From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

21 August ' Saint Abraham of Smolensk

=C2 Monk, Abbot, Priest, apostle of the poor, Preacher, Biblical scholar
and spiritual adviser ' born in the 12th century at Smolensk, Russi=
a
and died in c 1222 at Smolensk, Russia of natural causes. Patronage =E2=80=
=93
Smolensk.=C2 He is venerated as a saint in both the Eastern Orthodox
Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Paul III Canonised him as a
saint in 1549.

Abraham was born in Smolensk, Russia during the mid twelfth century to
a wealthy family, a son after twelve daughters. From childhood he grew
up in the fear of God. He often was in church and had the opportunity
to read books. As an only son, his parents hoped he would marry and
continue their illustrious lineage. However, he sought a different
life.

After the death of his parents, he gave away all his wealth to
monasteries, churches and the destitute. He walked through the city in
rags, asking God to show him the way to salvation. Abraham entered the Monastery of the Most Holy Mother of God (Bogoroditskaya Monastery),
near Smolensk and accepted tonsure as a monk. He accepted various
obediences at the monastery and fervently occupied himself with the
copying books and culling spiritual riches from them.

Prince Roman Rostislavich of Smolensk established a school in the
city, at which not only Slavonic but also Greek and Latin books were
used to teach. The prince also had a large collection of books, which
the Monk Abraham use. He became very popular among the laity as he
worked for the sick and troubled. He also became a noted biblical
scholar in pre-Mongol Russia. He lived austerely and preached on the
Last Judgement, while developing a genuine apostolate for the sick and
poor of the region.

He lived as an ascetic for more than 30 years at the monastery, when
in the year 1198 Bishop Ignatius of Smolensk persuaded him to accept
the dignity of priest. From his ordination Fr Abraham celebrated daily
the Holy Mass and fulfilled the obedience of clergy not only for the
brethren but also for the laypeople.

Fr Abraham had been characterised as being a man of stern and militant character, who kept the idea of the Last Judgement in the minds of
himself and others. While very popular among the laity, he was less
popular among many of the local clergy, who came to view him with
enmity and jealousy. This animosity among the brethren in time reached
Bishop Ignastius and after five years he was compelled to transfer to
the Cross-Exaltation Monastery in the city of Smolensk.

At the poor monastery, Fr Abraham began a program to improve it. From
the offerings by the faithful, he embellished the cathedral church
with icons, curtains and candle-stands. On two icons that he himself
inscribed were themes that most of all concerned him. One depicted the
dreaded Last Judgement and, on the other, the suffering of the trials
of life. He was strict both towards himself and towards his spiritual
children. He preached constantly in church and to those who came to
him in his cell, conversing with rich and poor alike. An ascetic, lean
and pale from extreme toil, in priestly garb he resembled in
appearance St Basil the Great.

His unpopularity among the city notables and the clergy remained and
they soon demanded of Bishop Ignatius that he bring Fr Abraham to
trial, with accusations of the seduction of women and the tempting of
his spiritual children. But even more terrible were the accusations of
heresy and reading of forbidden books, for which his enemies proposed
to drown or burn him. At the trial before the prince and the bishop,
Fr Abraham rebutted all the false accusations. But despite his
defence, he was suspended as a priest and returned to his former
monastery of the Most Holy Mother of God.

However, the city soon faced a terrible drought and the citizens of
Smolensk demanded that Fr Abraham be restored. This clamour for
reinstatement led to a second investigation by Bishop Ignatius, one
that cleared his name. Only after Bishop Ignatius acquitted Fr
Abraham, lifting his suspension and permitting him to serve and preach
again, did the rain again fall on the Smolensk lands, ending the
drought.

Bishop Ignatius built a new monastery, in honour of the Placing of the
Robe of the Most Holy Mother of God to which he entrusted its guidance
to Fr Abraham. It was to this monastery that Bishop Ignatius, now the
spiritual friend of Fr Abraham, himself retired because of his
advanced age. Many brethren desired to enter under the guidance of Fr
Abraham but he examined them very intensely and only accepted those
after great investigation, so that at his monastery there were but
seventeen brethren. Fr Abraham, after the death of Bishop Ignatius
even more so than before, urged the brethren to reminisce about death
and to pray day and night, that they be not condemned in the Judgement
by God.

St Abraham died about the year 1222, having spent 50 years as a Monk.
Already at the end of the thirteenth century a service to him had been
compiled by his student and disciple, the Monk Ephrem. The
Mongol/Tatar invasion, seen as the wrath of God for sin, not only did
not stifle the memory of St Abraham of Smolensk but rather, was a
reminder to people of his calling to repentance and recollection of
the dreaded Last Judgement.

From Anastpaul 2019


Bible Quote:
And he spoke a similitude to them, saying: The land of a certain rich
man brought forth plenty of fruits. And he thought within himself,
saying: What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my
fruits? And he said: This will I do: I will pull down my barns and
will build greater: and into them will I gather all things that are
grown to me and my goods. And I will say to my soul: Soul, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years. Take thy rest: eat, drink, make
good cheer. But God said to him: Thou fool, this night do they require
thy soul of thee. And whose shall those things be which thou hast
provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich
towards God.=C2 (Luke 12:16-21)=C2 DRB

Saint Quote:
I am astonished that you should find excessive the measures taken to
confine the flood that threatens to swamp us, when the [Modernist]
error they are striving to spread is much more deadly than that of
Luther, because it aims directly at the destruction not only of the
Church but of Christianity.
--Pope St. Pius X


<><><><>
The Guardian Angel's Lament

Thou hast sorrowed the spirit that loved thee,
And watched o'er thy footsteps for years:
Thou hast made me at last sigh o'er thee,
In secret, in silence, and tears.

For my Father in Heaven I loved thee,
For His sake have I guarded thy ways.
Return, O return, I implore thee,
Him to love, to serve, and to praise.

O'er thy pathway through life still I hover.
Thee to comfort, to solace, to cheer;
With the love of a fond, saving brother,
Through this desert of trial and fear.

Oh! When shall I clasp thee--how fondly
And bear thee, all dangers no past,
To the arms of God Who dies for thee
To our home in the heavens at last!
--Anon.
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)