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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240229
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UID:11619-1709164800-1709251199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:BE CONVERTED TO GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux5 \n◊◊◊ \n“Be converted to Me with all your heart\,” says the Lord Almighty\, “in \nfasting\, and in weeping and in mourning. And rend your hearts and not your \ngarments\, and turn to the Lord your God.” What does it mean\, dearest brethren\, \nthat the Lord here commands us to turn to Him? For He is everywhere\, He fills \nall things and at the same time contains all things… This\, my brethren\, is a \nsecret of divine wisdom\, a secret which is communicated only to the friends of \nGod. It is a “mystery of the kingdom of God” which is revealed privately to the \ndisciples. “Unless you be converted\,” said the Lord\, “and become like little \nchildren\, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven”. Now I see clearly where \nHe wants us to turn. We must turn to that little Child in order to learn from \nHim\, because He is “meek and humble of heart”. \nBut let us now see how we should turn to this little One\, to this Master of \nmeekness and humility. “Be converted to Me\,” He says\, “with all your heart.” \nMy brethren\, had His words been simply “Be converted to Me”\, without any \naddition\, we might have replied: “That we have already done; give us now \nanother precept.” As a matter of fact\, however\, He admonishes us here of a \npurely spiritual conversion which cannot be accomplished in a single day; and \nwould to God we were able to complete it in the whole course of the life we live \nin the body! An external turning to God\, unaccompanied by a conversion of the \nheart and spirit is worth nothing. It is only a formal\, not a true conversion\, \n“having the appearance indeed of godliness but lacking the power of it”. \nUnhappy the monk who\, devoting all his attention to outward \nobservances\, remains ignorant of his interior\, for “thinking himself to be \nsomething\, whereas he is nothing\, he deceives himself”. For as he looks only to \nthe outward appearance\, when that is found to be in order he judges everything \nsecure\, unaware of that secret worm that is consuming his being. The tonsure \nstill remains\, the religious habit is not yet put off\, the regular fasts are observed \nas before\, the divine praises are chanted at the appointed hours. Nevertheless \nthe Lord says of such a one\, “His heart is far from Me”… \nTherefore\, let your love be converted to God\, so that henceforth you shall \nlove nothing besides Him\, or at least nothing except for His sake. Let your fear\, \ntoo\, be converted to the Lord\, because every fear is perverse other than fear of \nHim or on account of Him. To Him let your joy also as well as your sadness be \nconverted. This will happen when you no longer grieve or rejoice over anything \nexcept according to God… \nLet us therefore rend our hearts\, in order that thus we may be able to keep \nour garments whole. Our garments are our virtues. One can understand this \nrending of heart in two senses: compunction rends the evil heart\, while \ncompassion rends the strong heart. Both rendings are undoubtedly profitable; \nfor the poison of sin must not remain concealed in the heart and the depths of \ncompassion should not be closed to a needy neighbor\, so that we ourselves may \nobtain mercy from our Lord Jesus Christ. \n  \n5 St. Bernard’s Sermons for the Seasons & Principal Festivals. Bernard of Clairvaux. vol. II. The Carroll Press. \nWestminster\, MD. 1950. p. 76.11 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-160/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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