From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
January 1st =E2=80=93 Saint Telemachus
( Also known as Almachio, Almachius, Almachus, Almaquio)
(5th Century)
When people today flock to stadiums, they may cheer the batters and
even yell =E2=80=9Ckill the umpire.=E2=80=9D But our baseball, football and=
soccer
games are really mild sports in which the only real victim is the
ball.
It was not thus in the days of the Roman Empire. Pagan sports-lovers
had become inured to games in which killing was the main purpose.
True, the sport of throwing Christians to the wild beasts was
cancelled after 313 AD, when the Emperor Constantine decreed legal
toleration for Christianity. But another bloody spectator-sport still continued: the gladiatorial games. They were essentially duels to the
death in the arena.
The Roman Emperor Honorius, who ruled from 395 to 423 AD, was a
Christian, and did much to promote Christianity. But he did not at
once take any action regarding this carry-over from bloodthirsty pagan
days, the so-called =E2=80=9Cgames=E2=80=9D of the gladiators.
One day, however (around 400), a devout monk from the East arrived in
Rome. Not much is known about him. His name is usually given as
Telemachus, but it was more likely Almachius. Historians doubt whether
he was a fact or a fiction or a parable. During his sojourn in the
Eternal City, the story goes, he went to a stadium one day to see what
these gladiatorial games were all about.
When this gentle Christian ascetic beheld the two current contestants
hacking each other to bits as the blood-drunk crowd egged them on, he
was horrified. Unwilling to stand it any longer, he rushed down the
bleachers, vaulted the arena wall, and, running over to the
combatants, tried to separate them before they could do each other
further harm. Had not God forbidden man to kill =E2=80=93 particularly to entertain a savage mob?
When the mob saw what was happening, they went wild. Not with approval
but with fury! Who was this busybody interfering with the fun? They
would soon stop his nonsense. The angered spectators surged forward as
one, many into the arena. Grabbing stones as they went, they pelted
the monk until he lay dead where he had come to prevent death.
In the end, however, Almachius triumphed over his executioners and
their ilk. News of the tragic event was conveyed to Honorius, and
Honorius sided with the victim rather than with his killers. He hailed
the monk as a Christian martyr, and in 404 he issued a decree
forbidding all gladiatorial games forever after.
Today the world seems to be moving back from Christian respect for
life to pagan disregard of it. Was it those two atomic bombs that
confirmed our =E2=80=9Ccivilization=E2=80=9D in its growing willingness to = see others
suffer? Worldwide terrorism, shootings, torture, assassinations,
abortion and child abuse, rape and other cruelties make the headlines
daily. Movie and television shows become increasingly violent: it is
getting harder to know who are the =E2=80=9Cgood guys=E2=80=9D and who are = =E2=80=9Cthe bad=E2=80=9D.
Even toys for children are all too often mere imitations of lethal
weapons, and the lyrics of songs incite to destruction. Are not these
signs of the return of a pagan darkness and callousness? St. Telemachus-Almachius, although he lived 1500 years ago, still sets us
a good Christian example in this matter. His story reminds us that
violence is not from God but from Satan. The peace that is so
necessary for the functioning of society is not only shattered by the
violent; violence can create a hell on earth for those who want only a
chance to live ordinary lives.
Whatever the true story was, somebody prompted Honorius to abolish the
bloody sport. Can we not pray to =E2=80=9CAlmachius=E2=80=9D once more to p= rotect us
from gladiators?
Saint Quote:
"Before I come as the just judge, I am coming first as the King of
Mercy. Before the day of justice arrives, there will be given to
people a sign in the heavens of this sort: "All light in the heavens
will be extinguished, and there will be great darkness over the whole
earth. Then the sign of the cross will be seen in the sky, and from
the openings where the hands and the feet of the Savior were nailed
will come forth great lights which will light up the earth for a
period of time. This will take place shortly before the last day."
-- Saint Faustina from "Divine Mercy in my Soul"
Bible Quote:
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If
we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is
not in us. [1 John 1:8-10]
<><><><>
ACT OF CONSECRATIONTO THE BLESSED TRINITY
With all my heart I praise Thee,
Most Holy Virgin above all Angels and Saints in Paradise,
Daughter of the Eternal Father,
and I consecrate to Thee my soul with all its faculties.
Say the Hail Mary...
With all my heart I praise Thee,
Most Holy Virgin above all Angels and Saints in Paradise,
beloved Mother of the Son of God,
and I consecrate to Thee my body with all its senses.
Say the Hail Mary...
With all my heart I praise Thee,
Most Holy Virgin above all Angels and Saints in Paradise,
beloved Spouse of the Holy Ghost,
and I consecrate to Thee my heart with all its affections,
and beseech Thee to obtain for me from the Most Holy Trinity
all the graces necessary for salvation.
Say the Hail Mary...
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)