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Meditation for the Day
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Weedy
Sep 26, 2014, 2:17:45 PM9/26/14
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Meditation for the Day
We seem to live not only in time but also in eternity. If we abide with God and He abides with us, we may bring forth spiritual fruit, which will last for eternity. If we live with God, our lives can flow as some calm river through the dry land of earth. It can cause the trees and flowers of the spiritual life -- love and service -- to spring forth and yield abundantly. Spiritual work may be done for eternity, not just for now. Even here on earth we can live as though our real lives were eternal.
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September 26th - Sts. Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs
(d. ca. 286)
Saints Cosmas and Damian were brothers, born in Arabia in the third century, of noble and virtuous parents. Saint Gregory of Tours wrote that they were twins. They studied the sciences in Syria, and became eminent for their skill in medicine. Being Christians and filled with the charity which characterizes our holy religion, they practiced their profession with great application and wonderful success, but never accepted any fee. They were loved and respected by the people for their good offices and their zeal for the Christian faith, which they took every opportunity to propagate.
When the persecution of Diocletian began to rage, it was impossible for persons of such distinction to remain concealed. They were denounced to the governor of Cilicia, named Lysias, as "Christians who cured various illnesses and delivered possessed persons in the name of the one called Christ; they do not permit others to go to the temple to honor the gods by sacrifices." The two brothers were apprehended by the order of the governor, and after various preliminary torments were sentenced to be bound hand and foot and thrown into the sea. Their prayer has been conserved: "We rejoice, Lord, to follow the path of Your commandments, as in the midst of immense riches; and even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil." And they recited the 23rd Psalm. The sentence was accomplished, but an Angel untied their bonds and drew them out of the sea. The witnesses of this fact returned to announce to the governor what had happened. They were brought back to Lysias as magicians, and he decided to imprison them until he could decide upon their fate.
He condemned them to be burnt alive, but they prayed to God to manifest His power, lest His name be blasphemed, and an earthquake moved the fire into the midst of the pagans and spared the martyrs. When the rack also left them unharmed, the prefect swore by his gods he would continue to torture them until they became the food of birds of prey. They were crucified and stoned by the people, but this and still other tortures were ineffectual. They were finally beheaded with three Christian companions.
Many miracles of healing were credited to the pair after their death, the saints appearing to the sick and either prescribing a medicine for them or effecting a direct cure. Emperor Justinian I attributed recovery from an illness to them and rebuilt a church in Constantinople in their honor. Other churches under their patronage were built in Pamphylia and Cappadocia, provinces of Asia Minor, at Aegeae, Jerusalem, and Rome.
The "moneyless ones" are still honored today. They are the patron saints of physicians and surgeons. They are likewise the patrons of prescription druggists and apothecaries.
Source:
Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 11.
Saint Quote:
With those who are perfect and walk with simplicity, there is nothing small and contemptible, if it be a thing that pleases God; for the pleasure of God is the object at which alone they aim, and which is the reason, the measure, and the reward of all their occupations, actions, and plans; and so, in whatever they find this, it is for them a great and important thing.
--Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez
Bible Quote:
Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (I Cor. 3:16)
<><><><>
Covetousness
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where
your treasure is, there will your heart be also... No man can serve
two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or
else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve
God and mammon" (Matthew 6:19-21, 24).
"Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the
earth" (Colossians 3:1-2).
"Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they
increase in riches" (Psalm 73:12).
"He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the
word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22).
"He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent" (Proverbs
28:20).
"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some
coveted after, they have erred from the faith" (1 Timothy 6:10).
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John
2:15).
We seem to live not only in time but also in eternity. If we abide with God and He abides with us, we may bring forth spiritual fruit, which will last for eternity. If we live with God, our lives can flow as some calm river through the dry land of earth. It can cause the trees and flowers of the spiritual life -- love and service -- to spring forth and yield abundantly. Spiritual work may be done for eternity, not just for now. Even here on earth we can live as though our real lives were eternal.
<<>><<>><<>>
September 26th - Sts. Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs
(d. ca. 286)
Saints Cosmas and Damian were brothers, born in Arabia in the third century, of noble and virtuous parents. Saint Gregory of Tours wrote that they were twins. They studied the sciences in Syria, and became eminent for their skill in medicine. Being Christians and filled with the charity which characterizes our holy religion, they practiced their profession with great application and wonderful success, but never accepted any fee. They were loved and respected by the people for their good offices and their zeal for the Christian faith, which they took every opportunity to propagate.
When the persecution of Diocletian began to rage, it was impossible for persons of such distinction to remain concealed. They were denounced to the governor of Cilicia, named Lysias, as "Christians who cured various illnesses and delivered possessed persons in the name of the one called Christ; they do not permit others to go to the temple to honor the gods by sacrifices." The two brothers were apprehended by the order of the governor, and after various preliminary torments were sentenced to be bound hand and foot and thrown into the sea. Their prayer has been conserved: "We rejoice, Lord, to follow the path of Your commandments, as in the midst of immense riches; and even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil." And they recited the 23rd Psalm. The sentence was accomplished, but an Angel untied their bonds and drew them out of the sea. The witnesses of this fact returned to announce to the governor what had happened. They were brought back to Lysias as magicians, and he decided to imprison them until he could decide upon their fate.
He condemned them to be burnt alive, but they prayed to God to manifest His power, lest His name be blasphemed, and an earthquake moved the fire into the midst of the pagans and spared the martyrs. When the rack also left them unharmed, the prefect swore by his gods he would continue to torture them until they became the food of birds of prey. They were crucified and stoned by the people, but this and still other tortures were ineffectual. They were finally beheaded with three Christian companions.
Many miracles of healing were credited to the pair after their death, the saints appearing to the sick and either prescribing a medicine for them or effecting a direct cure. Emperor Justinian I attributed recovery from an illness to them and rebuilt a church in Constantinople in their honor. Other churches under their patronage were built in Pamphylia and Cappadocia, provinces of Asia Minor, at Aegeae, Jerusalem, and Rome.
The "moneyless ones" are still honored today. They are the patron saints of physicians and surgeons. They are likewise the patrons of prescription druggists and apothecaries.
Source:
Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 11.
Saint Quote:
With those who are perfect and walk with simplicity, there is nothing small and contemptible, if it be a thing that pleases God; for the pleasure of God is the object at which alone they aim, and which is the reason, the measure, and the reward of all their occupations, actions, and plans; and so, in whatever they find this, it is for them a great and important thing.
--Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez
Bible Quote:
Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (I Cor. 3:16)
<><><><>
Covetousness
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where
your treasure is, there will your heart be also... No man can serve
two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or
else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve
God and mammon" (Matthew 6:19-21, 24).
"Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the
earth" (Colossians 3:1-2).
"Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they
increase in riches" (Psalm 73:12).
"He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the
word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22).
"He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent" (Proverbs
28:20).
"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some
coveted after, they have erred from the faith" (1 Timothy 6:10).
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John
2:15).
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