Subj : =?UTF-8?Q?September_7th_=E2=80=93_St=2E_Sozon=2C_Martyr?= To : All From : rich Date : Fri Sep 06 2019 09:18:43 From: rich September 7th =E2=80=93 St. Sozon, Martyr The following is the legend of this young shepherd of Cilicia, who was originally called Tarasius and took the name of Sozon at baptism. One day while sleeping under a tree our Lord appeared to him, told him to leave his sheep, and to follow Him to death.=C2 Sozon awoke and at once made his way to the nearest town, Pompeiopolis, Where he found a pagan festival was being celebrated. He went straight into the temple of the god and with a mighty blow of his crook knocked down the golden image and broke off its hand.=C2 This hand he took and broke into further small pieces, which he distributed as alms among the poor. Several innocent persons were arrested for this, Whereupon Sozon marched into court and gave himself up as the true culprit. He was offered pardon and freedom if he would Worship the god whose statue he had mutilated, but Sozon mocked at the idea of worshipping a god that could be broken by a sheep-crook.=C2 Nails were then driven, points upward, through the soles of his sandals and he was made thus to walk around the arena.=C2 As Sozon passed before the magistrate he pointed at his blood-stained feet and said, " I have finer red shoes than you ". "You are a brave fellow ", said the magistrate.=C2 "Play a tune on your pipe and I will let you go."=C2 But Sozon refused, saying that be had often piped to his sheep but would now make music only to God. So he was sentenced to be burned, and when night had come the Christians of the place collected his charred bones and gave them honourable burial. Two Greek texts preserve the alleged acts of this martyr.=C2 One has been edited in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iii=C2 the other in vol. cxv of Migne, PG. Saint Quote: We do not know the number of souls that is ours to save through our prayers and sacrifices; therefore, let us always pray for sinners. (1783) --St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in my Soul Bible Quote: Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience: Bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another. Even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also.=C2 (Col 3:12-13)=C2 DRB <><><><> The Holy Spirit =C2 =C2 The coming of the Spirit is gentle, his presence fragrant, his weight very light. Rays of light and knowledge stream before him as he approaches. The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console. The Spirit comes to enlighten the mind first of the one who receives him, and then through that person the minds of others as well. As light strikes the eye of those who come out of darkness into sunshine and enables them to see clearly things they could not discern before, so does light flood the souls of those counted worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit and enable them to see things beyond the range of human vision of which they had previously been ignorant. --St. Cyril of Jerusalem --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .