From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The Holy Spirit renews our hope in the promise of God   
      
       Simeon was not alone in recognizing the Lord's presence in the   
   temple. Anna, too, was filled with the Holy Spirit. She was found   
   daily in the temple, attending to the Lord in prayer and speaking   
   prophetically to others about God's promise to send a redeemer.   
   Supernatural hope grows with prayer and age! Anna was pre-eminently a   
   woman of great hope and expectation that God would fulfill all his   
   promises. She is a model of godliness to all believers as we advance   
   in age.   
       Advancing age and the disappointments of life can easily make us   
   cynical and hopeless if we do not have our hope rightly placed. Anna's   
   hope in God and his promises grew with age. She never ceased to   
   worship God in faith and to pray with hope. Her hope and faith in   
   God's promises fueled her indomitable zeal and fervor in prayer and   
   service of God's people.   
      
      
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   March 19th - Saint Alkmund of Northumbria, King and Martyr   
   Also known as Alcmund,  Alchmund,  Alcumundus, Ealhmund   
      
   The holy Martyr Alkmund was the son of Alchred and brother of Osred,   
   kings of Northumbria. He succeeded to the throne of Northumbria after   
   the murder of his brother, and ruled with great humility and love,   
   being a liberal father to the poor, the orphans and the widows. He   
   always longed to die for Christ, and this the Lord in His goodness   
   granted him.   
      
   In 802, Alderman Athelmund of the Hwicce (South-West Mercia) was   
   enraged against the men of Wiltshire and threatened to invade that   
   territory. On hearing this, King Alkmund, who had the intention anyway   
   of going to Wiltshire to protect some lands that he possessed there,   
   called the two warring sides together and urged them to peace. The   
   Mercians were persuaded to return home, but in their hearts they were   
   not pacified, and they soon returned with a great army.   
      
   At this juncture the men of Wiltshire called on King Alkmund to help   
   them. And he, wishing to die for Christ, and remembering the words of   
   the Lord, "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his   
   life for his friends," consented to their desire. In the ensuing   
   battle, the Wiltshire men won, but both of the leaders and Alkmund   
   were killed.   
      
   The place where the holy Martyr-King fell was the scene of many   
   miracles. His body was transferred to the ancient Church of   
   Lilleshall, and then later to the White Church in Derby. This was the   
   scene of further miracles. The sick, the deaf, the blind and those   
   suffering from various diseases were brought to the tomb, and there   
   they received healing through the intercessions of St Alkmund. Some   
   years later, when at the request of many of the faithful, the priests   
   of this Church raised the Holy relics, a most beautiful fragrance   
   issued from the tomb. This fragrance persisted for a long time, as the   
   people praised and glorified God and his Holy Martyr. However, when a   
   certain unbeliever entered the Church and behaved in an unseemly and   
   impious manner, the fragrance suddenly ceased.   
      
   When there were further incursions by the Danes the body of St.   
   Alkmund was taken further south for safety and arrived in Derby on   
   March 19th which has been kept as his feast ever since. Devotion to   
   the young King and Martyr grew and this may be due to the interest   
   shown in him by the Queen of Mercia, Ethelfreda, a daughter of Alfred   
   the Great. She is responsible for the dedications at Shrewsbury and   
   Derby and quite possibly to two other churches which have Alkmund as   
   their patron, Whitchurch in Shropshire and Blyborough in Lincolnshire.   
      
   The people of Derby took St. Alkmund to their hearts and as the church   
   was on the Ryknald Street, the Roman road to the north and one of the   
   main thoroughfares in the Middle Ages, pilgrims abounded. The fame of   
   the shrine survived its destruction and the Vicar of St Alkmunds in   
   the 18th century reported miracles and said journeymen still asked   
   "for the tomb and set their packs upon it". Unfortunately the   
   Victorian builders and road makers have caused the disappearance of   
   both the church and St Alkmund's Well but in the Derby Museum there is   
   a sarcophagus found when the church was demolished. It is decorated   
   with a beautiful Anglo-Saxon inter-lace design and is thought to be   
   the coffin in which the body of the saint rested.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Help yourself during this troubled period by reading holy books. This   
   reading provides excellent food for the soul and conduces to great   
   progress along the path of perfection. By no means is it inferior to   
   what we obtain through prayer and holy meditation. In prayer and   
   meditation it is ourselves who speak to the Lord, while in holy   
   reading it is God who speaks to us. Before beginning to read, raise   
   your mind to the Lord and implore Him to guide your mind Himself, to   
   speak to your heart and move your will.   
   --St. Padre Pio   
      
   Bible Quote:   
    "When he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will teach you to all   
   truth: for he shall not speak of himself, but what things soever he   
   shall hear, he shall speak . . . He shall glorify me: because he shall   
   receive of mine, and will declare it to you. All things whatsoever the   
   Father hath are mine. Therefore I said, that he shall receive of mine   
   and will declare it to you."  Cf. Jn. 16:13-15: Douay-Rheims trans.   
      
      
   <><><><>   
    GO FORTH.   
      
   Go forth in peace,   
   for you have followed the good road.   
   Go forth without fear,   
   for God who created You has made you holy,   
   has always protected you,   
   and loves you as a mother.   
      
   Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)