Subj : April 3rd - St. Nicetas, Abbot To : All From : rich Date : Tue Apr 02 2019 09:49:08 From: rich April 3rd - St. Nicetas, Abbot HE was a native of Bithynia, and from his infancy was brought up in austere monasteries by the care of his pious father Philaretus, who, after the loss of his wife, had himself embraced a monastic state. Nicetus emulated the most perfect examples of virtue: his mind was wholly occupied in prayer and pious reading, and his body was so extenuated by the severity of his fasts and watching, that it nearly resembled a walking skeleton. But his soul grew the more vigorous and active in proportion as it was more disengaged from the flesh, and by contemplation approached nearer to the angels. =C2 St. Nicephorus appointed him his coadjutor, and afterward recommended him to be his successor in the abbey of Medicion, which he had founded on mount Olympus, under the rule of the Ac=C3=A6metes. In this calm and amiable retreat the saint and a hundred holy monks under his direction, led the lives of terrestrial angels, when the devil found means to disturb their tranquility, though in the end his attempts only served to furnish their virtue with more distinguished occasions of triumph. In 813, the emperor Leo the Armenian renewed the war against holy images, and, in 814, banished the patriarch St. Nicephorus, and intruded into his see one Theodosius, an impious officer of the court. The zeal of Nicetas for the Catholic faith was recompensed by two banishments, a rigid imprisonment, and other severe sufferings. Theodosius, having pronounced anathema against all who did not honour the image of Jesus Christ, our abbot, regarding him as orthodox, consented, with many other confessors, to receive the communion from his hands; but was immediately stung with remorse, fearing lest he had been drawn into a conformity which some might interpret to the prejudice of the truth. Hereupon he openly protested that he would never abandon the faith of his ancestors, or obey the false patriarch. He rejected the offers of preferment at court, and chose rather to suffer a cruel banishment into the island of St. Glyceria, in the extremities of the Propontis, under the guard of Anthimus, a court eunuch, who confined him in a dark dungeon, the key of which he always kept in his own custody. A little food, merely what seemed necessary to preserve him alive, was carelessly thrown in to him through a little window. =C2 In this martyrdom he lingered six years, till the death of Leo the Armenian, who was murdered on Christmas-day, in 820. Michael the Stutterer, who then ascended the throne, released the prisoners. St. Nicetas chose, out of humility, neither to return to his monastery, nor to live at Constantinople; but, shutting himself up in a small hermitage near that city, prepared himself for death, which he met with joy on the 3rd of April, 824. Many miracles rendered his name illustrious on earth. See his life, by an intimate acquaintance, in Surius, d'Andilly, Papebroke, Fleury b. 46. Saint Quote: "Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ For all the benefits Thou hast given me, For all the pains and insults Which Thou has borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, May I know Thee more clearly, Love Thee more dearly, Follow Thee more nearly, Day by day. Amen." --Saint Richard of Chichester. Bible Quote: Blessed is the rich man that is found without blemish: and that hath not gone after gold, nor put his trust in money nor in treasures. 9 Who is he, and we will praise him? for he hath done wonderful things in his life.=C2 (Ecclesiasticus=C2 31:8-9) <><><><> Short Prayers to the Holy Ghost O Holy Spirit, sweet Guest of my soul, remain with me and see that I ever remain with Thee. Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy love. V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created; R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Let Us Pray O God, Who by the light of the Holy Ghost didst instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant us by the same Spirit to relish what is right and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen. O Holy Spirit, Creator, be propitious to the Catholic Church; and by Thy heavenly power make it strong and secure against the attacks of its enemies; and renew in Thy charity and grace the spirit of Thy servants, whom Thou hast anointed, that in Thee they may glorify the Father and His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen. --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .