Benen would be
fine-
and he was. He never returned home.
And so, as Benen matured, he became Patrick's confidant, 'Psalmsinger,'
and
right-hand man. He sang for every Mass said by Patrick, thereby learning
how
to teach and preach the faith. Eventually Benen was ordained priest, and
in
time succeeded Patrick as archbishop of Ireland. Benen is known for his
gentleness, charm, and beautiful singing voice.
The story is told that once on an Easter Sunday when Saint Patrick, his
eight companions, and the boy Benignus were going from Slane to Tara to
confront the high king, Laoghaire, they were miraculously turned into deer
and so avoided the attempts of the king's guards to intercept them en
route.
The fawn in the rear, according to the legend, was Benignus. The
Tripartite
Life tells it this way:
"Patrick went with eight young clerics and Benen as a gillie with them,
and
Patrick gave them his blessing before they set out. A cloak of darkness
went
over them so that not a man of them appeared. Howbeit, the enemy who were
waiting to ambush them, saw eight deer going past them, and behind them a
fawn with a bundle on its back. That was Patrick with his eight, and Benen
behind them with his tablets on his back."
He is credited with evangelizing Clare, Kerry, and Connaught, and
reportedly
headed a monastery at Drumlease in Kilmore, built by Patrick, for some 20
years. Benen's connection with Glastonbury has no historical basis;
however, William of Malmesbury relates that Benen resigned his see in 460,
and went to Glastonbury, to seek out his old master. Patrick is said to
have
sent him out to live as a hermit at the first place where his staff should
burst into leaf and bud. It is related that this happened in the swampy
environs of Feringmere, which is where Benen died and was buried. In 1091,
someone's relics were translated from that site to Glastonbury Abbey, but
they were not Benen's because there is no truth in the association of
Saint
Patrick and Saint Benen with Glastonbury (Benedictines, Bieler, Concannon,
D'Arcy, Delaney, Curtayne, Healy, Montague, Ryan).
Quote:
God sometimes gives a certain union of heart and tender love for our
neighbor, which is one of the greatest and most excellent gifts that His
divine bounty bestows on man.
-St. Francis de Sales
Bible Quote
29 For to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: but
from
him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away.
30 And the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:29-30)
<><><><>
Prayer of St. Basil the Great for guidence
Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to Thy quiet harbour, where I can be
safe from the storms of sin and conflict. Sheweth me the course I should
take. Reneweth in me the gift of discernment, so that I can always see
the
right direction in which I should go. And give unto me the strength and
the courage to choose the right course, even when the sea is rough and the
waves are high, knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in Thy
name I shalt find comfort and peace. Amen.
|
