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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240910
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240911
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240907T232407Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240907T232407Z
UID:12503-1725926400-1726012799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:MARY’S BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD \nFrom a homily by Ogier of Locedio1 \n◊◊◊ \nThis most holy Virgin Mary was of royal lineage: Joachim was her father\, \nand Anne her mother. She is that mighty woman presaged by the Lord when\, \nat the time of Eve’s undoing\, he told the serpent\, ‘You shall lie in wait for her \nheel\, and she shall trample your head.’ She is that mighty Virgin who trampled \nthe head of the dragon by her power… Through her the Lord delivered our first \nparents\, Adam and Eve\, from everlasting death… She is that valiant woman\, \nendowed with strength and choicest virtue\, of whom Solomon spoke: Who shall \nfind a valiant woman? Hers is a prize far beyond all bounds. Indeed\, her prize \nwas none other than the Son of God the Father\, who from far beyond all \nbounds… marvelously and ineffably entered the enclosure of the virginal \nwomb… \nHow greatly God’s angels rejoiced when thus the restoration of \nhumankind was secured! The whole world leapt for joy\, heaven thundered with \npraise\, the earth danced for delight\, her song of joy soon joined by the skies \nabove and the seas below… so the whole universe took on its pristine glory as \nthat most blessed daughter was told: Virgin Mother of God\, your birth is news \nof joy to all the world! If therefore all the orders of angels rejoice in the birth \nof Mary the Mother of God\, let all orders of monks rejoice therein as well. If \nheaven and earth rejoice\, then all Christ’s consecrated virgins also. Let \neveryone rejoice… with great joy\, for the birth of Mary the sacred Virgin spells \njoy for the whole of heaven and earth. \nThus Mary\, the morning star that drives away all darkness\, came forth \nfrom her mother’s womb beautiful as the moon\, sought-out as the sun\, dreadful \nas a well-armed camp\, the glorious light that came forth from the darkness\,7 \nwithin whose womb Light itself would shine. From Jesse’s root there came the \nVirgin who would bear the flower. It is she who says\, I am the flower of the \nfield and the lily of the valleys’. Before that fragrant flower all other flowers lose \nthe sweetness of their scent… By means of Anna and Joachim God created that \nremedy whereby humankind would be freed from everlasting death. Through… \nblessed Mary\, the Lord gives light to the blind\, heals the sick\, raises the dead\, \nfrees us from sin\, justifies us through grace\, and crowns us with his glory. \nLet therefore all the just rejoice at the birth of her through whom they \nhave been justified. Let the blessed rejoice who through her have been made \nblessed… Let them approach the blessed child\, the sublime Queen on high. Let \nthem embrace her\, let them cradle her in the arms of perfect love. Let them \nbear her in their hearts\, her praises ever on their tongues\, so as to possess her \nwith their love. For this is no woman to be slighted\, this is no ordinary mother: \nthis is blessed Mary\, wholly sweet and lovable… \nShe is the sweetness of myrrh\, the absence of all bitterness. She who was \nnever to dwell in the bitterness of sin is rightly named Mary. She never sinned \nnor ever wished to sin\, in thought or word or deed. Wholly beautiful\, there was \nno blemish in her; only thus could she become the Mother of the Lord…
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-217/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240911
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240912
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240907T232457Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240907T232457Z
UID:12505-1726012800-1726099199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:THE CALL OF GOD \nBy Hans Urs von Balthasar1 \n◊◊◊ \nEvery call of God is a proclamation of the eternal election by which he \n“chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world\, that we should be holy \nand without blemish in his sight in love”; by which he “predestined us to be \nadopted through Jesus Christ as his sons”. It is an act of love\, and its goal is the \nholiness that is always a form of love. Because it has been formed and shaped \nby the laws of love\, it can be comprehended only in terms of love. \nIt follows that God can issue the commandment of love\, which is the \nessential content of every genuine call\, in varying degrees of urgency and clarity. \nFor many\, its sound is dissipated; they regard it as something to be taken for \ngranted\, as something that does not require their special attention. Of course\, \nGod demands love; of course there is such a thing as a first and greatest \ncommandment; of course every Christian is called to obey it\, whether well or \nbadly\, to the best of his ability. And God will help our weakness\, and\, we hope\, \nforgive our failings. So far as its content is concerned\, the commandment of love \nsounds plainly enough\, but it strikes no answering chord in the one who hears \nit. It compels him to no conclusions that could force him out of the rut he is in. \nThe call to love God boundlessly is always\, at the same time\, God’s \noffering of his own love to the one thus called. Because this is so\, the call bears \nin itself the possibility not only of understanding\, but also of responding to the \nlove to which it calls. Indeed every special form of the divine call contains also \nthe special grace of the response. All forms of God’s special call are forms of love \nand\, for that reason\, different from the mere command that a master might \nissue to his servant… The manner and the very sound of God’s voice can be9 \ndifferent depending on…the personal love of God that is reflected in the \ninvitation to personal discipleship.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-16/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240912
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240913
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240907T232551Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240907T232551Z
UID:12507-1726099200-1726185599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Peter of Tarentaise
DESCRIPTION:SAINT PETER II\, \nARCHBISHOP OF TARENTAISE \nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints1 \n◊◊◊ \nSt Peter of Tarentaise was born near Vienne in the French province of the \nDauphine. He early displayed a remarkable memory\, coupled with great \ninclination for religious studies\, and at the age of twenty he entered the abbey \nof Bonnevaux. After a time\, his father and the other two sons followed Peter to \nBonnevaux\, while his mother\, with the only daughter\, entered a neighboring \nnunnery. \nHe was not quite thirty when he was chosen superior of a new house built \nat Tamie\, in the desert mountains of Tarentaise. It over looked the pass which \nwas then the chief route from Geneva to Savoy\, and the monks were able to be \nof great use to travellers. There\, with the help of Amadeus III\, Count of Savoy\, \nwho held him in high esteem\, he founded a hospice for the sick and for \nstrangers\, in which he was wont to wait upon his guests with his own hands. \nIn 1142 came his election to the archbishopric of Tarentaise\, and Peter \nwas compelled by St Bernard and the general chapter of his order\, though much \nagainst the grain\, to accept the office. He found the diocese in a deplorable state\, \ndue mainly to the mismanagement of his predecessor\, an unworthy man who \nhad eventually to be deposed. In place of the cathedral clergy whom he found \nlax and careless; St Peter substituted canons regular of St Augustine. He \nundertook the constant visitation of his diocese; recovered property which had \nbeen alienated; appointed good priests to various parishes; made excellent \nfoundations for the education of the young and relief of the poor; and \neverywhere provided for the due celebration of the services of the Church..11 \nIn 1155\, after he had administered the diocese for thirteen years\, Peter \nsuddenly disappeared. Actually\, he had made his way to a remote Cistercian \nabbey in Switzerland\, where\, he was accepted as a lay-brother. Not until a year \nlater was he discovered. His identity having been revealed to his new superiors\, \nPeter was obliged to leave and return to his see\, where he was greeted with great \njoy. He took up his duties more zealously than ever. He rebuilt the hospice of \nthe Little St Bernard and founded other similar refuges for travellers in the \nAlps… \nIt was not granted to the saint to die among his mountain flock. His \nreputation as a peacemaker led Alexander III to send him in 1174 to try effect a \nreconciliation between King Louis VII of France and Henry II of England. St \nPeter\, though he was old\, set out at once\, preaching everywhere on his way. As \nhe approached Chaumont in the Vexin\, where the French court was being held\, \nhe was met by King Louis and by Prince Henry\, the rebellious heir to the English \nthrone. The latter\, alighting from his horse to receive the archbishop’s blessing\, \nasked for the saint’s old cloak\, which he reverently kissed. Both at Chaumont \nand at Gisors where he interviewed the English king\, St Peter was treated with \nutmost honor\, but the reconciliation for which he labored did not take place \nuntil after his death. As he was returning to his diocese he was taken ill on the \nroad near Besancon\, and died as he was being carried into the abbey of \nBellevaux. This St Peter was canonized in 1191.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-peter-of-tarentaise/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240913
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240914
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240907T232656Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240907T232656Z
UID:12509-1726185600-1726271999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St John Chrysostom
DESCRIPTION:ST CHRYSOSTOM’S CHARM \nFrom “Historical Sketches” by St John Henry Newman1 \n◊◊◊ \nWhence this devotion to St. John Chrysostom\, which leads me to dwell \nupon the thought of him\, and makes me kindle at his name\, when so many other \ngreat Saints command indeed my veneration\, but exert no personal claim upon \nmy heart? Many holy people have died in exile\, many holy people have been \nsuccessful preachers; and what more can we write upon St. Chrysostom’s \nmonument than this\, that he was eloquent and that he suffered persecution? He \nis not an Athanasius\, expounding a sacred dogma with a luminousness which is \nalmost an inspiration. Nor\, except by the contrast\, does he remind us of that \nAmbrose who kept his ground obstinately in an imperial city\, and fortified \nhimself against the heresy of a court by the living rampart of a devoted \npopulation. Nor is he Gregory or Basil\, rich in the literature and philosophy of \nGreece\, and embellishing the Church with the spoils of heathenism. Nor is he a \nJerome\, so dead to the world that he can imitate the point and wit of its writers \nwithout danger to himself or scandal to his brethren. He has not trampled upon \nheresy\, nor smitten emperors\, nor beautified the house or the service of God\, \nnor knit together the portions of Christendom\, nor founded a religious order\, \nnor built up the framework of doctrine\, nor expounded the science of the Saints; \nyet I love him\, as I love David or St. Paul. \nHow am I to account for it? I consider St. Chrysostom’s charm to lie in his \nintimate sympathy and compassionateness for the whole world\, not only in its \nstrength\, but in its weakness; in the lively regard with which he views everything \nthat comes before him\, taken in the concrete\, whether as made after its own \nkind or as gifted with a nature higher than its own. It is the interest which he \ntakes in all things\, not so far as God has made them alike\, but as he has made \nthem different from each other…13 \nI speak of the kindly spirit and the genial temper with which he looks \nround at all things which this wonderful world contains; of the graphic fidelity \nwith which he notes them down upon the tablets of his mind\, and of the \npromptitude and propriety with which he calls them up as arguments or \nillustrations in the course of his teaching as the occasion requires. Possessed \nthough he be by the fire of ardent charity\, he has not lost one fibre\, he does not \nmiss one vibration\, of the complicated whole of human sentiment and affection; \nlike the miraculous bush in the desert\, which for all the flame that wrapt it \nround\, was not thereby consumed. \nThat loving scrutiny\, with which he follows the Apostles as they reveal \nthemselves to us in their writings\, he practices in various ways towards all \npeople\, living and dead\, high and low\, those whom he admires and those whom \nhe weeps over. He writes as one who was ever looking out with sharp but kind \neyes upon the world of humans and their history; and hence he has always \nsomething to produce about them\, new or old\, to the purpose of his argument\, \nwhether from books or from the experience of life… This is why his manner of \nwriting is so rare and special; and why\, when once a student enters into it\, he \nwill ever recognize him\, wherever he meets with extracts from him.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-john-chrysostom-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240914
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240915
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240907T232754Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240907T232754Z
UID:12511-1726272000-1726358399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Exaltation of the Holy Cross
DESCRIPTION:THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS \nFrom a treatise by St John Chrysostom1 \n◊◊◊ \nIsaiah made it clear that Christ will raise up all men when he said: “The \ndead shall be raised up again\, even those in the tombs shall be raised up. For \nthe dew from you is healing for them.” That was not all. After his cross\, after his \nslaughter\, his glory will shine forth more brightly; after his resurrection\, he will \nadvance the message of his Gospel still more. \nHe was bound\, betrayed by an apostle\, spat upon\, outraged with insults\, \nscourged\, nailed to the cross\, and\, as far as the Jews were concerned\, he did not \ndeserve to be buried in a tomb. His executioners divided his garments. They \nsuspected that he aspired to be a king\, and he died for it. “For everyone who \nmakes himself king\, sets himself against Caesar.” They suspected him of \nblasphemy\, and he died for it. “Behold\, you have heard his blasphemy.” \nEven though he would undergo all these torments\, he roused up those \nwho would listen\, he stirred them to courage by saying: “Do not be afraid \nbecause of these things which they did to me. I was crucified\, I was scourged\, I \nwas outraged and insulted by robbers\, I was arrested on suspicion of blasphemy \nand of being a king. But after my death and resurrection\, people will look on my \nsufferings in such a way that no one will say that they were not filled with \nabundant value and honor.” \nCertainly\, this did come to pass. And a prophet predicted it long \nbeforehand when he said: “There shall be the root of Jesse\, even he who rises \nup to rule nations. In him nations will put their trust\, and his resting place shall \nbe glorious.” This kind of death is more glorious than a crown. Certainly\, kings \nhave laid aside their crowns and taken up the cross\, the symbol of his death. On15 \ntheir purple robes is the cross\, on their crowns is the cross\, at their public \nprayers is the cross\, on their weapons is the cross\, on the sacred table of their \naltar is the cross. Everywhere in the world\, the cross shines forth more brightly \nthan the sun. “And his resting place shall be glorious.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-exaltation-of-the-holy-cross-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240915
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240916
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240915T103350Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240915T103350Z
UID:12518-1726358400-1726444799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n24th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nSeptember 15 – 21\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n15\nMon\n16\nTue\n17\nWed\n18\nThu\n19\nFri\n20\nSat\n21\n\n\nOffice\n24th Sunday\nSS Cornelius & Cyprian\nSt Hildegard of Bingen\nWeekday\nWeekday\nSt Andrew Kim & Companions\nSt Matthew\n\n\nVigils\nTob 1:1-15\nTob 1:16-2:8\nTob 2:9-3:6\nTob 3:7-17\nTob 4:1-21\nTob 5:1-8\nJob 28:1-28\n\n\nLauds\nMal 3:6-12\nMal 3:13-21\nHos 1:1-9\nHos 2:1-6\nHos 2:7-12\nHos 2:13-17\nProv 15:27-33\n\n\nMass\n131\n443\n444\n445\n446\n447\n643\n\n\n1st\nIsa 50:4-9a\n1 Cor 11:17-26\, 33\n1 Cor 12:12-14\, 27-31a\n1 Cor 12:31-13:13\n1 Cor 15:1-11\n1 Cor 15:12-20\nEph 4:1-7\, 11-13\n\n\n2nd\nJas 2:14-18\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 8:27-35\nLuke 7:1-10\nLuke 7:11-17\nLuke 7:31-35\nLuke 7:36-50\nLuke 8:1-3\nMatt 9:9-13\n\n\nVespers\n1 Pet 5:1-7\n1 Pet 5:8-14\n2 Pet 1:1-9\n2 Pet 1:10-15\n2 Pet 1:16-19\n2 Pet 1:20-2:3\n2 Pet 2:4-10a
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-85/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240915
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240916
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240915T103454Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240915T103454Z
UID:12520-1726358400-1726444799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 24th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:FOLLOWING CHRIST \nFrom a commentary by Caesarius of Arles1 \n◊◊◊ \nWhen the Lord tells us in the gospel that anyone who wants to be his \nfollower must renounce himself\, the injunction seems harsh; we think he is \nimposing a burden on us. But an order is no burden when it is given by one who \nhelps in carrying it out. \nTo what place are we to follow Christ if not where he has already gone? \nWe know that he has risen and ascended into heaven: there\, then\, we must \nfollow him. There is no cause for despair – by ourselves we can do nothing\, but \nwe have Christ’s promise. Heaven was beyond our reach before our Head \nascended there\, but now\, if we are his members\, why should we despair of \narriving there ourselves? Is there any reason? True\, many fears and afflictions \nconfront us in this world\, but if we follow Christ\, we shall reach a place of perfect \nhappiness\, perfect peace\, and everlasting freedom from fear. \nYet let me warn anyone bent on following Christ to listen to Saint Paul: \nOne who claims to abide in Christ ought to walk as he walked. Then be humble \nas he was humble\, do not scorn his lowliness if you want to reach his exaltation. \nHuman sin made the road rough but Christ’s resurrection leveled it; by passing \nover it himself he transformed the narrowest of tracks into a royal highway. \nTwo feet are needed to run along this highway; they are humility and \ncharity. Everyone wants to get to the top – well\, the first step to take is humility. \nWhy take strides that are too big for you – do you want to fall instead of going \nup? Begin with the first step\, humility\, and you will already be climbing.3 \nAs well as telling us to renounce ourselves\, our Lord and Savior said that \nwe must take up the cross and follow him. What does it mean to take up one’s \ncross? Bearing every annoyance patiently. That is following Christ. When \nsomeone begins to follow his way of life and his commandments\, that person \nwill meet resistance on every side. He or she will be opposed\, mocked\, even \npersecuted\, and this not only by unbelievers\, but also by people who to all \nappearances belong to the body of Christ\, though they are really excluded from \nit by their wickedness people who\, being Christians in name only\, never stop \npersecuting true Christians. \nIf you want to follow Christ\, then take up his cross without delay. Endure \ninjuries\, do not be overcome by them. If we would fulfill the Lord’s command: \nIf anyone wants to be my disciple\, let him take up his cross and follow me; we \nmust strive with God’s help to do as the Apostle says: As long as we have food \nand clothing\, let this content us. Otherwise\, if we seek more material goods than \nwe need and desire to become rich\, we may fall prey to temptation. The devil \nmay trick us into wanting the many useless and harmful things that plunge \npeople into ruin and destruction. May we be free from this temptation through \nthe protection of our Lord\, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy \nSpirit for ever and ever.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-24th-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240916
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240917
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240915T103559Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240915T103559Z
UID:12522-1726444800-1726531199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Cornelius & Cyprian
DESCRIPTION:A LETTER FROM ST CYPRIAN \nTO ST CORNELIUS \n◊◊◊ \nMy very dear brother\, we have heard of the glorious witness given by your \ncourageous faith. On learning of the honor you had won by your witness\, we \nwere filled with such joy that we felt ourselves sharers and companions in your \npraiseworthy achievements. After all\, we have the same Church\, the same mind. \nThe same unbroken harmony. Why then should a priest not take pride in the \npraise given to a fellow priest as though it were given to him? What brotherhood \nfails to rejoice in the happiness of its brothers wherever they are? \nWords cannot express how great was the exaltation and delight here when \nwe heard of your good fortune and brave deeds: how you stood out as a leader \nof your brothers in their declaration of faith\, while the leader’s confession was \nenhanced as they declared their faith. You led the way to glory\, but you gained \nmany companions in that glory; being foremost in your readiness to bear \nwitness on behalf of all\, you prevailed on your people to become a single \nwitness. We cannot decide which we ought to praise\, your own ready and \nunshaken faith or the love of your brothers who would not leave you. While the \ncourage of the bishop who thus led the way has been demonstrated\, at the same \ntime the unity of the brotherhood who followed has been manifested. Since you \nhave one heart and one voice\, it is the Roman Church as a whole that has thus \nborne witness. \nDearest brother\, bright and shining is the faith which the blessed Apostle \npraised in your community. He foresaw in the spirit the praise your courage \ndeserves and the strength that could not be broke; he was heralding the future \nwhen he testified to your achievements; his praise of the fathers was a challenge5 \nto the sons. Your unity\, your strength have become shining examples of these \nvirtues to the rest of the brethren. \nDivine providence has now prepared us. God’s merciful design has \nwarned us that the day of our own struggle\, our own contest\, is at hand. By that \nshared love which binds us closely together\, we are doing all we can to exhort \nour congregation\, to give ourselves unceasingly to fastings\, vigils and prayers in \ncommon. These are the heavenly weapons which give us strength to stand firm \nand endure; they are the spiritual defenses\, the God-given armaments that \nprotect us. \nLet us then remember one another\, united in mind and heart. Let us pray \nwithout ceasing\, you for us\, we for you; by the love we share we shall thus relieve \nthe strain of these great trial
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-cornelius-cyprian-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240917
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240918
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240915T103856Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240915T103856Z
UID:12524-1726531200-1726617599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Hildegard of Bingen
DESCRIPTION:ST HILDEGARD OF BINGEN \nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints1 \n◊◊◊ \nHildegard of Bingen would have been remarkable in any century. In her \nown century her achievements and her influence\, particularly as a woman\, were \nextraordinary. She was born at Bermersheim…in the summer of 1098. Apart \nfrom the fact that her father\, Hildebert of Bermersheim\, was a nobleman and \npossibly in the service of the bishop of Speyer\, little is known of her family \nbackground. When she was only eight years old\, she was sent to be educated by \na recluse\, Blessed Jutta\, who was living at Disbodenberg in an anchorhold. Over \nthe years girls came to join her and Jutta gave them the Rule of St Benedict. \nHildegard was a delicate child\, but…her inner life was far from ordinary. \nFrom the age of three she experienced visions or revelations that in the early \nstages caused her pain and embarrassment. The revelations continued into her \nadult life\, and she experienced chronic ill health. \nIn 1136 Jutta died\, and Hildegard became abbess in her place. Her \nrevelations and visions were still causing her anxiety. Her writings were \nsubmitted to the archbishop of Mainz. The archbishop and his theologians \nconcluded that her visions were “from God”. Over the years with the help of a \nyoung monk named Volmar and others she produced her principal work\, “Know \nthe Ways of the Lord”. \nIn 1147 the archbishop of Mainz passed Hildegard’s work to the pope\, \nBlessed Eugenius III. With the advice of his close advisors\, including St Bernard \nof Clairvaux\, the pope told her to live with her sisters faithfully observing the \nRule. \nHildegard and eighteen nuns moved to the Rupertsberg sometime \nbetween 1147 and 1150. She found time to research and write on subjects that \nfascinated her – a book on natural history\, another on medicine. There was also \nher voluminous correspondence\, a substantial part of which has survived. \nPeople from all walks of life came to consult her\, but at the same time there were \nothers who denounced her as fraudulent\, mad or worse. \nHeidegard continued to the end of her life to stand her ground against \nwhat she saw as the wrong use of authority. When over eighty she was frail \nphysically but continued to write\, advise\, instruct her nuns and encourage all \nwho came to her for help\, until she died peacefully at St Rupert’s on September \n17th\, 1179. Miracles\, which had also been recorded during her life\, were \nimmediately reported at her tomb. In 1324 Pope John XXII gave permission for \npublic veneration\, and she appears in local martyrologies from the fifteenth \ncentury. Her relics\, which were taken to Eibingen during the Thirty Years War\, \nwere recognized in 1489 and again in 1498. Although she has never been \nformally canonized\, she is named as a saint in the Roman Martyrology\, and \nseveral German dioceses commemorate her on this day.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-hildegard-of-bingen/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240918
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240919
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240915T104012Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240915T104012Z
UID:12526-1726617600-1726703999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE CHURCH AND ITS MINISTERS \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux1 \n◊◊◊ \n“Our bed is covered with flowers; the beams of our houses are of cedar\, \nthe paneling of cypress.” She is singing her marriage-song\, describing in \nbeautiful language the marriage bed and bridal suite. She invites the \nbridegroom to repose: for the better thing is to remain at ease and be with \nChrist; but necessity drives one forth to help those who are to be saved. So now \nwhen she feels that the opportunity presents itself\, she announces that the \nbridal suite has been furnished\, and pointing to the bed with her finger she \ninvited…the Beloved to rest there. Like the disciples on the way to Emmaus she \ncannot contain the ardor in her heart\, but entices him to be the guest of her soul\, \ncompels him to spend the night with her. With Peter she says: “Lord it is good \nfor us to be here.” \nLet us now seek the spiritual content of these words. And indeed\, in the \nChurch the ‘bed’ where one reposes is\, in my opinion\, the cloisters and \nmonasteries\, where one lives undisturbed by the cares of the world and the \nanxieties of life. This bed is seen to be adorned with flowers when the conduct \nand life of the brothers brightly reflect the examples and rules of the Fathers\, as \nif strewn with sweet smelling flowers. By ‘houses’ understand the ordinary \ncommunities of Christians. Those who enjoy high office\, the Christian leaders \nof both orders\, strongly bind them together with laws justly imposed\, as beams \nbind the walls\, lest living by their own law and will\, they should fall apart from \neach other like tilting walls and tottering fences\, and thus the whole building \nfall to the ground and be destroyed. The paneling however\, which is firmly \nattached to the beams\, and impressively adds to the beauty of the house\, seems \nto me to designate the courteous and disciplined behavior of a well-trained \nclergy\, who carry out their duties correctly. For how shall the clerical orders9 \nstand and fulfill their duties unless they are sustained\, as by beams\, by the \nbeneficence and munificence of those who govern and protect by their power? \nSince the beams are described as cedar and the paneling as cypress\, these \ntimbers must possess natural properties that liken them to the aforesaid orders. \nThe cedar\, an incorruptible and fragrant wood of great height\, sufficiently \nindicates the qualities of the men who ought to be selected for the role of beams. \nHence it is necessary that those who are appointed over others should be strong \nand reliable\, tenacious in hope\, their mind directed to supernatural truths\, \nradiating everywhere the good odor of their faith and conduct. With the Apostle \nthey can say: We are the incense offered by Christ to God in every place. The \ncypress too\, a wood that is equally incorruptible and fragrant\, shows that every \ncleric ought to be of unblemished life and faith\, that he may be seen as an \nornamental paneling for the beauty of the house. For it is written: “Holiness \nbefits your house\, O Lord\, for evermore\,” which expresses both the beauty of \nvirtue and the constancy of unfailing grace. It is necessary therefore that the \nman who is chosen for the adornment and beauty of the house should have an \nexcellent moral character\, and though living always within\, nevertheless be well \nthought of by those outside.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-218/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240919
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240920
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240915T104119Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240915T104119Z
UID:12528-1726704000-1726790399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:PREPARING A THRONE \nFOR THE MOST HIGH \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny1 \n◊◊◊ \n[Christ the Lord] is to be not merely invited but drawn into the guest \nchamber of our heart by the violence of our prayers and the vehemence of our \nfervor. [But] sometimes he makes as though he would go farther on; he does so \nfor no other reason than that he may prove the zeal of your love. \nBut what does it mean\, you say\, that Jesus makes as though he would go \nfurther? What else than what Ecclesiastes tells us of himself: “I have said\, I will \nbe wise\, and [wisdom] departed farther from me.” The Spouse speaks more \nexplicitly when\, giving voice to our daily complaint\, she says: “I rose up to open \nto my beloved\, but he had turned aside and was gone. I sought him\, and found \nhim not\, I called\, and he did not answer me\,” just as he did not answer the \nCanaanite woman either. You too are wont to call on the Spirit of wisdom\, you \nare accustomed to seek the Spirit of grace in prayer. If it seems that he draws \nfarther away from you\, do not despair but be more importunate in your pleading \nuntil you hear him answer you: “Great is your faith\, be it done to you as you \nwill.” \nBut when you invite Jesus take care that you do not invite the God of \nmajesty into an unclean and unworthy dwelling where a wrangling [spouse] or \nclouds of smoke or a dripping roof would not allow even yourself to dwell in \npeace. For his place is in peace and nowhere else. Right and justice are the \npillars of his throne. “Now they seek me\,” he says\, “from day to day\, and desire \nto know my ways as a nation that has done justice and has not forsaken the will \nof their God.” “Right\,” he says\, “and justice are the pillars of his throne.” Do not \nplead that it is a lavish dwelling you have to prepare for so great and so powerful11 \na guest and that it is beyond the limits of your poverty. You have the means at \nhand. I speak in human terms because of the infirmity of your flesh\, or rather \nbecause of the narrowness of your mind. Make a perfect confession of your past \nlife\, have a good will in respect to all else (for there is peace to men of good will)\, \nand in this way you will have prepared with right and justice a throne for the \nMost High.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-219/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240920
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240921
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240915T104227Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240915T104227Z
UID:12530-1726790400-1726876799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Andrew Kim & Companions
DESCRIPTION:THE KOREAN MARTYRS \nA reading from Butler’s Lives of the Saints1 \n◊◊◊ \nChristianity came late to Korea\, for it was the policy of that country’s \nrulers to keep it isolated from foreign influence. Not until the late eighteenth \ncentury\, more than two hundred years after Francis Xavier had reached Japan\, \ndid the Church begin very slowly to take root. The earliest missionaries were \nlay people who had been converted outside their country. Pietro Yi was baptized \nat Pechino in 1784: he was the first Korean to be received into the church\, but \nhe was also the first to apostatize\, when persecution broke out in 1791. \nThrough the last years of the eighteenth-century persecution was \nsporadic and localized\, but in 1801 it was extended to the whole of the country. \nOne Chinese priest\, who had succeeded in entering Korea\, offered himself for \nmartyrdom in the hope that his death would bring the sufferings of his fellow \nChristians to an end. He was beheaded on May 31\, 1801\, and the persecution \nwent on. \nYet these early martyrs were not among those canonized by Pope John \nPaul II in the cathedral of Seoul\, where the relics of so many of them lie… Of \nthe many thousand – perhaps more than 8\,000 not counting those who died of \ncold or starvation as they fled the tortures of the persecutors – 103 were chosen \nby name as representatives of the rest. They were selected from those who died \nin the persecutions which began in 1839 and lasted until 1846\, and those which \nlasted from 1861 to the beginning of 1866. \nBy the time of the renewed persecution – brought about both in 1839 and \n1861 by the return to power of the conservative faction of the Korean ruling class \n– there was a small number of missionaries in the country\, two French priests13 \nand a bishop\, all three died by beheading on September 21\, 1839. On September \n16\, 1846 there died Andrew Kim\, the first and at that time only\, Korean-born- \npriest. Two more bishops\, and a number of other French missionaries died in \nthe later persecution. \nThese were the clergy\, but by far the greatest number of those named as \nsaints by the pope near the spot where so many of them had died by beheading \nor strangulation\, were ordinary lay people. Some of them were of high rank\, \nbut most were ordinary men and women\, often linked by family ties as well as \nby the bonds of faith\, mothers and their children\, wives and their husbands. For \nseveral their crime was that they had worked as catechist in spreading the faith \nwhich\, until 1881\, was referred to in official documents as “the perverse \ndoctrine”. \nThe persecution…lasted until 1866. Religious liberty was conceded in \n1886\, and today the Church flourishes. Though the 103 whose sanctity was \nformally recognized were canonized together\, they had been beatified in two \ngroups: those of the earlier persecution by Pius XI in July 1925\, those of the \nlater one by Paul VI in October 1968.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-andrew-kim-companions-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240921
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240922
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240915T104327Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240915T104327Z
UID:12532-1726876800-1726963199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Matthew
DESCRIPTION:ST MATTHEW\, \nAPOSTLE AND EVANGELIST \nFrom “The Saints” by John Coulson1 \n◊◊◊ \nFew people love the tax collector… Much more was this so in the Palestine \nof the first century\, when it was in his interests to bully and harry and falsify. \nBut even the mild and honest tax collector was not acceptable to official \nJudaism: he did business with the gentile and handled his money; he was legally \nimpure\, socially outcast. A Jewish Rabbi would be bold indeed to invite him to \njoin his inner circle of disciples: it would be a gesture of defiance to the \nestablished prejudice. And so\, the formula ‘publicans and sinners’ slipped even \ninto the phrase book of the evangelist and\, quaintly enough\, into the Gospel of \nMatthew the publican. This term ‘publican’…does not accurately describe \nMatthew’s profession but flatters it. The Pharisees might despise it\, but the \ntrade was a profitable one and much sought after: whether it be pursued \nhonestly or dishonestly would depend on the character of the officer. \n“And Jesus passed further on\, he saw Levi\, the son of Alpheus\, sitting at \nwork in the customs-house and said to him\, “Follow me”; and he rose and \nfollowed him. That this was a call to the apostolate there is no doubt – its terms \ntoo closely match those of the call of Simon and Andrew to be otherwise. Yet \n‘Levi’ does not appear in any list of the Twelve. Now the vocation of the tax \ncollector is reported in the first Gospel too\, but there he is called ‘Matthew’\, thus \nidentifying him with the Matthew who appears in all the apostolic lists. The \nwidely accepted and most natural explanation is that Matthew and Levi are one \nperson with two Semitic names. It may be that our Lord himself gave him the \nname Matthew (Mattai\, ‘gift of God’\, in Aramaic) as he gave Kepha to Simon.15 \nThis Matthew then got up from his registers… The change destroyed all \nMatthew’s worldly prospects: Simon and Andrew might return to their fish\, but \nMatthew had thrown over a coveted business and could never recover it. He \nleft it gladly…and completely. It was not he but Judas who kept the accounts \nfor the apostolic group… \nWhen the need for a written gospel record began to be felt\, upon which of \nthe Apostles would the choice fall? Upon one who used the pen\, no doubt. Poor \nMatthew was back where he started\, but this time with an eager will and high \npurpose. In Palestine\, sometime between the years 40 and 50\, this ex-civil \nservant produced not the lively and artless Gospel of St. Mark but the orderly\, \nalmost ledger like\, treatise\, which we know as ‘The Gospel according to St. \nMatthew.’ \nAnd so\, Matthew’s old trade entered a new service; the accountant \nbecame an evangelist. It is not surprising that he alone records his Master’s \nwords; “Every scholar whose learning is of the kingdom of heaven…knows how \nto bring both new and old things out of his treasure house. For there is no poor \ntool of ours that God’s service will not perfect and dignify. \nIt is commonly but not unanimously affirmed he died a martyr’s death; \nbut we know for certain that he lived a martyr’s life – and that is enough. And \nfor us he will always be the man who knew what money was and what it was \nnot.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-matthew-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240922
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240923
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240922T095618Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240922T095618Z
UID:12541-1726963200-1727049599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n25th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nSeptember 22 – 28\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n22\nMon\n23\nTue\n24\nWed\n25\nThu\n26\nFri\n27\nSat\n28\n\n\nOffice\n25th Sunday\nSt Pius of Pietrelcina\nWeekday\nOffice for the Dead\nWeekday\nSt Vincent de Paul\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nTob 5:9-6:1\nTob 6:2-18\nTob 7:1-17\nTob 8:1-21\nTob 9:1-6\nTob 10:1-13\nTob 11:1-18\n\n\nLauds\nHos 2:18-25\nHos 3:1-5\nHos 4:1-6\nHos 4:7-12\nHos 4:13-19\nHos 5:1-7\nHos 5:8-15\n\n\nMass\n134\n449\n450\n451\n452\n453\n454\n\n\n1st\nWis 2:12\, 17-20\nProv 3:27-34\nProv 21:1-6\, 10-13\nProv 30:5-9\nEccl 1:2-11\nEccl 3:1-11\nEccl 11:9-12:8\n\n\n2nd\nJas 3:16-4:3\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 9:30-37\nLuke 8:16-18\nLuke 8:19-21\nLuke 9:1-6\nLuke 9:7-9\nLuke 9:18-22\nLuke 9:43b-45\n\n\nVespers\n2 Pet 2:10b-16\n2 Pet 2:17-22\n2 Pet 3:1-7\n2 Pet 3:8-13\n2 Pet 3:14-18\n1 John 1:1-4\n1 John 1:5-10
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-86/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240922
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240923
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240922T095747Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240922T095747Z
UID:12543-1726963200-1727049599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 25th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:THE MOST ESTEEMED BY CHRIST \nFrom a commentary by Theophylact of Ohrid1 \n◊◊◊ \nAs he was teaching his disciples the Lord said to them: “The Son of man \nwill be delivered into the hands of men\, and they will put him to death\, but \nafter his death\, on the third day\, he will rise again.” \nThe Lord always alternated prophecies of his passion with the \nperformance of miracles\, so that he should not be thought to have suffered \nthrough lack of power. Therefore\, after imparting the grievous news that men \nwould kill him\, he added the joyful tidings that on the third day he would rise \nagain. This was to teach us that joy always follows sorrow\, and that we should \nnot be uselessly distressed by painful events\, but should rather have a hope that \nbetter times will come. \nHe came to Capernaum\, and after entering the house he questioned the \ndisciples: “What were you arguing about on the way?” Now the disciples still \nsaw things from a very human point of view\, and they had been quarrelling \namongst themselves about which of them was the greatest and the most \nesteemed by Christ. Yet the Lord did not restrain their desire for preeminent \nhonor\, indeed he wishes us to aspire to the most exalted rank. He does not \nhowever wish us to seize the first place\, but rather to win the highest honor by \nhumility. \nHe stood a child among them because he wants us to become childlike. A \nchild has no desire for honor; it is not jealous\, and does not remember injuries. \nAnd he said: “If you become like that\, you will receive great reward\, and if\, \nmoreover\, for my sake you honor others who are like that\, you will receive the3 \nkingdom of heaven\, for you will be receiving me\, and in receiving me you will \nreceive the one who sent me. \nYou see then what great things humility\, together with simplicity and \nguilelessness\, can accomplish. It causes both the Son and the Father to dwell in \nus\, and with them of course comes the Holy Spirit.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-25th-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240923
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240924
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240922T095923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240922T095923Z
UID:12545-1727049600-1727135999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Pius of Pietrelcina
DESCRIPTION:ST PIO OF PIETRELCINA \nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints1 \n◊◊◊ \nThe most famous stigmatist since St Francis of Assisi was born into a \nfamily of agricultural laborers in Pietrelcina\, northeast of Naples\, on May 25\, \n1887. In 1903 he received the capuchin habit\, taking the name of Fra. Pio. Seven \nyears later he was ordained to the priesthood. Not long after this he began to \nexperience pains in his hands and feet\, and on September 11\, 1911 he confessed \nto his spiritual director that he had had invisible stigmata for over a year. He \nalso suffered the pains of Christ’s crown of thorns and scourging. \nOn august 5\, 1918 he underwent the further mystical experience of \n“transverberation” (piercing with the lance)\, which left him with a wound in his \nside that bled continually. A month later the stigmata in his hands and feet \nbecame visible and remained so until the final day of his life. The Capuchins \nmade no attempt to conceal Padre Pio’s condition\, which soon became known \nall over Italy and was the main cause of both his celebrity and the controversy \nthat surrounded him. As people started flocking to his convent in their \nthousands\, the Vatican\, cautious as ever when faced with “private” favors and \nrevelations\, had him examined by a succession of doctors. The physical \nmanifestations were undeniable. But were they from God\, the psychosomatic \neffect of a disturbed personality\, or even a fraudulent attempt on his part of that \nof the convent to achieve notoriety? \nHuge crowds attended his Masses\, during which he went into ecstatic \nstates that could last for two hours or more. In July 1923 he received an order \nto say Mass in private\, but so real was the threat of a violent popular reaction \nthat it was rescinded the following day. Padre Pio himself made no comment on5 \nhis condition other than that he was “a mystery to himself” but his gifts should \nproduce benefits for others. \nHis community was able to ensure that they were so used when money \nofferings started coming in from his penitents and admirers. In January 1925\, \nhe opened a twenty-bed hospital that was named after St. Francis and remained \nin operation for thirteen years… \nIn 1940\, with the particular support of Maria Pyle\, a wealthy American \nwoman to whose mother he had ministered as she was dying in 1929\, Padre Pio \nwas in a position to undertake a more ambitious hospital project. Medical and \nadministrative committees were set up\, but the Second World War delayed \nfurther implementation of the project until 1946\, when a limited company was \nformed to carry the work forward… \nIn 1959 Padre Pio’s own health deteriorated. Then in August he \nrecovered\, apparently miraculously\, when a statue of Our Lady of Fatima was \nbrought into the hospital for two days. He died on September 23\, 1968\, and \ndoctors who examined his body found his hands and feet unmarked and “fresh \nas those of a child”. He was beatified and later canonized by Pope John Paul II. \nIn his address the Pope spoke not so much of Padre Pio’s extraordinary \nexperiences but of the long hours the friar would spend in the confessional and \nof his extraordinary charity\, which\, he said\, “was poured like balm on the \nsufferings of his brothers and sisters.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-pius-of-pietrelcina-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240924
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240925
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240922T100030Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240922T100030Z
UID:12547-1727136000-1727222399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:BE READY TO MEET THE LORD \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny1 \n◊◊◊ \nBy comparison with the evil of damnation\, it is a good thing to be saved \nby fire; without any doubt it is much better to be made perfect by the mere \ncleansing of fear; and best of all not to be even disturbed by fear. \nFor that reason\, be ready\, O true Israel\, to meet the Lord\, so that you may \nnot only open to him when he comes and knocks\, but may run to meet him\, \neager and joyful\, while he is still far off\, and\, confident about the day of \njudgment\, pray earnestly that his kingdom may come. If you want to be found \nready then\, take the advice of Wisdom and prepare justice for yourself before \nthe judgment. May you be prepared to do every good work and no less prepared \nto suffer every evil so that your lips may sing without any reproach from your \nheart: “My heart is ready\, Lord\, my heart is ready\, ready with your help to do \ngood\, ready to suffer ill\, and so ready for both that I will sing and give praise in \nmy glory that is\, I will rejoice and glory whichever comes.” \nAnd at once the just man rouses himself in this matter\, saying: “Arise \npsaltery and harp\,” that is\, my heart and my body\, to rejoice in the living God. \nThe heart is meant on account of its spiritual activity\, the body because of its \npassions. For the heart relishing the things that are above is a psaltery giving \nforth heavenly music; the body suffering things of earth is a lyre producing \nworldly music. So it is that elsewhere David\, offering his devoted service to God\, \nsays: “I am ready to keep your commandments\, and so ready that I am not \ntroubled when temptation breaks in on me and persecution rages. Let my rival \npursue me\, my servant curse me\, my own son seek my life\, even so I am not \ntroubled about not keeping the commandments of evangelical perfection. I will \nrender good for evil to those who return evil for good; will be solicitous for the7 \nsafety of those who persecute me\, mourning their death; will bear with the \nreproaches of my servant\, not permitting my honor to be vindicated by a \nfriend.”… And because he was so prepared he went confidently to meet his Lord. \n“Without iniquity\,” he says\, “have I run\, and directed whatever was perverse in \nme so far as I was able.” \nTherefore\, do rise up to meet me coming to meet you\, for I cannot reach \nyour heights unless\, stooping low to the work of your hands\, you stretch out \nyour right hand. Rise up to meet me and see if there be in me the way of iniquity. \nAnd if you do find it there unknown to me\, remove it from me\, and\, having \ncompassion on me with regard to your law\, lead me in the eternal way\, which is \nChrist. He is the way by which we journey\, the eternity at the journey’s end; he \nis the spotless way\, the blessed dwelling place.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-220/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240925
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240926
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240922T100148Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240922T100148Z
UID:12549-1727222400-1727308799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office of the Dead
DESCRIPTION:A THEOLOGY OF DEATH \nBy Karl Rahner1 \n◊◊◊ \nThe ultimate act of freedom\, in which we decide our own fate totally and \nirrevocably\, is the act in which we either willingly accept or definitively rebel \nagainst our own utter impotence\, in which we are utterly subject to the control \nof a mystery which cannot be expressed – that mystery which we call God. In \ndeath a human being is totally withdrawn from self. Every power\, down to the \nlast vestige of a possibility\, of autonomously controlling its own destiny is taken \naway. \nThus the exercise of freedom taken as a whole is summed up at this point \non one single decision: whether we yield everything up or whether everything is \ntaken from us by force\, whether we respond to this radical deprivation of all \npower by uttering our assent in faith and hope to the nameless mystery which \nwe call God\, or whether even at this point we seek to cling on to our own \nautonomy\, protest against this fall into helplessness\, and\, because of our \ndisbelief\, suppose that we are falling into the abyss of nothingness when in \nreality we are falling into the unfathomable depths of God. \nOn the basis of this it is possible for us to realize that death can be either \nan act of faith or a mortal sin. In order rightly to understand this we must \nconsider (and perhaps it would have been clearer to make this point right from \nthe first) that the actual act of dying does not necessarily occur at that point in \ntime in the physical order at which doctors suppose it to take place\, and at which \nit is considered to take place in the popular estimation when we speak of the \nfinal departure and of death as coming at the end of life. In reality we are dying \nall our lives through right up to this\, the final point in the process of dying…9 \nNow this death in life or living death\, as it may be called\, can become one \nof two things: it can be made into an enduring act of faith in the fact that our \nlives and destinies are being directed and controlled by another and that this \ndirection is right; the willing acceptance of our destiny\, the ultimate act of self- \ncommitment to that destiny\, a renunciation which we make in anticipation of \nour final end because in the end we must renounce all things; also because we \nbelieve that it is only by this poverty entailed in freely accepting our own destiny \nthat we can free ourselves for the hand of God in God’s unfathomable power \nand grace to dispose of us as God wills. \nAlternatively\, this death in the midst of life can become an act of \ndesperately clinging on by main force to that which is destined to fall away from \nus\, a protest\, whether silent or expressed\, against this death in life\, the despair \nof one who is avid for life and who imagines that by sinning happiness is \nobtained by force. The death that is accomplished in life\, therefore\, must be \nreally the act of that loving and therefore trustful faith which gives us courage \nto allow ourselves to be taken up by another. Otherwise\, it will become the \nmortal sin which consists in the pride of seeking one’s own absolute autonomy\, \nanxiety (Angst) and despair all in one.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-of-the-dead-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12551-1727308800-1727395199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE ESCHATOLOGICAL CHARACTER \nOF THE PILGRIM CHURCH \nFrom the encyclical Lumen Gentium1 \n◊◊◊ \nThe Church\, to which we are called in Christ Jesus\, and in which by the \ngrace of God we acquire holiness\, will receive its perfection only in the glory of \nheaven\, when the time comes for the renewal of all things\, and the whole \nuniverse\, as well as the human race\, is completely united in Christ. For the \nuniverse has an intimate connection with us\, and through us it reaches its \ndestined end. \nLifted up from the earth\, Christ has drawn all to himself; rising from the \ndead\, he has sent his life-giving Spirit upon his disciples; through the Spirit he \nhas established his Body\, which is the Church\, as the universal sacrament of \nsalvation. Sitting at the right hand of the Father\, he is unceasingly at work in \nthe world to bring men and women to the Church\, to join them more closely to \nhimself through her\, and to give them a share in his glorious life by feeding them \non his own Body and Blood. \nThe promised restoration to which we look forward has already had its \nbeginning in Christ. It receives impetus from the sending of the Holy Spirit and \nthrough him continues in the Church\, where we also receive instruction\, by \nfaith\, in the significance of our earthly life. Meanwhile\, in expectation of a good \nfuture\, we are bringing to completion the work in the world entrusted to us by \nthe Father\, and are working out our salvation. \nThe end of the ages has already reached us\, and the world is irrevocably \nset on the renewal which is anticipated in a real way in this life. Already the \nChurch is marked on earth by a genuine\, if imperfect\, holiness. The Church is11 \non pilgrimage until the coming of the new heavens and the new earth in which \nrighteousness dwells. In her sacraments and organization\, which belong to this \nlife\, she carries the mark of this world which will pass\, and she herself takes her \nplace among the creatures who groan in travail as they wait for the revealing of \nthe children of God.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-221/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12553-1727395200-1727481599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Vincent de Paul
DESCRIPTION:GOD LOVES THE POOR \nFrom the writing of St Vincent de Paul1 \n◊◊◊ \nEven though the poor are often rough and unrefined\, we must not judge \nthem from external appearances nor from the mental gifts they seem to have \nreceived. On the contrary\, if you consider the poor in the light of faith\, then you \nwill observe that they are taking the place of the Son of God who chose to be \npoor. Although in his passion he almost lost the appearance of a man and was \nconsidered a fool by the Gentiles and a stumbling block by the Jews\, he showed \nthat his mission was to preach to the poor… We also ought to have this same \nspirit and imitate Christ’s actions\, that is\, we must take care of the poor\, console \nthem\, help them\, support their cause. \nSince Christ willed to be born poor\, he chose for himself disciples who \nwere poor. He made himself the servant of the poor and shared their poverty. \nHe went so far as to say that he would consider every deed which either helps \nor harms the poor as done for or against himself. Since God surely loves the \npoor\, he also loves those who love the poor. For when one person holds another \ndear\, he also includes in his affection anyone who loves or serves the one he \nloves. That is why we hope that God will love us for the sake of the poor. So\, \nwhen we visit the poor and needy\, we try to be understanding where they are \nconcerned. We sympathize with them so fully that we can echo Paul’s words: I \nhave become all things to all people. Therefore\, we must try to be stirred by \nour neighbor’s worries and distress. We must beg God to pour into our hearts \nsentiments of pity and compassion and to fill them again and again with these \ndispositions.13 \nIt is our duty to prefer the service of the poor to everything else and to \noffer such service as quickly as possible. If a needy person requires medicine or \nother help during prayer time\, do whatever has to be done with peace of mind. \nOffer the deed to God as your prayer. Do not become upset or feel guilty because \nyou interrupted your prayer to serve the poor. God is not neglected if you leave \nhim for such service. One of God’s works is merely interrupted so that another \ncan be carried out. So\, when you leave prayer to serve some poor person\, \nremember that this service is performed for God. Charity is certainly greater \nthan any rule. Moreover\, all rules must lead to charity. Since she is a noble \nmistress\, we must do whatever she commands. With renewed devotion\, then\, \nwe must serve the poor\, especially beggars and outcasts. They have been given \nto us as our masters and patrons.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-vincent-de-paul-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240922T100449Z
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UID:12555-1727481600-1727567999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading  - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:MARY AND THE MYSTERY OF \nCHRISTIAN FREEDOM \nFrom “The Handmaid of the Lord” by Adrienne von Speyr1 \n◊◊◊ \nFrom the moment Mary said Yes and gave her consent\, her whole life has \nthe conscious and explicit form of assent\, upon which everything depends. This \nperfect assent is the giving of human freedom to God\, final and so complete that \nby virtue of the humble and confident gift of our freedom and our life\, God owns \neverything from then on and can therefore “whether gradually or all at once” \nuse\, transform or reform all that we have deposited with him. The life of faith\, \nlove and hope\, the Christian life\, is turned towards this form\, so that everything \nwe have may be deposited without hesitation in the hands of Providence… \nMary’s assent was assent of that kind from the beginning. \nMary’s freedom\, like all forms of freedom\, is indivisible\, as may be seen \nfrom her word of assent. She bound herself to God by a single\, completely free \nact leading into perfect freedom. With that act Mary enters the Christian life for \nthe first time\, and in its most perfect form. And since she gave her assent to all \nthat was to come\, she gave her assent to Christianity and all it concealed\, all that \nwas new\, unexpected and beyond expectation. In doing so she gave Christian \nassent its form\, its perfect and essential form: complete self-surrender. \nIn a certain sense one might say that Mary’s assent is a vow of obedience\, \nof chastity and of poverty. Its single renunciation contains a threefold \nrenunciation. For by her one word of assent the Mother of God divested herself \nof everything for God’s sake and for humanity’s sake. Her assent and her \nobedience coincide; choosing assent she chose obedience as her form of life. \nAnd by the same token renounced all claim to her body. Like everything else she \ngave it to God\, and could no longer dispose of it herself or give it to man. She15 \ncould not have served God completely with her body had she not placed \neverything unreservedly at her service. Her task demanded everything she \npossessed\, as the completeness of her assent required it. \nAs little as it is possible to do penance inwardly while living a life of ease\, \nso it is impossible to give up everything inwardly without giving up the outward \nas well. There is a unity in the offer on God’s side and a unity in the answer on \nthe human side\, and that unity constitutes assent. \nAssent is essentially grace: a grace that\, like all grace\, comes from God\, \nworking itself out in human nature and its mission\, with the possibility of \nreturning to God as our answer\, enveloped in the all-embracing mission of the \nSon who received the power to come on earth as a human being\, through the \nassent of a human being. All Christian assent participates in the same essence\, \nand Mary’s assent is the pattern and definition\, indeed the font and origin of \nevery subsequent Christian assent\, because the mystical marriage\, the eternal \nbond between our human assent and God’s assent was made manifest\, for the \nfirst time\, through her. The fruit of that union is the Savior of the world. Though \nthe Mother of God did not say Yes without the Son’s grace\, the Son did not \nbecome man without his Mother’s assent.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-11/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20240928T234419Z
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UID:12561-1727568000-1727654399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n26th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nSeptember 29 – October 5\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n29\nMon\n30\nTue\n1\nWed\n2\nThu\n3\nFri\n4\nSat\n5\n\n\nOffice\n26th Sunday\nSt Jerome\nSt Therese of the Child Jesus\nHoly Guardian Angels\nLouisville Cathedral\nSt Francis\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nTob 12:1-22\nTob 13:1-18\nTob 14:1-7\nTob 14:8-15\n2 Chron 7:1-16\nWis 1:1-15\nWis 1:16-2:11\n\n\nLauds\nHos 6:1-6\nHos 6:7-7:2\nHos 7:3-10\nHos 7:11-16\nEzek 43:1-7a\nHos 8:1-7\nHos 8:8-14\n\n\nMass\n137\n455\n456\n457\n701.1\, 706.2\n459\n460\n\n\n1st\nNum 11:25-29\nJob 1:6-22\nJob 3:1-3\, 11-17\, 20-23\nJob 9:1-12\, 14-16\n1 Kings 8:22-23\, 27-30\nJob 38:1\, 12-21; 40:3-5\nJob 42:1-3\, 5-6\, 12-17\n\n\n2nd\nJas 5:1-6\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 9:38-43\, 45\, 47-48\nLuke 9:46-50\nLuke 9:51-56\nLuke 9:57-62\nLuke 19:1-10\nLuke 10:13-16\nLuke 10:17-24\n\n\nVespers\n1 John 2:1-6\n1 John 2:7-11\n1 John 2:12-17\n1 John 2:18-23\nActs 7:44-50\n1 John 2:24-27\n1 John 2:28-3:3
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-87/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240928T234711Z
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UID:12563-1727568000-1727654399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 26th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:THE WORD OF GOD IS LIKE \nA TWO-EDGED SWORD \nFrom a commentary by Symeon the New Theologian1 \n◊◊◊ \nDo you tremble when you hear God saying to you day after day \nthroughout the whole of divine Scripture: “Let no evil word come from your \nmouth. Indeed\, I tell you that you will have to answer for a single careless \nword\, and you will receive a reward for a cup of water”? \nDo not deceive yourselves. God loves us\, and he is merciful and \ncompassionate. I myself testify and acknowledge that it is his compassion that \nmakes me confident of being saved. Nevertheless\, you must understand that \nthis will be of no avail to those who refuse to repent and to keep God’s \ncommandments in every detail and with great fear. On the contrary\, God will \npunish them more severely than people who are unbelievers and unbaptized. \nDo not deceive yourselves\, let there be no sin that seems small in your \neyes\, and that you treat lightly\, as though it did no great harm to your souls. \nRight-minded servants make no distinction between a small sin and a great one; \nif they offend by so much as a glance\, a thought\, or a word\, they feel as if they \nhave fallen away from the love of God\, and I believe this is true. In fact\, whoever \nhas the slightest thought contrary to the divine will\, and does not immediately \nrepent and repel the assault of such a thought\, but welcomes it and consents to \nit – that person is counted guilty of sin\, and this is so even if he is unaware that \nhis thought is sinful. \nConsequently\, we need to be extremely vigilant and zealous\, and to give \nmuch time to searching the divine Scriptures. The Savior’s command\, “Search \nthe Scriptures” shows how profitable they are for us. Search them\, and hold fast \nto what they say with great exactitude and faith. Then\, when the divine \nScriptures have given you an accurate knowledge of God’s will\, you will be able \nto distinguish without error between good and evil\, and will not listen to every \nspirit\, or be carried away by harmful thoughts. \nYou may be certain that nothing is so conducive to our salvation as \nfollowing the divine commandments of the Savior. Nevertheless\, we shall have \nto shed many tears\, and shall need great fear\, great patience\, and constant \nprayer before the import of even a word of the Master can be revealed to us. \nOnly then shall we perceive the great mystery hidden in short sayings\, and be \nready to die for the smallest detail of the commandments of God. For the word \nof God is like a two-edged sword\, cutting off and separating the soul from all \nbodily desire and sensation. More than that\, it is like a blazing fire\, because it \nstirs up zeal in our souls\, and makes us disregard all the sorrows of life\, consider \nevery trial we encounter a joy\, and desire and embrace death\, so fearful to \nothers\, as life and the means of attaining life.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-26th-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240930
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DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240928T234858Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240928T235608Z
UID:12565-1727654400-1727740799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Jerome
DESCRIPTION:ON THE LOVE OF SCRIPTURE \nA letter from St Jerome to Paulinus1 \n◊◊◊ \nYou see how\, carried away by my love of the scriptures\, I have exceeded \nthe limits of a letter yet have not fully accomplished my object. We have heard \nonly what it is that we ought to know and to desire\, so that we too may be able \nto say with the psalmist: “My soul breaks out with the fervent desire it always \nhas had for your judgments”. But the saying of Socrates about himself— “I only \nknow this: that I know nothing”—is fulfilled in our case also. \nThe New Testament I will briefly deal with. Matthew\, Mark\, Luke and \nJohn are the Lord’s team of four\, the true cherubim or store of knowledge. [Like \nthe description in the prophet Ezekiel\,] with them the whole body is full of eyes\, \nthey glitter as sparks\, they run and return like lightning\, their feet are straight \nfeet\, and lifted up\, their backs also are winged\, ready to fly in all directions. They \nhold together each by each and are interwoven one with another: like wheels \nwithin wheels\, they roll along and go wherever the breath of the Holy Spirit \nwafts them. The apostle Paul writes to seven churches… He instructs Timothy \nand Titus; he interceded with Philemon for his runaway slave. Of him I think it \nbetter to say nothing than to write inadequately. \nThe Acts of the Apostles seem to relate a mere unvarnished narrative\, \ndescriptive of the infancy of the newly born church; but when once we realize \nthat their author is Luke the physician whose praise is in the gospel\, we shall \nsee that all his works are medicine for the sick soul. The apostles James\, Peter\, \nJohn and Jude have published seven epistles at once spiritual and to the point\, \nshort and long\, short that is in words but lengthy in substance so that there are \nfew indeed who do not find themselves in the dark when they read them. The5 \napocalypse of John has as many mysteries as words. In saying this I have said \nless than the book deserves. All praise of it is inadequate; manifold meanings \nlie hid in its every word. \nI beg of you\, my dear brother\, to live among these books\, to meditate upon \nthem\, to know nothing else\, to seek nothing else. Does not such a life seem to \nyou a foretaste of heaven here on earth? Let not the simplicity of the scripture \nor the poorness of its vocabulary offend you: for these are due either to the faults \nof translators or else to deliberate purpose: for in this way it is better fitted for \nthe instruction of an unlettered congregation as the educated person can take \none meaning and the uneducated another from one and the same sentence. I \nam not so dull or so forward as to profess that I myself know it\, or that I can \npluck upon the earth the fruit which has its root in heaven\, but I confess that I \nshould like to do so. I put myself before the man who sits idle and\, while I lay \nno claim to be a master\, I readily pledge myself to be a fellow-student… Let us \nlearn upon earth that knowledge which will continue with us in heaven.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-jerome-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240928T235021Z
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UID:12567-1727740800-1727827199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Therese of the Child Jesus
DESCRIPTION:THE MISSION OF ST THÉRÈSE \nBy Hans Urs von Balthasar1 \n◊◊◊ \nThere can be no doubt that Thérèse of Lisieux was directly entrusted by \nGod with a mission to the Church. Thérèse’s mission\, at the very first glance\, \ndisplays the marks of a clearly defined\, and quite exceptional character. This is \nmuch less due to the personal drama of the little saint than to the sacred form \ninto which the trickling grains of petty anecdotes are compressed\, into a hard\, \nunbreakable block\, by a firm invisible hand. It is contrary to all expectation that \nthe simple\, modest story of this little girl should eventually culminate\, as it \nirrefutably does\, in the enunciation of theological truths. \nOriginally\, she herself never dreamt that she might be chosen to bear \nsome fundamental message to the Church. She only became aware of it \ngradually; in fact\, it did not occur to her until her task was almost completed\, \nafter she had already lived out her teaching and was writing the last chapters of \nher book. Suddenly\, as she saw it all laid out before her\, she recognized its \nstrangeness\, that in her obedience she had unwillingly conceived something \nbeyond her own personality. And now that she saw it\, she also understood it\, \nand seized it with a kind of violence… \nAt that moment she realized she was to be set on a pedestal\, and that every \nbit of her life\, even its smallest details\, would be used as a pattern for many of \nthe “little ones”. She regards the publication of her manuscript as “an important \nwork”; she knows “that all the world will love me”\, and that her writings “will \ndo a great deal of good”. During her last months\, as if making her last will and \ntestament\, she repeats constantly: “One must tell souls.” Exactly the same \nexpressions recur in reference to the mission she is soon to begin in heaven: “I \nfeel that my mission will soon begin to teach souls to love God as I love Him\, to \ngive them my little way…” Similarly\, she recognizes the function within the \nChurch of her mission. She not only foresees the proclamation of her own \nsanctity but she also\, as it were\, foresaw the canonization of her doctrine. \nSo\, her life only contains exemplary value for the Church insofar as the \nHoly Spirit has possessed her and used her in order to demonstrate something \nfor the sake of the Church\, opening up new vistas onto the Gospels. That\, and \nthat alone\, should be the motive for the Church’s interest in Thérèse. That\, and \nthat alone\, should engage the attention of those who feel themselves put off my \nmany features of her cult\, or even of her character\, or who experience \nindefinable objections to them. In fact\, there are few other cases in which it is \nso prudent to distinguish between the mission of a saint and its essentials. \nIn the case of Thérèse of Lisieux the dramatic tension between her \nmission and her person needs specially to be borne in mind\, and to be \nappreciated primarily in theological terms; the essence of sanctity has to be \ngrasped as truly evangelical\, as belonging to the Church\, as a mission and not \nsimply as an individual ascetical\, mystical manifestation. Moreover\, it is not \njust because of contemporary “needs” but because of the depth of revealed truth \nthat portraits of the saints must in future be remodeled\, so that the saints can \nagain live amongst us\, and in us\, as the best protectors and inspirers of the \ncommunity of the saints\, which is the Church.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-therese-of-the-child-jesus/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241003
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240928T235149Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240928T235149Z
UID:12569-1727827200-1727913599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Holy Guardian Angels
DESCRIPTION:HE HAS GIVEN HIS ANGELS \nCHARGE OVER YOU \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux1 \n◊◊◊ \nO Lord\, what is man that you have made yourself known to him\, or why \ndo you incline your heart to him? And you do incline your heart to him; you \nshow him your care and concern. Finally\, you send your only son and the grace \nof your spirit\, and promise him a vision of your countenance. And so\, that \nnothing in heaven should be wanting in your concern for us\, you send those \nblessed spirits to serve us\, assigning them as our guardians and teachers. \n“He has given his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways.” \nThese words should fill you with respect\, inspire devotion and instill \nconfidence; respect for the presence of angels\, devotion because of their loving \nservice\, and confidence because of their protection. And so\, the angels are here; \nthey are at your side\, they are with you\, present on your behalf. They are here \nto protect you and to serve you. But even if it is God who has given them this \ncharge\, we must nevertheless be grateful to them for the great love with which \nthey obey and come to help us in our great need. \nSo let us be devoted and grateful to such great protectors; let us return \ntheir love and honor them as much as we can and should. Yet all our love and \nhonor must go to him\, for it is from him that they receive all that makes them \nworthy of our love and respect. \nWe should then\, my brothers\, show our affection for the angels\, for one \nday they will be our coheirs just as here below they are our guardians and \ntrustees appointed and set over us by the Father. We are God’s children \nalthough it does not seem so\, because we are still but small children under \nguardians and trustees\, and for the present little better than slaves. \nEven though we are children and have a long\, a very long and dangerous \nway to go\, with such protectors what have we to fear? They who keep us in all \nour ways cannot be overpowered or led astray\, much less lead us astray. They \nare loyal\, prudent\, powerful. Why then are we afraid? We have only to follow \nthem\, stay close to them\, and we shall dwell under the protection of God’s \nheaven.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-holy-guardian-angels/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240928T235302Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240928T235302Z
UID:12571-1727913600-1727999999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Louisville Cathedral
DESCRIPTION:ON THE DEDICATION OF A CHURCH \nBy St Bernard of Clairvaux1 \n◊◊◊ \nToday we celebrate another glorious feast: it is the feast of the Lord’s \nhouse\, of God’s temple\, of the city of the eternal King\, of Christ’s bride. Let us \nask ourselves what this house of God\, this temple\, this city\, and this bride can \nbe. With awe and reverence I say: It is we ourselves. I say it is we ourselves\, but \nin the heart of God; it is we ourselves\, but by his grace and not by any merits of \nour own. We humans must beware of appropri-ating what belongs to God\, of \ntaking the glory to ourselves; otherwise\, if we exalt ourselves\, he will humble us \nand bring us down to our proper level. On the other hand\, a humble \nacknowledgment of our maladies will arouse his compassion. Indeed\, this is \nenough to make God feed us in our hunger like a well-to-do father. So\, under \nhis protection we shall have bread in abundance and thus become his house in \nwhich life-giving food is never lacking. \nBear in mind also that he describes his house as a house of prayer\, and \nthat holiness befits this house; then the purity of self-restraint will accompany \nthe tears of repentance\, and what is already God’s house will become his temple \nas well. Be holy\, says the Lord\, because I am holy. And the Apostle says: Do you \nnot realize that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and the Holy \nSpirit dwells in you? \nBut is even holiness enough? According to the Apostle\, peace too is \nnecessary\, for he says: Strive to be at peace with everyone\, and to achieve the \nholiness without which no one can see God. It is peace that makes brothers \ndwell together in unity and builds for our king\, the true king of peace\, a new city \nalso called Jerusalem\, which means “vision of peace.” \nBut how can so great a king become a bridegroom\, and a city a bride? This \nis possible to love alone\, which is as strong as death\, and can do anything. Can \nit not easily lift her up\, when it has already brought him down? \nAnd so\, if the abundance of our food shows us to be the house of a great \nFather\, if holiness shows us to be God’s temple\, if the sharing of a common life \nshows us to be the city of the great king\, and if love shows us to be the bride of \nthe immortal bridegroom\, then we can surely say without hesitation that today’s \nfeast is our feast. Nor should you be surprised that such a feast is celebrated \nhere on earth; it is\, after all\, being celebrated in heaven too! For if as Truth says\, \nso it must be true\, there is joy in heaven and even among God’s angels over a \nsingle sinner repenting\, then the joy there today must be many times greater at \nso many sinners repenting. Let us then share the rejoicing of the angels\, let us \nshare the joy of God\, and let us keep today’s feast with thanksgiving\, for the fact \nthat it is our own should make us all the more willing to celebrate it.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-louisville-cathedral-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241004
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241005
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240928T235412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240928T235412Z
UID:12573-1728000000-1728086399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Francis
DESCRIPTION:THE HUMILITY OF ST FRANCIS \nFrom “The Life of St Francis” by St Bonaventure1 \n◊◊◊ \nIn order to render himself contemptible to others\, he did not spare \nhimself the embarrassment of bringing up his own faults when he preached \nbefore all the people. Once it happened that when he was weighed down with \nsickness\, he relaxed a little the rigor of his abstinence in order to recover his \nhealth. When his strength of body returned\, he was aroused to insult his own \nbody out of true self-contempt: “It is not right\,” he said\, “that the people should \nbelieve I am abstaining while\, in fact\, I eat meat on the sly.” \nInflamed with the spirit of true humility\, he called the people together in \nthe square of the town of Assisi and solemnly entered the principal church with \nmany of the friars whom he had brought with him. With a rope tied around his \nneck and stripped to his underwear\, he had himself dragged before the eyes of \nall to the stone where criminals received their punishment. He climbed up upon \nthe stone and preached with much vigor and spirit although he was suffering \nfrom a fever and the weather was bitter cold. He asserted to all his hearers that \nhe should not be honored as a spiritual man but rather he should be despised \nby all as a carnal man and a glutton. \nTherefore\, those who had gathered there were amazed at so great a \nspectacle. They were well aware of his austerity\, and so their hearts were struck \nwith compunction; but they professed that his humility was easier to admire \nthan to imitate. Although this incident seemed to be more a portent like that of \nthe Prophet [Isaiah] than an example\, nevertheless it was a lesson in true \nhumility instructing the follower of Christ that he should despise the fame of \ntransitory praise\, suppress the arrogance of bloated bragging and reject the lies \nof deceptive pretense. \nHe often did many things like this so that outwardly he might become like \na discarded utensil while inwardly possessing the spirit of holiness. He strove \nto hide the gifts of his Lord in the secret recesses of his heart\, not wanting them \nto be exposed to praise\, which could be an occasion of a fall. For often when he \nwas praised by the crowds\, he would answer like this: “I could still have sons \nand daughters; don’t praise me as if I were secure! No one should be praised \nwhose end is still uncertain.” This is what he would say to those who praised \nhim\, and to himself he would say: “If the Most High had given so much to a \nbrigand\, he would be more grateful than you\, Francis.” He often used to tell the \nfriars: “No one should flatter himself for doing anything a sinner can also do. A \nsinner\,” he said\, “can fast\, pray\, weep and mortify his flesh. This one thing he \ncannot do: be faithful to his Lord. Therefore\, we should glory in this: if we give \nback to the Lord the glory that is his\, if we serve him faithfully and ascribe to \nhim whatever he gives to us.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-francis-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241005
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241006
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20240928T235515Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240928T235515Z
UID:12575-1728086400-1728172799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:MARY’S POETIC SENSIBILITY \nBy Émile Mersch1 \n◊◊◊ \nThe Magnificat is Mary’s own song\, and when she composed it\, Jesus \nwas not even born. Yet he made his presence felt to John the Baptist\, and more \nso to her. In Mary’s song\, his thoughts are uttered: the greatness of the humble\, \nthe blessings promised to the lowly\, the reversal of values effected by the Lord \nin exalting the poor and rejecting the proud\, the joy of those whom the world \nignores and who have the Lord with them; everything that the song proclaims \nis the same as the teaching promulgated in the Beatitudes and the Sermon on \nthe Mount. The very prelude expresses the tone and accent characteristic of the \npreaching of Jesus; the mother’s song foreshadows the hymn of thanksgiving \nuttered by the Son in the presence of God who showers the lowly and humble \nwith favors. At that time Jesus answered and said: ‘I thank you\, Father\, Lord \nof heaven and earth\, because you have hid these things from the wise and \nprudent and have revealed them to little ones. Yes\, Father\, for so it has seemed \ngood in your sight’. \nAs we hear Christ in his mother\, we also hear in her the entire Old \nTestament\, which is a prefigure of Christ. The Magnificat is almost wholly made \nup of biblical quotations. The mother of the Savior\, of the Desired One of Israel\, \nspeaks as the daughter\, or rather the queen\, of the patriarchs and prophets. And \nthis double relation with her Son\, who is everything for humanity\, depicts her \nso well that the Magnificat\, echo of the Old Testament and prelude to the New \nTestament\, is a very personal\, unified and spontaneous composition\, as well as \na prayer that was to become familiar to the Christian people. \nMary must have possessed a flair for poetry\, just as Jesus did. Jesus had \nthis gift of universal sympathy\, this promptness of responding to a contact with15 \nanything\, this facility and sincerity of wonder. We have but to recall\, for \nexample\, his reverential and moving words about the flowers of the fields. I tell \nyou that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. And if \nGod so clothes the grass of the field\, which grows today and is thrown into the \noven tomorrow\, will he not much more provide for you\, O you of little faith? \n‘God so clothes’: we can see our Lord bending over these humble marvels\, \njoyful and proud to be a man in the human universe of his Father’s creation. We \nmay well believe that Jesus wished to receive this very human gift from his \nmother\, just as he received his human nature from her. She must have \npossessed it before him. The proofs that she did are\, among others\, the special \nturn of poetry\, delicacy and taste found in the first chapters of St. Luke\, in which \nher influence stands out so clearly… The abundance of poetic bits occurring in \nthese chapters\, and only in them\, all have to do with her. But the Magnificat \nremains the clearest proof.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-12/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241006
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241007
DTSTAMP:20260403T193903
CREATED:20241006T111750Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241006T111750Z
UID:12583-1728172800-1728259199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n27th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nOctober 6 – 12\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n6\nMon\n7\nTue\n8\nWed\n9\nThu\n10\nFri\n11\nSat\n12\n\n\nOffice\n27th Sunday\nOur Lady of the Rosary\nWeekday\nWeekday\nOffice for Vocations\nSt John XXIII\nWeekday\n\n\nVigils\nWis 2:12-24\nJudith 15:8-16:2\, 11-16\nWis 3:1-12\nWis 3:13-4:6\nWis 4:7-19\nWis 4:20-5:13\nWis 5:14-23\n\n\nLauds\nHos 9:1-9\nSir 39:12-22\nHos 9:10-17\nHos 10:1-8\nHos 10:9-15\nHos 11:1-7\nHos 11:8-11\n\n\nMass\n140\n461\n462\n463\n464\n465\n466\n\n\n1st\nGen 2:18-24\nGal 1:6-12\nGal 1:13-24\nGal 2:1-2\, 7-14\nGal 3:1-5\nGal 3:7-14\nGal 3:22-29\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 2:9-11\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 10:2-16\nLuke 10:25-37\nLuke 10:38-42\nLuke 11:1-4\nLuke 11:5-13\nLuke 11:15-26\nLuke 11:27-28\n\n\nVespers\n1 John 3:4-10\nActs 1:12-14\n1 John 3:11-18\n1 John 3:19-24\n1 John 4:1-6\n1 John 4:7-12\n1 John 4:13-21
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-88/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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