Subj : November 5th - St. Bertilla To : All From : rich Date : Sun Nov 04 2018 07:52:39 From: rich November 5th - St. Bertilla, Virgin d. 705? ST BERTILLA (Bertila is the more correct form) was born in the territory of Soissons. As she grew up she learned the deceits of the world, and earnestly desired to re=C2=ADnounce it. She was encouraged in her resolution by St. Ouen, Bishop of Rouen, and her parents sent her to Jouarre, a monastery near Meaux, founded not long before under the Rule of St. Columban. St. Bertilla was received with joy in this community and trained up in the strictest practice of monastic perfection. Though yet young, her prudence and tact were remarkable, and the care of strangers, of the sick, and of the children that were educated in the monastery was successively committed to her. When St. Bathildis, the English wife of Clovis II, refounded the abbey of Chelles, she asked the abbess of Jouarre to furnish this community with a small colony of her most experienced and virtuous nuns. Bertilla was sent at the head of this company, and was appointed first abbess of Chelles. The reputation of the saint and the discipline which she established in this house attracted a number of foreign vocations, among them Hereswitha, widow of Ethelhere, King of the East Angles and sister to St. Hilda. The widowed Queen Bathildis herself, as soon as her son Clotaire was of age to govern, retired hither. She took the religious habit from the hands of St. Bertilla c. 665 and obeyed her as if she had been the last sister in the house, rather than its sovereign and foundress. But the holy abbess, who saw two queens every day at her feet, seemed the most humble and the most fervent among her sisters, and showed by her conduct that no one commands well who has not first learned, and is not always ready, to obey well. In her old age, far from abating her fervour, St. Bertilla strove to redouble it both in her penances and in her devotions, and she died beloved by all, after having governed Chelles for forty-six years. There is a short Latin life, probably compiled about the year 800, but based upon authentic materials of earlier date. It has been critically edited both by A. Poncelet in the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iii, and by W. Levison in MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. vi.=C2 Something is also said of St. Bertilla in the exceptionally trustworthy Merovingian Life of St. Bathildis. Father Poncelet shows that, owing to a mistake of Bede; certain erroneous deductions have been drawn regarding the chronology. Saint Quote: If a man finds it very hard to forgive injuries, let him look at a crucifix, and think that Christ shed all His Blood for him, and not only forgave His enemies, but even prayed His Heavenly Father to forgive them also. Let him remember that when he says the Pater Noster, every day, instead of asking pardon for his sins, he is calling down vengeance on himself. --St. Philip Bible Quote For to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: but from him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away. 30 And the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 25:29-30) <><><><> The Canticle of Zachariah or Benedictus Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. He has come to His people to set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of His servant David. Through His holy prophets He promised of old that He would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant. This was the oath He swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship Him without fear, holy and righteous in His sight all the days of our life. You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way, to give His people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:68- 79). --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .