Subj : First signs of the end times To : All From : rich Date : Wed Dec 02 2020 09:54:54 From: rich First signs of the end times "Perhaps you are anxious, brothers and sisters, at the fact that we hear constantly of the tumult of wars and the onsets of battles. Perhaps your love is still more anxious since these are taking place in our times. The reason is the closer we are to the destruction of the world, the closer we are to the kingdom of the Savior. The Lord himself says, 'In the last days nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. When you see wars, earthquakes and famines, know that the kingdom of God is at hand.'This nearness of wars shows us that Christ is near." =C2 by Maximus of Turin (died between 408-423 AD)(excerpt from SERMON 85.= 1) <<>><<>><<>> December 3rd - St. Cassian of Tangiers =E2=80 . 298 Martyr mentioned in a hymn by St. Prudentius, also called Cassian of Tangiers. He was a court recorder at the trial of St. Marcellus the Centurion. Aurelius Agricola, deputy prefect in the Roman province in North Africa, conducted the trial. When the death penalty was imposed on St. Marcellus, Cassian threw down his pen and declared that he was a Christian. He was arrested immediately and put to death. Cassian is patron of modern stenographers ******** St Cassian had been in charge of a school for boys and sat as a teacher of reading and writing with a great throng round him, and he was skilled in putting every word in short signs and following speech quickly with swift pricks on the wax. But at times the young mob, feeling his teaching harsh and stern, were moved with anger and fear, for the teacher is ever distasteful to the young learner and CHILDHOOD NEVER TAKES KINDLY TO TRAINING." "Now there came a cruel tempest battering the faith and pressing hard on the people devoted to the Christian glory. The governor of the flock of pupils was dragged from the midst of his class because he had scornfully refused to worship at the altars, and when the contriver of punishments asked of what profession this man of such high and unruly spirit was, he answered: .He teaches a company of young children, giving them their first lessons in writing down words with signs invented for the purpose.' 'Take him away,' he cried, 'take him away a prisoner, and make the children a present of the man who used to flog them. Let them make sport of him as they please, give them leave to mangle him at will, let them give their hands a holiday and dip them in their master's blood. It is a pleasant thought that the strict teacher should himself furnish sport to the pupils he has too much held down.' "So he is stripped of his garments and his hands are tied behind his back, and all the bands are there, armed with their sharp styles. All the hatred long conceived in silent resentment they each vent now, burning with gall that has last found freedom. Some throw their brittle tablets and break them against his face, the wood flying in fragments when it strikes his brow, the wax-covered box-wood splitting with a long crack as it is dashed on his blood-stained cheeks, the broken slab wet and red from the blow. Others again launch at him the sharp iron pricks, the end with which by scratching strokes the wax is written upon, and the end with which the letters that have been cut are rubbed out and the roughened surface once more made into a smooth, glossy space. With the one the confessor of Christ is stabbed, with the other he is cut; the one end enters the soft flesh, the other splits the skin. Two hundred hands together have pierced him all over his body, and from all these wounds at once the blood is dripping. A greater torturer was the child who only pricked the surface than he who bored deep into the flesh; for the light hitter who will not wound to the death has the skill to be cruel with only the piercing pains, but the other, the farther he strikes into the hidden vitals, gives more relief by bringing death near. 'Be stout, I beg,' he cries, 'and outdo your years with your strength. What you lack in age let a savage spirit make up.' But the young boys from lack of vigor fail in their efforts and begin to be fatigued; the torments worsen while the tormentors grow faint. 'Why do you complain?' calls one; 'you yourself as our teacher gave us this iron and put the weapon in our hands. You see we are giving you back all the thousands of characters which as we stood in tears we took down from your teaching. You cannot be angry with us for writing; it was you who bade us never let our hand carry an idle style. We are no longer asking for what was so often refused when we were under your instruction, you stingy teacher,--a holiday from school. We like making pricks, twining scratch with scratch and linking curved strokes together. You may examine and correct our lines in long array, in case an erring hand has made any mistake. Use your authority; you have power to punish a fault, if any of your pupils has written carelessly on you.' And finally--he died. Saint Quote: =E2=80=9CIt is not the actual physical exertion that counts towards a man= 's progress, nor the nature of the task, but by the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken.=E2=80=9D --Saint Frances Xavier 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. <><><><> Prayer for the help of the Holy Spirit O God, Send forth your Holy Spirit; into my heart--that I may perceive, into my mind--that I may remember, and into my soul--that I may meditate. Inspire me to speak with piety, holiness, tenderness, and mercy. Teach, guide, and direct my thoughts and senses from the beginning to the end. May your grace ever help and correct me, and may I be strengthened now with wisdom from on high, for the sake of your infinite mercy. --St. Anthony of Padua --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .