From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Unbridled Affections   
      
      WHEN a man desires a thing too much, he at once becomes ill at   
   ease. A proud and avaricious man never rests, whereas he who is poor   
   and humble of heart lives in a world of peace. An unmortified man is   
   quickly tempted and overcome in small, trifling evils; his spirit is   
   weak, in a measure carnal and inclined to sensual things; he can   
   hardly abstain from earthly desires. Hence it makes him sad to forego   
   them; he is quick to anger if reproved.   
      Yet if he satisfies his desires, remorse of conscience overwhelms   
   him because he followed his passions and they did not lead to the   
   peace he sought.   
   True peace of heart, then, is found in resisting passions, not in   
   satisfying them. There is no peace in the carnal man, in the man given   
   to vain attractions, but there is peace in the fervent and spiritual   
   man.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 1, Ch 6   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   October 20th – St. Acca, Bishop and Benedictine scholar   
      
   Our holy Father Acca as a young man joined the household of Bosa,   
   bishop of York, and later became a disciple of the great St. Wilfrid,   
   bishop of York and later of Hexham. For 13 years he accompanied his   
   teacher on his journeys through England and on the continent, and was   
   a witness at his holy repose. And when Wilfrid died, in 709, he became   
   his successor as abbot and bishop of Hexham in Northumbria.   
      
   The Venerable Bede called Acca "the dearest and best loved of all   
   bishops on this earth." Bede also praised his theological library and   
   dedicated several of his works to him. On becoming bishop of Hexham   
   Acca completed three of Wilfrid's smaller churches and splendidly   
   adorned his cathedral at Hexham, providing it with ornaments of gold,   
   silver and precious stones, and decorating the altars with purple and   
   silk. Moreover, he invited an excellent singer called Maban who had   
   been taught church harmony at Canterbury to teach himself and the   
   people. He himself was a chanter of great skill.   
      
   In 732 Acca either retired or was expelled from his see, and later   
   became bishop of Whithorn in Southern Scotland. He died on October 20,   
   740, and was buried near the east wall of his cathedral in Hexham.   
   Parts of two stone crosses which were placed at his tomb still   
   survive.   
      
   In about 1030, Alfred Westow, a Hexham priest and a sacrist at Durham,   
   translated the relics of St. Acca, following a Divine revelation, to a   
   place of more fitting honor in the church. At that time the saint's   
   vestments were found in all their pristine freshness and strength, and   
   were displayed by the brethren of the church for the veneration of the   
   faithful. Above his chest was found a portable altar with the   
   inscription Almae Trinitati, agiae Sophiae, sanctae Mariae. This also   
   was the object of great veneration. Many miracles were wrought through   
   this saint. Those attempting to infringe the sanctuary of his church   
   were driven off in a wondrous and terrible manner, and those who tried   
   to steal relics were prevented from doing so.   
      
   A brother of the church by the name of Aldred related the following   
   story. When he was an adolescent and was living in the house of his   
   brother, a priest, he was once asked by his brother to keep an eye on   
   some relics of St. Acca which he had wrapped in a cloth and laid on   
   the altar of St. Michael in the southern porch of the church. Then it   
   came into the mind of Aldred that a certain church (we may guess that   
   it was Durham) would be greatly enriched by the bones of St. Acca. So,   
   after prostrating himself on the ground and praying the seven   
   penitential psalms, he entered the porch with the intention of taking   
   them away. Suddenly he felt heat as of fire which thrust him back in   
   great trepidation. Thinking that he had approached with insufficient   
   reverence and preparation, he again prostrated himself and poured   
   forth still more ardent prayers to the Lord. But on approaching a   
   second time he felt a still fiercer heat opposing him. Realizing that   
   his intention was not in accordance with the will of God, he withdrew.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Consider then...the magnitude of these sufferings which the souls in   
   Purgatory endure; and the means which we have of mitigating them: our   
   prayers, our good works, and, above all, the holy sacrifice of the   
   Mass.   
   --Saint John Vianney   
      
   Bible Verse   
   For the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world,    
   are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made;    
   his eternal power also, and divinity: so that they are inexcusable.   
   [Romans 1:20] DRV   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Consecration   
        Most holy and Immaculate    
   Virgin, help of Christians   
   Mother of the Church,   
   we place ourselves under your   
   motherly protection.   
        We promise to be faithful to our   
   Christian vocation and to work   
   for the greater glory of God   
   and the salvation of our soul   
   and of those entrusted to us.   
        With faith in your intercession   
   we pray for the Church,   
   for our family and friends,   
   for youth, especially those most   
   in need, and for all your children.   
   Amen.   
      
   <><><><>   
   All of this abortion carnage brings to mind a poem by Alexander Pope   
   on the Human response to evil.   
      
   Evil is a monster of such hideous mien   
   That to be hated needs but to be seen   
                   But seen too often   
                   Familiar with her face   
                   First we pity   
                   Then endure   
                 And finally embrace.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)