The authority to heal and make clean belongs to Christ

"With great fervor before Jesus' knees, the leper pleaded with him
(Mark 1:40) with sincere faith. He discerned who Jesus was. He did not
state conditionally, 'If you request it of God' or 'If you pray for
me.' Rather, he said simply, 'If you will, you can make me clean.' He
did not pray, 'Lord, cleanse me.' Rather, he leaves everything to the
Lord and makes his own recovery depend entirely on him. Thus he
testified that all authority belongs to him. One might ask, 'What if
the leper had been mistaken in this assumption?' If he had been
mistaken, wouldn't it have been fitting for the Lord to reprove him
and set him straight? But did he do this? No. Quite to the contrary,
Jesus established and confirmed exactly what he had said."
by John Chrysostom (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 25.1)

<<>><<>><<>>
July 6th - Saint Goar of Aquitaine (Latin: Goaris)

Saint Goar was a priest and hermit of the seventh century. He was
offered the position of Bishop of Trier, but prayed to be excused from
the position,, He then died of an overwhelming fever. He is noted for
his piety, and is revered as a miracle-worker.

Goar was born in 585 to a noble family in Aquitaine, and was noted for
piety even in his youth. When he was finally ordained a priest, he
became famous for his forceful preaching. However, Goar wanted to
serve God more discreetly, and so traveled abroad to the diocese of
Trier in 618 to become a hermit near the town of Oberwesel. Despite
his intention to live in solitude and obscurity, his renown for
holiness spread all over the country.

Goar was frequently visited by travelers seeking advice. On one
occasion, he was derided by two pilgrims, who told Rusticus, the
Bishop of Trier, that the hermit was a hypocrite and did not live true
to his vows of poverty and chastity. Goar was called upon by the
bishop to defend himself. When Goar appeared to argue his case before
Rusticus, legend says that he effected a decisive miracle, by which
the hermit proved his innocence; even more, the miracle indicated that
Rusticus was guilty of the very same charges of imprudence and
lasciviousness. As a result, Sigebert III, King of Austrasia, called
Goar to Metz and requested that he fill Rusticus's position in Trier.

Another version of the story states that Goar was accused of sorcery
by Rusticus himself, cleared by Sigebert in Metz, and then, after
Rusticus was deposed for his dishonesty, the saint was offered the see
of Trier.

In any case, it is certain that Goar did not want to saddle himself
with the responsibilities and pressures of a bishopric, and asked for
time to reflect on the decision. Upon returning to Oberwesel, however,
he fell ill and died on 6 July 649, having never become bishop.

The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that "a small church" was dedicated to
Goar in 1768 "in the little town on the banks of the Rhine which bears
his name (St-Goar)."[It is also reported that Charlemagne built a
church over the site of Goar's hermitage. It is around this church
that the town of Sankt Goar am Rhein grew on the left bank of the
Rhine between Wesel and Boppard.

A life of Saint Goar (Vita Sancti Goaris) was written in 839 by a
monk, Wandalbert of Prüm. This semi-legendary account of Goar's life
details various miracles relevant to the life of the saint. The first
was the one by which Goar proved Rusticus's unsavory nature. A
foundling, recovered in a nearby church, was brought to the saint. The
bishop called upon Goar to name the father of the baby as a proof of
his innocence. Goar did not fail the test; he named the bishop
Rusticus his father, upon which Rusticus was shocked and begged for forgiveness.

Another miracle explains Goar's depiction as hanging his hat on a
sunbeam. When the saint refused Sigebert's invitation to the See of
Trier, he threw his cappa over a sunbeam: the garment was suspended
"as though the shaft of light were solid." The purpose of this miracle
was not merely a display of bravado, but to show that the saint's
action in refusing the position was divinely justified.

He is variously depicted in art as a hermit being given milk by three
hinds, as holding a pitcher, with the devil on his shoulder or under
his feet, and as holding the church of Saint Goar am Rhein. He is a
patron saint of innkeepers, potters, and vine growers.


Saint Quote:
"Virgin Mother of God: may I bind myself to God and to you, serve your
own Lord and serve you too, obey your own Son and so obey you. May I
worship Him as my Maker and you as the mother of my Maker. May I
venerate Him as the Lord of Hosts and you as the handmaid of the Lord.
May I adore Him as my God and you as the mother of my God."
--Saint Ildefonsus.

Bible Quote
Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto
thou art called and be it confessed a good confession before many
witnesses. I charge thee before God who quickeneth all things, and
before Christ Jesus who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate, a good
confession: (1 Tim. 6:12-13)


<><><><>
The Precious Blood--Its Name

Why is the Blood of Jesus called the Precious Blood? Because it was
the blood of God Himself, veiled under the form of man; and therefore
every drop of it, flowing through His sacred veins, deserved our
supreme homage, as being united to His Divinity. Hence we can adore
the Precious Blood as we adore the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and all else
that belongs to the Sacred Humanity, with that supreme homage that
belongs to God alone.

We also term it the Precious Blood, inasmuch as it was the Blood of
One Who was not only full of grace, but was Himself the source of all
grace. The grace that dwelt with Him was infinite, and the grace that manifested itself through the veil of His flesh had no bounds or
limits, save those, that the mere fact of His Human Nature carried
with it. If, therefore, the blood of the Saints is counted as most
precious, if we treasure up a piece of cloth stained with their blood,
how much more is the Blood of the King of Saints precious beyond all
price?

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