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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241129
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DTSTAMP:20260525T195923
CREATED:20241124T132147Z
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UID:12864-1732838400-1732924799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE VIRGINITY OF SPIRIT \nBy Thomas Merton \n◊◊◊ \nThe monastic life of humility\, obedience\, liturgical prayer\, lectio divina\, \npenance\, manual labor\, contemplation\, tends to ever purify the soul of the monk \nand lead him to intimacy with Christ in that sacred virginity which makes him \nworthy of marriage with the Word of God. This spirit of virginity is the true \nessence of the contemplative life which is our vocation. \nWe are not contemplative by the mere fact of living an enclosed and \npenitential life. We can indeed be more active\, more restless and more \ndistracted in the cloister than we would be in the active life\, if we do not possess \nthe interior virginity of spirit\, the silence and peace of soul\, which enable us to \nfind God in His word\, to listen to the words of Christ\, to move with the \nbreathings of the Holy Spirit within us. \nThe virginity of spirit to which we are called is a purity of heart in which \nour souls preserve their baptismal innocence\, or the innocence of the second \nbaptism of our vows\, and offer themselves in perfect purity to God. Virginity of \nsoul does not preclude temptation and trials\, but the deep spirit of faith which it \nimplies enables us always to rise above the flesh and its storms in order to \nmeditate on the incorruptible beauty of the Word. St Augustine defines \nvirginity as: “Perpetual meditation\, in corruptible flesh\, of what is \nincorruptible.” The life of the virgin soul that is the spouse of Christ is a life \nlived in the pure\, limpid radiance of the Word Himself. \nThe virginity of spirit which keeps us united to the Word is the perfection \nof the monastic life. By it\, the monk not only renounces human marriage\, but \nrather lays hands upon the supernatural and mystical reality of which marriage \nis only an external symbol – the union of love which joins the soul to God “in \none spirit. \n” Virginity of spirit keeps the soul in constant contact with the Holy \nWord of God\, the sanctity of God Himself. Above all\, sacred virginity makes \nvisible the union of the Church with Christ her Divine Spouse. Pope Pius XII \nsays: \n“The most delicate fruit of virginity is this: that virgins make \ntangible as it were the perfect virginity of their Mother the Church \nand the sanctity of her intimate union with Christ. The greatest \nglory of the virgins is undoubtedly to be the living images of the \nperfect integrity of the union of the Church and her Divine \nSpouse.” \nThis is the end and the perfection of the monastic vocation: to find Christ\, \nthe Word\, to cling to Him in the purity of perfect love and unalterable peace\, and \nto say with the Bride in the Canticle: “I found Him whom my soul loves: I held \nhim: and I will not let Him go” \n.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-234/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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