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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240522
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240523
DTSTAMP:20260515T160649
CREATED:20240518T204006Z
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UID:11919-1716336000-1716422399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE AIM OF OUR CHRISTIAN LIFE \nA conversation between St Seraphim of Sarov and his spiritual son4 \n◊◊◊ \n“The Lord has revealed to me\,” began the great elder\, “that in your \nchildhood you longed to know the aim of our Christian life… But no one has \ngiven you a precise answer… Prayer\, fasting\, watching\, and all other Christian \nacts\, however good they may be\, do not alone constitute the aim of our Christian \nlife\, although they serve as the indispensable means of reaching this aim. The \ntrue aim of our Christian life\, is to acquire the Holy Spirit of God…” \n“How do you mean acquire?” I asked Father Seraphim… \n“To acquire is the same as to gain\,” he answered. “You understand what \nacquiring money means. Acquiring God’s Spirit\, it’s all the same… Acquire\, my \nson\, the grace of the Holy Spirit by all the other virtues in Christ; trade in those \nthat are most profitable to you… Thus\, if prayer and watching give you more of \nGod’s grace\, pray and watch; if fasting gives much of God’s Spirit\, fast; if \nalmsgiving gives more\, give alms. In such manner decide about every virtue in \nChrist… \nWhen our Lord Jesus Christ had accomplished the whole work of \nsalvation\, after His resurrection\, He breathed on the Apostles to restore the \nbreath of life which had been lost by Adam\, and gave them that same grace of \nthe Holy Spirit of God which had been Adam’s. On the day of Pentecost He \ntriumphantly sent down on them the Holy Spirit in the rushing of a mighty wind \nlike tongues of fire\, which sat upon each one of them and entered in and filled \nthem with the strength of Divine flame-like grace; whose breath is laden with \n4 The Spiritual Instructions of Saint Seraphim of Sarov. Ed. Franklin Jones. Los Angeles: The Dawn \nHorse Press\, 1973. 41-44\, 46-48\, 50.9 \ndew\, and it creates joy in the souls partaking of its power and influence. And\, \nwhen this same fire-inspired grace of the Holy Spirit is given to all the faithful \nin Christ in the sacrament of Holy Baptism\, they seal it in the chief places \nappointed by the Holy Church on our flesh\, as the eternal vessel of this grace… \nIf we were never to sin after our baptism\, we should remain forever holy\, \nspotless\, exempt from all foulness of flesh and spirit\, like the saints of God. But \nthe trouble is that\, though we increase in stature\, we do not increase in the grace \nand mind of God\, as our Lord Jesus Christ increased; but on the contrary\, \ngrowing dissipated bit by bit\, we are deprived of the grace of God’s Holy Spirit \nand become sinners of many degrees and many sins. \nBut\, when a man\, stirred by the Divine Wisdom which seeks our salvation\, \nis resolved for her sake to rise early before God and keep watch for the \nattainment of his eternal salvation\, then must he in obedience to her voice \nhasten to repent truly of all his sins and to perfect the virtues that are their \ncontrary\, and thus by virtuous acts done for Christ’s sake to acquire the Holy \nSpirit\, which works in us and sets up in us the kingdom of God. \nNotwithstanding man’s repeated falls\, notwithstanding the darkness around \nthe soul\, the grace of the Holy Spirit… shines still in the heart with the Divine \nimmemorial light of the precious merits of Christ. When the sinner turns to the \nway of repentance\, this Christ-Light smooths out all trace of past sin and clothes \nthe former sinner once more in a robe of incorruption woven from the grace of \nthe Holy Spirit…
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-192/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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