From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

November 19th =E2=80=93 St. Barlaam the Wilderness-Dweller, Monk
And Joasaph the son of the Emperor of India, and his Father Abenner

The emperor Abenner ruled in India, which had once received the
Christian Faith through the evangelization of the holy Apostle Thomas.
He was an idol-worshipper and fierce persecutor of Christians. For a
long time he did not have any children. Finally, a son was born to the
emperor, and named Joasaph. At the birth of this son the wisest of the emperor's astrologers predicted that the emperor's son would accept
the Christian Faith which was persecuted by his father. The emperor,
in an effort to prevent the prediction from being fulfilled, commanded
that a separate palace be built for his son. He also arranged matters
so that his son should never hear a single word about Christ and His
teachings.

When he was a young man, Joasaph asked his father's permission to go
out the palace, and he saw such things as suffering, sickness, old age
and death. This led him to ponder the vanity and absurdity of life,
and to engage in some serious thinking.

At that time a wise hermit, St. Barlaam, lived in a remote wilderness.
Through divine revelation he learned about the youth agonizing in
search of truth. Forsaking his wilderness, St. Barlaam went to India
disguised as a merchant. After he arrived in the city where Joasaph's
palace was, he said that he had brought with him a precious stone,
endowed with wondrous powers to heal sickness. Brought before Joasaph,
he began to teach him the Christian Faith in the form of parables, and
then from the Holy Gospel and the Epistles. From the instructions of
St. Barlaam the youth reasoned that the precious stone is faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, and he believed in Him and desired to accept holy
Baptism. Having made the Sign of the Cross over the youth, St. Barlaam
told him to fast and pray, and he went off into the wilderness.

The emperor, learning that his son had become a Christian, fell into
rage and grief. On the advice of one of his counsellors, the emperor
arranged for a religious debate between the Christians and the pagans,
at which the magician Nakhor appeared in the guise of Barlaam. In the
debate Nakhor was supposed to acknowledge himself beaten and thereby
turn the imperial youth away from Christianity.

St. Joasaph learned about the deception in a dream, and he threatened
Nakhor with a fiercesome execution if he were beaten in the debate.
Nakhor not only defeated the pagans, but he himself came to believe in
Christ, and he repented and accepted holy Baptism and went off into
the wilderness.

The emperor also tried to turn his son away from Christianity by other
methods, but the youth conquered all the temptations. Then on the
advice of his counsellors, Abenner bestowed on his son half the realm.
When St. Joasaph became emperor, he restored Christianity in his
lands, rebuilt the churches, and finally, converted his own father
Abenner to Christianity.

The emperor Abenner died soon after Baptism, and St. Joasaph abdicated
his throne and went off into the wilderness in search of his teacher,
Elder Barlaam. For two years he wandered about through the wilderness, suffering dangers and temptations, until he found the cave of St.
Barlaam, laboring in silence. The Elder and the youth began to
struggle together.

When St. Barlaam's death approached, he served the Divine Liturgy,
partook of the Holy Mysteries and communed St. Joasaph, then he
departed to the Lord. He lived in the wilderness for seventy of his
one hundred years. After he buried the Elder, St. Joasaph remained in
the cave and continued his ascetic efforts. He dwelt in the wilderness
for thirty-five years, and fell asleep in the Lord at the age of
sixty.

Barachias, St. Joasaph's successor as emperor, with the help of a
certain hermit, found the incorrupt and fragrant relics of both
ascetics in the cave, and he brought them back to his fatherland and
buried them in a church built by the holy Emperor Joasaph.


Saint Quote:
"The sign of purity is to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with
=C2 those who weep; to be in pain with the sick and in anguish with the sinners; to rejoice with the repentant and to participate in the agony
of those who suffer; to criticize no man and, in the purity of one's
own mind, to see all men as good an holy."
--St. Justin Popovich.

Bible Quote:
"Rebuke is more effective for a wise man Than a hundred blows on a
fool."=C2 (Proverbs 17:10)


<><><><>
A FATHER'S BLESSING

Father, I thank you for the gift of my family
for whom I now pray
and upon whom I now ask you
to shower your blessings.
With St. Joseph as my guide,
may I always be ready
to spend my life for them.

Bless my wife whom you have given to me as my spouse,
sharing in your wondrous work of creation.
May I see her as my equal
and treat her with the love of Christ for his Church.
May Mary be her guide
and help her to find your peace and your grace.

Bless my children with your life and presence.
May the example of your son
be the foundation upon which
their lives are built,
that the Gospel may always
be their hope and support.

I ask you, Father, to protect and bless my family.
Watch over it so that in the strength of your love
its members may enjoy prosperity,
possess the gift of your peace and,
as the Church alive in this home,
always bear witness to your glory in the world.
Amen.

--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)