Of the Good, Peaceable Man:  (2)

   Direct your zeal, therefore, first upon yourself; then you may with justice exercise it upon those about you. You are well versed in
coloring your own actions with excuses which you will not accept from
others, though it would be more just to accuse yourself and excuse
your brother. If you wish men to bear with you, you must bear with
them. Behold, how far you are from true charity and humility which
does not know how to be angry with anyone, or to be indignant save
only against self!
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 2, Chapter 3

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July 18th - St. Bruno, Bishop of Segni

St. Bruno was of the family of the lords of Asti in Piedmont, and born
near that city.  He made his studies in the university of Bologna, and
was made a canon of Siena.  He was called to Rome and there, in the
council of 1079, he defended the doctrine of the Church concerning the
Blessed Sacrament against Berengarius of Tours; Pope Gregory VII
nominated him bishop of Segni in the following year, Bruno's
humbleness prompting him to refuse a cardinalate.

Bruno served his flock with unwearied zeal; he was a personal friend
of St Gregory and entered with fearless enthusiasm into all his
projects for the reform of the Church, suffering imprisonment for
three months at the hands of Count Ainulf, a partisan of the Emperor
Henry IV.  He went with Bl. Urban II into France in 1095, and assisted
at the Council of Clermont-Ferrand, and returning into Italy he
continued to labour for the sanctification of his flock till, not
being able any longer to resist his inclination for solitude and
retirement, and still persecuted by Ainulf, he withdrew to Monte
Cassino and received the monastic habit.

The people of Segni demanded him back; but the abbot of Monte Cassino
prevailed upon the pope to allow his retreat, but not the resignation
of his see.  In 1107 he was elected abbot of the monastery.

Bruno by his writings laboured to support ecclesiastical discipline
and to extirpate simony. This abuse, together with that of lay
investiture (Lay investiture was the appointment of bishops, abbots,
and other church officials by feudal lords and vassals) to
ecclesiastical offices, he looked upon as a main source of the
disorders which saddened zealous pastors in the church, by filling the sanctuary with hirelings and by corrupting with avarice and ambition
those in whom, above all others, a perfect freedom from earthly things
ought to Lay a foundation of the gospel temper and spirit.

He indeed took it upon himself to rebuke Pope Paschal II, who had been persuaded by the emperor elect, Henry V, to make concessions in the
matter of ecclesiastical privileges and investiture in Germany. The
pope retorted by ordering Bruno to resign his abbacy and return to his bishopric, and was at once obeyed.

He continued faithfully in the discharge of his duties and in writing, especially commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, until his death in
1123. He was the greatest scriptural commentator of his age, but in
theology he maintained the extreme and erroneous view that the
sacraments administered by bishops or priests who had been guilty of
simony were invalid. Bruno was canonized in 1183.

There are two lives of Bruno printed in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol.
iv, the shorter and earlier being the work of that historically
unscrupulous writer Peter the Deacon  but the main facts given above
may be trusted.  See B. Gigalski, Bruno Bischof von Segni (1898).


Saint Quote:
If all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime
beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked, out with little
wildflowers.
--St. Teresa of Lisieux

Bible Quote
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And they by the
way side are they that hear; then the devil cometh, and taketh the
word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. Now they
upon the rock, are they who when they hear, receive the word with joy:
and these have no roots; for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation, they fall away. And that which fell among thorns, are they
who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares and
riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the
good ground, are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the
word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.  (Luke 8:11-15) DRB


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Teach me to Wait

I know I am impatient, Lord,
I want to run ahead;
Speak to my heart and make me
Willing to be led.
You clock is always right, Lord
It never does run late;
Your schedule can't be hurried
So teach me, Lord, to wait.

Your time is never my time--
Oh, make this plain to me
And give me patience so to wait
And Thy fulfillment see.
I see through a glass darkly
And in this earthly state
I only see impatience,
So teach me, Lord, to wait.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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