Subj : =?UTF-8?Q?December_15th_=E2=80=93_St=2E_Paul_of_Latros=2C_Wonderworker? To : All From : rich Date : Fri Dec 13 2019 09:20:17 From: rich December 15th =E2=80=93 St. Paul of Latros, Wonderworker (Also known as Paul the Younger) The father of this hermit was an officer in the imperial army who was slain in an engagement with the Saracens. His mother then retired from Pergamos, which was the place of his birth, to Bithynia, taking her two sons with her. Basil, the elder, took the monastic habit upon Mount Olympus in that country, but soon for the sake of greater solitude retired to Mount Latros (Latmus). When their mother was dead he induced his brother to embrace the same state of life. Though young, Paul had experienced the world sufficiently to understand the emptiness and dangers of what it has to offer. Basil recommended him to the care and instruction of the abbot of Karia. St. Paul desired for the sake of greater solitude and austerity to lead an eremitical life; but his abbot, thinking him too young, refused him leave so long as he lived. After his death Paul's first cell was a cave on the highest part of Mount Latros, where for some weeks he had no other food than green acorns, which at first made him very sick. After 8 months he was called back to Karia. It is said that when he worked in the kitchen the sight of the fire so forcibly reminded him of Hell that he burst into tears every time he looked at it. When he was allowed to pursue his vocation Paul chose a new habitation on the rockiest part of the mountain, where for the first 3 years he suffered grievous temptations. A peasant sometimes brought him a little food, but he mostly lived on what grew wild. The reputation of his holiness spreading through the province, several men chose to live near him and built there a laura of cells. Paul, who had been careless about all corporal necessaries, was much concerned lest anything should be wanting to those that lived under his direction. After 12 years his solitude was so much broken into that he withdrew to another part of the mountains, whence he visited his brethren from time to time to cheer and encourage them; he sometimes took them into the forest to sing the Divine Office together in the open air. When asked why he appeared sometimes so joyful, at other times so sad, he answered, =E2=80=9CWhen nothing diverts my thoughts from God, my heart overflows with joy, so much that I often forget my food and everything else; and when there are distractions, I am upset=E2=80=9D. Occasionally he disclosed something of the wonderful communications, which passed between his soul and God, and of the heavenly graces that he received in contemplation. But St. Paul wished for yet closer retirement, so he passed over to the isle of Samos, and there concealed himself in a cave. But he was soon discovered and so many flocked to him that he re-established three lauras that had been ruined by the Saracens. The entreaties of the monks at Latros induced him to return to his former cell there. The Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus wrote frequently to him asking his advice, and often had reason to repent when he did not follow it. Paul had a great tenderness for the poor and he gave them more of his food and clothes than he could properly spare. Once he would have sold himself for a slave to help some people in distress had he not been stopped. On December 6 in 956, foreseeing that his death drew near, he came down from his cell to the church, celebrated the Holy Mysteries more early than usual and then took to his bed. He spent his time in prayer and instructing his monks till his death, which fell on December 15 After having been printed for the first time in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xi (1892), a still more carefully revised text was edited by Delehaye in the volume Der Latmos, issued in 1913 by T. Wiegand and other scholars, with abundant illustrations and archaeological comments. The Life of St. Paul, written by an anonymous disciple, is one of the most trustworthy of Byzantine biographies. In Wiegand's volume it is supplemented by a panegyric from MS. Vatican 704 previously unprinted. See also the Zeitschrift f. kath. Theologie, vol. xviii (1894), pp. 365 seq., and the Revue des quest. histor., vol. x (1893), pp. 49-85. Saint Quote: After you have made a decision that is pleasing to God, the Devil may try to make you have second thoughts. Intensify your prayer time, meditation, and good deeds. For if Satan's temptations merely cause you to increase your efforts to grow in holiness, he'll have an incentive to leave you alone. -- St. Ignatius of Loyola Bible Quote: For we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the proper things of the body, according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil.=C2 (2 Cor 5:10) DRB <><><><> ABLAZE WITH THE FIRE OF YOUR SPIRIT O Lord, You have mercy on all, take away from me my sins, and mercifully set me ablaze with the fire of Your Holy Spirit. Take away from me the heart of stone, and give me a human heart, a heart to love and adore You, a heart to delight in You, to follow and enjoy You. Amen. --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .