From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   I would like the angels of Heaven to be among us.   
      
   "I would like the angels of Heaven to be among us. I would like an abundance   
   of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I would like rich treasures   
   of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over all. I would like Jesus   
   to be present. I would like the three Marys of illustrious renown to be with   
   us. I would like the friends of Heaven to be gathered around us from all   
   parts. I would like myself to be a rent-payer to the Lord; that I should   
   suffer distress, that he would bestow a good blessing upon me. I would like   
   a great lake of beer for the King of Kings. I would like to be watching   
   Heaven's family drinking it through all eternity   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   October 20th – St. Irene, Martyr   
      
   Born in Tomar, Estremadura, Portugal; died at Scalabris (Santarem),   
   Portugal, c. 653.   
      
   This may be just a pious tale, but I thought it was a good story.   
   Irene, a beautiful and chaste Portuguese girl, was murdered before she   
   reached the age of 20. Her noble, pious parents, wishing to protect   
   and prepare her to take her rightful position in society, sent her to   
   a convent school and then arranged for a monk to tutor her privately   
   at home.   
      
   "An assiduous pupil and a devout believer, the only times she ever   
   left her house was to attend mass or to pray in the sanctuary   
   dedicated to Saint Peter on his feast-day. A young nobleman named   
   Britald happened to see her on one of these rare outings and fell   
   desperately in love with her. Every time that she went out he waited   
   to catch a glimpse of her, followed her to church, and eventually made   
   his suit known to her; however, Irene gave him to understand that she   
   would never marry him.   
      
   "Thus rejected, Britald fell into a deep depression and became so ill   
   that the doctors who were called in to tend him gave him up for lost.   
   Hearing of this, Irene visited him and told him that she had refused   
   him because she was no longer free, having already taken a vow of   
   virginity.   
      
   "Britald at once accepted her decision and gradually recovered his   
   health. Before Irene left him he had sworn that he would respect, and   
   make others respect, her vocation as a holy virgin, and the two had   
   parted like brother and sister, promising each other that they would   
   meet again in Paradise.   
      
   "Irene returned home and resumed the life of seclusion and study,   
   intending to make her entrance into a convent before long. But the   
   monk who was giving her private lessons proved to be a lecherous   
   scoundrel, and behaved towards her in a manner as dishonorable as   
   Britald's was honorable.   
      
   "Irene repulsed him and had him dismissed at once; but his lust   
   turning to a desire for revenge, the monk then began to spread   
   slanderous rumors about her. To those who asked him why he was no   
   longer giving the girl her private lessons, he replied that he had   
   left on learning that she was about to become a mother.   
      
   "This rumor quickly circulated throughout the town and at length   
   reached Britald who, being frank and trusting and unused to lies,   
   believed what he was told. In a passion of rage and jealousy, he hired   
   a mercenary soldier to kill her. Soon afterwards, as she was returning   
   home from visiting an old man who was crippled, the assassin   
   approached her from behind and killed her with a single stroke of his   
   sword.   
      
   "Her body, which was thrown into the river, was later retrieved by   
   some Benedictines on the banks of the Tagus, near the town of   
   Scalabris. They gave her a proper burial, made known her story, and   
   not long afterwards, so great was the veneration in which she was   
   held, the name of the town of Scalabis was changed to Santarem (Saint   
   Irene)" (verbatim from Encyclopedia).   
      
   The Benedictines say that the legend as handed down is full of   
   fiction, but the essential facts are certain: She was a Portuguese nun   
   who died c. 653 in defense of her chastity in the ancient town of   
   Scalabris.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   We must pray without ceasing, in every occurrence and employment of   
   our lives - that prayer which is rather a habit of lifting up the   
   heart to God as in a constant communication with Him.   
   --Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   And he was withdrawn away from them a stone's cast; and kneeling down,   
   he prayed, 42 Saying: Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from   
   me: but yet not my will, but Thine be done. 43 And there appeared to   
   him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he   
   prayed the longer. 44 And his sweat became as drops of blood,   
   trickling down upon the ground. 45 And when he rose up from prayer,   
   and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow.   
   (Luke 22:41-45) DRB   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Lord, from Thee flows true and continual kindness. Thou didst   
   cast us off, and justly so, but in Thy mercy Thou didst forgive   
   us. Thou wert at odds with us, but Thou didst reconcile us.   
   Thou didst set a curse upon us, but Thou didst bless us. Thou   
   didst banish us from the garden, but Thou didst call us back   
   again. Thou tooketh away the fig leaves that had been an   
   unsuitable garment, but Thou clothed us in a cloak of great   
   value. Thou didst fling wide the prison gates, but Thou didst   
   give the condemned a pardon. Thou didst sprinkle clean   
   water on us, and Thou didst wash away the dirt.   
   --Gregory of Nyssa, Doctor & Confessor:   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)