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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20231226
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UID:11416-1703548800-1703635199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Stephen
DESCRIPTION:THE GIFT OF LOVE \nFrom a sermon by St Fulgentius\, Bishop of Ruspe \n◊◊◊ \nYesterday we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal king; today we \ncelebrate the triumphant suffering of a soldier. For yesterday our king\, nobly \narrayed in flesh\, proceeding from the chaste womb of the Virgin Mary\, deigned \nto visit this world; today a soldier\, leaving the confines of the body\, made his \nway in triumph to heaven. \nOur king\, though he is the Most High\, for our sake came in humility; yet \nhe could not come empty-handed. It was indeed a generous gift that he brought \nfor us\, one by which he not only abundantly enriched us but gave us the strength \nto do battle and never be vanquished. What he brought was the gift of love\, \nwhich was to lead us to become sharers in the godhead. He brought it only to \nexpend it\, without in any way diminishing his own store; while turning the \npoverty of his followers into riches he remained himself\, as by a miracle\, fully \npossessed of his own inexhaustible treasury. \nLove then\, the same love that brought Christ down from heaven to earth\, \nraised Stephen from earth to heaven; the same love shown first in the king was \nreproduced in its splendor in the warrior. \nAnd so Stephen\, in order to earn his right to the crown his name signifies\, \narmed himself with love\, and by that same love won every battle. It was love of \nGod that made him yield not an inch\, love of his neighbor that led him to \nintercede for those who stoned him. It was through love that he was able to \nexpose those in error so that they might change their ways; through love that he \nprayed for those who stoned him so that they should not be punished. Trusting \nonly in love\, he overcame Saul’s cruel rage\, and the very man who had been his \npersecutor on earth he won as his companion in heaven. That same holy and \nuntiring love longed to win over by prayer those whom it could not convert by \npersuasion… \nLove is therefore the source and origin of every good\, an unrivalled \nprotection\, the road that leads to heaven. Those who walk in love can be neither \nlost nor afraid; love is the guide and protector\, and brings them to the end of \ntheir journey. For this reason\, beloved\, since Christ has set up a stairway of love \nby which every Christian can mount up to heaven\, keep a firm hold on love \nalone; love one another\, and by growing in love climb together up to heave \n  \n3 Sermon 3\,1-3\,5-6: CCL 91A\, 905-909. cf. A Word in Season\, I (1st series) p132f.7 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-stephen/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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