From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
January 29: Saint Blath of Kildare
=C2 (also known as Flora)
(born unknown, deceased 523)
Sometimes our lives seem quite simple and ordinary. In comparing
ourselves to the Holy men and women who came before us, saints and
martyrs, we may feel as if we fall short, or aren't accomplishing
daily tasks of any great significance. Saint Blath of Kildare
demonstrates for us that even the most simple and ordinary tasks of
daily life can become extraordinary and sacred when completed with
unfailing love and devotion to Christ.
Saint Blath of Kildare, also known as Flora (as her name means =E2=80=9Cflower), was a lay-sister of the Convent of Saint Brigid in Kildar=
e,
Ireland. Saint Blath was especially devoted to Saint Brigid, who
founded the monastery which would become the center of religious
teaching, art, and study.
Saint Blath served as cook for the monastery, the sisters of which
having taken a vow of poverty, frequently gave away all their food to
the poor. Saint Blath's simple, personal sanctity, and unending fai=
th
in the Lord, is credited for consistently putting just enough food on
the table for the sisters--whether it be due to stray dogs showing up
at the kitchen door with bacon, the monastery's cow producing
supernatural quantities of milk, or pounds of butter and bread given
away miraculously appearing in the larder the next day. It is said
that, under the care of St. Blath, that the bread and bacon at St.
Brigid's table were better than a banquet anywhere else at the time.
Little else is known about Saint Blath, other than her heart of
service and her faith in the Lord to provide. But perhaps these two
things are enough! She undertook the most basic of daily
tasks--something that most of us do everyday--with devotion to Christ,
and in the process created the impossibly extraordinary. We might all
take a lesson from this humble servant, turning our faces toward the
Lord in the midst of routine, mundane, and everyday tasks. With Him
beside us, we can't predict the extraordinary fruits of our labors!
Saint Quote:
As for us, we hold to what we believed ten and twenty years ago; to
what our forefathers believed one hundred years ago, and one thousand
years ago, and to that which the whole Catholic world has always
believed.
-- Blessed Brother Solomon Le Clerq
Bible Quote
10. He hath not dealt with us according to our sins:
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11. For=C2 according to the height of the heaven above the
earth: he hath strengthened his mercy towards them that fear him.
=C2 (Psalms=C2 102:10-11)
<><><><>
=C2 Prayer:
"Lord Jesus, may I give you fitting honor in the way I live my life
and in the way I treat my neighbor. May I honor the Lord's Day as a
day holy to you. And may I always treat others with the same mercy and
kindness which you have shown to me. Free me from a critical and
intolerant spirit that I may always seek the good of my neighbor."
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)