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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240622
DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240615T205504Z
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UID:12141-1718928000-1719014399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Aloysius Gonzaga
DESCRIPTION:FROM A LETTER TO HIS MOTHER \nby St Aloysius Gonzaga6 \n◊◊◊ \nYour letter found me lingering still in this region of the dead\, but now I \nmust rouse myself to make my way to heaven at last and to praise God for ever \nin the land of the living; indeed I had hoped that before this time my journey \nthere would have been over. If charity\, as St. Paul says\, means to weep with \nthose who weep and rejoice with those who are glad\, then\, dearest mother\, you \nshall rejoice exceedingly that God in His grace and His love for you is showing \nme the path to true happiness\, and assuring me that I shall never lose Him. \nThe divine goodness…is a fathomless and shoreless ocean\, and I confess \nthat when I plunge my mind into thought of this it is carried away by the \nimmensity and feels quite lost and bewildered there. In return for my short and \nfeeble labors\, God is calling me to eternal rest; His voice from heaven invites me \nto the infinite bliss I have sought so languidly\, and promises me this reward for \nthe tears I have so seldom shed. \nTake care above all things…not to insult God’s boundless loving kindness; \nyou should certainly do this if you mourned as dead one living face to face with \nGod\, one whose prayers can bring you in your troubles more powerful aid than \nthey ever could on earth. And our parting will not be for long; we shall see each \nother again in heaven; we shall be united with our Savior; there we shall praise \nhim with heart and soul\, sing his mercies forever\, and enjoy eternal happiness. \nWhen He takes away what He has once lent us\, His purpose is to store our \ntreasure elsewhere more safely and bestow on us those very blessings that we \nourselves would most choose to have. \nI write all this with the one desire that you and all <the> family may \nconsider my departure a joy and favor and that you especially may speed with a \nmother’s blessing my passage across the waters till I reach the shore to which \nall blessings belong. I write the more willingly because I have no clearer way of \nexpressing the love and respect I owe you as your son. \n  \n6 The Liturgy of the Hours – vol. III – Catholic Book Publishing Co – New York – 1975 – pg 1475.13
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-aloysius-gonzaga-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240615T205651Z
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UID:12143-1719014400-1719100799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:THE NATURE OF MARY’S MATERNITY \nFrom “The Divine Motherhood” by Anscar Vonier7 \n◊◊◊ \nLet us always bear in mind the great truth that the Blessed Virgin’s \nmaternity was a most natural maternity in the sense that she fully responded to \nit\, was not overwhelmed by it\, that there was no separation between her and her \noffspring; Christ came from her as her own dear child\, the fruit of her own \nblessed womb. I am right\, therefore\, in asserting that Mary’s maternal function \nin the conception of Christ was raised to an incredibly high plane of vitality so \nas to make her maternity not only an instrumental\, but a natural maternity. If \nMary’s mission had been merely to minister the human element to the Word \nwhen he became flesh\, her maternity would have been just instrumental; it \nwould have existed only to serve a higher purpose. But Mary’s role is more than \nthat; she is permanently the Mother of God; her maternity is not a transient \nministration\, but an abiding dignity that makes her share with God the Father\, \nin literal truth\, the parenthood of Jesus Christ. \nA threefold hypothesis may make this point clearer still. We can think of \na woman being made a mother by the direct productive act of God; in that case \nthe offspring of that mother would not be divine\, but human. Then there can be \nthe conception in a woman’s womb of a divine person\, as happened in the \nincarnation\, but the woman being merely instrumental to the production of the \nbody; in such a case it would be divine maternity in the most restricted \nphysiological sense. Thirdly\, there is the glorious possibility of perfect divine \nmaternity with all the graces and privileges\, with all the rights and splendors\, of \none who shares to the full\, with God the Father\, the parenthood of the God \nIncarnate. \nSuch is Mary’s maternity; such is the meaning of Elizabeth’s salutation\, \nor rather the salutation of the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Elizabeth\, when \nfull of the divine Spirit she cried with a loud voice: Blessed are you among \nwomen\, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And whence is this to me\, that \nthe Mother of my Lord should come to me? Elizabeth was the first creature to \ncall Mary “the Mother of God”; she gave us the grandest title of our Lady: \n“Mother of God.” The archangel\, indeed\, had said as much\, but only by \nimplication; Elizabeth\, the happiest of human mothers\, has the privilege of \nhaving spoken for the first time the words “Mother of God.” \nWhen\, moreover\, in the same breath she calls blessed the Mother and the \nfruit of her womb\, bestowing the same encomium on the two lives which were \nnot yet disjoined\, she gives us an additional reason for saying that Mary’s \nmaternity had been raised to the divine plane of dignity and perfection\, where \none and the same blessedness holds mother and offspring wrapped in a \nmatchless sanctity. \n  \n7 pp. 345-346; reprinted in Meditations on the Sunday Gospels: Year A; introduced and edited by John E. Rotelle\, Hyde \nPark\, NY: New City Press\, 1995\, pp. 28-29.15 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-5/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240624
DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240623T011138Z
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UID:12195-1719100800-1719187199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n12th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nJune 23 – 29\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n23\nMon\n24\nTue\n25\nWed\n26\nThu\n27\nFri\n28\nSat\n29\n\n\nOffice\n12th Sunday\nNativity of St John the Baptist\nWeekday\nOffice for the Dead\nWeekday\nSt Ireneaus\nSS Peter & Paul\n\n\nVigils\nJudg 16:23-31\nJerm 1:4-19\nJudg 17:1-13\nJudg 18:1-11\nJudg 18:13-31\nJudg 19:1-21\nGal 1:11-2:10\n\n\nLauds\nAmos 7:10-17\nMalachi 3:19-24\nAmos 8:1-8\nAmos 8:9-14\nAmos 9:1-6\nAmos 9:7-10\nIsa 49:1-6\n\n\nMass\n95\n587\n372\n373\n374\n375\n591\n\n\n1st\nJob 38:1\, 8-11\nIsa 49:1-6\n2 Kgs 19:9b-11\, 14-21\, 31-35a\, 36\n2 Kgs 22:8-13; 23:1-3\n2 Kgs 24:8-17\n2 Kgs 25:1-12\nActs 12:1-11\n\n\n2nd\n2 Cor 5:14-17\nActs 13:22-26\n\n\n\n\n2 Tim 4:6-8\, 17-18\n\n\nGospel\nMark 4:35-41\nLuke 1:57-66\, 80\nMatt 7:6\, 12-14\nMatt 7:15-20\nMatt 7:21-29\nMatt 8:1-4\nMatt 16:13-19\n\n\nVespers\n1 Jn 4:1-6\nActs 13:15-26\n1 Thess 3:6-13\n1 Thess 4:1-12\n1 Thess 4:13-18\n1 Peter 4:12-19\nActs 3:1-10
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-74/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240623
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240623T011341Z
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UID:12197-1719100800-1719187199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 12th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:OBEY THE GOD WHO MADE YOU \nFrom a commentary by St Augustine1 \n◊◊◊ \nThe Lord’s power is by no means dead\, nor is it asleep. Do you think the \nAlmighty was overcome by sleep in the boat against his will? If you do\, then \nChrist is asleep in your hearts. If he were indeed keeping watch within you\, then \nyour faith too would be vigilant. The Apostle\, remember\, speaks of Christ \ndwelling in your hearts through faith. \nThis sleep of Christ has a symbolic meaning. The boat’s crew are human \nsouls sailing across the sea of this world in a wooden vessel. That vessel\, of \ncourse\, also represents the Church; but as each one of us is a temple of God\, \neach one’s heart is a sailing boat\, nor can it be wrecked so long as we fill our \nminds only with what is good. \nWhen you have to listen to abuse\, that means that you are being buffeted \nby the wind; when your anger is roused\, you are being tossed by the waves. So \nwhen the winds blow and the waves mount high\, the boat is in danger\, your \nheart is imperiled\, your heart is taking a battering. On hearing yourself insulted\, \nyou long to retaliate; but the joy of revenge brings with it another kind of \nmisfortune – shipwreck. Why is this? Because Christ is asleep in you. What do \nI mean? I mean you have forgotten his presence. Rouse him\, then; remember \nhim\, let him keep watch within you\, pay heed to him. \nNow what is your desire? You wanted to get your own back. You have \nforgotten that when Christ was being crucified he said: Father\, forgive them\, \nfor they know not what they do. Christ\, the sleeper in your heart\, had no desire \nfor vengeance in his. Rouse him\, then\, call him to mind. (To remember him is \nto recall his words… his commands.) Then\, when he is awake within you\, you \nwill ask yourself\, “Whatever kind of wretch am I to be thirsting for revenge? \nWho am I to threaten another? Suppose I were to die before I were avenged! \nSuppose I were to take leave of my body breathing out threats\, inflamed with \nrage and thirsting for that vengeance which Christ himself never sought; would \nhe not refuse to receive me? He who said\, Give and it shall be given you; forgive \nand you will be forgiven\, would indeed decline to acknowledge me. So I will \ncurb my anger and restore peace to my heart. \nNow all is calm again. Christ has rebuked the sea. What I have said about \nanger must be your rule of conduct in every temptation. A temptation arises: it \nis the wind. It disturbs you: it is the surging of the sea. This is the moment to \nawaken Christ and let him remind you of these words: Who can this be? Even \nthe winds and the sea obey him. Who is this whom the sea obeys? It is he to \nwhom the sea belongs\, for he made it; all things were made through him. \nTry\, then\, to be more like the wind and the sea; obey the God who made \nyou. The sea obeys Christ’s command\, and are you going to turn a deaf ear to it? \nThe sea obeys him\, the wind is still; will you persist with your blustering? \nWords\, actions\, schemes\, what are all these but a constant huffing and puffing\, \na refusal to be still at Christ’s command? \nWhen your heart is in this troubled state\, do not let the waves overwhelm \nyou. If\, since we are only human\, the driving wind should stir up in us a tumult \nof emotions\, let us not despair but awaken Christ\, so that we may sail in quiet \nwaters\, and at last reach our heavenly homeland. \n  \n1 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1993 – pg 92.3 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-12th-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240623T011537Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240623T011537Z
UID:12199-1719187200-1719273599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Nativity of St John the Baptist
DESCRIPTION:THE NATIVITY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux2 \n◊◊◊ \nLet us rejoice\, dearly beloved\, on the Nativity of blessed John [the \nBaptist]\, on the solemnity of whose birth is celebrated today\, and let us rejoice \nin that very nativity. Our reason for remembering [John] is certainly rich\, and \nthe source of [our] rejoicing sundry. Listen\, brothers\, to what is said about \nJohn: “He was a burning and shining lamp\,” [Scripture] says. A great testimony\, \nmy brothers: great is the one to whom it is given\, but greater is the one who \ngives [it]. “He was a burning and shining lamp.” Only to shine is nothing; only \nto burn is not enough. To burn and shine is complete… He burned for himself; \nhe was shining for us. Let us rejoice in his fervor for the purpose of imitation; \nlet us also rejoice in [his] light—yet not remaining there\, but that in his light we \nmay see light\, the true light\, which is not [John] himself\, but the One to whom \nhe bears witness. \nIt is especially said to the apostles and to apostolic men: “Let your light \nshine before people.” [This is said to them] as to people who have been kindled\, \nand mightily kindled\, who are not to fear any situation whatever\, or the winds’ \nforce. It was said even to John\, [while] they but hear it in the ear\, John\, like an \nangel\, is instructed in the Spirit. Assuredly\, he [was] as close to God as the voice \nis near the Word. No other voice\, which would sound outwardly as an \nintermediary\, was needed for him to be taught. \nInspiration\, not preaching\, taught John\, whom the Spirit filled in his \nmother’s womb. Truly burning and mightily kindled [was] he whom the \ncelestial flame so possessed that he perceived Christ’s coming when he could \nnot yet perceive even himself. That new fire\, recently fallen from heaven\, surely \npenetrated the Virgin’s ear through Gabriel’s mouth\, and through the Virgin’s \nmouth and his mother [Elizabeth’s] ear [that fire] entered into the little child\, \nso that from that moment the Holy Spirit filled his chosen vessel\, and prepared \na lamp for Christ the Lord. Then he was already a burning lamp\, but [he was] \nstill for a time under a bushel\, until he could be placed on a lampstand and shine \nfor all who were in the Lord’s house. At that time\, he was able to illuminate only \nhis own bushel\, and to shine for a while to his mother alone\, revealing the great \nmystery of holiness to her by the motion of [his] singular joy! \n“Why\,” [Elizabeth] says\, “does the mother of my Lord come to me?” Who \nmade the Lord’s mother known to you\, holy woman? [So Mary asks Elizabeth\,] \n“How do you know me?” “When the voice of your greeting\,” [Elizabeth] says\, \n“came to my ears\, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” \nAlready then he illumined the bushel under which he lay hidden\, but the \nburning lamp under the bushel did not leave hidden the One whom it would \nsoon afterwards make known to the whole world with unheard of brightness. \n  \n2 From Sermons for the Summer Season: Liturgical Sermons from Rogationtide and Pentecost; translated\, with an \nIntroduction\, by Beverly Mayne Kienzle; additional translations by James Jarzembowski (CF 53); Kalamazoo\, MI: \nCistercian Publications\, 1991\, pp. 88-96.5 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-nativity-of-st-john-the-baptist-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240625
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240623T011704Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240623T011704Z
UID:12201-1719273600-1719359999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE EXAMPLE OF THE SAINTS \nFrom a sermon by St John Henry Newman3 \n◊◊◊ \nI have not yet mentioned the peculiar benefit to be derived from the \nobservance of Saints’ days: which obviously lies in their setting before the mind \npatterns of excellence for us to follow. In directing us to these\, the Church does \nbut fulfil the design of Scripture. Consider how great a part of the Bible is \nhistorical; and how much of the history is merely the lives of those who were \nGod’s instruments in their respective ages. Some of them are no patterns for us\, \nothers show marks of the corruption under which human nature universally \nlies. Yet the chief of them are specimens of special faith and sanctity\, and are \nset before us with the evident intention of exciting and guiding us in our \nreligious course… \nFirst of all\, and in his own incommunicable glory\, Our Blessed Lord \nHimself gives us an example\, but His faithful servants lead us on towards Him\, \nand confirm and diversify His pattern. Now it has been the aim of our Church \nin her Saints’ days to maintain the principle\, and set a pattern\, of this peculiarly \nScriptural teaching. \nChrist’s Church is indestructible; and lasting on through all the \nvicissitudes of this world\, she must rise again and flourish\, when the poor \ncreatures of a day who opposed her\, have crumbled into dust. In the meantime \nlet us not forget our duty; which is\, after the example of the Saints\, to take up \nour cross meekly\, and pray for our enemies. \nEvery year brings wonders. We know not any year\, what wonders shall \nhave happened before the circle of Festivals has run out again\, from St. \nAndrew’s to All Saints’. Our duty then is\, to wait for the Lord’s coming\, to \nprepare His way before Him\, to pray that when he comes\, we may be found \nwatching… Let us not forget\, that\, as we are called to be Saints\, so we are\, by \nthat very calling\, called to suffer; and\, if we suffer\, must not think it strange \nconcerning the fiery trial that is to try us\, nor be puffed up by our privilege of \nsuffering\, nor bring suffering needlessly upon us\, nor be eager to make out we \nhave suffered for Christ\, when we have but suffered for our faults\, or not at all. \nMay God give us grace to act upon these rules\, as well as to adopt and admire \nthem; and to say nothing for saying’s sake\, but to do much and say little! \n  \n3 Parochial & Plain Sermons\, Ignatius Press: San Francisco 1987. pp.476-478.7 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-199/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12203-1719360000-1719446399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:DEATH AND OUR LIVES AS CHRISTIANS \nBy Cardinal Jean Daniélou4 \n◊◊◊ \nTHE CHRISTIAN LIFE is altogether an act of waiting. Christians know \nthat they are made for greater things. They feel acutely the misery of their \npresent condition. They aspire to be relieved of the weight of animal life and its \nservitude. “I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ” (Phil 1:23). While the \ncarnal in us grasps desperately at pleasures and possessions\, the Christian lives \nalready in the order of being\, detached\, free\, making use of time\, so long as it is \ngiven\, to perform works of charity towards all – an activity invisible to the eyes \nof the world. The Christian life is a hidden life. But when the world is folded up \nlike a tent\, the reality that has been hidden until that moment will be clearly \nrevealed. It is to prepare oneself for this solemn act\, which is the entry of every \nperson into the heavenly Temple\, through the veil that still conceals it\, that \none’s whole life must be devoted. \nThat life consists for the Christian in being endowed little by little with \ndivine manners… We must not be without a country on our arrival in heaven. \nOur life is an apprenticeship. It is a matter of learning the rudiments of what we \nshall have one day to do. So let us already try in prayer to stammer what will \nlater be the ‘conversation in heaven’ with God and his angels; so we must try to \nmake less crude this intellect of ours\, which is so immersed in the world of time \nand space\, and to acclimatize it gradually to heavenly things through the action \nof the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Thus charity itself is the clumsy beginning of that \ncomplete communion which will embrace all the saints. So doing\, we begin to \ndo what we have always to do. It is our real life which is being mapped out. Let \nus begin it. \n4 The Presence of God\, Baltimore 1959\, pp.55-57.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-12/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240623T011957Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240623T011957Z
UID:12205-1719446400-1719532799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE UNITY OF SPIRIT AND MATTER \nBy Karl Rahner5 \n◊◊◊ \nThe history of the angels and the history of the world are at least \ninterlaced in many respects. The common goal of both is the eternal kingdom \nof God… In the Christian teaching the angels\, whether they are to be thought of \nas good or bad\, certainly exercise functions in this world… The angels can be \nunderstood quite correctly\, even according to scripture\, as cosmic powers of the \norder of nature and of its history. Christian theology has always seen the object \nof the personal decision of personal spiritual powers\, called angels\, to live in \nChrist and in his salvific function for the history of humankind and hence of the \nmaterial world. \nIf one looks at these data\, it will be quite legitimate to be of the opinion \nthat\, first of all\, the doctrine of the angels understood as ‘pure spirits’\, no matter \nhow materially correct\, unjustifiably lends too much support to a platonic and \nnon-Christian removal of the created spirit from this world. Furthermore\, it \nwill have to be said that the angels\, in spite of their differences from human \nbeings\, can be conceived in such a way that\, in their own way and of their own \nmost proper and original nature\, they are powers of the one and hence also \nmaterial world to whose material nature they are genuinely and essentially \nrelated. It may rightly be said\, at any rate\, that the Christian teaching about the \nangels does not basically bar the way to a decided and consequential conception \nof the unity of spirit and matter in their common history. \nSince ultimately we really know very little that is certain about the angels \nand demons\, we have the perfect right after what has been said to look at the \nunity of spirit and matter as we experience it directly in the history of \nhumankind and also as interpreted in a way compatible with revelation\, and to \nlook at this unity as paradigmatic in principle for the unity of spirit and matter \nin the created sphere as such. The highest grade of all productive becoming is \nthe human spirit and matter tends towards it as towards its final principle of \nnature and form\, for a human being is the goal of all generative becoming. \nMatter and spirit have a unity in their starting point\, in their history and in their \ngoal. Both of them remain eternally valid before God and form for ever\, now \nand in the state of perfection\, the mutually correlative\, non-separable \nconstitutive elements of the one created reality. \n  \n5 Theological Investigations VI\, On Angels. Karl Rahner\, Seabury Press\, 1974\, pp. 159-160.10 \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-200/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240628
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240629
DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240623T012905Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240623T012905Z
UID:12207-1719532800-1719619199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Irenaeus
DESCRIPTION:WHERE THE CHURCH IS\, \nTHERE IS THE SPIRIT OF GOD \nFrom the writing of St Irenaeus6 \n◊◊◊ \nIt is within reach of all who want to see the truth to discern the tradition \nof the apostles which has been manifested in the whole world. All we have to do \nis to list those who are appointed bishops in the churches by the apostles and \ntheir successors up to our own time who neither taught nor recognized anything \nlike that which the heretics rave about. For even if the apostles would have \nknown “secret mysteries” which they used to teach the “perfect” separately and \nsecretly apart from the others\, they would especially have passed these things \ndown to those to whom they also were entrusting the churches themselves. For \nthey wanted those whom they left as successors to be quite perfect and beyond \nreproach in all things\, handing over to them their own place as teachers. To \nthose who do what is right this would have great usefulness\, but to those who \nfall away it would be great disaster… \nThe preaching of the church is consistent everywhere and persists equally \nand has behind it the testimony of the prophets and the apostles and all the \ndisciples through the beginning\, middle\, and end and through the whole saving \nplan of God and that solid system which is in our faith which lends itself to \nhuman salvation. We keep what we have received from the church and what is \nalways from the Spirit of God like some precious deposit growing in a good vase \nwhich also makes the vase it is in to grow. For this gift of God has been entrusted \nto the church\, like the breath of creation\, so that all the members receiving it \nmay be made alive. And in it has been deposited the means of communicating \nwith Christ\, that is\, the Holy Spirit\, the…confirmation of our faith and ladder of \nascent to God. “For in the Church\,” [Scripture] says\, “God has appointed \napostles\, prophets\, teachers”\, and all the other working of the Spirit. All who do \nnot gather with the church but defraud themselves of life through evil thought \nand worse deed do not participate in the Spirit. For where the church is\, there \nis the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is\, there is the church and every \ngift; and the Spirit is truth. Accordingly\, those who do not participate in the \nSpirit are not nourished unto life by the mother’s breasts nor do they receive \nthat brilliant fountain which flows from the Body of Christ. Rather\, they dig for \nthemselves broken cisterns in dirty ditches and they drink putrid water from \nthe dirt\, fleeing the faith of the church\, lest they be convicted\, rejecting the Spirit \nthat they may not be instructed. \n  \n6 UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHURCH\, Edited by Glenn Hinson (Fortress Press\, Phila. PA\, \n1986) pp. 40-42.12 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-irenaeus/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12209-1719619200-1719705599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Peter & Paul
DESCRIPTION:THE CHURCH BUILD UPON \nTHE APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL \nFrom a sermon by St Maximus the Confessor7 \n◊◊◊ \nSince all the most blessed apostles obtain a like reward of sanctity with \nthe Lord\, I do not know by what consideration Peter and Paul\, nevertheless\, \nappear to excel in a certain virtue of faith; which fact\, in truth\, we can prove \nfrom the judgment of the Lord Himself. For to Peter\, as to a good steward\, He \ngave the key to the heavenly Kingdom; on Paul\, as an apt teacher\, He enjoins \nthe teaching office of the Church\, so that those whom the latter instructs unto \nsalvation\, the former receives into their reward\, and to the souls of those whose \nhearts Paul enlightens by the word of teaching\, Peter opens the realm of heaven. \nIn a way Paul\, too\, received the key of knowledge from Christ. For that must be \ncalled a key by which the hard hearts of sinners are unbolted to belief\, the \nsecrets of minds are revealed\, and whatever is kept enclosed within is brought \nforth plainly by a reasonable manifestation. That is a key\, I say\, which\, on the \none hand\, opens the conscience to the confession of its sin\, and\, on the other\, \nmakes fast unto eternity the grace of the saving mystery. \nConsequently\, both men received keys from their Lord: the latter (Paul) \nthe key of knowledge\, the former (Peter) the key of power; the former bestows \nthe riches of an immortal life; the latter grants the treasures of knowledge. For \nthere are treasures of knowledge\, as it is written: “In whom are hidden all the \ntreasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Hence\, the blessed Peter and Paul stand \nout above all the apostles and supersede them by a certain\, peculiar prerogative. \nBut between these two it is uncertain who is to be placed first. I think they are \nequal in merits\, for they were equal in their suffering… \nAccordingly\, I believe\, the day was decreed for their merit; the place\, for \ntheir glory; the persecutor\, for their virtue. Yet where did they finally suffer \nmartyrdom? In the city of Rome which stands as the prince and head of nations\, \nso that there\, where the source of superstition was\, the source of sanctity should \nrepose; and where the rulers of the nations were dwelling\, there the princes of \nthe Church should stay. Of what merit the Blessed Peter and Paul might be\, we \ncan comprehend from this\, that while our Lord glorified the region of the Orient \nby His own Passion\, He deigned to make bright the land of the Occident (lest it \nshould be of lesser account) in its turn by the blood of the Apostles\, and\, while \nHis own Passion served us for salvation\, He held forth their martyrdom as an \nexample. \n  \n7 LITURGICAL READINGS\, Compiled at St Meinrad’s Abbey (St Meinrad\, IN 1943) pp. 400- \n401.14 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-peter-paul-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12238-1719705600-1719791999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n13th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nJune 30 – July6\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n30\nMon\n1\nTue\n2\nWed\n3\nThu\n4\nFri\n5\nSat\n6\n\n\nOffice\n13th Sunday\nWeekday\nWeekday\nSt Thomas\nWeekday\nWeekday\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nJudg 19:20-30\nJudg 20:1-19\nJudg 20:20-48\nJob 23:1-12\nJudg 21:1-25\nRuth 1:1-22\nRuth 2:1-23\n\n\nLauds\nAmos 9:11-15\nObad 1-7\nObad 8-14\nIsa 43:8-13\nObad 15-18\nMic 1:1-9\nMic 2:1-5\n\n\nMass\n98\n377\n378\n593\n380\n381\n382\n\n\n1st\nWis 1:13-15; 2:23-24\nAmos 2:6-10\, 13-16\nAmos 3:1-8; 4:11-12\nEph 2:19-22\nAmos 7:10-17\nAmos 8:4-6\, 9-12\nAmos 9:11-15\n\n\n2nd\n2 Cor 8:7\, 9\, 13-15\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 5:21-43\nMatt 8:18-22\nMatt 8:23-27\nJohn 20:24-29\nMatt 9:1-8\nMatt 9:9-13\nMatt 9:14-17\n\n\nVespers\n1 Thess 5:1-11\n1 Thess 5:12-28\n2 Thess 1:1-7\, 11-12\n1 Pet 1:3-9\n2 Thess 2:1-10\n2 Thess 2:11-17\n2 Thess 3:1-10
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-75/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12240-1719705600-1719791999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 13th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:THE DEAD WILL RISE \nFrom a commentary by St Peter Chrysologus1 \n◊◊◊ \nEvery gospel reading\, beloved\, is most helpful for our present life and for \nthe attainment of the life to come. Today’s reading\, however\, sums up the whole \nof our hope\, banishing all grounds for despair. \nLet us consider the synagogue official who took Christ to his daughter and \nin so doing gave the woman with a hemorrhage an opportunity to approach him. \nHere is the beginning of today’s reading: An official came to Jesus and did \nhomage\, saying: Lord\, my little daughter has just died\, but come and lay your \nhands on her and she will live. \nChrist could foresee the future and he knew that this woman would \napproach him. Through her the Jewish official was to learn that there is no need \nto move God to another place\, take him on a journey\, or attract him by a physical \npresence. One must only believe that he is present in the whole of his being \nalways and everywhere\, and that he can do all things effortlessly by a single \ncommand; that far from depriving us of strength\, he gives it; that he puts death \nto flight by a word of command rather than by physical touch\, and gives life by \nhis mere bidding\, without need of any art. \nMy daughter has just died. Do come. What he means is that the warmth \nof life still remains\, there are still indications that her soul has not departed\, her \nspirit is still in this world\, the head of the house still has a daughter\, the \nunderworld is still unaware of her death. Come quickly and hold back the \ndeparting soul! \nIn his ignorance the man assumed that Christ would not be able to raise \nhis daughter unless he actually laid his hand on her. So when Christ reached the \nhouse and saw the mourners lamenting as though the girl were dead\, he \ndeclared that she was not dead but sleeping. In order to move their unbelieving \nminds to faith and convince them that one can rise from death more easily than \nfrom sleep. The girl is not dead\, he told them\, but asleep. \nAnd indeed for God death is nothing but sleep. He can restore life-giving \nwarmth to limbs grown cold in death sooner than we can impart vigor to bodies \nsunk in slumber. Listen to the apostle: In an instant\, in the twinkling of an eye\, \nthe dead will rise. He used an image because it is impossible to express the \nspeed of the resurrection in words. How could he explain its swiftness verbally \nwhen divine power outstrips the very notion of swiftness? How could time enter \nthe picture when an eternal gift is given outside of time? Time implies duration\, \nbut eternity excludes time. \n1 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1993 – pg 94.3 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-13th-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12242-1719792000-1719878399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE DEEPEST NEED OF ALL \nFrom “The Eternal Promise” by Thomas Kelly2 \n◊◊◊ \nIs God your passion? Do you long for Him and rejoice in Him and find \nlife meaningful only to the degree you are in His Presence and He is in your life? \nDo you keep close to the Divine Center\, the Inner principle counting all else as \nloss? For a depth of commitment such as mild men do not know\, I speak in \norder that you may hear Him speak in you the same message. Out of such lives \nwill the world be reborn\, will the church be reborn… There will you find rest for \nyour souls\, and power\, and peace\, and joy unspeakable and full of Glory. Hasten \nunto God. \nI have spoken with deep feeling\, for I am convinced this is the deepest \nneed of all. We…have become earthy. We are more at home with humans than \nwe are with God. We have men of burning social passion\, but not so many that \nburn for God\, who long for God\, who go down deep into the Waters of His life\, \nwho call to us\, “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” Social reformers we have \nnow\, men who are great in their contribution to social thinking… But this epoch \nof history is weak in great prophets of the inner life\, great voices who cry in the \nwilderness\, “Prepare the way of the Lord within your hearts.”… \nStrip monasticism; strip it of its retreat behind walls from much human \nneed… and there is left\, in Bernard of Clairvaux and Francis of Assisi\, a God- \nhunger\, and completeness of renunciation of all else in the world in comparison \nwith the life that is hid with Christ in God. Such a passion for God as leads \nmen…to leave father and mother and all the world…until deep relations with \nGod have been found… Such men and women\, not with social techniques\, but \nwith God-motivations born out of deep immersion in the ocean of the Love of \nGod… Down at the base of life\, for all such people\, would be a fellowship in a \ncommon Life which is the Light within every man who is kindled and enflamed \nby God. \nDo not misunderstand me. There is a practice of the presence of God \nwhich is done on the run\, in the busiest of days… Little prayers and \ncommunion; ejaculation of surrender and joy and exaltation… And most of our \nlives can be lived this way\, as divine conversation of our soul with God\, going \non behind the scenes all the time. But then come crucial periods in life when the \nquest for God grows hot\, when the hot breath of the Hound of Heaven is at our \nheels\, when the heart cries out\, “Give me the Presence or I die.” And these are \nthe times when we get beneath the conventional mildness of average religiosity\, \nand find Him more fully\, who is dearer than life itself. From these men and \nwomen will come the profound return to religion…the love of God and neighbor\, \nwhich is so desperately needed. \n  \n2 Kelly\, Thomas. The Eternal Promise. New York: Harper & Row\, Publishers\, 1966. 116-118.5 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-201/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240629T173134Z
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UID:12244-1719878400-1719964799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:WHEN THE LORD CRIES OUT \nIN OUR HEARTS \nFrom “Homilies on the Prophetic Burdens of Isaiah” by St Aelred of Rievaulx3 \n◊◊◊ \nWishing to make his soldiers lightly armed for this spiritual war\, our \nleader says\, Those who do not renounce all their possessions cannot be my \ndisciples. And again\, Those who do not hate their father and mother and wife \nand children\, and even their own soul\, cannot be my disciples. And so the \nlightly armed soldiers…are those who disentangle themselves from all this \nworld’s affairs and riches\, from all their longings and even from their own will. \nThey can thus safely resist the…vices into which they had fallen and nakedly \nfollow the naked Christ. \nWhen these lightly armed soldiers feel themselves attacked by natural \nprovocations\, demonic suggestions\, or their own thoughts\, they send forth to \nGod a loud wail of the heart and a wretched lamentation of voice with tears and \nsighs\, saying with the prophet\, I am terribly afflicted and lowly; I roared out \nmy complaint from my heart… \nThanks be to you\, good Jesus! Truly\, your compassion is over all your \nworks! If inwardly where God sees\, a person’s heart turns to God and is \ncrushed\, then God’s heart will soon turn to that person. God’s heart expresses \nhis goodness and compassion. My heart will cry out to Moab. Moab wails in \nrepentance; Christ cries out in mercy. Moab wails in fear; Christ cries out by \nshowing pity. Moab wails in confession; Christ cries out with forgiveness. Moab \nseeing the strong wind coming\, fears and wails; Christ\, stretching out his hand \nand crying out\, rebukes the hesitating\, trembling one\, saying You of little faith\, \nwhy did you doubt? The cry thus answers the wail\, desire answers desire\, mercy \nanswers the wretched one; the doctor\, the sick one; compassion\, the one \nlaboring and in pain. \nFurther…the depths of Scripture…are opened to us when the Lord cries \nout in our hearts… The more outer persecution or inner disturbance saddens \nus\, the more does divine consolation from the sacred writings cheer us. For \nwhatever has been written was written for our instruction\, so that we might \nhave hope through the patience and consolation of the Scriptures. I say to you\, \nbrothers\, nothing adverse can happen\, nothing so sad or so bitter can take place\, \nwhich does not quickly vanish or is not more easily endured as soon as the \nsacred page is opened to us. This is the field to which Isaac went to meditate \nwhen the day was already drawing to a close; Rebecca met him there and \nrelieved his pain with her sweetness. \nHow often does day give way to evening for me\, good Jesus! How often \ndoes unbearable pain take the place of what little consolation I have\, just as the \ndark of night succeeds daylight. All things turn to boredom\, and everything that \nI see is a burden. If someone speaks\, I barely hear; if someone knocks\, I barely \nperceive it. My heart grows as hard as a rock\, my tongue clings to my palate\, \nand my eyes dry up. What then? I go out\, of course\, to the field to meditate\, I \nreflect on the sacred book\, and I fix my meditations in wax. Then suddenly\, \nRebecca comes to meet me. In other words\, your grace\, good Jesus\, scatters the \ndarkness with your light\, drives away boredom\, and breaks up the hardness. \nSoon tears follow sighs\, and heavenly joy accompanies tears. Unhappy are \nthose who do not enter this field and rejoice in this way when some sadness \ndisturbs them! \n3 Aelred of Rievaulx. Homilies on the Prophetic Burdens of Isaiah. CF 83. Trans. Lewis White. \nCollegeville\, MN: Cistercian Publications\, 2018. 256-265.7 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-202/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
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UID:12246-1719964800-1720051199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Thomas
DESCRIPTION:WHY DID THOMAS DEMAND PROOF? \nFrom a commentary by St Peter Chrysologus4 \n◊◊◊ \nWhen Thomas heard from his fellow disciples that they had seen the \nLord\, he answered: Unless I see the wounds made by the nails and put my \nhand into his side\, I will not believe. Why did Thomas thus demand proof before \nbelieving? Why was he so devout toward the suffering Christ\, but so resistant to \nthe risen Christ? Why did a pious hand open again the wounds made by a \nwicked hand? Why did the hand of a follower strive to plunge anew into the side \nopened by the spear of a wicked soldier?… \nWhen the Lord died\, the devil’s power collapsed\, the prison of hell was \nthrown open\, the fetters of the dead were broken\, tombs were destroyed; when \nthe Lord rose again death’s nature was completely changed. The stone before \nthe Lord’s most holy sepulcher was rolled away\, and the linen cloths were \nloosened; at his rising in glory death took to flight and life returned; his body \narose never to die again. Why then\, Thomas\, were you the only one to make \nsuch a shrewd inquiry\, demanding that the Lord’s wounds be shown as the only \nway to convince you? Suppose those wounds had vanished with all the other \nmarks of suffering – what danger to your faith would not your curiosity have \nengendered? \nMy brothers and sisters\, piety made this search and devotion these \ndemands to ensure that impiety should not thereafter raise doubts about the \nLord’s resurrection. It was not only the doubts in his own heart that Thomas \nwas healing\, but everyone else’s as well; and as he was to proclaim these things \nto the nations\, this energetic advocate was diligently trying to discover how he \ncould support the profession of so great a faith. Beyond question his spirit of \nprophecy was greater than his doubt. For why should he have made such a \nrequest unless he had learned from the Lord by prophetic inspiration that these \nwounds alone were to be retained as proof of the resurrection? \nFurthermore\, the Lord of his own accord had shown the others what this \nman subsequently demanded. The text says: Jesus came and stood in their \nmidst and showed them his hands and his side. For he who had entered through \nclosed doors and was with good reason thought by the disciples to be a ghost \ncould not prove himself to their doubting minds except by the wounds that told \nof his passion. Then he came and said to Thomas: Put your finger here\, and see \nmy hands\, and put out your hand and put it into my side\, and be not faithless \nbut believing. Do this so that when you reopen these wounds which have \nalready poured forth water and blood to cleanse and ransom all humankind\, \nfaith may pour out over the whole world. Thomas answered: My Lord and my \nGod! \nSee how scripture shows not only a human body but also\, through the \nsuffering this body endured\, that Christ is\, as Thomas acclaims him\, God and \nLord. Truly he is God who lives again after being dead\, who rose after suffering \na mortal wound; for although he endured so much suffering and received such \ngreat wounds\, he lives and reigns as God for countless ages. \n  \n4 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1993 – pg 94.9 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-thomas-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12248-1720051200-1720137599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE SOCIAL TEACHING \nOF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH \nFrom a pastoral letter of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops5 \n◊◊◊ \nIn the Catholic social vision\, the human person is central\, the clearest \nreflection of God among us. Each person possesses a basic dignity that comes \nfrom God\, not from any human quality or accomplishment\, not from race or \ngender\, age or economic status. The test of every institution or policy is whether \nit enhances or threatens human life and human dignity. We believe that people \nare more important than things. \nFlowing from our God-given dignity\, each person has basic rights and \nresponsibilities. These include the rights to freedom of conscience and religious \nliberty\, to raise a family\, to immigrate\, to live free from unfair discrimination\, \nand to have a share of earthly goods sufficient for oneself and one’s family. \nPeople have a fundamental right to life and to those things which make life truly \nhuman: food\, clothing\, housing\, health care\, education\, security\, social services\, \nand employment. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities \n– to one another\, to our families\, and to the larger society\, to respect the rights \nof others and to work for the common good. \nThe human person is not only sacred but social. We realize our dignity \nand rights in relationship with others\, in community. No community is more \ncentral than the family; it needs to be supported\, not undermined. It is the basic \ncell of society\, and the state has an obligation to support the family. The family \nhas major contributions to make in addressing questions of social justice. It is \nwhere we learn and act on our values. What happens in the family is at the basis \nof a truly human social life. We also have the right and responsibility to \nparticipate in and contribute to the broader communities in society. The state \nand other institutions of political and economic life\, with both their limitations \nand obligations\, are instruments to protect the life\, dignity\, and rights of the \nperson; promote the well-being of our families and communities; and pursue \nthe common good. Catholic social teaching does offer clear guidance on the role \nof government. When basic human needs are not being met by private initiative\, \nthen people must work through their government\, at appropriate levels\, to meet \nthose needs. A central test of political\, legal and economic institutions is what \nthey do to people\, what they do for people\, and how people participate in them. \nPoor and vulnerable people have a special place in Catholic social \nteaching. A basic moral test of a society is how its most vulnerable members are \nfaring. This is not a new insight; it is the lesson of the parable of the Last \nJudgment. Our tradition calls us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable \nfirst. As Christians\, we are called to respond to the needs of all our sisters and \nbrothers\, but those with the greatest needs require the greatest response. We \nmust seek creative ways to expand the emphasis of our nation’s founders on \nindividual rights and freedom by extending democratic ideals to economic life \nand thus ensure that the basic requirements for life with dignity are accessible \nto all. \n  \n5 Pastoral Letters & Statements of the U.S. Catholic Bishops – vol. VI – National Conference of Catholic Bishops \nUnited States Catholic Conference – Washington DC – pg 217f11 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-203/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240629T173534Z
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UID:12250-1720137600-1720223999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE TAX COLLECTOR \nABANDONED EARTHLY WEALTH \nFrom a homily by St Bede the Venerable6 \n◊◊◊ \nJesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office\, and he said to \nhim: Follow me. Jesus saw Matthew\, not merely in the usual sense\, but more \nsignificantly with his merciful understanding of men. \nHe saw the tax collector and\, because he saw him through the eyes of \nmercy and chose him\, he said to him: Follow me. This following meant \nimitating the pattern of his life – not just walking after him. Saint John tells us: \nWhoever says he abides in Christ ought to walk in the same way in which he \nwalked. \nAnd he rose and followed him. There is no reason for surprise that the \ntax collector abandoned earthly wealth as soon as the Lord commanded him. \nNor should one be amazed that neglecting his wealth\, he joined a band of men \nwhose leader had\, on Matthew’s assessment\, no riches at all. Our Lord \nsummoned Matthew by speaking to him in words. By an invisible\, interior \nimpulse flooding his mind with the light of grace\, he instructed him to walk in \nhis footsteps. In this way Matthew could understand that Christ\, who was \nsummoning him away from earthly possessions\, had incorruptible treasures of \nheaven in his gift. \nAs he sat at table in the house\, behold many tax collectors and sinners \ncame and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. This conversion of one tax \ncollector gave many men\, those from his own profession and other sinners\, an \nexample of repentance and pardon. Notice also the happy and true anticipation \nof his future status as apostle and teacher of the nations. No sooner was he \nconverted than Matthew drew after him a whole crowd of sinners along the \nsame road to salvation. He took up his appointed duties while still taking his \nfirst steps in the faith\, and from that hour he fulfilled his obligation and thus \ngrew in merit. \nTo see a deeper understanding of the great celebration Matthew held at \nhis house\, we must realize that he not only gave a banquet for the Lord at his \nearthly residence\, but far more pleasing was the banquet set in his own heart \nwhich he provided through faith and love. Our Savior attests to this: Behold I \nstand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door\, I \nwill come into him and eat with him\, and he with me. \nOn hearing Christ’s voice\, we open the door to receive him\, as it were\, \nwhen we freely assent to his promptings and when we give ourselves over to \ndoing what must be done. Christ\, since he dwells in the hearts of his chosen \nones through the grace of his love\, enters so that he might eat with us and we \nwith him. He ever refreshes us by the light of his presence insofar as we \nprogress in our devotion to and longing for the things of heaven. He himself is \ndelighted by such a pleasing banquet. \n  \n6 The Liturgy of the Hours: Vol. IV. New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co.\, 1975. 1418-1419.13 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-204/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240629T173716Z
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UID:12252-1720224000-1720310399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:MARY\, THE MOTHER OF THE LORD \nBy Fr Karl Rahner7 \n◊◊◊ \nAll that the faith says about the realization of redemption\, about salvation \nand grace and the fullness of grace\, is realized in Mary. This human person \nwhom we call Mary is as it were the very point in the whole history of our \nredemption at which the saving grace of the living God descends from him into \nthis history\, and from which it is diffused over the whole of humankind. For her \nSon\, whom she accepted in the strength of her heart\, whom she conceived in \nfaith and love\, is the Redeemer of the world. And since\, as Scripture testifies\, \nthe consent she gave in faith and obedience belongs not only to her private life- \nstory\, but to the public history of redemption\, it must correspond\, in harmony \nof person and function\, to the purpose for which it was given; in short it must \nbe perfect. \nIt follows too that Mary is one of us. We honor her\, praise her\, love and \nrevere her unique dignity. But if\, in view of the mystery of her son\, we ask\, where \ndoes Mary stand? We must reply\, she belongs entirely with us. She must receive \nGod’s mercy just as we must\, for she lives and typifies to perfection what we \nourselves are to be in Christ’s sight. We too are to become what she is. She comes \nbefore God with us – like us and as one of our company – in the innumerable \nhost of humanity. In our midst\, within the history of humankind as a whole\, as \na part of it\, she accomplishes her own life-story\, which takes on a unique \nimportance for our salvation\, and which\, once lived through with this \nsignificance\, endures eternally in God’s sight. \n  \nPrecisely because Mary\, in this position as intermediary\, is entirely one of \nus\, and only occupies that position because she belongs with us\, as a mere \ncreature\, to the one human family\, is she so near and dear to us. That is why we \nlove her. And have an almost too merely human trust in her. And feel her \nintercession\, protection and love to be so near and human\, although\, or rather \nbecause this dear and familiar humanity has been taken up\, unimpaired and \ntransfigured\, into the eternal life of God himself. \n  \n7 Mary\, the Mother of the Lord\, Herder & Herder NY 1963\, pp.38-40.15 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-6/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240706T212403Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240706T212403Z
UID:12262-1720310400-1720396799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n14th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nJuly 7 – 13\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n7\nMon\n8\nTue\n9\nWed\n10\nThu\n11\nFri\n12\nSat\n13\n\n\nOffice\n14th Sunday\nBl Eugene III\nWeekday\nWeekday\nSt Benedict\nOffice for Vocations\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nRuth 3:1-18\nRuth 4:1-22\n1 Sam 1:1-19\n1 Sam 1:20-2:11\nTobit 4:14-19\, 21\n1 Sam 2:12-36\n1 Sam 3:1-21\n\n\nLauds\nMic 3:5-8\nMic 3:9-12\nMic 4:1-5\nMic 4:6-8\nSir 45:1-5\nMic 4:9-14\nMic 5:1-8\n\n\nMass\n101\n383\n384\n385\n597\, 477\, 810\n387\n388\n\n\n1st\nEzek 2:2-5\nHos 2:16\, 17c-18\, 21-22\nHos 8:4-7\, 11-13\nHos 10:1-3\, 7-8\, 12\nProv 2:1-9\nHos 14:2-10\nIsa 6:1-8\n\n\n2nd\n2 Cor 12:7-10\n\n\n\nEph 4:1-6\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 6:1-6\nMatt 9:18-26\nMatt 9:32-38\nMatt 10:1-7\nLuke 22:24-27\nMatt 10:16-23\nMatt 10:24-33\n\n\nVespers\n2 Thess 3:11-18\n1 Tim 1:1-11\n1 Tim 1:12-20\nEph 5:14-20\nPhil 2:12-18\n1 Tim 2:1-8\n1 Tim 3:1-7
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-76/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240707
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240708
DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240706T212552Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240706T212552Z
UID:12264-1720310400-1720396799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 13th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:THE CHRIST WHO SPEAKS NOW \nFrom a commentary by St Symeon the New Theologian1 \n◊◊◊ \nMany people never stop saying – I have heard them myself – “If only we \nhad lived in the days of the apostles\, and been counted worthy to gaze upon \nChrist as they did\, we should have become holy like them.” Such people do not \nrealize that the Christ who spoke then and the Christ who speaks now \nthroughout the whole world is one and the same. If he were not the same then \nand now\, God in every respect\, in his operations as in the sacraments\, how \nwould it be seen that the Father is always in the Son and the Son in the Father\, \naccording to the words Christ spoke through the Spirit: My Father is still \nworking and so am I? \nBut no doubt someone will say that merely to hear his words now and to \nbe taught about him and his kingdom is not the same thing as to have seen him \nthen in the body. And I answer that indeed the position now is not the same as \nit was then\, but our situation now\, in the present day\, is very much better. It \nleads us more easily to a deeper faith and conviction than seeing and hearing \nhim in the flesh would have done. \nThen he appeared to the uncomprehending…as a man of lowly station; \nnow he is proclaimed to us as true God. Then in his body he associated with tax \ncollectors and sinners and ate with them; now he is seated at the right hand of \nGod the Father\, and is never in any way separated from him. We are firmly \npersuaded that it is he who feeds the entire world\, and we declare – at least if \nwe are believers – that without him nothing came into being. Then even those \nof lowliest condition held him in contempt. They said: Is this not the son of \nMary\, and of Joseph the carpenter? Now kings and rulers worship him as Son \nof the true God\, and himself true God\, and he has glorified and continues to \nglorify those who worship him in spirit and in truth\, although he often punishes \nthem when they sin. He transforms them\, more than all the nations under \nheaven\, from clay into iron. Then he was thought to be mortal and corruptible \nlike the rest of humankind. He was no different in appearance from other men. \nThe formless and invisible God\, without change or alteration\, assumed a human \nform and showed himself to be a normal human being. He ate\, he drank\, he \nslept\, he sweated\, and he grew weary. He did everything other people do\, except \nhe did not sin. For anyone to recognize him in that human body\, and to believe \nthat he was the God who made heaven and earth and everything in them was \nvery exceptional. \nThis is why when Peter said: You are the Son of the living God\, the master \ncalled him blessed\, saying: Blessed are you\, Simon Bar-Jonah\, for flesh and \nblood has not revealed this to you — you do not speak of something your eyes \nhave seen – but my Father who is in heaven. \nIt is certain therefore that anyone who now hears Christ cry out daily \nthrough the holy Gospels\, and proclaim the will of his heavenly Father\, but does \nnot obey him with fear and trembling and keep his commandments – it is \ncertain that such a person would have refused to believe in him then\, if he had \nbeen present\, and seen him\, and heard him teach. Indeed there is reason to fear \nthat in his total incredulity he would have blasphemed by regarding Christ not \nas true God\, but as an enemy of God. \n  \n1 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1993 – pg 96-97.3 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-13th-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240706T212718Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240706T212718Z
UID:12266-1720396800-1720483199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Bl Eugene III
DESCRIPTION:FROM THE TREATISE “ON CONSIDERATION” \nBy St Bernard of Clairvaux for Pope Eugenius III2 \n◊◊◊ \nIt has occurred to me to write something which might edify\, delight or \nconsole you\, Blessed Father Eugene. But I do not know the rules for writing a \nformal yet intimate treatise. Two opposites\, your majesty and my love\, vie to \ndictate my style. Love draws me on; majesty holds me back. But you graciously \nintervene and request rather than command this treatise\, although it would be \nmore fitting for you to command it. Since your majesty so admirably \ncondescends\, why does my hesitancy persist? What if you have ascended the \nthrone? Even if you were to walk on the wings of the wind\, you would not escape \nmy affection. Love knows no master. It recognizes a son even though he wear \nthe tiara. It is the nature of a lover to be suitably humble\, willingly submissive\, \nfreely compliant\, respectful without duress. \nThis is not the way with others however; they are driven either by fear or \nby greed. Such men bless openly\, but harbor evil in their hearts. They flatter you \nwhen you are present\, yet fail you in time of need. But charity never fails. It is \ntrue that I have been freed of maternal obligation toward you\, but I am not \nstripped of affection for you. You were once in my womb; you will not be drawn \nfrom my heart so easily. Ascend to the heavens\, descend to the depths\, you will \nnot escape me. I will follow you wherever you go. I loved you when you were \npoor in spirit; I shall love you still as father of the poor and the rich. If I know \nyou\, you did not cease being poor in spirit when you became the father of the \npoor. I am confident that this change has been thrust on you and was not of \nyour doing\, that this promotion has not replaced your former state\, but rather \nhas enhanced it. Therefore I will instruct you not as a teacher\, but as a mother\, \nindeed as a lover. I may seem more the fool\, but only to one who does not love\, \nto one who does not feel the force of love. \n  \n2 The Five Books On Consideration – St Bernard of Clairvaux – CF Series #37 – Cistercain \nPublications – Kalamazoo\, MI – 1976 – pg 23.5 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-bl-eugene-iii/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240710
DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240706T212809Z
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UID:12268-1720483200-1720569599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE HIGHEST PROOF OF LOVE \nAn excerpt from Lumen Gentium3 \n◊◊◊ \n‘God is love\, and he who abides in love abides in God and God abides in \nhim’. God has poured out his love in our hearts through the Holy spirit who has \nbeen given to us; therefore the first and most necessary gift is charity\, by which \nwe love God above all things and our neighbor because of him. But if charity is \nto grow and fructify in the soul like a good seed\, each of the faithful must \nwillingly bear the word of God and carry out his will with deeds\, with the help \nof his grace; he must frequently partake of the sacraments\, chiefly the \nEucharist\, and take part in the liturgy; he must constantly apply himself to \nprayer\, self-denial\, active brotherly service and the practice of all the virtues. \nThis is because love\, as the bond of perfection and fullness of the law\, governs\, \ngives meaning to\, and perfects all the means of sanctification. Hence the true \ndisciple of Christ is marked by love both of God and of neighbor. \nSince Jesus\, the Son of God\, showed his love by laying down his life for \nus\, no one has greater love than he who lays down his life for him and his \nbrothers. Some Christians have been called from the beginning\, and will always \nbe called\, to give this greatest testimony of love to all\, especially to persecutors. \nMartyrdom makes the disciple like his master\, who willingly accepted death for \nthe salvation of the world\, and through it he is conformed to him by the \nshedding of blood. Therefore the Church considers it the highest gift and \nsupreme test of love. And while it is given to few\, all however must be prepared \nto confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the cross amidst \npersecutions which the Church never lacks. \n3 Vatican Council II. ed Austin Flannery\,OP. Costello Publishing Co.\, NY\, 1981\, pp. 400-401.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-205/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
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UID:12270-1720569600-1720655999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE BOOK OF PROVERBS \nFrom a commentary by Dom Damasus Winzen4 \n◊◊◊ \nTo fear God\, in the Old Testament\, does not mean to be afraid of Him\, but \nto be devoted to Him. “In the fear of the Lord a person has great confidence… \nThe fear of the Lord is a fountain of life”. The wisdom which grows out of this \nfear of the Lord is\, therefore\, a progressive transformation of the heart… \nThe Book of Proverbs is a guide to establish peace in the minds of the \nfaithful by bringing them into contact with the light of that Divine Wisdom \nwhich rules the world gently and peacefully. The fear of the Lord\, the keeping \nof the commandments\, the right way of life\, is the object… Wisdom and folly are \nopposed to each other as life and death. It is the Way\, the Truth and the Life \nWho speaks in these proverbs. His charity is foreshadowed in the love of the \npoor…Wisdom was with Her Father when He established the heavens\, and \nwhen He set a circle upon the face of the deep\, and when He appointed the \nfoundations of the earth. Therefore Wisdom opens to the eyes of mortals the \ndivine meaning of this visible creation. \nThe teaching…would not be complete\, however\, without the revelation of \ntwo other great mysteries\, which represent\, in someway\, the beginning and the \nend of God’s ways: the mystery of the Divine Personality of the Word of God\, \nand that of the eternal life of the just. Wisdom is not only a mental image or an \nabstract thought or a guiding principle. It is a Divine Person. It is the inner \nnature of Wisdom to be the true\, substantial image of the Father’s glory. If \nWisdom were only a personification of the Law she would be dead. Only as a \nDivine Person can she become a source of life. As this is shown in the beginning \nof creation\, so still more gloriously at the end. The last triumph of Wisdom is \nthe Last Judgment\, which will bring eternal life to the just. In the earlier periods \nof the Old Testament revelation\, the immortality of the soul was shrouded in \nmystery. Now it enters into the full light of faith. \nFrom the beginning to the end\, the universal rule of Wisdom has been \nestablished. Nevertheless those whose eyes have been opened in Baptism to the \nlight of Christ will realize that the teaching of Solomon lacks one thing: the \n“foolishness of God”\, Christ crucified. Wisdom was going to be more than a \nguide to the wise\, more than eternal life for the just\, more\, even\, than the \nbeginning of creation. She was to become the Lamb who would not only expose \nbut take away the sin of the world. The wisdom of Solomon preached reward to \nthe virtuous and death to those who hate her. But more than Solomon is here\, \nwhere Christ Jesus becomes unto us sinners “wisdom and justice and \nand redemption” through the foolishness of the Cross. \n  \n4 Pathways of Scripture\, Dom Damasus Winzen\, pg. 93 Unpublished MS.8 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-206/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240706T213118Z
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UID:12272-1720656000-1720742399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Benedict
DESCRIPTION:A SOUL THAT SEES ITS CREATOR \nFrom the Dialogues of St Gregory the Great5 \n◊◊◊ \nLong before the night office began\, Benedict was standing at his window\, \nwhere he watched and prayed while the rest were still asleep. In the dead of night \nhe suddenly beheld a flood of light shining down from above more brilliant than \nthe sun\, and with it every trace of darkness cleared away. Another remarkable \nsight followed. According to his own description\, the whole world was gathered \nup before his eyes in what appeared to be a single ray of light. As he gazed at all \nthis dazzling display\, he saw the soul of Germanus\, the Bishop of Capua\, being \ncarried by angels up to heaven in a ball of fire. \nWishing to have someone else witness this great marvel\, he called out for \nServandus\, repeating his name two or three times in a loud voice. As soon as he \nheard the Saint’s call\, Servandus rushed to the upper room and was just in time \nto catch a final glimpse of the miraculous light. He remained speechless with \nwonder as Benedict described everything that had taken place. Then without any \ndelay the man of God instructed the devout Theoprobus to go to Cassino and have \na messenger sent to Capua that same night to find out what had happened to \nGermanus. In carrying out these instructions the messenger discovered that the \nrevered bishop was already dead. When he asked for further details\, he learned \nthat his death had occurred at the very time blessed Benedict saw him carried \ninto heaven. \nTo understand this miracle\, let us keep in mind that all creation is bound \nto appear small to a soul that sees the Creator. Once it beholds a little of His light\, \nit finds all creatures small indeed. The light of holy contemplation enlarges and \nexpands the mind in God until it stands above the world. In fact\, the soul that \nsees Him rises even above itself\, and as it is drawn upward in His light all its inner \npowers unfold. Then\, when it looks down from above\, it sees how small \neverything is that was beyond its grasp before. \nHow else was it possible for this man to behold the ball of fire and watch \nthe angels on their return to heaven except with light from God? Why should it \nsurprise us\, then\, that he could see the whole world gathered up before him after \nthis inner light had lifted him so far above the world? Of course\, in saying that \nthe world was gathered up before his eyes I do not mean that heaven and earth \ngrew small\, but that his spirit was enlarged. Absorbed as he was in God\, it was \nnow easy for him to see all that lay beneath God. In the light outside that was \nshining before his eyes\, there was a brightness which reached into his mind and \nlifted his spirit heavenward\, showing him the insignificance of all that lies below. \n  \n5 Dialogues\, Bk II\, ch 35.10 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-benedict-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240712
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240713
DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240706T213226Z
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UID:12274-1720742400-1720828799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:THE MEANING OF VOCATION \nFrom the writing of St John Paul II6 \n◊◊◊ \nFaith and love are not just words or vague feelings. Believing and loving \nGod means a consistent life\, lived wholly in the light of the Gospel. This is not \neasy. It often calls for great courage in going against the trends of fashion and \nthe opinions of our world. But this is the one requirement for a truly successful \nand happy life. \nIf\, in spite of your personal effort to follow Christ you are sometimes weak \nand do not live in conformity to the law of love\, to the commandments\, do not \nbe discouraged. Christ continues to wait for you. He\, Jesus\, is the Good \nShepherd who searches for the lost sheep and who tenderly bears it on his \nshoulder. Christ is the friend who never lets you down. \nIn the gospel story we see that the young man\, having affirmed that he \nhas kept the commandments\, adds: “What do I still lack?” The young heart\, \nmoved by God’s grace\, felt a desire for greater generosity\, more commitment\, \ngreater love. This desire for more is characteristic of youth; a heart that is in \nlove does not calculate\, does not begrudge\, it wants to give of itself without \nmeasure. “Jesus\, looking at him\, loved him and said to him\, come\, follow me.” \nTo those who entered the path of life by observing the commandments\, \nthe Lord proposes new horizons; the Lord proposes to the means that are loftier \nand calls them to commit themselves to his love without reserve. To discover \nthis call\, this vocation\, is to realize that Christ is looking on you and inviting you \nby his glance to give yourself totally in love. Before this glance\, before his love\, \nthe heart opens its doors gradually and is capable of saying yes. \nIf some of you hear the call to follow Christ more closely\, to dedicate your \nentire heart to him\, like the apostles John and Paul\, be generous\, do not be \nafraid\, because you have nothing to fear when the prize that you await is God \nHimself\, for whom\, sometimes without ever knowing it\, all young people are \nsearching. \nYoung people who are hastening to me\, young people who more than \nanything else want to know what you must do to gain eternal life\, always say yes \nto God and he will fill you with his happiness. \n“There is one thing you lack\, come\, follow me”. Is Jesus perhaps repeating \nto some of you today: “There is one thing you lack?” Is he perhaps asking for \neven more love\, more generosity\, more sacrifice? Yes\, the love of Christ involves \ngenerosity and sacrifice. To follow Christ and to serve the world in his name \nrequires courage and strength. There is no place for selfishness – and no place \nfor fear! Do not be afraid\, then\, when love makes demands. Do not be afraid \nwhen love requires sacrifice. \nTo each one of you I say\, therefore: Heed the call of Christ when you hear \nhim saying to you: “Follow me!” Walk in my path! Stand by my side! Remain in \nmy love! There is a choice to be made: a choice for Christ and the way of life\, \nand his commandment of love. \n  \n6 The Meaning of Vocation – St John Paul II – Scepter Publishers – Princeton\, NJ – 1997 – pg 18.12 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-14/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240706T213340Z
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UID:12276-1720828800-1720915199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:SHE OBEYED THE WORD \nBy Han Urs von Balthasar7 \n◊◊◊ \nMary is a prototype of the Church\, and this for two reasons: she is the \nplace of the real and bodily in-dwelling of the Word in the most intimate union \nof Mother and Child sharing the same flesh; and\, in the spiritual sphere\, she is \na servant\, in her entire person\, body and soul\, one who knows no law of her \nown\, but only conformity to the Word of God. Because she was a virgin\, which \nmeans a pure\, exclusive hearer of the word\, she became mother\, the place of the \nincarnation of the Word. Her womb was blessed\, only because she “heard the \nWord of God and kept it”\, because she “kept all these words and pondered them \nin her heart”. She is the model which should govern contemplation\, if it is to \nkeep clear of two dangers: one\, that of seeing the word only as something \nexternal\, instead of the profoundest mystery within our own being\, that in \nwhich we live\, move and are: the other\, that of regarding the word as so interior \nto us that we confuse it with our own being\, with a natural wisdom given us once \nand for all\, and ours to use as we will… \nThe hearer par excellence is the virgin who became pregnant with the \nWord\, and bore him as her own and the Father’s Son. She herself\, even when \nMother\, remained a servant; the Father alone is the Master\, together with the \nSon\, who is her life and who molds her life. She lives wholly for the fruit of her \nwomb. Even after she has given him birth\, she continues to carry him within \nher; she only needs to look into her heart\, to find him. But she does not omit\, \non that account\, to turn her gaze uninterruptedly upon the child growing up by \nher side\, upon the youth and the man\, whose ideas and actions seem to her ever \nmore unpredictable and astonishing. More and more\, she “understood not” \nwhat he meant when he stayed behind in the temple without telling her\, when \nhe failed to receive her\, when\, in his public life\, he concealed his power and \nspent himself in vain and\, in the end\, detached himself from her as she stood at \nthe foot of the cross\, substituting for himself a stranger\, John\, to be her son. \nWith all the force of her body\, she obeys the word that resounds ever more \nstrongly and divinely but seems more and more alien and almost tears her \nasunder\, although\, in spite of all\, she has given herself to it wholly and radically \nin advance. She lets herself be led where she “knows not”; the word she follows \nis far from being her own wisdom. Yet she is wholly in accord with its leading\, \nso surely is the word she loves “engrafted” in her heart. \n  \n7 London: Geoffrey Chapman\, 1963\, pp. 22-24.14 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-7/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172319
CREATED:20240714T011633Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240714T011633Z
UID:12282-1720915200-1721001599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema: 15th Week in Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n15th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nJuly 14 – 20\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n14\nMon\n15\nTue\n16\nWed\n17\nThu\n18\nFri\n19\nSat\n20\n\n\nOffice\n15th Sunday\nSt Bonaventure\nBl Virgin Martyrs of Orange\nWeekday\nSt Camillus de Lillus\nWeekday\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\n1 Sam 4:1-22\n1 Sam 5:1-12\n1 Sam 6:1-7:1\n1 Sam 7:2-17\n1 Sam 8:1-22\n1 Sam 9:1-24\n1 Sam 9:25-10:16\n\n\nLauds\nMic 5:9-14\nMic 6:1-8\nMic 6:9-16\nMic 7:1-7\nMic 7:8-10\nMic 7:14-20\nNahum 1:1-8\n\n\nMass\n104\n389\n390\n391\n392\n393\n394\n\n\n1st\nAmos 7:12-15\nIsa 1:10-17\nIsa 7:1-9\nIsa 10:5-7\, 13b-16\nIsa 26:7-9\, 12\, 16-19\nIsa 38:1-6\, 21-22\, 7-8\nMic 2:1-5\n\n\n2nd\nEph 1:3-14\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 6:7-13\nMatt 10:34-11:1\nMatt 11:20-24\nMatt 11:25-27\nMatt 11:28-30\nMatt 12:1-8\nMatt 12:14-21\n\n\nVespers\n1 Tim 3:8-13\n1 Tim 3:14-4:5\n1 Tim 4:6-10\n1 Tim 4:11-16\n1 Tim 5:1-8\n1 Tim 5:17-25\n1 Tim 6:3-10
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-15th-week-in-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12284-1720915200-1721001599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:THEY SET OUT TO PREACH REPENTANCE\nFrom a commentary by Theophylact of Ohrid 1\n◊◊◊\nBesides teaching himself the Lord also sent out the Twelve in pairs. The\nreason for sending them in pairs was so that they would go more readily\, for\nthey might not have been willing to set out all alone and\, on the other hand\, if\nhe had sent more than two together\, there would not have been enough apostles\nto cover all the villages. So he sent them two by two: two are better than one\, as\nEcclesiastes says. \nHe commanded them to take nothing with them\, neither bag\, nor money\,\nnor bread\, so as to teach them to despise riches\, and to make people ashamed\nwhen they saw them preaching poverty by their own lack of possessions. For\nwho would not blush for shame\, strip himself of his possessions\, and embrace\na life of poverty when he saw an apostle carrying neither bag\, nor even bread\nwhich is so essential? \nThe Lord instructed them to stay in the same house so as not to give the\nappearance of restlessness\, as though they moved from one family to another in\norder to satisfy their stomachs. On the other hand\, he told them to shake the\ndust off their feet when people refuse to receive them\, to show that they had\nmade a long journey for their sakes and they owed them nothing; they had\nreceived nothing from them\, not even their dust\, which they shook off as a\ntestimony against them – a testimony of reproach. Be sure of this\, I tell you:\nSodom and Gomorrah will fare better on the Day of Judgment than those who\nwill not receive you. The Sodomites were punished in this world\, so they will be\npunished less severely in the next. What is more\, no apostles were sent to them.\nFor those who refused to receive the apostles\, greater sufferings are in store. \nSo they set out to preach repentance. They cast out many demons\, and\nanointed many sick people with oil and cured them. The fact that the apostles\nanointed the sick with oil is mentioned only by Mark\, but the practice is also\nreferred to in his general letter by James\, the brother of the Lord\, who says: Are\nthere any sick people among you? Let them send for the elders of the Church\nand let these pray over them\, anointing them with oil. Oil is beneficial for the\nrelief of suffering\, and it also produces light and makes for cheerfulness. It\nsymbolizes the mercy of God and the grace of the Spirit\, through which we are\nfreed from suffering and receive light\, gladness\, and spiritual joy. \n1\nJourney with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1993 – pg 98-99.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-15th-sunday-in-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12286-1721001600-1721087999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils: St. Bonaventure
DESCRIPTION:THE LIFE OF ST BONAVENTURE\nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints 2\n◊◊◊\nOf the youth of this greatest successor of St Francis of Assisi nothing is\nknown beyond the facts that he was born at Bagnoregio\, near Viterbo\, in the\nyear 1221\, the son of John Fidanza and Mary Ritella. He was clothed in the order\nof Friars Minor and studies at the University of Paris under an Englishman\,\nAlexander of Hales\, ‘the Unanswerable Doctor’; Bonaventure\, who was to\nbecome known as the Seraphic Doctor\, himself taught theology and Holy\nScripture there from 1248 to 1257. \nBonaventure was called by his priestly obligation to labor for the salvation\nof his neighbor\, and to this he devoted himself with enthusiasm. He preached\nto the people with an energy which kindled a flame in the hearts of those that\nheard him. While at the University of Paris he produced one of the best-known\nof his written works\, the “Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard”\,\nwhich covers the whole field of scholastic theology. The years of his public\nlecturing at Paris were greatly disturbed\, however\, by the attack made on the\nmendicant friars by the other professors at the university. Jealousy of their\npastoral and academic success and the standing reproof to worldliness and ease\nof the friars’ lives were in part behind this attempt to get them excluded from\nthe schools. The leader of the secular party was William of Saint-Amour\, who\nmade a bitter onslaught on the mendicants in a book called “The Perils of the\nLast Times”\, and other writings. \nBonaventure\, who had to suspend lecturing for a time\, replied in a treatise\non evangelical poverty\, named “Concerning the Poverty of Christ”. The pope\,\nAlexander IV\, appointed a commission of cardinals to go into the matter at\nAnagni\, and on their findings ordered Saint-Amour’s book to be burnt\,\nvindicated and reinstated the friars\, and ordered the offenders to withdraw\ntheir attack. A year later\, in 1257\, St Bonaventure and St Thomas Aquinas\nreceived the degree of doctor of theology together. \nIn 1257 Bonaventure was chosen minister general of the Friars Minor. He\nwas not yet thirty-six years old\, and the order was torn by dissensions\, some of\nthe friars being for an inflexible severity\, others demanding certain mitigation\nof the rule; between the two extremes were a number of other interpretations.\nSome of the extreme rigorists\, called Spirituals\, had even fallen into error and\ndisobedience\, and thus given a handle to the friars’ opponents in the Paris\ndispute. The new minister general wrote a letter to his provincials in which he\nmade it clear that he required a disciplined observance of the rule\, involving a\nreformation of the relaxed\, but giving no countenance to the excesses of the\nSpirituals. \nAt Narbonne in 1260\, the first of the five general chapters which he held\,\nhe produced a set of constitutions on the rule\, which were adopted and had a\npermanent effect on Franciscan life\, but they failed to pacify the excessive\nrigorists. At the request of the friars assembled in this chapter\, he undertook to\nwrite the life of St Francis\, which he compiled with a spirit which shows him to\nhave been filled with the virtues of the founder whose life he wrote. He governed\nhis order for seventeen years and has been justly called its second founder. \n2 BUTLER’S LIVES OF THE SAINTS\, Concise Edition edited by M. Walsh (Harper San Francisco\, 1991) pp. 216-\n217.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-st-bonaventure/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12288-1721088000-1721174399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils: Bl. Virgin Martyrs of Orange
DESCRIPTION:THE MARTYRS OF ORANGE\n◊◊◊\nThe Martyrs of Orange were a group of 32 beatified religious women\nmartyred at Orange\, France\, during the French Revolution between July 5 and\n26\, 1794. Two were Cistercian nuns from Avignon\, the others were from\nBollene\, near Avignon. The others…included 16 Ursulines\, 13 Sacramentine\nnuns and one Benedictine nun. For refusing to take the oath of Liberty of the\nnew regime\, the nuns were expelled from their convents\, arrested and held in\nLa Cure prison in Orange. These and other nuns formed a kind of religious\ncommunity and spent hours in prayer and religious exercises daily until\ncondemned for fanaticism and superstition… \nThe martyrs of the prison ships of Rochefort died in 1794\, the same year\nas the nuns of Orange\, and were declared martyrs in 1925. On October 1\, 1995\,\nPope John Paul II beatified three other Cistercians at the same time as 61 other\npriests and religious of various Congregations. They were not the only\nCistercians who died of starvation or illness in the slave ships or on the islands\noff the shore of La Rochelle. Our Menology mentions several others. Yet for the\ncause of beatification\, only 64 among the 547 who died\, were retained as\nmartyrs\, namely\, those who were explicitly mentioned in the list of the\ndeported. \nThe three Cistercians were: Br Elias Desgardin\, Dom Paul Charles\, and\nDom Gervais Brunel. Br. Elias Desgardin was a lay Brother from Sept Fons. He\ncared for his sick companions. A martyr of charity\, he died of typhoid fever at\nthe age of forty-four. He was buried on the island of Aix… Dom Paul Charles\nwas the Prior of Sept Fons. Detained on the ship Les Deux Associes\, he died at\nthe age of fifty-one\, esteemed and loved by his companions in captivity. He was\nburied on the island called Madame. The third beatified martyr was Dom\nGervais Brunel\, Superior of La Trappe\, who died at the age of fifty in a\nprovisional hospital on the island Madame. Stricken with typhoid fever\, he\narrived there on the point of dying\, dying on the very day of the disembarkment. \nOne of them made a statement that can be applied to all these beatified\nreligious and to many others condemned to die on the prison ships: “If we are\nthe most unhappy of men\, we are also the happiest of Christians”. \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-bl-virgin-martyrs-of-orange/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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