Subj : Arise from earth's bonds To : All From : rich Date : Wed Mar 10 2021 09:15:53 From: rich disabled. Only one devoted friend named Beldia tried to assist her. Some others would have volunteered but could not stand the odor of the sores that covered her body. Somebody told Fina one day about Pope St. Gregory the Great. This wonderful 6th century churchman, despite his great activity as pope, had constantly suffered a host of physical ailments. Fina turned to him in prayer, asking that he who was so patient in pain would intercede with God to give her, too, the gift of patience. Eight days before her death, when she lay alone and in deep suffering, St. Gregory himself appeared to her. He brought welcome news. =E2=80=9CDear child,=E2=80=9D he said, =E2=80=9Con my festival God will give you rest.=E2= =80=9D The prophecy came true. Fina died on the feast of Pope St. Gregory, March 12, 1253. The neighbors declared that, when her body was removed from the rotted plank on which she had lain for so long, the plank was found to be covered with white violets! All San Gimignano, the boastful plutocrats as well as the grimiest paupers, turned out for her funeral. In life they may have avoided her like the plague, but they all recognized her as a model of steadfastness and a true saint. Many miracles attended her passing. It was even said that the dead woman's arm stretched out and touched a= nd healed the injured arm of her devoted friend Beldia. Ever since, the people of San Gimignano have called the local white violets, which blossom around her feast day, =E2=80=9CSaint Fina's flowers.=E2=80= =9D Eventually, the great painter Ghirlandajo decorated her shrine chapel in the cathedral with lovely paintings of the city's patient little saint. Today there are many sick people whose afflictions reduce them to immobility and who suffer, as did St. Serafina, both pain and loneliness. May God grant these sufferers, too, the gift of penitential patience. And may he give us the Lenten charity to serve their needs. =E2=80=93Father Robert :Saint Quote: "Light and recollection come to the mind by way of reading the Scriptures. The words are those of the Holy Spirit, and they provide guidance to the readers. Let your reading be a preliminary to action, since you are a doer (cf. James 1:22)." --St. John Climacus. Bible Quote: 14 The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool is imminent ruin. ( Proverbs 10:14) <><><><> Supplication to Our Lady to obtain the Favour of her Patronage till Death. The more exalted she is, the greater her clemency and sweetness towards penitent sinners."--St. Gregory. Sweet Mother! turn those gentle eyes Of pity down on me; Oh! hear thy suppliant's tearful cries, My humble prayer do not despise, Star of the pathless sea! In dark temptation's dreary hour, To thee, bright Queen, we flee; Oh! then exert a mother's power, When storms are rough and tempests lower; Star of the raging sea! Through all my joys and cares, sweet Maid, May I still look on thee, Who bore the Price our ransom paid, And ne'er the suppliant's cry hath stayed; Star of the azure sea! And when my last expiring sigh, My soul from earth shall free, Do thou, bright Queen of Saints, stand by, And bear it up to God on high, Star of the boundless sea! --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .