St. Hilarion (c. 291-371)

Despite his best efforts to live in prayer and solitude, today’s saint found it difficult to achieve his deepest desire. People were naturally drawn to Hilarion as a source of spiritual wisdom and peace. He had reached such fame by the time of his death that his body had to be secretly removed so that a shrine would not be built in his honor. Instead, he was buried in his home village.

St. Hilarion the Great, as he is sometimes called, was born in Palestine. After his conversion to Christianity he spent some time with St. Anthony of Egypt, another holy man drawn to solitude. Hilarion lived a life of hardship and simplicity in the desert, where he also experienced spiritual dryness that included temptations to despair. At the same time, miracles were attributed to him.

As his fame grew, a small group of disciples wanted to follow Hilarion. He began a series of journeys to find a place where he could live away from the world. He finally settled on Cyprus, where he died in 371 at about age 80.

Hilarion is celebrated as the founder of monasticism in Palestine. Much of his fame flows from the biography of him written by St. Jerome.

Priest and Politician

A Priest was being honoured at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician and member of the congregation was chosen to make the presentation and to give a little speech at the dinner. However, he was delayed, so the Priest decided to say his own few words while they waited: 'I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and, when questioned by the police, was able to lie his way out of it. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his employer, had an affair with his boss's wife; taken illegal drugs, and gave VD to his sister. I was appalled. But as the days went on I learned that my people were not all like that, and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people.'...

Just as the Priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and gave his talk: 'I'll never forget the first day our parish Priest arrived,' said the politician. 'In fact, I had the honour of being the first person to go to him for confession.'

Palin On Faith, Prayer, Homosexual "Marriage", and Abortion

Says she feels that in giving interviews with mainstream media “you set yourself up to just continually be mocked”

By Jonquil Frankham

Monday, October 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was interviewed this weekend by CBNews correspondent David Brody, answering a variety of questions on matters ranging from her Christian faith to her position on a federal constitutional marriage amendment that would define marriage as being between one man and one woman.

When questioned about the shots the mainstream media has been taking at her for her religious beliefs, Palin told Brody that her faith has “always been pretty personal and that was kind of a surprise in the last couple of months that people would misconstrue and spin anything that has to do with my faith or anybody else's and turn it into something to be mocked. That's very sad.”

“I don't think that there's anything that I can do about it,” the Alaskan senator admitted, adding “no matter what anybody says about it, I'm going to keep plugging away at this and I'm going to keep seeking God's guidance and His wisdom and His favor and His grace - for me, for my family, for this campaign, for our nation.”

Asked why she does not do interviews with the mainstream cable networks, Palin commented on the media “opaqueness” that “filters” and “contorts … a person’s words and intentions,” which “does more harm than good.” She says that this makes her campaign with presidential candidate John McCain more of a challenge, forcing them to travel “hard and fast and aggressively across the US to reach more people.” Palin said she feels that in giving interviews with mainstream media “you set yourself up to just continually be mocked.”

The governor, however, remains unapologetic about her faith. Saying she is concerned about the possible negative effects on her family of the various “political shots” they have been suffering in recent months, Palin asked for prayers for her family, as well as for “God’s hand of protection [to be] … continually over our land – His wisdom, His grace, His favour.” She also discussed her baptism, which occurred in her early teens: “I knew that there was something certainly bigger than I out there.”

”I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle all that was laid out in front of me in life if I did not have strong faith in my Creator,” said Palin.

Saying she “hadn’t really worn it [faith] on her sleeve,” Palin told Brody that it was more important to live faith rather than preach it: “As you're raised up out of the water it's like ‘hey world, this is my confession of faith that I'm going to try to lead, and live my life according to my belief that God as my Creator has good plans for all of us.’”

Palin demonstrated that she was equally unabashed about her ethical stances on controversial issues such as abortion and same-sex “marriage.” She told Brody she voted “along with the vast majority of Alaskans” to amend the Constitution, “defining marriage as between one man and one woman.” She hopes to take this initiative to the federal level as well, stating plainly, “I don’t support gay marriage.”

Palin also said that senator Barack Obama’s stance on abortion is “extreme – … it’s so, so far left that it’s way out of the mainstream.” She referred specifically to his opposition to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act (which would provide legal protection to babies who had survived abortions), to parental consent for out-of-state under-age abortions, and a ban on partial birth abortions. His position, she asserts, is “appalling,” and “should be of concern to voters.”

To see the interview go to:
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/466923.aspx ;