{"id":66049,"date":"2024-02-17T13:04:56","date_gmt":"2024-02-17T18:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/?p=66049"},"modified":"2024-02-18T07:40:09","modified_gmt":"2024-02-18T12:40:09","slug":"mailbag-lenten-ponderings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/mailbag-lenten-ponderings\/","title":{"rendered":"Mailbag: Lenten Ponderings"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Patient endurance<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
The apostle Paul writes: With patient endurance we run the race of<\/span><\/div>\n
faith set before us. For what has more power than virtue? What more<\/span><\/div>\n
firmness or strength\u00a0 than patient endurance? Endurance, that is, for<\/span><\/div>\n
God’s sake. This is the queen of virtues, the foundation of virtue, a<\/span><\/div>\n
haven of tranquility. It is peace in time of war, calm in rough<\/span><\/div>\n
waters, safety amidst treachery and danger. It makes those who<\/span><\/div>\n
practice it stronger than steel. No weapons or brandished bows, no<\/span><\/div>\n
turbulent troops or advancing siege engines, no flying\u00a0 spears or<\/span><\/div>\n
arrows can shake it. Not even the host of evil spirits, nor the dark<\/span><\/div>\n
array of hostile powers, nor the devil himself standing by with all<\/span><\/div>\n
his armies and devices will have power to injure the man or woman who<\/span><\/div>\n
has acquired this virtue through Christ.<\/span><\/div>\n
–St. Nilus of Ancyra<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<<>><<>><<>><\/span><\/div>\n
February 16th – Martyrs of Cilicia<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
Suffered during the persecution against Christians, initiated by the<\/span><\/div>\n
emperor Diocletian in the years 308-309 at C\u00e6sarea in Palestine.<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
The holy martyr Pamphilius, a native of the city of Beirut, was<\/span><\/div>\n
educated at Alexandria, after which he was made a priest at C\u00e6sarea.<\/span><\/div>\n
He devoted much labor to collating manuscripts and correcting copyist<\/span><\/div>\n
errors in the texts of the New Testament. The corrected texts of St<\/span><\/div>\n
Pamphilius were copied and distributed to anyone who wanted them. Many<\/span><\/div>\n
pagans were converted to Christ through them.<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
His works and concerned matters at C\u00e6sarea were gathered up into the<\/span><\/div>\n
extensive library of spiritual books available for the enlightening of<\/span><\/div>\n
Christians. St Jerome (4th-5th century) deeply respected St Pamphilius<\/span><\/div>\n
and considered himself fortunate to have located and acquired several<\/span><\/div>\n
of his manuscripts.\u00a0 Actively assisting St Pamphilius in proclaiming<\/span><\/div>\n
the faith in Christ were St Valens, deacon of the church at Eleia, a<\/span><\/div>\n
man stooped with age and well-versed in the Holy Scriptures, and St<\/span><\/div>\n
Paul, ardent in faith and love for Christ the Savior. All three were<\/span><\/div>\n
imprisoned for two years by Urban, the governor of Palestinian<\/span><\/div>\n
C\u00e6sarea.<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
During the rule of his successor Firmilian, 130 Christians were<\/span><\/div>\n
sentenced in Egypt and sent to Cilicia (Asia Minor) to work in the<\/span><\/div>\n
gold mines. Five young brothers accompanied them to the place of<\/span><\/div>\n
exile. On their return to Egypt they were detained at C\u00e6sarea and<\/span><\/div>\n
thrown into prison for confessing Christ.<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
The youths appeared before Firmilian, together with those imprisoned<\/span><\/div>\n
earlier: SS. Pamphilius, Valens and Paul. The five Egyptian youths<\/span><\/div>\n
took the names of Old Testament prophets, Elias, Jeremiah, Isaiah,<\/span><\/div>\n
Samuel and Daniel. Asked where they were from, the youths said that<\/span><\/div>\n
they were citizens of Jerusalem, meaning the heavenly Jerusalem.<\/span><\/div>\n
Firmilian knew nothing of such a city, since Jerusalem had been razed<\/span><\/div>\n
to the ground by the emperor Titus in the year 70. The emperor Hadrian<\/span><\/div>\n
(117-138) built a new city on the site, which was called Aelia<\/span><\/div>\n
Capitolina.<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
Firmilian tortured the youths for a long time. He sought to learn the<\/span><\/div>\n
location of the unknown city, and he sought to persuade the youths to<\/span><\/div>\n
apostatize. But nothing was accomplished, and the governor ordered<\/span><\/div>\n
them to be beheaded by the sword with Pamphilius, Valens and Paul.<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
Before this occurred, a servant of Pamphilius endured suffering. This<\/span><\/div>\n
was the 18-year-old youth Porphyrius, meek and humble. He had heard<\/span><\/div>\n
the sentence of death for the condemned martyrs, and asked the<\/span><\/div>\n
governor’s permission to bury the bodies after their execution. For<\/span><\/div>\n
this he was sentenced to death, and thrown into a fire.<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
A witness of this execution, the pious Christian Seleucius, a former<\/span><\/div>\n
soldier, in saluting the deeds of the sufferers, went to Pamphilius<\/span><\/div>\n
and told him about the martyric death of St. Porphyrius. He was seized<\/span><\/div>\n
by soldiers and, on Firmilian’s orders, was beheaded by the sword<\/span><\/div>\n
together with the condemned.<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
One of the governor’s servants, Theodulus, a man of venerable age and<\/span><\/div>\n
a secret Christian, met the martyrs being led to execution, embraced<\/span><\/div>\n
them and asked them to pray for him. He was taken by soldiers to<\/span><\/div>\n
Firmilian, on whose orders he was crucified.<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
The young Julian, a native of Cappadocia who had come to C\u00e6sarea, saw<\/span><\/div>\n
the bodies of the saints which had been thrown to wild beasts without<\/span><\/div>\n
burial. Julian went down on his knees and venerated the bodies of the<\/span><\/div>\n
sufferers. Soldiers standing by at the wall seized him and took him to<\/span><\/div>\n
the governor, who condemned him to burning. The bodies of all twelve<\/span><\/div>\n
martyrs remained unburied for four days, but neither beasts nor birds<\/span><\/div>\n
would touch them. Embarrassed by this situation, the pagans permitted<\/span><\/div>\n
Christians to take the bodies of the martyrs and bury them.<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
This story is one of overwhelming interest for all who are concerned<\/span><\/div>\n
with Christian hagiography, for it is the account given by Eusebius,<\/span><\/div>\n
the father of Church history, who was not only living in C\u00e6sarea at<\/span><\/div>\n
the time, but was the intimate friend of the St. Pamphilus here named,<\/span><\/div>\n
the principal martyr who suffered on the same occasion. To mark his<\/span><\/div>\n
devotion to his friend, the historian loved to call himself \u201cEusebius<\/span><\/div>\n
(the disciple) of Pamphilus\u201d. St. Pamphilus, however, is commemorated<\/span><\/div>\n
separately on June 1, and will come before us again on that date. The<\/span><\/div>\n
Greek text of Eusebius, with a French translation en face, may<\/span><\/div>\n
conveni\u00adently be consulted in the edition of E. Grapin (vol. iii, pp.<\/span><\/div>\n
259-283), forming part of the series of Texts et documents pour<\/span><\/div>\n
l\u2019\u00e9tude historique die Christianisme. It forms the 11th chapter of the<\/span><\/div>\n
Book on the Martyrs of Palestine, of which there is an English<\/span><\/div>\n
version, with the Ecclesiastical History, by H. J. Lawlor and J. E. L.<\/span><\/div>\n
Oulton (1929).<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
Saint Quote:<\/span><\/div>\n
Dismiss all anger, and look a little into yourself. Remember that he<\/span><\/div>\n
of whom you are speaking is your brother, and, as he is in the way of<\/span><\/div>\n
salvation, God can make him a Saint, notwithstanding his present<\/span><\/div>\n
weaknesses. You may fall into the same faults or perhaps into a worse<\/span><\/div>\n
fault. But supposing that you remain upright, to whom are you indebted<\/span><\/div>\n
for it, if not to the pure mercy of God?<\/span><\/div>\n
— St. Thomas of Villanova<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
<><><><><\/span><\/div>\n
“He that keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from distress.”<\/span><\/div>\n
(Proverbs 21:23)<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
“To restrain the tongue is therefore a great good, and on the other<\/span><\/div>\n
hand, not to restrain it, a poisonous evil”<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
“Behold also ships, whereas they are great, and are driven by strong<\/span><\/div>\n
winds, yet are they turned about with a small helm, whithersoever the<\/span><\/div>\n
force of the governor willeth. Even so the tongue is indeed a little<\/span><\/div>\n
member, and boasteth great things.<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
“Behold how small a fire kindleth a great wood. And the tongue is a<\/span><\/div>\n
fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue … defileth the whole body, and<\/span><\/div>\n
inflameth the wheel of our nativity, being set on fire by hell. For<\/span><\/div>\n
every nature of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of the<\/span><\/div>\n
rest, is tamed, and hath been tamed, by the nature of man.<\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
“But the tongue no man can tame, an unquiet evil, full of deadly<\/span><\/div>\n
poison. By it we bless God and the Father: and by it we curse men, who<\/span><\/div>\n
are made after the likeness of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth<\/span><\/div>\n
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” –<\/span><\/div>\n
James 3:4-10<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patient endurance The apostle Paul writes: With patient endurance we run the race of faith set before us. For what.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[148],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-66049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-mail","7":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66049\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}