From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
February 8th =E2=80=93 St. Stephen (Etienne) of Grandmont (of Muret)
Born in Thiers, Auvergne, France, 1046; died 1124; canonized by Pope
Clement III in 1189 at the request of King Henry II of England.
Saint Stephen was the son of the virtuous viscount of Thiers. His life
from infancy presaged uncommon sanctity. Father Milo, then the dean of
the church of Paris, was appointed his tutor. At age 12, Stephen
accompanied his father, lord of the district, to the tomb of Saint
Nicholas of Bari. He fell ill at Benevento and remained there to
continue his education under Milo, who had become Benevento's
archbishop.=C2 At the appropriate time, he ordained Stephen a deacon. Following Milo's death, Stephen pursued his studies in Rome for four
years. In the meantime his parents died.
In 1076, on his return to France, Stephen renounced inheritance to
become a hermit in the mountains of Ambazac at Muret (northeast of
Limoges). He led an austere life, with little food or sleep for 46
years. He wore a metal breastplate (one of his attributes in art)
instead of the usual hairshirt. When he was not employed in manual
labor, he lay prostrate on the ground in profound adoration of the
majesty of God. The sweetness which he felt in divine contemplation
made him often forget to take any refreshment for two or three days
together. Stephen remained deacon throughout life, never seeking
presbyterial ordination.
As with many of the holiest hermits, disciples gathered about him.
There on the mountain-top he founded a congregation of Benedictine
hermit-monks using the model he observed in Calabria; thus, its rules
was based on his sayings. Although he was strict with himself, he was
mild to those under his direction, and proportioned their
mortifications to their strength. But he allowed no indulgence with
regard to the essential points of a solitary life, silence, poverty,
and the denial of self-will. He behaved himself among his disciples as
the last of them, always taking the lowest place, never suffering any
one to rise up to him; and while they were at table, he would seat
himself on the ground in the midst of them, and read to them the lives
of the saints. He ruled but never seems to have become a monk himself.
The order is conspicuous for its intransigent insistence on total
renunciation. Stephen compared monastic life to life in a prison. "If
you come here, you will be fixed to the cross and you will lose your
own power over your eyes, your mouth, and your other members. . . . If
you go to a large monastery with fine buildings, you will find animals
and vast estates; here, only poverty and the cross." To those wishing
to join his community, he would say: "This is a prison without either
door or hole whereby to return into the world, unless a person makes
for himself a breach. And should this misfortune befall you, I could
not send after you, none here having any commerce with the world any
more than myself."
God give Stephen the ability to read hearts. The author of his now
lost vita, the fourth prior Stephen de Liciaco, gives a long history
of miracles which he wrought. But the conversions of many obstinate
sinners were still more miraculous; it seemed as if no heart could
resist the grace which accompanied his words. Saint Stephen died at
Muret. In his last hours he was carried into the chapel, where he
heard mass, received extreme unction and the viaticum. His disciples
buried him privately, but news of his death drew many to his tomb,
which was honored by innumerable miracles.
Four months after his death, the priory of Ambazac, dependent on the
great Benedictine abbey of St. Austin, in Limoges, put in a claim to
the land of Muret. The disciples of the holy man immediately gave up
the ground without any contention, and retired to Grandmont, taking
Stephen's remains with them. It is from this site that the
congregation received the name Grandmontines.
With its austere rule it never became widespread; however, the
successors to Stephen's spirit gained the admiration of many. Abbot
Peter of Celles, calls them angels, and testifies that he placed an extraordinary confidence in their prayers (Epistle 8). John of
Salisbury, a contemporary author, represents them as men who, being
raised above the necessities of life, had conquered not only
sensuality and avarice, but even nature itself (Poly. l. 7, c. 23).
The rule of the Grandmontines consists of seventy-five chapters....
Saint Quote:
We must faithfully keep what we have promised. If through human
weakness we fail, we must always without delay arise again by means of
holy penance, and give our attention to leading a good life and to
dying a holy death. May the Father of all mercy, the Son by his holy
passion, and the Holy Spirit, source of peace, sweetness and love,
fill us with their consolation. Amen.
-- Saint Colette of Corbie
Bible Quote:
"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the
goodness of the Lord In the land of the living."=C2 [Psalm 27:13]
Hear us
Hear us, Lord, holy Father,
almighty and eternal God; and
graciously send your holy angel from
heaven to watch over, to cherish, to
protect, to abide with, and to defend all
who dwell in this house. Through
Christ our Lord. Amen
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)