Purpose of Temptation:

The purpose of temptation is to test humans to determine their
worthiness to receive life eternal: "Blessed is the man who endures
temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown
of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." [James
1:12] "We must through many tribulations (trials) enter the kingdom of
God." [Acts 14:22] God tests all things because he desires a perfect
and everlasting world--eternity; if such a world is to be, nothing
evil (destructive) can be permitted to enter therein: "Blessed are
they that wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb: that they may
have a right to the tree of life and may enter in by the gates into
the city. Without are dogs and sorcerers and unchaste and murderers
and servers of idols and every one that loveth and maketh a lie. "
[Revelation 22:14-15]

<<>><<>><<>>
15 July – Blessed Bernard of Baden TOSF
Also known as – Bernard of Marchio, Bernard II, Margrave of
Baden-Baden, Bernhard of Baden, Bernardo, Bernardus, Bernhard.

(1428-1458)
Margrave of Baden (Margrave was originally the medieval title for the
military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the
border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire.) Tertiary of the Order of
St Francis, apostle of the poor and the needy. Born in c 1428 in
Hohenbaden Castle, Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and died on
15 July 1458 in Moncalieri, Italy of natural causes. Patronages –
Baden, Germany, Baden-Baden, Germany, together with Saint Konrad of
Constance, he is the Patron Saint of the Archdiocese of Freiburg,
Germany, Moncalieri, Italy.

Blessed Bernard was born in late 1428 or early 1429 (his exact
birthday is not known) at Hohenbaden Castle near Baden-Baden in the
present state of Baden- Baden. Württemberg in Germany. This Castle was
the then tribal seat of the Margraves of Baden and Bernhard was the
second son of Margrave James I and his wife Catherine of Lorraine, who
was the daughter of Blessed Margaret of the Palatinate and Duke
Charles II of Lorraine (1364-1431).

Bernard grew up in a deeply religious family. His father, had founded Fremersberg Abbey and expanded the Collegiate Church in Baden-Baden.
The Margrave’s house was characterised by a deep devotion and
religious practices and a great sense of responsibility towards the
family members and subjects.

Bernard received a careful education, which would prepare him for his
later role as a sovereign. The intent was that he would be Margrave of Pforzheim, Eberstein, Besigheim and several districts in the northern
part of the Margraviate.

He was related to the Habsburg dynasty via his older brother Karl I,
who had married Catherine of Austria, a sister of Emperor Frederick
III. This relationship should give Bernard access to the imperial
Court. But first, he assisted his uncle René of Anjou in an armed
conflict in northern Italy. According to contemporary sources, he
fought bravely. After his father’s death in 1453, he returned to
Baden, where he agreed with his brother to give up his claim to part
of the margraviate. Instead, he became Frederick III’s personal envoy, despite his young age.

Bernard saw a number of disgraceful situations and tried to alleviate
hardship and poverty wherever he could. He spent most of his income
assisting the poor and those in need. Even during his lifetime, he
impressed his contemporaries with his unusual and deep piety.

Under pressure, after the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453,
the imperial Habsburg family began preparing a Crusade against the
expanding Ottoman Empire. In March 1453, the Turks captured
Constantinople, the capital of the Greek Empire, after a terrible
battle and the City was lost to Christianity. This was the main reason
that Frederick III, in particular, saw the need to attempt to rout the
Turks. Thus, Bernard left soldier life and embarked on a diplomatic
career, which was more in line with his peaceful nature. Emperor
Frederick III sent him to various Courts in Germany, France and Italy
to arouse interest and raise money for a new Crusade. He was so
attracted to this mission to save Christianity, that he soon after
handed over the office of Margrave of Baden with all rights to his
brother Karl for a period of ten years.

Bernard had, since childhood, lived a very religious life and wanted
to support his brother-in-law the Emperor by all means. At the
imperial Court he also became an ardent intercessor for the needy,
following the teachings of Christ and His Church and seeing the Face
of Christ in the poor. Bernard rightly believed, that Godliness should
lead to mercy for those in most need. He himself lived as he taught
and divided his guaranteed annual income into three: one-third was to
be used for the poor, one-third was to benefit the Church, and
one-third was for himself. In addition, he led a strictly religious
life and gave up all worldly pleasures, which earned him deep respect
even during his young lifetime.

Emperor Frederick III held two parliaments in 1455, where he appointed delegations of German Princes to recruit rulers outside Germany to
take part in a crusade against the Turks. Bernard’s intention was to
work on behalf of Emperor Frederick III for the good of Christianity
in the areas that the Turks had occupied. His last voyage as an
imperial envoy began in late May 1458 and led him and his companions
to the Duchy of Orléans and on to Genoa.

He was on his way to Rome, to meet Pope Callistus III (1455-1458), who
himself tried to encourage support for a Crusade with great enthusiasm
but little success. But shortly after Bernard left Turin in northern
Italy, he and his companions were infected by an epidemic, probably
the plague. He tried to get home to Baden but even before reaching the
village of Moncalieri on the Po River south of Turin in Piedmont, two
of his companions were dead. In a hostel next to the Franciscan
Monastery in Moncalieri, Bernard died on 15 July 1458, not yet thirty
years old.

Due to his position as Prince and Emperor’s envoy, Margrave Bernard
was buried in front of the High Altar in the dormitory Church of Santa
Maria della Scala in Moncalieri. He was not a citizen of Moncalieri
but was, nevertheless, solemnly carried to the grave in the presence
of numerous clergy and local citizens, which was probably due more to
his privileged status, than the strongly believing and holy life he
had led.

During the mourning ceremony, Bernard’s life was told, which led to a
citizen of Moncalieri asking Bernhard for prayer and help, as he had
only been able to move with a cane and crutches for a long time the
result of a bone disease. Already, during the mourning ceremony, this
man recovered, which led to general astonishment and joy and was
immediately attributed to the prayers of the newly buried Badian
Margrave. Bernard’s cult and calls for help and support had begun.
He already had a reputation for holiness and for a special devotion to
the Virgin Mary, and many miracles were reported at his tomb. In
Moncalieri and the surrounding area, accounts spread of his effective intercession. His tomb and his relics became a pilgrimage site which
it still is. Pilgrimages were and are held there, prayers are said,
vows are made and sacrifices are offered. Bernhard has, for many
centuries, been the Patron Saint of Moncalieri, which is probably the
only City in Italy, that has a German Prince as their Protector.

His cult spread rapidly in Piedmont and the surrounding areas of
France and Germany. In Vic near Nancy and Metz in Lorraine, where
Bernhard’s brother Georg had been Bishop, an Altar and Statue were
erected in St. Stephan’s Collegiate Church. Of course, he was also remembered in his home county. There, Margaret, daughter of Margrave
Charles I, who from 1477 to 1496 was Abbess of the Monastery of
Lichtenthal, had a wooden Statue made in honour of her uncle, which
was erected in the princely Chapel.

Bernard was Beatifed on 16 September 1769 by Pope Clement XIV. His
Canonisation process continues, at present, the second miracle
required is being investigated.

https://anastpaul.com/2021/07/14/


Bible Quote:
O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God!
How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!
[Romans 11:33] DRB

Saint Quote:
For the cup we drink is a participation in the blood of Christ, and
the bread we break is a participation in the body of Christ. Because
there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, since we all share
the same bread. And so we pray that, by the same grace which made the
Church Christ's body, all its members may remain firm in the unity of
that body through the enduring bond of love.
-- Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe

<><><><>
You have not the Time
--Sermon from the Cure de Ars--Concerning Prayer and Work

We can only find our happiness on earth in loving God, and we can only
love Him in prayer to Him. We see that Jesus Christ, to encourage us
often to have recourse to Him through prayer, promises never to refuse
us anything if we pray for it as we should. But there is no need to go
looking for elaborate and roundabout ways of showing you that we
should pray often, for you have only to open your catechism and you
will see there that the duty of every good Christian is to pray
morning and evening and often during the day--that is to say,
always....

Which of us, my dear brethren, could, without tears of compassion,
listen to those poor Christians who dare to say that they have not
time to pray? You have not the time! Poor blind creatures, which is
the more precious action: to strive to please God and to save your
soul, or to go out to feed your animals in the stable or to call your
children or your servants in order to send them out to till the earth
or to tidy up the stable? Dear God! How blind man is! .... You have
not the time! But tell me, ungrateful creatures, if God had called you
to die that night, would you have exerted yourselves? If He had sent
you three or four months of illness, would you have exerted
yourselves? Go away, you miserable creatures; you deserve to have God
abandon you in your blindness and leave you thus to perish. We find
that it is too much to give Him a few minutes to thank Him for the
graces which He is giving us at every instant! ....

You must get on with your work, you say.

That, my dear people, is where you are greatly mistaken. You have no
other work to do except to please God and to save your souls. All the
rest is not your work. If you do not do it, others will, but if you
lose your soul, who will save it?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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