• =?UTF-8?Q?January_1st_=E2=80=93_Saint_Telemachus?=

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Sun Dec 31 09:05:41 2017
    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)