In God's strength you conquer life.

In God's strength you conquer life. Your conquering power is the grace
of God. There can be no complete failure with God. Do you want to make
the best of life? Then live as near as possible to God, the Master and
Giver of all life. Your reward for depending on God's strength will be
sure. Sometimes the reward will be renewed power to face life,
sometimes wrong thinking overcome, sometimes people brought to a new
way of living. Whatever success comes will not be all your own doing,
but largely the working out of the grace of God. I pray that I may try
to rely more on the grace of God. I pray that I may live a
victorious life.
--From Twenty-Four Hours a Day

<<>><<>><<>>
10 December – Saint John Roberts

(1577-1610)
Priest Martyr, Monk, Missionary. Born in 1577 at Trawsfynydd,
Merionethshire, Gwynedd, northern Wales and died by being hung, drawn
and quartered on 10 December 1610 at Tyburn, London, England.
Additional Memorials – • 25 October as one of the Forty Martyrs of
England and Wales, 1 December as one of the Martyrs of Oxford
University.

John Roberts was the eldest son of Robert and Anna of Rhiw Goch Farm, Trawsfynydd. He was a descendant of the Welsh Princes, including
Maelgwn Gwynedd, Hywel Dda and Llewelyn the Great. Despite being
raised a Protestant, it is believed that he received his early
education from a Monk who had been forced to leave nearby Cymer Abbey
after Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.

St John Robert’s Birthplace
John studied at St John’s College at Oxford. However, he left without
earning a degree and entered as a law student at one of the Inns of
Court. He travelled throughout the continent and more so, Paris and
through the influence of a Catholic fellow traveller, he was converted
to Catholicism. By the advice of John Cecil, an English Priest, he
decided to enter the English College, at Douai in 1598.

He left College the following year for the Abbey of St Benedict and
was sent to make his novitiate at San Martin Pinario, Santiago de
Compostela. He made his profession towards the end of 1600. He was
Ordained and set out for England in December 1602. Although a
Government spy observed him, John and his companions succeeded in
entering the country in April 1603 but he was arrested and banished in
May. He soon managed to return to England, and worked among the plague
victims in London. In 1604 while preparing to leave for Spain with
four postulants, he was arrested again. Not recognised as a Priest, he
was released and again banished but he returned to England, once
again.

In 1605, he was found at the house of Mr And Mrs Thomas Percy, who was
involved in the Gunpowder Plot. Although he was not found guilty of
being involved, in July 1606. he was imprisoned in the Gatehouse
Prison at Westminster for seven months and then exiled This time he
was gone for fourteen months, nearly all of which he spent at Douai
where he founded and became the first Abbot of a house for English
Benedictine Monks, who had entered through Spanish Monasteries. This
was the beginning of the Monastery of St Gregory at Douai.

In October 1607, John returned to England. In December, he was again
arrested and placed in the Gatehouse at Westminster. After several
months, he escaped. He lived in London for about a year and in May
1609, he was taken to Newgate Prison. He would have been executed but
the French Ambassador interceded on his behalf and his sentence was
reduced to banishment. He visited Spain and Douai but returned to
England within the year. He was captured again on 2 December 1610,
just as he was concluding Mass. They took him to Newgate in his
Vestments. On 5 December he was tried and found guilty under the Act
forbidding Priests to minister in England.

On 10 December he was hung, drawn and quartered along with Father
Thomas Somers at Tyburn, London. His body was recovered and taken to
St Gregory’s at Douai. His arm was found in the possession of the
Spanish Royal family before being returned to Santiago de Compostela,
where he served as a novice. One of his fingers is kept in the Sacred
Cross Church, Gellilydan, while another is at the Tyburn convent and
one more in Taunton.

He was Beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886 and Canonised by Pope Paul
VI as one of the “Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.” His life is commemorated in Trawsfynydd’s heritage centre, Llys Ednowain. There is
an information board about him outside the centre, one of six posted
along a walk past significant locations in his life.

https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/10/


“Thy will be done
on earth as it is
in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

“I want to advise you and remind you what His will is.
Do not fear that it means He will give you riches,
or delights, or honours, or all these earthly things.
His love for you is not that small!
and He esteems highly what you give Him.
He wants to repay you well,
for He gives you His kingdom
while you are still on earth …
See … what He gave to the One He loved most.
By that we understand what His will is.
For these are His gifts in this world.”
--St Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Doctor of Prayer of the Church


<><><><>
Lord, May Your Kingdom Come Into My Heart
By Fr Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751)

Lord, may Your Kingdom come into my heart
to sanctify me, nourish me and purify me.
How insignificant is the passing moment,
to the eye without faith!
But how important each moment is,
to the eye enlightened by faith!
How can we deem insignificant anything
which has been caused by You?
Every moment and every event is guided by You
and so contains Your infinite greatness.
So, Lord, I glorify You in everything that happens to me.
In whatever manner You make me live and die, I am content.
Events please me for their own sake,
regardless of their consequences
because Your action lies behind them.
Everything is Heaven to me
because all my moments manifest Your love.
Amen

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