Subj : June 18th - St. Gregory Barbargio. To : All From : rich Date : Wed Jun 17 2020 10:22:30 From: rich June 18th - St. Gregory Barbargio. Born in Venice, Italy, 1625; died June 15, 1697; beatified in 1761; canonized in 1960. When Saint Gregory was born into a noble family, Protestants and Catholics in Europe had been waging a vicious war against each other for 7 years--the start of the 30 Years War. He was educated at Venice. Gregory was in his early twenties when the Venetian government chose him to go with their ambassador, Luigi Contarini, to M=C3=BCnster, Germany, where in 1648 the Treaty of Westphalia was drawn up to establish peace. At the conference was the papal representative, Fabio Chigi. He found Gregory to be a quite exceptional young man, and they became friends. Gregory was ordained priest in 1655 and worked heroically during the plague of 1657. When Fabio Chigi was consecrated Pope Alexander VII, he did not forget the impression the Venetian had made at M=C3=BCnster: he consecrated Gregory bishop of Bergamo. Three years later (1660) he named him cardinal and then, in 1664, bishop of Padua--an office he held for 33 years. Gregory was equally distinguished as a churchman and as a statesman. He set about improving the training of the clergy, endowing an excellent college and seminary for them, building its fine patristic library, setting up its own printing press, appointing teachers who knew the writings of the Church Fathers and who were devoted to sacred Scripture. Some of the works published on his press were distributed to Christians in Islamic countries. His charities were on a princely scale (he is said to have given at least 8,000 crowns in charity), and his benefactions to Padua numerous and lasting. He was an earnest worker for the reconciliation of the dissident Greeks. Gregory's pastoral commitment was comparable to that of Saint Charles Borromeo. While very demanding of himself, he was kind to others, treating those in trouble with great compassion. As a cardinal, he participated in five conclaves and was himself considered a serious candidate for the papacy. He was buried in Padua cathedral (Bentley, Benedictines, Farmer, White). Saint Quote: "When the heart is occupied with worldly things, especially superfluous ones, it forsakes the Lord--the Source of life and peace--and is therefore deprived of life and tranquillity, of light and strength; but when it repents of its care for vain things, and wholly turns from corruptible things to the incorruptible God, then the fountain of living water again begins to flow into it, and peace, tranquillity, light, strength, and boldness before God and man one more dwell within it. We must live wisely." --St. John of Kronstadt. Bible Quote: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."=C2 (Romans 5:19) <><><><> =C2 When I say,"Hail Mary" the heavens bow down, the angels rejoice, the earth jubilates, hell trembles, and the devils take flight! by St. Francis of Assisi --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .