- Psalm 119:9-11 -
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
____________________________________________________________________________
We are drowning in a sea of impurity. Everywhere we look, we find
temptation
to
lead impure lives. The psalmist asked a question that troubles us all: how
do we
stay pure in a filthy environment? We cannot do this on our own, we must
have
counsel and strength more dynamic than the tempting influences around us.
Where
can we find that strength and wisdom? By reading God's Word and doing what
it
says.
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August 5th - Sts. Addai and Mari
1st century (?). There was a Christian colony in Edessa, Syria, by the 2nd
century, and from there it appears the faith spread to Mesopotamia and
Persia.
However, a local ecclesiastical tradition in these latter areas attributes
their
evangelization to Saint Thomas, who is said to have been the Apostle of
India,
and who sent Saint Addai who converted Saint Mari. This story (recorded in
Walsh) is a combination of the narratives of Eusebius in his
Ecclesiastical
history and the Syriac The doctrine of Addai (written about 400):
"At the time when our Lord was still incarnate upon earth there reigned in
Osroene a king called Abgar the Black, who lived at Edessa. He suffered
from
some incurable disease and, having heard of the miracles of healing of our
Lord,
he sent to Him a letter by the hand of his secretary, Hannan. In it he
addresses
Christ as 'the good Physician' and asks Him to come to Edessa and heal
him.
Hannan found our Lord in the house of Gamaliel, and He replied to Abgar
that, 'I
am about to return to my Father, all for which I was sent into the world
being
finished. But when I shall have ascended to Him I will send one of my
disciples,
who shall heal you of your sickness and bring you and yours to eternal
life.'"
According to Eusebius our Lord wrote out this message Himself and it was
accordingly greatly reverenced throughout Christendom during the middle
ages.
The Syriac do***ent states that Hannan also brought back to Abgar a
****trait
of
our Lord which he had painted (later, 'not-made-by-human-hands'). This is
the
beginning of the legend of the Mandylion (possibly the Holy Shroud), which
is
said to have been kept at Edessa until it was taken to Constantinople in
the
8th
century.
After the Ascension, Thomas sent Addai (Thaddeus), one of the 72
commissioned by
Jesus, to the Abgar's court. He lodged with a Jew, named Tobias, and when
he
was
presented to the king, he healed him and taught him the faith. Addai
converted
Abgar and multitudes of his people, among other the royal jeweler, Aggai,
whom
he made bishop and his successor, and Palut, whom Addai ordained priest on
his
deathbed.
Eventually, Aggai was martyred and Palut went to Antioch to be consecrated
by
Saint Serapion, who had been consecrated by Pope Saint Zephyrinus at Rome.
This
seems improbably because Serapion died in 199 and Zephyrinus became bishop
that
same year. Confusion also seems to surround Abgar. There was another Abgar
who
was a Christian king, probably the first, of Edessa from about 179 to 213.
Therefore, it is most unlikely that Serapion consecrated a convert of one
of
the
72. So it seems that Addai was a missionary to Edessa, who like many other
saintly men was attached to the apostles to emphasize the connection to
Jesus-and isn't that what we are here for, to grow as close as possible to
our
Savior?
Saint Mari's existence is even questioned. His acta claim that he was a
disciple
of Saint Addai, who sent him to Nisibis, where he preached before renewing
the
work of Jonas the prophet at Nineveh. He then travelled down the Tigris
River
until he began "to smell the smell of the Apostle Thomas," and died near
Seleucia- Ctesiphon after consecrating its bishop Papa bar Aggai, who was
indeed
the first katholikos of the East Syrian churches-at the beginning of the
4th
century. We are told that wherever Mari went, he made numerous converts,
destroyed temples, built churches, and founded monasteries-on a scale
rarely
found in sober history.
Nevertheless, even with all these historical problems, Addai and Mari have
been
venerated since the earliest times as the evangelists of the
Tigris-Euphrates
region, and still are by their successors, the Catholic Chaldeans and the
Nestorians of Iraq and Kurdistan (Benedictines, Delaney, Walsh).
Quote:
Humility is necessary not only for the acquisition of virtues, but even
for
salvation. For the gate of Heaven, as Christ Himself testifies, is so
narrow
that it admits only little ones.
--St. Bernard
Bible Quote
10. He hath not dealt with us according to our sins: nor rewarded us
according
to our iniquities. 11. For according to the height of the heaven above
the
earth: he hath strengthened his mercy towards them that fear him. (Psalms
102:10-11)
<><><>
Jesus
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus;
Bless His Holy Name!
His loving grace and mercy
Have earned Him world acclaim.
What would I do with Jesus,
If He came walking down my street?
Why, I'd fall down and wor****p Him,
And kiss His sandaled feet.
I'd ask to see His nail scarred hands.
Then, I'd gently kiss them, too.
And thank Him for His great sacrifice;
His Life's blood, for me and you.
I'd walk so close beside Him,
Help lead the lost into His fold.
I'd help Him spread His Holy Word,
Tell about His streets of gold.
Then, I'd tell everyone I see
Of how He shed His precious blood for me.
Though, I wasn't worthy of His grace,
He loved me so much that He took my place.
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