There are three things...

 There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm,
devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer,
fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy
receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they
give life to each other. Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the
lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot
be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you
have nothing.
   So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your
petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close
your ear to others you open God's ear to yourself.
-- Saint Peter Chrysologus

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September 26th - Sts. Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs
(died c. 286)

Saints Cosmas and Damian were brothers, born in Arabia in the third
century, of noble and virtuous parents. Saint Gregory of Tours wrote
that they were twins. They studied the sciences in Syria, and became
eminent for their skill in medicine. Being Christians and filled with
the charity which characterizes our holy religion, they practiced
their profession with great application and wonderful success, but
never accepted any fee. They were loved and respected by the people
for their good offices and their zeal for the Christian faith, which
they took every opportunity to propagate.

When the persecution of Diocletian began to rage, it was impossible
for persons of such distinction to remain concealed. They were
denounced to the governor of Cilicia, named Lysias, as “Christians who
cured various illnesses and delivered possessed persons in the name of
the one called Christ; they do not permit others to go to the temple
to honor the gods by sacrifices.” The two brothers were apprehended by
the order of the governor, and after various preliminary torments were sentenced to be bound hand and foot and thrown into the sea. Their
prayer has been conserved: “We rejoice, Lord, to follow the path of
Your commandments, as in the midst of immense riches; and even though
we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil.”
And they recited the 23rd Psalm. The sentence was accomplished, but an
Angel untied their bonds and drew them out of the sea. The witnesses
of this fact returned to announce to the governor what had happened.
They were brought back to Lysias as magicians, and he decided to
imprison them until he could decide upon their fate.

He condemned them to be burnt alive, but they prayed to God to
manifest His power, lest His name be blasphemed, and an earthquake
moved the fire into the midst of the pagans and spared the martyrs.
When the rack also left them unharmed, the prefect swore by his gods
he would continue to torture them until they became the food of birds
of prey. They were crucified and stoned by the people, but this and
still other tortures were ineffectual. They were finally beheaded with
three Christian companions.

Many miracles of healing were credited to the pair after their death,
the saints appearing to the sick and either prescribing a medicine for
them or effecting a direct cure. Emperor Justinian I attributed
recovery from an illness to them and rebuilt a church in
Constantinople in their honor. Other churches under their patronage
were built in Pamphylia and Cappadocia, provinces of Asia Minor, at
Aegeae, Jerusalem, and Rome.

 The "moneyless ones" are still honored today. They are the patron
saints of physicians and surgeons. They are likewise the patrons of prescription druggists and apothecaries.

Source:
Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud
et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 11.


Saint Quote:
With those who are perfect and walk with simplicity, there is nothing
small and contemptible, if it be a thing that pleases God; for the
pleasure of God is the object at which alone they aim, and which is
the reason, the measure, and the reward of all their occupations,
actions, and plans; and so, in whatever they find this, it is for them
a great and important thing.
--Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez

Bible Quote:
Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of
God dwells in you?  (I Cor. 3:16)


<><><><>
Covetousness

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where
your treasure is, there will your heart be also... No man can serve
two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or
else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve
God and mammon" (Matthew 6:19-21, 24).

"Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the
earth" (Colossians 3:1-2).

"Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they
increase in riches" (Psalm 73:12).

"He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the
word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22).

"He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent" (Proverbs
28:20).

"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some
coveted after, they have erred from the faith" (1 Timothy 6:10).

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John
2:15).

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