Subj : August 30th - Saint Fantinus of San Mercurius To : All From : rich Date : Wed Aug 29 2018 10:14:24 From: rich August 30th - Saint Fantinus of San Mercurius, Abbot Also known as Fantinus of Calabria, Fantinus the Younger, Fantino=E2=80=A6. c. 980 At Thessalonica, St. Fantinus, confessor, who suffered much from the Saracens, and was driven from his monastery, in which he had lived in great abstinence. After having brought many to the way of salvation, he rested at last at an advanced age. This Fantinus is said to have been abbot of the Greek monastery of St. Mercury in Calabria. After some years he claimed that the voice of God was telling him to leave the monastery and he accordingly did so, wandering about the countryside from place to place, sleeping in the open, and living on fruit and herbs. When he came to a church or monastery he lamented and prophesied woe; when he met a monk he wept over him as though he were a dead man. When his friends, much upset by this strange behaviour, tried to induce him to return to the monastery, he only replied that there would soon be no monastery to return to and that he would die in a foreign land. In due course the Saracens devastated Calabria, the monastery of St. Mercury was destroyed, and St. Fantinus with two disciples went overseas and landed in the Peloponnesus. He lived for a time at Corinth and at Larissa in Thessaly, and then moved to Salonika, where his miracles and virtues made him famous. Here he died. Not much that is reliable is known of this saint, though the Bollandists have devoted a few pages to him in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. vi. It is apparently this Fantinus who figures in the Constantinople synaxaries on November 14; though in an Italo-Greek synaxary he is assigned to August 30. See J. Rendel Harris, Further Researches into the Ferrar Group (1900), with Delehaye's comments in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxi (1902); pp. 23-28. The story seems to be nothing but legend and confusion, including possibly confusion between two holy men, both named Fantinus. Saint Quote: Let us raise ourselves from our fall and not give up hope as long as we are free from sin. Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. 'Come, let us adore and prostrate ourselves and weep before him' (Psalm 95:6). The Word calls us to repentance, crying out: 'Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened and I will refresh you' (Matthew 11:28). There is, then, a way to salvation if we are willing to follow it" --Saint Basil the Great Bible Quote: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14) RSVCE <><><><> The Great Truths [6] How to Attain our End One thing I do; forgetting the things that are behind and stretching forth myself to those that are before, I press towards the mark. (Phil. 3:13-14) Every one desires to succeed in life. A man who desired ultimate failure would justly be regarded as a lunatic. If I am to carry out my desire, I must look around me and see what sort of men succeed. When I look at successful men, I find, in them three characteristics: (1) A spirit of cheerfulness and confidence. They know how to look at everything from its best side. They are always hopeful about the future and confident of success. This it is that brings success. Hence I must pray for confidence. (2) A spirit of perseverance. They are not discouraged by failures. They recover themselves without delay. What a lesson for me not to lose heart, but to say : "When I fall I will rise again, and that promptly." (3) A spirit of single-mindedness. They keep the end in view steadily before them. If I am to achieve the purpose of my life, to succeed in coming to God at last, I must keep Him always before me. What can make my life so happy as this-- to know that I am drawing nearer to God? Yet there will be dark times and days of despondency. Still, beneath the surface, there will be hope and peace, even amid the darkness. Pray for cheerfulness and an earnest purpose to live for God. --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .