Holy Martyrs

Today is the day of the Forty Holy Martyrs.
Under the Emperor Licinius, in 320, forty soldiers of the garrison of Sebaste, Armenia, were exposed on a frozen pond for refusing to sacrifice to idols. All persevered but one, whose courage failed him, and who perished in a bath of tepid water prepared for him. Their guard, inspired by their fortitude, took his place among the remaining thirty-nine soldiers and expired with them, thus meriting the crown of martyrdom.

I have a friend who just recently found out that he has a cancerous tumor on his thigh. I have known him for 40+ years, outside of my wife, he is my best friend. He is not Catholic, but I felt the need to tell him how we accept suffering. I asked him if he remembers how much Christ suffered for us. He did. I then told him that whatever we suffer is not remotely close to how much He suffered for us. I said that we make an offering to God of our sufferings, stating that we are doing this maybe for someone else who might be worse off than we are, to as to help them in their time of sorrow. Hopefully, he can use this to cope.

In the book, "The Window in the Wall" by Ronald A. Knox, he writes in this one place:
"...Oh, if we could only realize that the Holy Eucharist is panis fortium, the Bread of the strong! That it is meant to energize us and vitalize us, not merely to discipline and to soothe us! Let us pray Our Blessed Lady and all the saints of the Blessed Sacrament to win for us, in these times that are so difficult, so dark for the future of religion, more generosity in our dealings with God, more boldness and imaginativeness in the grace we ask from Him...May the grace of this holy Feast be new life, new energy, new adventurousness to us all.

Also I got my snow removing equipment back, and, as usual, there's no snow. Maybe we'll get hit a few more times before spring! :)


The "little woman" had surgery yesterday on her very close veins, and seems to be doing well so far. I spell-checked this, and it's OK.
Thank you for your prayers.