• Ceaseless activity is not God's plan for your life

    From Weedy@21:1/5 to All on Thu Nov 26 23:13:11 2020
    Ceaseless activity is not God's plan for your life

     Ceaseless activity is not God's plan for your life. Times of
    withdrawal for renewed strength are always necessary. Wait for the
    faintest tremor of fear and stop all work, everything, and rest before
    God until you are strong again. Deal in the same way with all tired
    feelings. Then you need rest of body and renewal of spirit force.
    Saint Paul said: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
    This does not mean that you are to do all things and then rely on God
    to find strength. It means that you are to do the things you believe
    God wants you to do and only then can you rely on His supply of power.

    <<>><<>><<>>
    November 27th – St. Virgil of Salzburg, OSB B (RM)
     (also known as Feargal, Fearghal, Fergal, Virgilius)

    Born in Ireland; died in Salzburg, Austria, November 27, c. 781-784;
    canonized 1233 by Pope Gregory IX.
    Virgil was an Irish monk, possibly of Aghaboe, who went abroad about
    740 intending to visit Palestine. With him were Dobdagrec, later abbot
    of a monastery at Chiemsee, and Sidonius, afterwards bishop of Passau.
    His learning and ability attracted the attention of Blessed Pepin the
    Short, who kept him at the Merovingian court for two years. About 743,
    Pepin sent Virgil with letters of recommendation to his
    brother-in-law, Duke Odilo of Bavaria, who, c. 745, appointed Virgil
    abbot of Saint Peter's Monastery at Salzburg, with jurisdiction over
    the local Christians, while Dobdagrec served its episcopal functions.

    Instead of visiting Palestine he remained in Bavaria to help Saint
    Rupert, the apostle of Austria. For 40 years he labored to convert
    Teutons and Slavs, founded monasteries, churches, and schools. (In
    774, the council of Bavaria issued its first pronouncement on the
    establishment of schools.)

    Virgil appears to have been a somewhat difficult character and he
    incurred the strong disapproval of Saint Boniface, who seems to have
    detested him. (Perhaps because of differences in the interpretations
    of Roman observance or jurisdiction, or because Virgil succeeded John
    whom Boniface had as abbot of Saint Peter's, or just personal
    differences.) Boniface twice delegated him to Rome. On the first
    occasion Pope Saint Zachary decided in Virgil's favor. Through
    carelessness or ignorance, a priest had used incorrect Latin wording
    during a baptism. Virgil and Sidonius ruled that the baptism was valid
    and need not be repeated; Boniface of Mainz disagreed. Zachary was
    surprised that Boniface should have questioned it and issued a
    statement to that effect.

    The other case concerned Virgil's cosmological speculations and their implications, which, as reported to Zachary by Boniface, the pope
    found very shocking. In 748, the pope directed Boniface to convene a
    council to investigate the questionable views, but the council was
    never convened. The incident has been the subject of much discussion
    and has been used and exaggerated for polemical purposes, but in fact
    it is far from clear what Virgil's ideas really were. It appears that
    Virgil postulated that the world was round and that people might be
    living in what would now be called the Antipodes. He was both a man of
    learning and a successful missionary, and even after his cosmological
    views were called into question, he was consecrated bishop of the see
    of Salzburg (c. 766), whose cathedral he rebuilt.

    Saint Virgil brought relics and the veneration of Saints Brigid and
    Samthann of Clonbroney to the areas he evangelized. In fact, Saint
    Samthann, who may have provided Virgil with his early education, is
    better known in Austria than in her homeland.

    Among his other good works, Virgil sent fourteen missionary monks
    headed by Saint Modestus into the province of Carinthia, of which he
    is venerated as the evangelizer. He baptized two successive dukes of
    Carinthia at Salzburg (Chetimar and Vetune). His influence is revealed
    by the issuance during the time of duke Chetimar of a Carinthian coin,
    an old Salzburg rubentaler, with the images of Saint Rupert, who built
    Saint Peter's monastery, and Virgil. He fell ill and died soon after
    making a visitation in Carinthia, going as far as the place where the
    Dravo River meets the Danube.

    His feast is kept throughout Ireland, although he is buried at St.
    Peter's in Salzburg. Virgil is widely venerated in southern Germany,
    Austria, Yugoslavia, and northern Italy (Attwater, Attwater 2,
    Benedictines, Coulson, D'Arcy, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Fitzpatrick,
    Gougaud, Healy, Husenbeth, Kenney, Montague).

    Sometimes he is paired with Saint Rupertus in artwork (Roeder). Virgil
    is the patron of Salzburg, Austria (Farmer).


    Saint Quote:
    What has a person to fear who lives in the arms and bosom of God?
    --St. Paul of the Cross

    Bible Quote:
    Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.  (James 1:19)


    <><><><>
    How Christ Speaks Inwardly to a Faithful Soul  [I]

    'I will hear what the Lord God speaks within me.'(Ps. 85:8) Blessed is
    the soul that hears the Lord speaking within it, (I Sam. 3:9) and
    receives comfort from His Word. Blessed are the ears that hear the
    still, small voice of God, (I Kings 19:12) and disregard the whispers
    of the world. Blessed are the ears that listen to Truth teaching
    inwardly, and not to the voices of the world. Blessed are the eyes
    that are closed to outward things, but are open to inward things.
    Blessed are those who enter deeply into inner things and daily prepare themselves to receive the secrets of heaven. Blessed are those who
    strive to devote themselves wholly to God, and free themselves from
    all the entanglements of the world. Consider these things, O my soul,
    and shut fast the doors against the desires of the senses, that you
    may hear what the Lord your God speaks within you.
    --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3 Ch 1

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)