Quote by Confucius (with comment)

It is upon the Trunk that a gentleman works.

—Analects

of Confucius, I.2

Comments:

What does he mean? I imagine that in the laws of morals and the way, man needs to work at the base and from there up. It is the base or the foundation that holds up the tree or the house; neither allowing powerful winds nor any calamity to fell the tree or house. So it follows to society and men; we need to work from the trunk up and never from any particular branch. If the base of the tree is strong so will the rest of the tree be strong enough to stand. If the trunk is weak, then the tree will fall. If we apply this to society, then we need to be certain what the trunk means in society. What is the trunk of society? Of nations? Of people?

St. Nicholas of Myra

Facts Prove The Existence Of St. Nicholas Of Myra

In The Footsteps Of St. Nicholas by Andreas George, Seaburn, 164 pp., $16.95.

Catherine Tsounis
The Queens Gazette

The detailed investigation of the existence of St. Nicholas of Myra by international scientist Andreas George is the final word on the subject. His scientific examination of sources and historical sites disproves the 1970’s action of the Vatican, demoting St. Nicholas as a major saint or characterization as a mythological figure. Mr. George’s says his goal is to “present reasonably, accurate historical information about his life. During my search for St. Nicholas, the bishop of Myra, who lived in the 3rd-4th centuries A.D., I tried to establish credibility in the face of conflicting information, distortion and exaggeration.”

The author visited places that influenced St. Nicholas’ character. His search through Greek documents in Byzantine Bari, Italy, Greece, Asia Minor and Cyprus reflects his scientific background for accuracy. He describes the evolution of St. Nicholas of Myra as Santa Claus, in its evolution in America, primarily in New York. His miracles are explained in detail. Relics of St. Nicholas were in several churches in New York. The customs, traditions, social and religious life of St. Nicholas Shrine Church in Flushing, New York are described in detail. I personally was touched to see some of the famous political figures of Queens such as Mark Weprin and Sheldon Leffler mentioned.

The life of St. Nicholas in Myra, modern Demre in Asia Minor, Turkey is not widely known. Mr. George describes his life in detail referring to many sources. His major source is Michael the Archimandrite of 842 A.D., Symeon the Translator, written five centuries after St. Nicholas’s death in 335 A.D. and others. The problem with his research, he admits is that it is not based on primary sources. There are no primary sources describing his personal life, only secondary sources centuries after St. Nicholas’ death. Alexander the Great’s life is based on the same secondary sources.

St. Nicholas’ ancestors were Greeks, descendants of Alexander the Great’s colonists or of Cretans. The author believes St. Nicholas’ ancestors were most likely from Crete, because of similar customs and traditions with the Greek island. Modern Greek sources on the Greek Cities of Asia Minor show that the Greek communities along the Asia Minor coast had up to 50 percent Cretans until the 1922 Catastrophe. Their dialect and customs were also similar to the Cretan culture. Mr. George’s research added information that St. Nicholas spent time in Cyprus through his visits to monasteries and study of Greek sources. His translations into English of these facts are invaluable to a serious reader.

The author explains that the lack of written information on St. Nicholas comes from the following historical events: suppression of information by Julius the Apostate; destruction of church documents by the 9th century Iconoclastic movement, the Crusaders, Moslems, Arab pirates and the Protestant Reformation. The 11th and 12th chapters provide facts that will open the reader’s eyes on the real St. Nicholas of Myra. The author’s pilgrimage to Demre in Turkey (Ancient Myra) shows the rediscovery of the Christian homeland.

I personally was fascinated by his portrayal of Bari, Italy as a Byzantine stronghold. In Modern Greek history books, the fall of Byzantine Bari to the Normans was a major catastrophe listed on every timeline. The relics of St. Nicholas were sent to Bari in the 11th century to save them from the Moslem invaders of Myra, Asia Minor. The history and the building of the Basilica of St. Nicholas of Bari give one a total view of this center of Byzantium in the west. The glory of Bari, unknown to many makes chapter 6 and 7 of major interest to all whose ancestors were from this major trade center. What did St. Nicholas look like? Unknown to many, the author describes the reconstruction of the saint’s bones in the 1950’s by Anatomy Professor L. Martino of the University of Bari and two doctors. Their scientific investigation showed the bones were of a man 1.67 meters (about 5 feet and six inches) tall with a broad forehead and large sunken eyes. This description is similar to the facial characteristics in Byzantine icons. Professor Martino explained the bones belonged to a Mediterranean, more likely a Greek from Asia Minor. Mr. Andreas George is a scholar, having written scientific papers on radioactivity and radiation exposure. His background as a scientific investigator and author makes this one of the finest books written on St. Nicholas of Myra. The book is available at Seaburn, 3318 Broadway
Astoria, NY 11106, (718) 784-2224, www.seaburn.com.

Love (Charity)

Theological Virtue of Charity/Love:

“He who wished to secure the good of others, has already secured his own.”

 Confucius

551-479B.C.

“Every good act is charity. A man's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows.”

 Moliere

1622-1673

“If you haven't any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.”

 Bob Hope

1903-2003

1 Corinthians 13:1-12 [NIV]

Love

 ¹If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,^[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

 ⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 ⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ¹²Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13   And now dwelleth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the most of these is charity.*

* Wycliffe New Testament 1 Corinthians 13:13

St. Paul

5B>C> - 67 A>D>

Hope

Theological Virtue of Hope:

 “When you say a situation or person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God.”

Charles L. Allen

1913-2005

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”

Dale Carnegie

1888-1955

“Dum Spiro, Spero. “While I breath, I hope.”

Latin Proverb

Faith

Theological Virtue of Faith:

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

Thomas Aquinas

1225-1274

“The way to see faith is to shut the Eye of Reason.”

Benjamin Franklin

1706-1790

“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.”

St. Augustine

354-430

Reasoning should not interfere in matters of Faith, because Reason cannot even hope to comprehend the transcendent nature of Faith. Reason cannot enlighten Faith, but Faith can enlighten Reason. Reason diminishes Faith because it limits it and does not allow it to grow. And Faith that does not increase eventually withers and dies. At the same time Reason unenlightened by Faith is like being born and raised in a dark prison cell, confined and unaware of the world beyond your limited experience. Reason can never move us beyond its own ignorance and it serves its purpose only when it drives a person to deeper Faith

St.John Chrysostom

347-407

Justice

Cardinal Virtue of Justice from Judaism, Plato and later adapted by Augustine, Ambrose, Aquinas, and here continued by Clive Staples Lewis:
 

"Justice means much more than the sort of thing that goes on in law courts.  It is the old name for everything we should now call 'fairness'; it includes honesty, give and take, truthfulness, keeping promises, and all that side of life."

 1898-1963

C.S. Lewis

1.

the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the justice of a cause.

2.

rightfulness or lawfulness, as of a claim or title; justness of ground or reason: to complain with justice.

3.

the moral principle determining just conduct.

4.

conformity to this principle, as manifested in conduct; just conduct, dealing, or treatment.

5.

the administering of deserved punishment or reward.

Fortitude

Cardinal Virtue of Fortitude from Judaism, Plato and later adapted by Augustine, Ambrose, Aquinas, and here continued by Clive Staples Lewis:

"Fortitude includes both kinds of courage - the kind that faces danger as well as the kind that 'sticks it' under pain.  'Guts' is perhaps the nearest modern English.  You will notice, of course, that you cannot practice any of the other virtues very long without bringing this one into play."

 1898-1963

C.S. Lewis

mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously: Never once did her fortitude waver during that long illness.

Temperance

Cardinal Virtue of Temperance from Judaism, Plato, adapted by Augustine, Ambrose, Aquinas, and here continued by Clive Staples Lewis:

"One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up a thing himself without wanting everyone else to give it up.  This is not the Christian way.  An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons --marriage, or meat, or beer, or the cinema; but he moment he starts saying the things are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken a wrong turn."

1898-1963
C.S. Lewis
<> 1.

moderation or self-restraint in action, statement, etc.; self-control.

2.

habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion, especially in the use of alcoholic liquors.

3.

total abstinence from alcoholic liquors.

Prudence

Cardinal Virtue of Prudence from Judaism, Plato, and later adapted by Augustine, Ambrose, Aquinas, and here continued by Clive Staples Lewis:

 "...Christ never meant that we were to remain children in intelligence:  on the contrary, He told us to be not only 'as harmless as doves', but also 'as wise as serpents'.  He wants a child's heart, but a grown-up's head.  He wants us to be simple, single-minded, affectionate, and teachable, as good children are; but He also wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and in first class fighting trim."

1898-1963

C.S. Lewis

1.

the quality or fact of being prudent.

a.	discreet or cautious in managing one's activities; circumspect
b.	practical and careful in providing for the future
c.	exercising good judgment or common sense

2.

caution with regard to practical matters; discretion.

3.

regard for one's own interests.

4.

provident care in the management of resources; economy; frugality

Synonyms 1. Prudence, calculation, foresight, forethought imply attempted provision against possible contingencies. Prudence is care, caution, and good judgment, as well as wisdom in looking ahead: sober prudence in handling one's affairs.