Subj : On Gratitude for God's Grace (II) To : All From : rich Date : Sat Nov 28 2020 09:12:28 From: rich On Gratitude for God's Grace (II) False liberty of mind and overweening self-confidence are a great hindrance to heavenly visitations. God is generous in granting us the grace of comfort; but man does ill in not returning all to God with gratitude. This is why His gifts of grace cannot flow freely in us, because we are ungrateful to the Giver, and do not return them to their Fount and Source. God will always give grace to those who are grateful, but what He grants to the humble is withheld from the proud. --Thomas =C3 Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 2 Ch 10 <<>><<>><<>> November 29th - Blessed Dionysius and Redemptus, Martyrs d. 1638 THERE was born at Honfleur in Normandy in the year 1600 to the family of Berthelot the first of ten children, and he was baptized Peter. When he was 19 he sailed to the East Indies in the French ship Esp=C3=A9rance, which was captured and burnt by Dutch privateers. Young Berthelot made his escape from Java and for some years traded on his own. Then he entered the Portuguese service at Malacca, became first a pilot and then cartographer, and took part in several expeditions. In 1635 he met at Goa the prior of the Discalced Carmelites, and was induced by him to join that order, taking the name of Dionysius. Soon after his profession the Portuguese viceroy asked for his services as pilot to the embassy that he was sending to Sumatra. The Carmelite authorities agreed, and ordained Friar Dionysius priest so that he could act as chaplain as well; he was accompanied by a lay brother, Redemptus. His name in the world was Thomas Rodriguez da Cunha, and he had been a soldier in India before he joined the Carmelites. No sooner had they arrived at Achin (Koetaraja) than the ambassador and his suite were seized by the Sumatrans and put in prison. A number of them were massacred, including the two friars. Dionysius, refusing to apostatize, was to be trampled by elephants, but the impatient pagans cut him down; Redemptus was killed a few days later. Directly the news reached Goa the prior, Friar Philip, collected evidence and prepared to introduce the cause of beatification of his two subjects; but Dionysius and Redemptus were not in fact beatified until 1900. An account of these martyrs is given in considerable detail by Frey Jo=C3=A3o do Sacramento in his Chronica de Carmelitas Descal=C3=A7os, vol. = ii (1721), pp. 798-813. He informs us that Father Philip induced Archbishop Francis of Goa to institute a formal process with a view to the beatification of the martyrs and that the same Father Philip published a relation of the events which attended their death. This seems to be contained in his books, Itinerarium Orientale (1649) and Decor Carmeli (1665). We have in modern times Thomas de Jesus, Les bx Denis de la Nativit=C3=A9 et R=C3=A9dempt de la Croix (1900) P. Gonthier, V= ie admirable de Pierre Berthelot (1917) and a series of articles in Etudes Carmelitaines, 1912, pp. 426-442, and 1913, pp. 215-227 and pp. 387-397. Some maps drawn by Bd Dionysius are said to be in the British Museum. Saint Quote: For the cup we drink is a participation in the blood of Christ, and the bread we break is a participation in the body of Christ. Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, since we all share the same bread. And so we pray that, by the same grace which made the Church Christ's body, all its members may remain firm in the unity of that body through the enduring bond of love. -- Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe Bible Quote: "Then the angel showed me the river of life, rising from the throne of God and of the Lamb and flowing crystal clear. Down the middle of the city street, on either bank of the river was the tree of life, which bears twelve crops of fruit in a year, one in each month, and the leaves of which are the cure for the nations." Revelation 22:1-2. <><><><> "We must repeat with the utmost energy in these times of social and intellectual anarchy when everyone takes it upon himself to teach as a teacher and lawmaker--the City cannot be built otherwise than as God has built it; society cannot be setup unless the Church lays the foundation and supervises the work; no, civilization is not something yet to be found, nor is the New City to be built on hazy notions; it has been in existence and still is: it is Christian civilization, it is the Catholic City. It has only to be set up and restored continually against the unremitting attacks of insane dreamers, rebels, and miscreants. OMNIA INSTAURARE IN CHRISTO. ("To restore all things in Christ.") ~Our Apostolic Mandate on the Sillon, 1910 Pope St. Pius X "Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it." ~The Holy Bible, Psalm 126: --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .