From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   God can be your shield   
      
      God can be your shield. Then no problems of the world can harm you.   
   Between you and all scorn and indignity from others is your trust in   
   God, like a shining shield. Nothing can then have the power to spoil   
   your inward peace. With this shield, you can attain this inward peace   
   quickly, in your surroundings as well as in your heart. With this   
   inward peace, you do not need to resent the person who troubles you.   
   Instead, you can overcome the resentment in your own mind, which may   
   have been aroused by that person.   
      I pray that I may strive for inward peace. I pray that I may not be   
   seriously upset, no matter what happens around me.   
   --From Twenty-Four Hours a Day   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   November 21st - St. Albert of Louvain   
   (also known as Albert of Brabant)   
      
   Born at Mont César, Louvain, in 1166; died November 24, 1192; cultus   
   confirmed 1613. Albert, son of Duke Godfrey III of Brabant and his   
   wife Margaret of Limburg, was raised for a life in the Church in a   
   castle on what is now called Mont-César. At age 12 he was made a canon   
   of Liège, but renounced his benefice when he came of age. At age 21,   
   Albert attached himself as a knight to the entourage of his enemy   
   Count Baldwin V of Brabant. When the papal legate preached the crusade   
   in Liège a few months later, Albert took up the cross, and at the same   
   time took up his canonry again. He never participated in the crusade,   
   instead the subdeacon was quickly promoted to archdeacon, then   
   provost.   
      
   In 1191 (age 25), Albert was overwhelmingly chosen bishop of Liège by   
   the chapter over another archdeacon, Albert of Rethel, who was cousin   
   to Baldwin and the uncle of Empress Constance. His election was   
   opposed by Emperor Henry VI who favored his wife's uncle. When the   
   cause was heard at Worms, the emperor gave the see to Lothaire,   
   provost of Bonn, whom he had just made imperial chancellor in return   
   for 3,000 marks.   
      
   In order to appeal to Rome, Saint Albert had to travel circuitously   
   and covertly under the guise of a servant so as to avoid interception   
   by the emperor's men. Following Pope Celestine III's confirmation of   
   the election, Albert returned to Liège, but found Lothaire already   
   intruded in the see and that Archbishop Bruno of Cologne was unwilling   
   to incur the wrath of the emperor by consecrating Albert. Meanwhile   
   the pope had made arrangements for Archbishop William of Rheims to   
   ordain and consecrate Albert. This was accomplished at Rheims on   
   September 29, 1192.   
      
   When war appeared immanent between the emperor and Albert's uncle over   
   his consecration, the saint opted to remain in exile rather than   
   precipitate a war. Still the emperor was not satisfied. He forced the   
   submission of Albert's clerical supporters before leaving Liège for   
   Maestricht to hatch another plot against the lawful bishop. Just 10   
   weeks after his consecration, Saint Albert was murdered by three   
   German knights as he was making a visit to the abbey of Saint-Remi   
   outside the walls of Rheims. He was buried with honor in the cathedral   
   (Benedictines, Walsh).   
      
   In art Saint Albert is depicted as a bishop with a knife in his head   
   or with three swords on the ground before him. (He is easily confused   
   with Thomas a Becket (of Canterbury), whose martyrdom was similar.)   
   Sometimes he is shown as an enthroned cardinal holding a palm, three   
   swords before him, or as a cardinal protecting the Archduke Albert   
   (Roeder).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Mary was raised to the dignity of Mother of God rather for sinners   
   than for the just, since Jesus Christ declares that he came to call   
   not the just, but sinners.   
   --St. Anselm   
      
   <><><><>   
   "Hail, holy throne of God, divine sanctuary, house of glory, jewel   
   most fair, chosen treasure house, and mercy seat for the whole world,   
   heaven showing forth the glory of God. Purest Virgin, worthy of all   
   praise, sanctuary dedicated to God and raised above all human   
   condition, virgin soil, unplowed field, flourishing vine, fountain   
   pouring out waters, virgin bearing a child, mother without knowing   
   man, hidden treasure of innocence, ornament of sanctity, by your most   
   acceptable prayers, strong with the authority of motherhood, to our   
   Lord and God, Creator of all, your Son who was born of you without a   
   father, steer the ship of the Church and bring it to a quiet harbor"   
   -- (adapted from a homily by St. Germanus on the Presentation of the   
   Mother of God).   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)