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Counsels on the Inner Life (I)
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Weedy
Jul 20, 2023, 3:38:22 AM7/20/23
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Counsels on the Inner Life (I)
'The Kingdom of God is within you,(Luke 17:21) says Our Lord. Turn to
the Lord with all your heart,(Joel 2:12) forsake this sorry world, and
your soul shall find rest (Matt.11:29). Learn to turn from worldly
things, and give yourself to spiritual things, and you will see the
Kingdom of God come within you. For the Kingdom is peace and joy in
the Holy Spirit;(Rom.14:17) these are not granted to the wicked.
Christ will come to you, and impart his consolations to you, if you
prepare a worthy dwelling for Him in your heart. All true glory and
beauty is within,(Ps. 45:14) and there He delights to dwell. He often
visits the spiritual man, and holds sweet discourse with him, granting
him refreshing grace, great peace, and friendship exceeding all
expectation.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 2, Ch 1
===========
July 20th - St Apollinaris of Ravenna, Bishop & Martyr
d. 79 AD
In Galatians 2:11-14, we read “And when Kephas (Peter) came to
Antioch…”, where Paul rebuked him for treating Gentile converts as
inferior to Jewish Christians.
The Liber Pontificalis (9th century) mentions Peter as having served
as bishop of Antioch (near modern day Antakya, Turkey, bordering
northwestern Syria) for 7 years and having potentially left his family
in the Greek (culturally, due to the conquests of Alexander the Great)
city before his journey to Rome. [Claims of direct blood lineage from
Simon Peter among the old population of Antioch existed in the 1st
century and continue to exist today, notably by certain Semaan
families of modern-day Syria and Lebanon.]
Historians have furnished other evidence of Peter’s sojourn in
Antioch. Subsequent tradition held that Peter had been the first
Patriarch (bishop) of Antioch, before departing for Rome to become
Patriarch of Rome, and the first Pope, where he, like nearly all of
the Apostles, except John, would suffer martyrdom. Electii to the
papacy have always had the words spoken to them after their election,
“Tu es Petrus…”, as in “…you are Peter…” Mt 16:18.
In the 1st century, Apollinaris, tradition holds, accompanied Peter
from Antioch to Rome. Peter consecrated him a bishop and appointed him
to proclaim the Gospel in the city of Ravenna, Italy. Apollinaris,
like the Apostles, dedicated his time to public preaching and soon won
many converts to Christ.
The story goes Apollinaris’ first miracle was on behalf of the blind
son of a soldier who gave him hospitality when he first arrived in the
city of Ravenna. When the apostle told him of the God he had come to
preach and invited him to abandon the cult of idols, the soldier
replied: “Stranger, if the God you preach is as powerful as you say,
beg Him to give sight to my son, and I will believe in Him.” The Saint
had the child brought and made the sign of the cross on his eyes as he
prayed. The miracle was instantaneous, to the great amazement of all,
and news of it spread rapidly. A day or so later, a military tribune
sent for him to cure his wife from a long illness, which again he did.
The house of the tribune became a center of apostolic action, and
several persons sent their children to the Saint to instruct them
there. Little by little a flourishing Christian assembly was formed,
and priests and deacons were ordained. The Saint lived in community
with the two priests and two deacons.
Nobody likes competition. The pagan priests grew angry. They
attacked Apollinaris, beat him senseless, and left him for dead on the
beach. He was cared for by members of the small Christian community he
had founded and recovered.
Apparently, Apollinaris was not one to take a hint, or be easily
dissuaded. A young girl whom he cured after having her father promise
to allow her full liberty to follow Christ, consecrated her virginity
to God. It was after this he was arrested, interrogated, again
flogged, stretched on the rack and plunged into boiling oil. Alive
still, he was exiled to Illyria, east of the Adriatic Sea.
He remained 3 years in that country, having survived a shipwreck with
only a few persons whom he converted. Then he evangelized the various
districts, with the aid of his converts. When a pagan oracle ceased to
speak during his sojourn in one of these regions, the pagans again
beat him and threw him and his companions on a ship which took them
back to Italy. Soon imprisoned, he escaped but was seized again and
subjected to another flogging.
A third time he returned to Ravenna. Again he was captured, hacked
with knives, had scalding water poured over his wounds, was beaten in
the mouth with stones because he persisted in preaching, and was flung
into a horrible dungeon, loaded with chains, to starve to death.
He and his flock were again exiled from Ravenna during the
persecutions of Emperor Vespasian. A fourth time, he returned to
Ravenna. On his way out of the city he was identified, arrested, and
martyred by being run through with a sword.
He died on July 23rd of the year 79. His body lay first at Classis,
four miles from Ravenna, and a church was built over his tomb; later
the relics were returned to Ravenna. Pope Honorius had a church built
to honor the name of Apollinaris in Rome, about the year 630 AD.
Centuries after his death, he appeared in a vision to Saint Romuald.
Saint Apollinaris was Bishop of Ravenna for 26 years.
by Matthew
https://soul-candy.info/category/july/page/4/
Meditation:
Following Jesus involves risks—sometimes the supreme risk of life
itself. Martyrs are people who would rather accept the risk of death
than deny the cornerstone of their whole life: faith in Jesus Christ.
Everyone will die eventually—the persecutors and those persecuted. The
question is what kind of a conscience people will bring before the
Lord for judgment. Remembering the witness of past and present martyrs
can help us make the often-small sacrifices that following Jesus today
may require.
Saint Quote:
Zeal without knowledge is always less useful and effective than
informed zeal, and is very often dangerous!
--St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Bible Quote:
With all thy strength love him that made thee: and forsake not his
ministers. Honour God with all thy soul and give honour to the
priests, and purify thyself with thy arms. Give them their portion, as
it is commanded thee, of the first-fruits and of purifications: and
for thy negligences purify thyself with a few. Offer to the Lord the
gift of thy shoulders, and the sacrifice of sanctification, and the
first-fruits of the holy things: [Sirach 7: 32-36] DRB
<><><><>
Reform yourself
“Reform yourself and so be always ready.
Be not afraid of the last day, as a thief,
who will break up your house as you sleep
but awake and reform yourself today.”
“In failing to confess, Lord,
I would only hide You from myself,
not myself from You.”
--St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church
'The Kingdom of God is within you,(Luke 17:21) says Our Lord. Turn to
the Lord with all your heart,(Joel 2:12) forsake this sorry world, and
your soul shall find rest (Matt.11:29). Learn to turn from worldly
things, and give yourself to spiritual things, and you will see the
Kingdom of God come within you. For the Kingdom is peace and joy in
the Holy Spirit;(Rom.14:17) these are not granted to the wicked.
Christ will come to you, and impart his consolations to you, if you
prepare a worthy dwelling for Him in your heart. All true glory and
beauty is within,(Ps. 45:14) and there He delights to dwell. He often
visits the spiritual man, and holds sweet discourse with him, granting
him refreshing grace, great peace, and friendship exceeding all
expectation.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 2, Ch 1
===========
July 20th - St Apollinaris of Ravenna, Bishop & Martyr
d. 79 AD
In Galatians 2:11-14, we read “And when Kephas (Peter) came to
Antioch…”, where Paul rebuked him for treating Gentile converts as
inferior to Jewish Christians.
The Liber Pontificalis (9th century) mentions Peter as having served
as bishop of Antioch (near modern day Antakya, Turkey, bordering
northwestern Syria) for 7 years and having potentially left his family
in the Greek (culturally, due to the conquests of Alexander the Great)
city before his journey to Rome. [Claims of direct blood lineage from
Simon Peter among the old population of Antioch existed in the 1st
century and continue to exist today, notably by certain Semaan
families of modern-day Syria and Lebanon.]
Historians have furnished other evidence of Peter’s sojourn in
Antioch. Subsequent tradition held that Peter had been the first
Patriarch (bishop) of Antioch, before departing for Rome to become
Patriarch of Rome, and the first Pope, where he, like nearly all of
the Apostles, except John, would suffer martyrdom. Electii to the
papacy have always had the words spoken to them after their election,
“Tu es Petrus…”, as in “…you are Peter…” Mt 16:18.
In the 1st century, Apollinaris, tradition holds, accompanied Peter
from Antioch to Rome. Peter consecrated him a bishop and appointed him
to proclaim the Gospel in the city of Ravenna, Italy. Apollinaris,
like the Apostles, dedicated his time to public preaching and soon won
many converts to Christ.
The story goes Apollinaris’ first miracle was on behalf of the blind
son of a soldier who gave him hospitality when he first arrived in the
city of Ravenna. When the apostle told him of the God he had come to
preach and invited him to abandon the cult of idols, the soldier
replied: “Stranger, if the God you preach is as powerful as you say,
beg Him to give sight to my son, and I will believe in Him.” The Saint
had the child brought and made the sign of the cross on his eyes as he
prayed. The miracle was instantaneous, to the great amazement of all,
and news of it spread rapidly. A day or so later, a military tribune
sent for him to cure his wife from a long illness, which again he did.
The house of the tribune became a center of apostolic action, and
several persons sent their children to the Saint to instruct them
there. Little by little a flourishing Christian assembly was formed,
and priests and deacons were ordained. The Saint lived in community
with the two priests and two deacons.
Nobody likes competition. The pagan priests grew angry. They
attacked Apollinaris, beat him senseless, and left him for dead on the
beach. He was cared for by members of the small Christian community he
had founded and recovered.
Apparently, Apollinaris was not one to take a hint, or be easily
dissuaded. A young girl whom he cured after having her father promise
to allow her full liberty to follow Christ, consecrated her virginity
to God. It was after this he was arrested, interrogated, again
flogged, stretched on the rack and plunged into boiling oil. Alive
still, he was exiled to Illyria, east of the Adriatic Sea.
He remained 3 years in that country, having survived a shipwreck with
only a few persons whom he converted. Then he evangelized the various
districts, with the aid of his converts. When a pagan oracle ceased to
speak during his sojourn in one of these regions, the pagans again
beat him and threw him and his companions on a ship which took them
back to Italy. Soon imprisoned, he escaped but was seized again and
subjected to another flogging.
A third time he returned to Ravenna. Again he was captured, hacked
with knives, had scalding water poured over his wounds, was beaten in
the mouth with stones because he persisted in preaching, and was flung
into a horrible dungeon, loaded with chains, to starve to death.
He and his flock were again exiled from Ravenna during the
persecutions of Emperor Vespasian. A fourth time, he returned to
Ravenna. On his way out of the city he was identified, arrested, and
martyred by being run through with a sword.
He died on July 23rd of the year 79. His body lay first at Classis,
four miles from Ravenna, and a church was built over his tomb; later
the relics were returned to Ravenna. Pope Honorius had a church built
to honor the name of Apollinaris in Rome, about the year 630 AD.
Centuries after his death, he appeared in a vision to Saint Romuald.
Saint Apollinaris was Bishop of Ravenna for 26 years.
by Matthew
https://soul-candy.info/category/july/page/4/
Meditation:
Following Jesus involves risks—sometimes the supreme risk of life
itself. Martyrs are people who would rather accept the risk of death
than deny the cornerstone of their whole life: faith in Jesus Christ.
Everyone will die eventually—the persecutors and those persecuted. The
question is what kind of a conscience people will bring before the
Lord for judgment. Remembering the witness of past and present martyrs
can help us make the often-small sacrifices that following Jesus today
may require.
Saint Quote:
Zeal without knowledge is always less useful and effective than
informed zeal, and is very often dangerous!
--St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Bible Quote:
With all thy strength love him that made thee: and forsake not his
ministers. Honour God with all thy soul and give honour to the
priests, and purify thyself with thy arms. Give them their portion, as
it is commanded thee, of the first-fruits and of purifications: and
for thy negligences purify thyself with a few. Offer to the Lord the
gift of thy shoulders, and the sacrifice of sanctification, and the
first-fruits of the holy things: [Sirach 7: 32-36] DRB
<><><><>
Reform yourself
“Reform yourself and so be always ready.
Be not afraid of the last day, as a thief,
who will break up your house as you sleep
but awake and reform yourself today.”
“In failing to confess, Lord,
I would only hide You from myself,
not myself from You.”
--St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church
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