BE CONTENT
They that know THY name will put their trust in THEE:
for THOU, LORD, hast not forsaken them that see THEE.
The name of the LORD is a strong tower:
the righteous runneth into it, and is safe, I will trust and
not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and
my song; HE also is become my salvation.
I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen
the righteous forsaken, nor HIS seed begging for bread.
For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not HIS saints,
they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall
be cut off. The LORD will not forsake HIS people for HIS great
name's sake: because it has pleased the LORD to make you
HIS people. Who delivered us from so great a death, and
doth deliver: in whom we trust that HE will yet deliver us.
Be content with such things as ye have: for HE hath said,
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may
boldly say, The LORD is my helper, I will not fear what man
shall do unto me.
AMEN and AMEN
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November 17th - St. Dionysius of Alexandria B (RM)
(Also known as Dionysius the Great)
Died at Alexandria in 265. A native of Alexandria, Egypt, Saint Dionysius
was
converted to Christianity by a vision. He became a pupil of Origen in the
Alexandria catechetical school and succeeded him in 232 as its head, which
he
directed for about 14 years. In 247-48 he was made patriarch (bishop) of
Alexandria. Persecution soon broke out there, and Dionysius was arrested;
but he
was enabled to escape, and directed his church from a hiding-place in the
Libyan
Desert until the death of the persecuting Emperor Decius in 251.
In the controversy that followed about those who had lapsed under
persecution
and then repented, Dionysius was a zealous supporter of lenient treatment
for
them. He upheld Pope Saint Cornelius against the antipope Novatian, and
denounced and fought Novatianism.
Dionysius was reproved by Pope Saint Stephen I for his mistaken view in
supporting Cyprian that baptism by heretics was invalid and by Pope Saint
Dionysius for his view on the Trinity, which Dionysius explained in an
apologia
to the Pope. Nevertheless, he is considered an indefatigable defender of
the
faith.
At the beginning of Valerian's persecution in 257, Dionysius was again
arrested,
and was exiled from Alexandria to Kephro in Libya by Emilian, prefect of
Egypt.
Restored under Gallienus in 261, he returned to a city that was
demoralized
by
civil strife, plague, and famine: it was as dangerous for a man to stay at
home
as to go out, wrote the bishop, easier to go from East to West than from
one
street in Alexandria to another. He devoted himself to aiding the
persecuted
Christians and the victims of the plague. He died in Egypt in 265.
Despite all the disturbances of his 17 years as bishop, Saint Dionysius
took
an
active part in church affairs and wrote extensively, but few of his
writings
have been preserved. He was a student of pagan as well as Christian
literature,
but he is best known as an outstanding theologian and Biblical scholar.
His virtues and learning were widely recognized; Saint Athanasius styles
him
"the teacher of the whole Church" and Saint Basil referred to as Dionysius
"the
Great." Several of his works, Extant Fragments, Exegetical Fragments,
Letter
to
Basilides, are available on the Internet (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney,
Encyclopedia).
Saint Quote:
"The sacrament or Baptism may be wanting to someone ... both in reality
and
in
desire; as is the case with those who neither are baptized, nor wished to
be
baptized: which clearly indicates contempt of the sacrament, in regard to
those
who have the use of the free-will.
Consequently those to whom Baptism is wanting thus, cannot obtain
salvation:
since neither sacramentally nor mentally are they incorporated in Christ,
through Whom alone can salvation be obtained."
-St. Thomas Aquinas (Doctor, 1225-74) - "Summa Theologica"
Bible Quotes:
"Jesus answered: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of
water
and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5 )
"One body and one Spirit: as you are called in one hope of your calling.
One
Lord, one faith, one Baptism" (Eph 4:5)
<><><><>
A Prayer to Redeem Lost Time
My God! Source of all mercy! I acknowledge Your sovereign power, while
recalling the wasted years that are past, I believe that You, Lord, can in
an instant turn this loss to gain. Miserable as I am, yet I firmly believe
that You can do all things. Please restore to me the time lost, giving me
Your grace, both now and in the future, that I may appear before You in
"wedding garments." - Amen.
-Saint Teresa of Ávila
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