BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey - ECPv6.16.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20220313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20221106T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20230312T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20231105T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20231219 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20231220 DTSTAMP:20260513T031230 CREATED:20231217T112137Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231217T112137Z UID:11400-1702944000-1703030399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:WHEN PRAYER IS SILENCED \nFrom a commentary by Servant of God Dolindo Ruotolo \n◊◊◊ \nZechariah was Priest of the eighth class… Elizabeth\, his wife was also of priestly \nbirth. They lived in a holy manner\, and they did not have children\, because Elizabeth was \nsterile. In those times to be sterile was the greatest disgrace\, because every woman hoped \nto be the mother of the awaited Messiah. Being both old\, notwithstanding all the prayers \nto God to conceive a son\, now they had lost all hope… But what prayer is useless before \nGod? Even when it seems not granted\, even when it seems now absurd to even think that \nit can be granted\, is instead granted in a way far above any expectations\, and blooms like \na blooming tree in spring… \nIt was the hour of the Vespers\, and Zechariah entered the Sanctuary to offer \nincense. The multitude of the people fervently prayed\, asking to be freed\, since they were \noppressed by foreign domination… Zechariah\, on hearing the lamentations of his people\, \nlifted with more eagerness his heart to the Lord\, and considering his own affliction\, deeply \nhumiliated himself… He put the incense on the flame\, and in the solemnity of the \nmoment… his prayer\, like the spiral of the perfumed smoke of the incense\, rose highly… \nWhen all of a sudden… a mysterious fright took hold of him: on the right side of the \nAltar…a human figure had appeared\, most beautiful\, majestic… The Angel spoke to him; \nhis words peaceful and penetrating… prayer was granted and Elizabeth \nwould have a son… \nInstead of exulting and thanking God\, said with great distrust and \nunbelief: “How shall I know this?” \n… It was the manifestation of the “I”\, the “I” that \npretends to raise himself to be the judge in the plans of God; the “I” that chokes the most \ndelicate germs of grace\, assuming to want to evaluate everything with his own idea; it was \nthe word of his own mind in opposition to the word of God; thus\, and rightly so\, Zechariah \nwas deprived of his word and became mute. The Angel became stern\, his majesty flashed \nlike a thunderbolt. Zechariah had not considered in answering him that he was speaking \nwith a superior being… Now the Angel called him up to reality\, telling him: “I am Gabriel \n(which means the strong one of God)\, and I stand before God.” \nIn pronouncing those words… a ray of divine majesty enveloped him. He was the \nstrong one\, the expression of the true strength\, something immense\, deep… towering… It \nwas a celestial word\, that made its meaning known and by saying it\, it made it alive. These \nwords hit Zechariah like a thunderbolt of extraordinary power; they…made him dumb… \nand his dumbness became a sign of truth: he showed with a visible punishment that what \nhe heard\, was not a deception. \nWhat a lesson for us\, who are used to oppose with great ease the plan of God with \nour own plans… Here our program comes before the grace that can touch and transport \nus… thus our spirit faints and our prayer remains mute… We believe that it is our \ngraciousness to comply… instead it is all a gift of God. When we are not worthy of the \nLord because of our pride\, we cannot believe and speak to God… Our words of faith and \nthe voice of our prayers are the measure of our soul; as soon as our soul is misled\, by the \nproud misery of our “I” or by the degradation of our senses\, we lose our word\, the interior \nword that makes us to say “I believe” and the exterior words that can speak to God… When \na faithful person does not know how to speak to God\, he needs to purify or renew himself\, \nbecause his spiritual muteness is a sign of an interior paralysis… This should be the path \nfollowed by a hardened soul: to pray\, to attempt to do some work of sacred zeal… \nPessimism is always deadly for the life of the spirit. Yet\, hope and abandonment to the \nDivine Mercy is the secret of a great life. \n  \nRuotolo\, Dolindo. The Sacred Scripture – The Gospel According to Luke. Trans. Giovanna I. Ellis. Accessed online\, 2014.7 \n  URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-143/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR