From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   June 10th - Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland   
   (1046-1093)   
      
   Also celebrated Nov. 16th under the new calendar and in Scotland.   
   Saint Margaret's name signifies pearl, "a fitting name," says Theodoric, her   
   confessor and her first biographer, "for one such as she." Her soul was like   
   a   
   precious pearl; a life spent amidst the luxury of a royal court never dimmed   
   its   
   luster or estranged it from Him who had bought it with His blood. She was   
   the   
   granddaughter of an English king; in 1070 she became the bride of Malcolm of   
   Scotland, thereafter reigning as Queen until her death in 1093.   
      
   How did she become a Saint in a position where sanctity is so difficult?   
   First,   
   she burned with zeal for the house of God. She built churches and   
   monasteries;   
   she occupied herself by making vestments; she could not rest until she saw   
   the   
   laws of God and His Church observed throughout her realm. Next, amid a   
   thousand   
   cares, she found time to converse with God, ordering her piety with such   
   sweetness and discretion that she won her husband to sanctity like her own.   
   He   
   would rise at night to pray with her; he loved to kiss the holy books she   
   used,   
   and sometimes would take them away with him, bringing them back later to his   
   wife covered with jewels. Lastly, despite Saint Margaret's great virtue, she   
   wept constantly over her sins and begged her confessor to correct her   
   faults.   
      
   Saint Margaret did not neglect her duties in the world even if she was not   
   of   
   the world. God blessed this marriage with eight children, six princes and   
   two   
   princesses who did not fail to respond to their mother's teaching and   
   examples.   
   Never was there a better mother; she spared no pains in their education, and   
   their sanctity was the fruit of her prudence and her zeal. And never was   
   there a   
   better queen. She was the most trusted counselor of her husband, who always   
   found her counsels of great utility, and she labored with him for the   
   spiritual   
   and material improvement of the land. Malcolm, after having pacified his   
   domains   
   for several years, saw to the building of the cathedral of Durham and   
   founded a   
   monastery at Dumfermlin.   
      
   Living in the midst of all the world's pleasures, Saint Margaret sighed for   
   the   
   true homeland and viewed death as a release. On her deathbed she learned   
   that   
   her husband and their eldest son had been slain in battle. She thanked God   
   for   
   sending this last affliction as a penance for her sins. After receiving Holy   
   Viaticum, she repeated the prayer from the Missal, "O Lord Jesus Christ, who   
   by   
   Thy death didst give life to the world, deliver me." And at the words   
   "deliver   
   me," says her biographer, her soul took flight to Christ, in 1093, in her   
   forty-seventh year.   
      
   Reflection. All perfection consists in keeping a guard upon the heart.   
   Wherever   
   we are, we can make a solitude in our hearts, detach ourselves from the   
   world,   
   and converse familiarly with God, as Saint Margaret did.   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The more we see of failure in obedience, the stronger should be our   
   suspicion of   
   temptation and illusion.  For when God sends His inspirations to a heart,   
   the   
   first grace He sheds upon it is that of obedience.   
   -St. Teresa   
      
   Bible Quotes:   
   Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: let his praise be in the church of the   
   saints.  (Psalms 149:1)   
      
   For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of   
   the   
   saints.  (1 Corinthians 14:33)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   TRAVELLER'S PRAYER # 1 (Before starting a Journey)   
   My holy Angel Guardian, ask the Lord to bless the journey which I undertake,   
   that it may profit the health of my soul and body; that I may reach its end,   
   and   
   that, returning safe and sound, I may find my family in good health. Do thou   
   guard, guide and preserve us.   
   Amen.   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   HAPPINESS IS JESUS THE LORD   
      
   I wake up in the morning to face another day,   
   A day filled first with gladness,   
   For I have learned to pray.   
   I lift my eyes to Heaven,   
   and ask what I can do to   
   Face another working day   
   Along the path to You?   
   Temptations are beside me,   
   for me to cast aside;   
   For there has been a promise   
   To be Your loving bride.   
   I open wide the door, steadfastly on my way,   
   to give and take the worst and best   
   With every passing day.   
   My mission fills my heart,   
   There is no room for fear,   
   I'll always tell the story   
   Of when you came so near.   
   They'll never quite believe me,   
   Though what I say is true   
   That all these visions that I saw,   
   Were gifts that came from You!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)