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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