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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260204
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DTSTAMP:20260511T192259
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UID:14570-1770163200-1770249599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:SILENCE\, POVERTY\, AND DEATH \nBy Thomas Merton \n◊◊◊ \nIf\, at the moment of our death\, death comes to us as an unwelcome \nstranger\, it will be because Christ also has always been to us an unwelcome \nstranger. For when death comes\, Christ comes also\, bringing us the everlasting \nlife which he has bought for us by his own death. Those who love true life\, \ntherefore\, frequently think about their death. Their life is full of a silence that is \nan anticipated victory over death. Silence\, indeed\, makes death our servant and \neven our friend. Thoughts and prayers that grow up out of the silent thought of \ndeath are like trees growing where there is water. They are strong thoughts\, that \novercome the fear of misfortune because they have overcome passion and \ndesire. They turn the face of our soul\, in constant desire\, toward the face of \nChrist. \nA whole lifetime of silence is ordered to a final utterance; by this I do not \nmean that we must all contrive to die with pious speeches on our lips. It is not \nnecessary that our last words should have some special or dramatic significance \nworthy of being written down. Every good death\, every death that hands us over \nfrom the uncertainties of this world to the unfailing peace and silence of the love \nof Christ\, is itself an utterance and a conclusion. It says\, either in words or \nwithout them\, that it is good for life to come to its appointed end\, for the body to \nreturn to dust and for the spirit to ascend to the Father\, through the mercy of \nour Lord\, Jesus Christ. \nA silent death may speak with more eloquent peace than a death \npunctuated by vivid expressions. A lonely death\, a tragic death\, may yet have \nmore to say of the peace and mercy of Christ than many another comfortable \ndeath. \nFor the eloquence of death is the eloquence of human poverty coming face \nto face with the riches of divine mercy. The more we are aware that our poverty \nis supremely great\, the greater will be the meaning of our death: and the greater \nits poverty. For the saints are those who wanted to be poorest in life\, and who\, \nabove all else\, exulted in the supreme poverty of death.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-25/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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