• The Interior Life, Meditation:(1)

    From Weedy@21:1/5 to All on Mon Sep 26 01:12:23 2022
    The Interior Life, Meditation:(1)

    You have here no lasting home. You are a stranger and a pilgrim
    wherever you may be, and you shall have no rest until you are wholly
    united with Christ. Why do you look about here when this is not the
    place of your repose? Dwell rather upon heaven and give but a passing
    glance to all earthly things. They all pass away, and you together
    with them. Take care, then, that you do not cling to them lest you be
    entrapped and perish. Fix your mind on the Most High, and pray
    unceasingly to Christ.
    --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 2, Chapter 1

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    26 September – Saints Cosmas and Damian

    (Died c 286)
    Martyrs, Twin brothers and Physicians, Apostles of Charity,
    Evangelists – born in the 3rd century, of Arabic descent and died by
    being tortured, without suffering any injury and finally they were
    beheaded c 286 in Aegea, Cilicia (modern Ayas, Turkey). They practised
    their profession in the seaport of Aegeae, then in the Roman province
    of Syria. Patronages – surgeons, physicians, dentists, protectors of children, barbers, pharmacists, veterinarians, orphanages, day-care
    centres, confectioners, children in house, against hernia, against the
    plague, midwives, Alberobello, Italy, Ossimo, Italy.

    Their charity and Christian witness won many converts to the faith and
    earned them a place of prominence in the Christian communities of Asia
    Minor. Therefore, when the Diocletian persecutions began in the latter
    half of the third century they were of some of the first to be sought
    out for execution.
    Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers, born in Arabia, who went to
    Syria to study and practice medicine. But they were concerned about
    more than healing bodies. They brought their belief in Christ to
    those to whom they ministered. Not only that but they also served
    people without charging any fees. Lysias, the governor of Celicia,
    heard about these two brothers and he summoned them before him. When
    Cosmas and Damian proclaimed they were Christians, Lysias had them
    tortured and finally beheaded.

    Devotion to these two brothers grew and many cures were said to have
    been worked through their intercessions. Later a church in their
    honour was constructed over the site of their burial. When the Emperor Justinian was sick, he prayed to Saints Cosmas and Damian for a cure.
    Out of gratitude for receiving this favour, he enlarged the city of
    Cyr and its church. Numerous other churches were erected for them at Constantinople and Rome. Nine centuries later, St Francis of Assisi
    rebuilt the dilapidated San Damiano chapel outside Assisi.

    The veneration of Cosmas and Damian quickly spread, accounts of their
    martyrdom were written by various authors such as St Andrew of Crete,
    Peter of Argos, Theodore II Laskaris, and a certain Maximus around
    1300. The legends are preserved also in Syriac, Coptic, Georgian,
    Armenian and Latin.
    The martyr twins are remembered in the Roman Canon of the Mass in the
    prayer known as the Communicantes (from the first Latin word of the
    prayer). They are also recalled in the Litany of the Saints and in the
    older form of the Roman rite, in the Collect for Thursday in the Third
    Week of Lent, as the station church for this day is Santi Cosma e
    Damiano.

    If so little about these saints is actually known, why do we honour
    them? Part of the answer can be found in tradition. When so many
    believers continue to honour the memory of martyrs, year after year
    and all over the world, there is good reason to believe that their
    lives were true witnesses to the Gospel. People who live and die
    according to their convictions and faith, give hope to the world long
    after their deaths. Their lives can inspire us and encourage us to be
    faithful during our little trials and sorrows.

    https://anastpaul.com/2019/09/26/


    Thought for the Day – 26 September – The Memorial of Saints Cosmas and Damian (Died c 286) Martyrs
    Who were Cosmas and Damian? Tradition has it that they were twin
    brothers, Arabs by rac, and physicians, practising their profession
    without claiming payment from their patients. Hence they were known as
    the “moneyless” or “unmercenary” physicians. The lesson formerly read at Matins has this lovely line: “Not more by their knowledge of
    medicine than by the power of Christ, they healed diseases which had
    been hopeless for others.”
    Ultimately, Cosmas and Damian gave their lives in witness to the
    Divine Physician Christ. They were honoured first in the East and by
    the sixth century they had their own basilica in Rome where they were
    depicted in mosaics which can still be seen today.
    It is no surprise that Cosmas and Damian came to be invoked as the
    patron saints of physicians, surgeon, and other health care givers.
    For this reason, I remember today, all the physicians and nurses who
    have cared for us in the past and who care for us now.


    “Who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.
    … Luke 9:9

    REFLECTION – “You cannot know Jesus without having problems. You
    cannot know Jesus “by sitting in first class” or “in the calm”, much less “in the library.” We only come to know Jesus on the daily path of life. … knowing Him with the mind is a step in the right direction but
    in order to know Jesus, we need to enter into a dialogue with Him. By
    talking with Him, in prayer, on our knees. If you don’t pray, if you
    don’t talk to Jesus, you don’t know Him. The third way to know Jesus
    is by following Him, by going with Him, by walking with Him, by
    travelling along the road of His ways. If you know Jesus with these
    three languages – of mind, heart and action, then you can say that you
    know Jesus. Therefore, in order truly to know Him, it is necessary to
    read what the Church tells us about Him, to speak with Him in prayer
    and to walk along the path of His ways with Him. This is the road and
    everyone has a decision to make.”

    Saint Quote:
    Hear Mass daily; it will prosper the whole day. All your duties will
    be performed the better for it, and your soul will be stronger to bear
    its daily cross. The Mass is the most holy act of religion; you can do
    nothing that can give greater glory to God, or be more profitable for
    your soul, than to hear Mass both frequently and devoutly. It is the
    favorite devotion of the saints.
    --St. Peter Julian Eymard:


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    O God, the House of My Soul is Narrow
    By St Augustine (354-430)
    Father & Doctor of Grace

    O God,
    the Light of the heart, that sees You,
    The Life of the soul, that loves You,
    The Strength of the mind, that seeks You,
    May I ever continue to be steadfast in Your love.
    Be the Joy of my heart,
    Take all of me to Yourself and abide therein.
    The house of my soul is, I confess,
    too narrow for You.
    Enlarge it, that You may enter.
    It is ruinous but do repair it.
    It has within it what must offend Your Eyes,
    I confess and know it,
    But whose help shall I seek in cleansing it
    but Yours alone?
    To You, O God, I cry urgently.
    Cleanse me from secret faults.
    Keep me from false pride and sensuality,
    that they not get dominion over me.
    Amen

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