From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

February 24th =E2=80=93 Bl. Robert of Arbrissel, Abbot
(1045-1117)

Blessed Robert, one of the principal historical figures of his time
and one of the most astonishing Saints of the Church, was born at
Arbrissel, now Arbressec, a short distance from Rennes, in about 1045.
He studied in Paris, sustained in his poverty by the assistance of
charitable benefactors, and became there a celebrated doctor in the
sacred sciences. His remarkable gifts were everywhere appreciated. It
is supposed that he was ordained a priest in Paris, before the bishop
of his native diocese of Rennes recalled him in 1085 to assist him in
reforming his flock. There in Brittany, as archpriest, Robert devoted
himself to the healing of feuds, the suppression of simony, lay
investiture, clerical concubinage and irregular marriages. He was
compelled, by the hostility his reforming zeal had caused, to leave
the diocese when his bishop died in 1093.

After teaching theology for a time in Angers, in 1095 he became a
hermit near Laval with several others, two of whom later founded
monasteries, as he himself did in 1096, at the site where they were
then dwelling in the forest of Craon near Roe. The reputation of the
solitaries had attracted many to visit them, and the piety, kindness,
eloquence and strong personality of Robert in particular drew many
followers; it is said that the forest of Craon became the
dwelling-place of a multitude of anchorites, as once the deserts of
Egypt were.

Blessed Robert was summoned by Pope Urban II to go to Angers to preach
for the dedication of a church; the Pope sent him out from there as
apostolic missionary, on a preaching tour of the various provinces. He
left his abbacy in the region of Roe and taught abandonment of the
world and evangelical poverty all over western France.

His gifts of grace and nature attracted crowds and effected countless conversions. His disciples were of all ages and conditions, including
lepers; even whole families followed him everywhere. Thus was founded
his famous monastery of Fontevrault, not far from Cannes, to lodge
these flocks of determined followers of the Gospel. The men dwelt in a
separate region from the women; each group had its chapel, and the
lepers their quarters apart. Charity, silence, modesty and meekness characterized these establishments, which were sustained by the
products of the earth and the alms offered by the neighboring
populations.

Until the death of the holy patriarch in 1117, he continued to preach everywhere in western France. The enemy of souls could not remain
indifferent to all of this Christian sanctity. Persecuted by certain
heretics and others during his life, Blessed Robert was accused of
exaggeration and calumniated after his death, but the accusatory
writings were eventually declared to be forgeries. A calumniatory
letter, attributed falsely to an abbot of western France, who had in
other situations shown a vindictive spirit, was definitely proved not
to be from his hand, but written by the heretic Roscelin and
containing pure fabrications.

Blessed Robert is remembered for his ideal of perfect poverty, both
exterior and interior, according to the words of Our Lord, His first
beatitude: =E2=80=9CBlessed are the poor in spirit.=E2=80=9D He was buried =
at
Fontevrault, as he had desired to be, but his remains were later
transferred to a house of the Order, restored in 1806 after the
revolution, at Chemill=C3=A9 in the diocese of Angers.

The first biography of Blessed Robert was written by Baudri,
Archbishop of Dol in Brittany, his intimate friend, at the request of
Venerable Petronilla of Chemill=C3=A9, widow, and first Abbess of this
immense and celebrated monastery, who was named by Blessed Robert to
replace him at his death as Superior General of the Order of
Fontevrault. The feast of Venerable Petronilla (d. 1149) was
celebrated by the Order of Fontevrault on April 24th. The Bollandists
remark: =E2=80=9CHer existence was marked by many contradictions, but she h=
ad
the courage to pass beyond the judgment of human beings and to walk
without deviating on the path to heaven.=E2=80=9D

Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Gu=C3=A9rin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 3

Saint Quote:
We must not content ourselves with liberty and consolation and gust in
prayer. We must come out from prayer the most rapturous and sweet,
only to do harder and ever harder works for God and our neighbors.
Otherwise the prayer is not good, and the gusts are not from God.
--Saint Teresa of Avila

Bible Quote:
And he said to them: You are they who justify yourselves before men,
but God knoweth your hearts; for that which is high to men, is an
abomination before God. (Luke 16:15)


<><><><>
The Wound in the Shoulder:

It is related in the annals of Clairvaux that St. Bernard asked Our Lord
which was His greatest unrecorded suffering and that Our Lord answered, =E2=80=9CI had on my shoulder while I bore My cross on the Way of Sorrows a grievous wound which was more painful than the others which is not
recorded by men. Honor this wound with devotion, and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through its virtue and merit, and in return to all
who venerate this wound I will remit to them all their venial sins and
will no longer remember their mortal sins.=E2=80=9D


O most loving Jesus, meek lamb of God, I a miserable sinner, salute and
worship the most sacred wound of Thy shoulder. Alone thou didst bear Thy
heavy cross which so tore Thy flesh and laid bare Thy bones as to inflict
on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound on Thy Blessed Body.

I adore Thee, O Jesus, Most Sorrowful, I praise and glorify Thee and give
Thee thanks for this most secret painful wound, beseeching Thee by the
merit and pain of Thy heavy cross to be merciful to me a sinner and to
forgive me my mortal and venial sins and to lead me on towards heaven
along the Way of the Cross. Amen.

Pray:Three Our Father's and three Hail Marys
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)