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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20231223
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UID:11408-1703289600-1703375999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:IF YOU KNEW THE GIFT OF GOD \nFrom the writing of St Elizabeth of the Trinity \n◊◊◊ \nWhat is the gift of God if not Himself?… The beloved disciple tells us: “He \ncame to His own and His own did not accept Him.” St. John the Baptist could \nstill say to many souls these words of reproach: “There is one in the midst of \nyou\, ‘in you\,’ whom you do not know… If you knew the gift of God…” \nThere is one who knew this gift of God\, one who did not lose one particle \nof it\, one who was so pure\, so luminous that she seemed to be Light itself. One \nwhose life was so simple\, so lost in God that there is hardly anything we can say \nabout it. \nFaithful Virgin\, “who kept all these things in her heart.” She remained so \nlittle\, so recollected in God’s presence\, in the seclusion of the temple\, that she \ndrew down upon herself the delight of the Holy Trinity: “Because He has looked \nupon the lowliness of His servant\, henceforth all generations shall call me \nblessed!” The Father bending down to this beautiful creature\, who was so \nunaware of her own beauty\, willed that she be the Mother in time of Him whose \nFather He is in eternity. Then the Spirit of love who presides over all of God’s \nworks came upon her; the Virgin said her fiat: “Behold the servant of the Lord\, \nbe it done to me according to Your word\,” and the greatest of mysteries was \naccomplished. By the descent of the Word in her\, Mary became forever God’s \nprey. \nIt seems to me that the attitude of the Virgin during the months that \nelapsed between the Annunciation and the Nativity is the model for interior \nsouls\, those whom God has chosen to live within\, in the depths of the bottomless \nabyss. In what peace\, in what recollection Mary lent herself to everything she \ndid! How even the most trivial things were divinized by her! For through it all \nthe Virgin remained the adorer of the gift of God! This did not prevent her from \nspending herself outwardly when it was a matter of charity; the Gospel tells us \nthat Mary went in haste to the mountains of Judea to visit her cousin Elizabeth. \nNever did the ineffable vision that she contemplated within herself in any way \ndiminish her outward charity. For… if contemplation “continues toward praise \nand towards the eternity of its Lord\, it possesses unity and will not lose it. \nIf an order from Heaven arrives\, contemplation turns towards men\, \nsympathizes with their needs\, is inclined towards all their miseries; it must cry \nand be fruitful. It illuminates like fire\, and like it\, it burns\, absorbs and devours\, \nlifting up to Heaven what it has devoured. And when it has finished its work \nhere below\, it rises\, burning with its fire\, and takes up again the road on high. \n  \nElizabeth of the Trinity. I Have Found God\, The Complete Works: Volume One. Trans. Sister Aletheia Kane\, O.C.D. ICS \nPublications\, 1984. 110-111.15 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-146/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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