How Burdens must be Borne to win Eternal Life [II]

[Weedy]

How Burdens must be Borne to win Eternal Life [II]

Labor with all your might. Work faithfully in My vineyard;(Matt. 20:7)
I myself will be your reward. (Gen. 15:1) Write, study, worship, be
penitent, keep silence and pray. Meet all your troubles like a man:
eternal life is worth all this and yet greater conflicts. Peace will
come at a time known only to the Lord. It will not be day or night as
we know it, (Rev. 22:5) but everlasting light, boundless glory,
abiding peace and sure rest. You will not say then, 'Who will free me
from this mortal body?; (Rom 7:4) nor cry, 'Alas, how long is my
exile!' (Ps. 120:5) for the power of death will be utterly broken,
(Isa. 25:8) and full salvation assured. No anxiety will remain, but
only blessed joy in the fair and lovely fellowship of the Saints.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3 Ch 47

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14 May – Saint Ampelio

(Died c 428)
Hermit, miracle-worker. Born in the 4th century in Upper Egypt and
died on 5 October c 428 in Bordighera, Italy of natural causes. His
Feast day refers to the translation of his body to the Church of Saint
Stephen in Genoa, Italy on 14 May 1258. Patronages – blacksmiths,
Bordighera, Italy. His body is incorrupt and is the only image we have
of him.

Nothing is known about the early life of Saint Ampelio. We know that
he was a blacksmith who left his work to become a Recluse in Egypt.
His faith was tested in the form of a woman (devil) but Ampelio heated
an iron bar until it glowed and chased the demon away.

Ampelio emigrated to Italy, where he planted the first date palms,
having brought the seeds from Egypt, lived in a cave, was known as a
miracle worker and served as a model for prayer for the Christian
life.

He died on 5 October 428 in Bordighera, Italy of natural causes. His
body was moved to the Convent of Saint Stephen in Genoa, Italy on 14
May 1258. On 16 August 1047, his body was brought back to Bordighera.
He was taken in procession through the crowd to the Church of
Magdalene, where he now lies. The Patron celebrations take place on
14th May, in memory of the transfer of the body from Sanremo to Genoa
in 1258.

There is a little Church dedicated to St Ampelio in Bordighera in
Liguria, Italy. The crypt, with two apses and small, inclined
loop-holes, holds a squared-off block of stone from La Turbie (the
rock which dominates the Principality of Monaco). This stone was the
poor and very uncomfortable “bed of the saint,” where Ampelio died the
5th October 428.

https://anastpaul.com/2021/05/14/


Saint Quote:
Let us throw ourselves into the arms of God, and be sure that if He
wishes to accomplish anything by us, He will qualify us for all He
desires us to do for Him. When the soul lies resignedly in the hands
of God, and is contented with the Divine pleasure, she is in good
hands, and has the best security that good will happen to her. Entire
conformity and resignation to the Divine will is truly a road on which
we cannot go wrong, and it is the only road which leads us to taste
and enjoy that peace which sensual and earthly men know nothing of.
-- St. Philip Neri

Bible Quote:
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If
we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is
not in us. [1 John 1:8-10]

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Flowers of the rarest

"Bring flowers of the rarest,
Bring blossoms of the fairest,
From garden and woodland and hillside and dale,
Our full hearts are swelling.
Our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest Flower of the Vale.

"O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
Their lady they name thee,
Their mistress proclaim thee,
Ah! grant that thy children on earth be as true;"


56. St. Joseph of Cupertino (Monk, 1603-63) - 'Miniature Lives Of The
Saints"--(Fr. H. Bowden, Burns & Oates, 1959 p. 422)
This Saint accepting no present but flowers, with which he adorned his
picture of the Madonna, once said:

"My Mother is hard to please: I bring her flowers and fruit, and she
does not care for them and will not accept them. I ask her what she
wants, and she answers, 'It is the heart which I care for'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE:

And what then shall we give Her now, all our wills?
It's easier said than done? Then why not resolve to learn to do it?
How? By going through the "Marian Exercises" for emptying ourselves
of the 'spirit of the world', and Solemnly Consecrating ourselves
as slaves to Our Lord through Our Lady,
by St. Louis Marie de Montfort (Founder, 1673-1716)--needs four
weeks of hard work on self--worth an eternity