• September 29th - SS. Rhipsime, Gaiana, and Companions

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Mon Sep 28 09:37:31 2020
    From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

    September 29th - SS. Rhipsime, Gaiana, and Companions

    SS. Rhipsime, Gaiana and their companions paid the ultimate price:
    their lives. This group of women was martyred in Armenia by King
    Tiridates about 312. They have long been on the church's official list
    of saints and devotion to them is long-standing in Armenia. Those are
    about the only facts we have about them.

    But that doesn't mean that we don't have some splendid legends about
    SS. Rhipsime and Gaiana.

    Legend says Rhipsime was a noble maiden who joined Gaiana's community
    of consecrated virgins. All was going well for them until the Emperor Diocletian decided to marry. He commissioned a painter to go around
    Rome painting portraits of suitable young women. Somehow, this painter convinced Gaiana to allow him into her house, where he made portraits
    of some residents.

    When Diocletian examined the painter's work, he set his heart on
    Rhipsime. When she was told the emperor's wish, she objected. Fearing
    the consequences, Gaiana gathered her community and sailed for
    Alexandria.

    They went from there to the Holy Land and on to Armenia, settling at
    the capital city, Varlarshapat. Initially, all went well and the
    community earned a living by weaving.

    But, eventually, word of Rhipsime's beauty spread back to Rome.
    Somehow, the news bypassed King Tiridates, who didn't know Rhipsime
    was in his city until Diocletian asked him to kill Gaiana and to send
    Rhipsime back to him in Rome--unless Tiridates wanted her for himself.

    The king sent his associates to Gaiana's convent to woo Rhipsime and
    accompany them back to the palace. Instead, she prayed for divine
    intervention. Immediately, a fierce thunderstorm erupted and the group
    had to flee. That angered Tiridates, who ordered that she be brought
    to him by force. When he at last saw her, the king was so overcome by
    her beauty that he tried to hug her. She fought back and threw him to
    the floor. With that, the enraged king had her thrown into prison.

    That night, she escaped and returned to the convent. The next morning, Tiridates sent his soldiers to the convent with orders that she and
    the other women in it were to die.

    Rhipsime was roasted alive and dismembered. St. Gaiana and 35 other
    women in the convent also were brutally killed. Only St. Nino escaped
    to become the apostle of Georgia in the Caucasus. While the story is
    mainly legend, it does ask us to consider what we do when our
    principles are challenged

    =C2 (Sources: Butler's Lives of the Saints and Dictionary of Saints.)


    Quote:
    The Church must steadily and firmly heed that although the language of
    the people may change, the language of liturgy should not be altered.
    Thus, the Mass must be said in the language in which it was said from
    the beginning, even if such a language be already, antiquated and
    strange to the people, for it is wholly enough, if the learned men
    understand it.
    --Pope Benedict XIV

    Bible Quote
    The men of Ninive shall rise in judgment with this generation, and
    shall condemn it: because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas.
    And behold a greater than Jonas here.=C2 (Matthew 12:41) DRB


    <><><><>
    Lord, May Your Kingdom Come into My Heart
    By Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751)

    Lord, may Your kingdom come into my heart
    to sanctify me, nourish me and purify me.
    How insignificant is the passing moment,
    to the eye without faith!
    But how important each moment is,
    to the eye enlightened by faith!
    How can we deem insignificant anything,
    which has been caused by You?
    Every moment and every event is guided by You
    and so, contains Your infinite greatness.
    So, Lord, I glorify You
    in everything that happens to me.
    In whatever manner You make me live and die,
    I am content.
    Events please me for their own sake,
    regardless of their consequences,
    because Your action lies behind them.
    Everything is heaven to me
    because, all my moments,
    manifest Your love.
    Amen

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    * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)