Vigils Reading
2025-12-22
JUSTICE AND THE WORD
From the treatise “The Educator” by St Clement of Alexandria
◊◊◊
On every occasion we ought to repeat that most excellent of maxims – the
good man by means of his temperateness and justice stores up treasure in
heaven. He who sells his worldly goods and gives to the poor will find the
imperishable treasure, where there is neither moth nor robber. Such a man is
fortunate indeed, though he be insignificant and weak and obscure, and he is
rich with the greatest of all riches.
On the other hand, if a person becomes wealthier than Midas and Cinyra,
but is arrogant and unjust, in the manner of the man who was luxuriously
clothed in purple and fine linen, and despised Lazarus, he is miserable, lives
wretchedly, and will never attain true life.
In fact, wealth seems to me to be like a snake, which will twist round the
hand and bite, unless one knows how to handle it without danger by the tip of
the tail. Likewise, riches whether wriggling in an experienced or inexperienced
grip are dexterous at clinging and biting, unless one rise above them and use
them skillfully – that is, so as to crush the creature by the charm of the Word,
thus remaining unharmed.
However, the one who possesses what is worth most turns out to be the
truly rich person, although perhaps not recognized as such. It is not jewels or
gold or clothing or bodily perfection that is worth much. It is simply virtue. For
it is the word given by the Educator to be put into practice. This is the Word who
adjures luxury but calls for independence in service of self, and praises frugality,
offspring of moderation. “Receive,” he says, “my instruction in preference to
silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold. For Wisdom is better than corals,
and no choice possession can compare with her.” And again: “Acquire me rather
than gold, and precious stones, and silver; for my produce is better than choice
silver…
For “there are those who sow and reap more,” of whom it is written:
“Lavishly he gives to the poor; his generosity shall endure forever.” Hence, it is
not the one who has and keeps who is rich, but the one who has and gives away.
And it is the giving away rather than the possession which makes a person
happy; and the fruit of the Spirit is generosity. Thus, riches lie in the soul…
True riches, therefore, are justice and the Word, which is more valuable
than any treasure; they are not increased by cattle and fields but are given by
God. Such wealth cannot be taken away, for the soul alone is its treasure. It
constitutes the supreme possession for anyone who has it, rendering one truly
blessed. For the one who is able to refrain from desiring what is above one’s
power to obtain but then receives from God those most devout desires – such a
one possesses much, for that person has God as an everlasting treasure!

Vigils Reading
2025-12-23
REPENT WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART
From a homily written in the 2nd Century
◊◊◊
Let us be sure that when the day of judgment comes, our place will be
among those who give thanks to God and have served him, and not with the
ungodly who face condemnation. As for myself, I am only a sinner, not yet
beyond the reach of temptation; but even amidst all the devil’s machinations I
still strive to make progress and hope to attain at least some virtue, for I fear the
judgment that awaits me.
My brothers and sisters, you have heard the word of God who is the very
fountainhead truth. Therefore, I now read you an appeal to heed what is
written, and thereby save both yourselves and your reader. The reward I ask is
that you repent with your whole heart, to save yourselves and find life. if we do
this, we shall set an example for all young people, for whom the glory and
goodness of God is a challenge to be generous in his service.
Let me say also that when we are given warning and corrected for doing
something wrong, we should not be so foolish as to take offense and be angry.
There are times when we are unconscious of the sins we commit because our
hearts are fickle, lacking in faith. Futile desires becloud our minds. We need to
pull ourselves up, therefore, because our very salvation is at stake.
Those who keep God’s commandments will have reason to rejoice. For a
short time in this world they may have to suffer, but they will rise again and their
reward will endure for ever. No one who holds God in reverence should grieve
over the hardships of this present time, for a time of blessedness is waiting. For
we will live again in heaven in the company of all those who have gone before us;
for all eternity we will rejoice, never to know sorrow again.
So do not be disturbed at the sight of the wicked possessing great wealth
while the servants of God suffer want. We…must have faith. Competing as we
are in the arena of the living God, we are receiving the training in this present
life that will make us worthy to be crowned in the life to come. Honest people do
not become rich overnight; they have to wait for the reward of their labors. If
God gave virtue an immediate recompense, we should straightway find
ourselves engaging in commerce, instead of perfecting ourselves in his service.
Although to all outward appearance we might be irreproachable, we should not
be seeking God, but our own advantage, and bringing down on our sinful souls
that divine judgment that would soon make us feel the full weight of our chains.
To the one invisible God, the Father of truth, who sent forth the Savior,
the author of immortality, and through him revealed to us the truth and the
heavenly life – to him be glory throughout all ages, for ever and ever.

Vigils Reading
2025-12-24
GOD’S LOVING PATIENCE
From “The Living God” by Fr Romano Guardini
◊◊◊
God is almighty and infinitely rich. His riches and His omnipotence are
His patience. How good it is that God’s patience is as great as His omnipotence!
That is why He is always able to forgive again, always able to give us a fresh
chance, always able to begin His work again from the chaos of human freedom.
Let us, however, come to the real point. We have been speaking about
“the” world, about men and women in general. But God’s patience is His
patience with me. And I am to some extent able to judge what that means. I can
judge because I know how difficult it is to be patient with myself…
Unless we delude ourselves, or have succeeded in reconciling ourselves to
our own paltry and petty world, we all know this kind of suffering even though it
may not have actually made us ill, and…where is the border line between health
and sickness? We all know the misery, the bitter sterility, when day after day
and year after year passes and things never change. One tries for so long to
overcome this situation but it refuses to yield. One appears to have overcome it
for a time perhaps and then it suddenly returns. And sometimes it seems as
though after wearing oneself out trying to overcome it, seven demons have
taken the place of the original one.
If God’s attitude to us is the same as our own attitude to ourselves, then
the outlook is black indeed. If God takes as poor a view of me as I do myself, if
God does not bear with my bungling, my dishonesty, my constant failures with
greater patience than I do myself, then I am bound to give up in despair. But
God is love. And in Him my nature is truer than in myself. In me it is corrupt; in
Him it is pure. In His most holy patience He holds in His love my nature which I
myself disfigure so terribly and squander so thoughtlessly. From this loving
patience He sees and bears me. He has infinite confidence in me. He believes
that I am capable of making progress.
We sometimes feel that we must get away from ourselves, that we must
escape from the old into the new and the real, that sometime or other there must
come what the Bible calls conversion, a decisive turning to God. But it does not
come, and meanwhile life wastes away. The older we get the faster it goes and
the more difficult we find it to believe that things can ever be any different.
Perhaps the greatest thing about God’s patience is the infinite possibilities of
love and grace which He holds open to life as it hardens in its cowardice and
runs on to its end.
Can you take this in? This unspeakable, impossible possibility of “hoping
against all hope” which, the more body and soul harden as life ebbs away, must
come exclusively from the mind and spirit, from the Holy Spirit of God? This is
the ultimate depth of God’s patience to which we can pray, that He may keep
open for us the possibility of spiritual renewal when all other possibilities have
ceased.

Vigils Reading - Nativity of the Lord
2025-12-25
FROM THE CRIB TO THE CROSS
By St Edith Stein
◊◊◊
God has come to redeem us, to unite us to Himself and to each other, to
conform our will to His. He knows our nature. He reckons with it, and has
therefore given us every help necessary to reach our goal.
The divine Child has become a teacher and has told us what to do. In
order to penetrate a whole human life with the divine life it is not enough to
kneel once a year before the crib and let ourselves be captivated by the charm of
the holy night. To achieve this, we must be in daily contact with God, listening
to the words he has spoken and which have been transmitted to us, and obeying
them. We must, above all, pray as the Savior Himself has taught us so
insistently. “Ask and it shall be given you”. This is the certain promise of being
heard. And if we pray every day with all our heart: “Lord, they will be done” we
may well trust that we shall not fail to do God’s will even when we no longer have
subjective certainty.
More: Christ has not left us orphans. He has sent His Spirit, who teaches
us all truth. He has founded his Church which is guided by His Spirit, and has
ordained in it His representatives by whose mouth His Spirit speaks to us in
human words. In His Church He has united the faithful into one community
and wants them to support each other. Thus we are not alone, and if the
confidence in our own understanding and even in our own prayer fails us, the
power of obedience and intercession will assist us.
“And the word was made flesh”. This became reality in the stable of
Bethlehem. But it has also been fulfilled in another form. “He who eats my flesh
and drinks my blood has eternal life”. The Savior, knowing that we are and
remain men who have daily to struggle with our weaknesses, aids our humanity
in a manner truly divine. Just as our earthly body needs its daily bread, so the
divine life in us must be constantly fed. “This is the living bread that came down
from heaven”. If we make it truly our daily bread, the mystery of Christmas, the
Incarnation of the Word, will daily be re-enacted in us. And this, it seems, is the
surest way to remain in constant union with God, and to grow every day more
securely and more deeply into the mystical Body of Christ.
The Christian mysteries are an indivisible whole. If we become immersed
in one, we are led to all the others. Thus the way from Bethlehem leads
inevitably to Golgotha, from the crib to the Cross. When the blessed Virgin
brought the Child to the temple, Simeon prophesied that her soul would be
pierced by a sword, that this Child was set for the fall and the resurrection of
many, for a sign that would be contradicted. His prophecy announced the
Passion, the fight between light and darkness that already showed itself before
the crib.

Vigils Reading - St Stephen
2025-12-26
THE GIFT OF LOVE
From a sermon by St Fulgentius
◊◊◊
Yesterday we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal king; today we
celebrate the triumphant suffering of a soldier. For yesterday our king, nobly
arrayed in flesh, proceeding from the chaste womb of the Virgin Mary, deigned
to visit this world; today a soldier, leaving the confines of the body, made his
way in triumph to heaven.
Our king, though he is the Most High, for our sake came in humility; yet
he could not come empty-handed. It was indeed a generous gift that he brought
for us, one by which he not only abundantly enriched us but gave us the strength
to do battle and never be vanquished. What he brought was the gift of love,
which was to lead us to become sharers in the godhead. He brought it only to
expend it, without in any way diminishing his own store; while turning the
poverty of his followers into riches he remained himself, as by a miracle, fully
possessed of his own inexhaustible treasury.
Love then, the same love that brought Christ down from heaven to earth,
raised Stephen from earth to heaven; the same love shown first in the king was
reproduced in its splendor in the warrior.
And so Stephen, in order to earn his right to the crown his name signifies,
armed himself with love, and by that same love won every battle. It was love of
God that made him yield not an inch, love of his neighbor that led him to
intercede for those who stoned him. It was through love that he was able to
expose those in error so that they might change their ways; through love that he
prayed for those who stoned him so that they should not be punished. Trusting
only in love, he overcame Saul’s cruel rage, and the very man who had been his
persecutor on earth he won as his companion in heaven. That same holy and
untiring love longed to win over by prayer those whom it could not convert by
persuasion…
Love is therefore the source and origin of every good, an unrivaled
protection, the road that leads to heaven. Those who walk in love can be neither
lost nor afraid; love is the guide and protector, and brings them to the end of
their journey. For this reason, beloved, since Christ has set up a stairway of love
by which every Christian can mount up to heaven, keep a firm hold on love
alone; love one another, and by growing in love climb together up to heaven.

Vigils Reading - St John
2025-12-27
THE ROOT OF CHARITY
From a sermon by St John Henry Newman
◊◊◊
The love of God is not the same thing as the love of our parents, though
parallel to it; but the love of mankind in general should be in the main the same
habit as the love of our friends, only exercised towards different objects… What
is meant by loving all people is, to feel well disposed to all, to be ready to assist
them, and to act towards those who come in our way, as if we loved them. We
cannot love those about whom we know nothing; except indeed we view them in
Christ, as the objects of his Atonement, that is, rather in faith than in love. And
love, besides, is a habit, and cannot be attained without actual practice, which
on so large a scale is impossible.
We see then how absurd it is when writers (as is the manner of some who
slight the Gospel) talk magnificently about loving the whole human race with a
comprehensive affection, of being the friends of all, and the like. Such vaunting
professions, what do they come to? That such men or women have certain
benevolent feelings towards the world, — feelings and nothing more – nothing
more than unstable feelings, the mere offspring of an indulged imagination,
which exist only when their minds are wrought upon, and are sure to fail them
in the hour of need. This is not to love people; it is but to talk about love. The
real love of another must depend on practice, and therefore, must begin by
exercising itself on our friends around us; otherwise it will have no existence.
By trying to love our relations and friends, by submitting to their wishes,
though contrary to our own, by bearing with their infirmities, by overcoming
their occasional waywardness by kindness, by dwelling on their excellences, and
trying to copy them, thus it is that we form in our hearts that root of charity,
which, though small at first, may, like the mustard seed, at last even overshadow
the earth. The vain talkers about philanthropy…usually show the emptiness of
their profession, by being morose and cruel in the private relations of life, which
they seem to account as subjects beneath their notice.
Far different indeed, far different…with the great Apostle, whose memory
we are today celebrating, utterly the reverse of this fictitious benevolence was
his elevated and enlightened sympathy for all men. We know he is celebrated for
his declarations about Christian love. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love
is of God. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in
us…”
Now did he begin with some vast effort at loving on a large scale? Nay, he
had the unspeakable privilege of being the friend of Christ. Thus he was taught
to love others; first his affection was concentrated then it was expanded. Next he
had the solemn and comfortable charge of tending our Lord’s Mother, the
Blessed Virgin, after his departure. Do we not here discern the secret sources of
his special love of the brethren? Could he, who first was favored with his Savior’s
affection, then trusted with a son’s office towards his Mother, could he be other
than a memorial and pattern (as far as man or woman can be), of love, deep,
contemplative, fervent, unruffled, unbounded?

Skema
2025-12-28
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
Christmas Season

Mass Readings: Sunday (A), Weekdays (II)
December 28 / January 3, 2025/6

Sun
28
Mon
29
Tue
30
Wed
31
Thu
1
Fri
2
Sat
3

Office
Holy Family
5th Day in the Octave
6th Day in the Octave
7th Day in the Octave
Mary, Mother of God
SS Basil & Gregory
Christmas Weekday

Vigils
Prov 31:10-31
Song 1:1-11
Song 1:12-2:7
Song 2:8-3:11
Heb 2:5-18
Song 4:1-5:1
Song 5:2-6:3

Lauds
Sir 26:1-4, 13-16
Isa 51:1-8
Isa 52:8-12
Isa 57:14-19
Ezek 43:27-44:4
Isa 60:1-7
Isa 60:10-14

Mass
17
202
203
204
18
205
206

1st
Sir 3:3-7, 14-17a
1 John 2:3-11
1 John 2:12-17
1 John 2:18-21
Num 6:22-27
1 John 2:22-28
1 John 2:29-3:6

2nd
Col 3:12-21

Gal 4:4-7

Gospel
Matt 2:13-15, 19-23
Luke 2:22-35
Luke 2:36-40
John 1:1-18
Luke 2:16-21
John 1:19-28
John 1:29-34

Vespers
1 Cor 13:1-8a
Col 1:1-8
Col 1:9-14
2 John 4-9
Rev 11:19-12:6
Col 1:15-20
Tim 1:6-14

Vigils Reading - Holy Family
2025-12-28
THE INCARNATE WORD
From a commentary by St John Chrysostom
◊◊◊
Today, as a firstborn son, Christ went down into Egypt to end the
mourning its ancient bereavement had brought upon that land. Instead of
plagues he brought joy, instead of night and darkness he gave the light of
salvation.
Of old the river’s water had been polluted by the untimely deaths of
murdered infants. Therefore he who long ago had stained the waters red went
down into Egypt and purified those waters by the power of the Holy Spirit,
making them the source of salvation. When the Egyptians were afflicted they
raged against God and denied him. Therefore he went down into Egypt, filled
devout souls with the knowledge of God and made the river more productive of
martyrs than it was of ears of grain.
What more shall I say of this mystery? I see a carpenter and a manger, an
infant and swaddling clothes, a virgin giving birth without the necessities of life;
nothing but poverty and complete destitution. Have you ever seen wealth in
such penury? How could he who was rich have become, for our sake, so poor
that he had neither bed nor bedding but was laid in a manger? O immeasurable
wealth concealed in poverty! He lies in a manger, yet he rocks the whole world.
He is bound with swaddling bands, yet he breaks the bonds of sin. Before he
could speak he taught the wise men and converted them. What else can I say?
Here is the newborn babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
With him are Mary, virgin and mother, and Joseph who was called his father.
Joseph was only betrothed to Mary when the Holy Spirit overshadowed
her; so he was at a loss as to what he should call the child. While he was in this
perplexity a message from heaven came to him by the voice of an angel: Do not
be afraid, Joseph. It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child. In
her virginity the Holy Spirit overshadowed her.
Why was Christ born of a virgin, and her virginity preserved inviolate?
Because of old the devil had deceived the virgin Eve, Gabriel brought the Good
News to the Virgin Mary. Having fallen into the trap, Eve spoke the word that
led to death. Having received the good News, Mary gave birth to the incarnate
Word who has brought us eternal life.

Vigils Reading - 5th day in the Octave
2025-12-29
THE APPLE OF HIS EYE
From a treatise by St John Eudes
◊◊◊
Our loving Savior, in various places in the Scriptures, assures us that he is
ever watchful over us, that we are and always will be in his most compassionate
care. How he carries us in his heart he is not content with telling us once or
twice, but in one place [in Isaiah] he even repeats it five times in succession:
Hearken to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who
have been borne by me from your birth, carried from the womb; even to your
old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will
bear; I will carry and will save.
Elsewhere [in Scripture] he tells us the same thing in many ways.
Although, he says, it may sometimes happen that a mother can forget her child,
yet he will never forget us, and he has engraved us on his hands to have us ever
before him. Whoever touches one of us, he says, touches the apple of his eye.
Again, we should not be anxious about how we are going to get enough to eat or
wear, because he well knows our needs and takes care of them. He has even
counted the very hairs of our heads, and not one shall perish. He also tells us
that as he loves his Father so his Father loves us, and that his own love for us is
the same as his Father’s love for him. He wishes us to be where he is — that is, he
wishes us to dwell with him in his Father’s heart…
Let us beware of being dependent on the power or favor of our friends, or
on our own possessions, on our minds, knowledge, strength, good desires and
resolutions, prayers, or even on the faith we believe we have in God, or on
human means of any sort, or on anything in creation, but rely entirely on the
mercy of God… What we have to do is to give up all tendency to rely on our own
means, and put our trust in the absolute goodness of our Lord. Therefore we
must take as much care, and work as hard, as if we expected no help from God,
and at the same time regard this work of ours as nothing, and put all our hope in
God’s mercy.
This is what the Holy Spirit exhorts us to do, speaking through the mouth
of the King and Prophet David: Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and
he will act. And elsewhere: Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain
you. And in the words of Peter, the leader of the Apostles, the Spirit advises us to
cast all our anxieties on God, for he cares about us. Our Lord spoke the same
comfort to Saint Catherine of Siena: “My daughter, forget yourself and think of
me, and I shall never cease to think of you.”

Vigils Reading - 6th Day in the Octave
2025-12-30
THE SANCTIFICATION OF HUMANITY
From “Faith and Theology” by Fr Marie-Dominique Chenu
◊◊◊
I am afraid that sometimes we think of the Gospel as being operative only
on a pious plane far removed from earthly conditions, on the assumption that
the evangelical message would be uncomfortable in the midst of mundane
things. And so we hesitate to use the leaven in life’s ordinary bread lest its purity
be contaminated.
If that is our attitude then we do not really believe in the Gospel at all. We
do not believe that it is for our humanity that God became flesh! We do not
believe that the divine life can be lived by a person of flesh and bone… But this is
a basic misunderstanding of the plan of Christ, for Christ saves humanity, not by
placing us in a heaven apart, but by becoming one of us. In other words,
salvation is not to be found in the denial of human nature, since God himself
took on human nature in order to save humankind.
The plan according to which divine life was given to us through the
incarnation can be stated in this way: God, in becoming a man, submitted to all
the earthly conditions of human existence; if any of those conditions had been
omitted, if any exceptions had been made, God would not have fully assumed
human nature. The sanctification of humanity follows the same law. It is not an
exterior sanctification accomplished by pious intentions; it is a profound
permeation of the depth of our being and of our deepest aspirations by a sap
which flows through the channel of our cares, our labors, our institutions. This
is the incarnation. And if anyone wants an example of grace functioning at the
human level let us consider human love — the encounter of spirit and flesh.
Here, at least, one would expect the divine life to remain reserved and detached
in its own pure isolation. But look what Christ has done! He made marriage a
sacrament, so that its functioning and its needs belong to the divine life.
In divine as in human life we have no use for a love that excludes the
burden of the body and what it involves, for such would be a false love without
roots in earth and consequently without fruit in heaven. When God wills that
fraternal love should find a place in our ordinary daily life he also wills that the
material bases of that life be included in the concerns of love — though, in fact,
we have made these material bases the sources of conflict and war. For even God
must respect the laws of love.

Vigils Reading - 7th Day in the Octave
2025-12-31
O SOUL OF MY SOUL
By St Elizabeth Ann Seton
◊◊◊
How often have I felt my soul awakened by your Light and warmed by the
fire of your Love – then I approach you – I find you – but Alas instantly after, I
lose you; often I think myself received – then fear I am rejected – and in this
continual change of interior dispositions I walk in darkness and often go astray
– I desire and know not how to desire, I love, and know not how to love, nor how
to find what I love.
Thus my soul loses itself without ceasing to hope in you – It knows by its
own experience that it desires much, and is unable to do anything – you see its
trouble O lord – and in that happy moment when fatigued with so many
vicissitudes it falls at last into entire diffidence of itself then you open its eyes
and it sees the true way to Peace and Life – it knows you were nearer than it
imagined – you instruct it all at once without Voice or Words, it thinks only of
what possesses it, abandoning all things else it then possesses you – It sees
without knowing what it sees, it hears, and is ignorant of what it hears, it knows
only Who he is to whom it is attentive, it contents itself with loving HIM, it loves
Him continually more and more – Words cannot express, nor the mind
comprehend what it receives from you O MY GOD even in this place of
Banishment.
How happy is that moment O divine Jesus! How pure is that Light, how
ineffable is that communion of your Blessings! You know O Lord how precious
that gift is, and your Creature that receives it knows also – Ah! if it were faithful,
if it never departed from you – if it knew how to preserve the Grace it had
received, how happy would it be! And yet this is but a drop of that infinite Ocean
of Blessings which you are one day to communicate to it.

O Soul of my Soul – what is my Soul and What Good can it have without
possessing you – Life of my Life! What is my Life when I live not in you – Is it
possible that my Heart is capable of possessing you – of enjoying you all alone –
of extending and dilating itself in you – can your creature thus be elevated above
itself to repose in your Breast, and after that depart from you? Bury itself in the
Earth? Ah Lord I know not what I ought to say to You: but hear the voice of your
love and of my misery; live always in me, and let me live perpetually in You and
for You as I live only by You.
Enlighten me, O Divine Light! Conduct me, O supreme Truth! Raise me
again, O uncreated Life! Separate me from every thing that displeases you.
Suffer me to remain at your Feet!

Vigils Reading - Mary , Mother of God
2026-01-01
THE PERFECT CHRISTIAN
From the book “Mary, Mother of the Lord” by Fr Karl Rahner
◊◊◊
What is perfect Christianity? Perfect Christianity must consist in
receiving this gift of the eternal God, God himself, in grace-given freedom, with
body and soul and all the powers of the whole being, with all one is and has, all
one does and suffers, so that this receiving of God takes up our entire nature and
our whole life-history into the eternal life of God. Perfect Christianity must
mean that our public and our private acts, what appears publicly before the
world in its history, and what takes place in the inner depths of conscience,
perfectly coincide and correspond.
What occurs there in the depths of Christian life becomes visible, and
conversely, what is visible and manifest, truly mirrors what is taking place in the
depths of the soul, in God’s presence. Christianity in its perfection must also
mean that this Christian’s perfect Christianity unconditionally serves the
salvation of others, and is only really perfect if it is actually devoted to all, from
the beginning to the end of time.
If that is what perfect Christianity is, then we can and must say that Mary
is the actual realization of it, the perfect Christian. If Christianity in its perfect
form is the pure acceptance of the salvation of the eternal triune God that has
appeared in Jesus Christ, Mary is the perfect Christian, the Christian human
being exemplified as such, because in the faith of her spirit and in her blessed
womb, with body and soul, then, and all the powers of her being, she received
the eternal Word of the Father. If perfect Christianity is the perfect
correspondence between outward mission in the history of salvation and
personal life, it is perfectly realized in Mary. She received visibly and tangibly
the Incarnate Word of the eternal Father, and so she is the most significant and
representative figure among the merely human beings in the externally visible
history of redemption. And at the same time she accepted fully and realized in
her personal life her unique office in the economy of redemption, with an
absolutely unconditional total consent in faith.
If Christianity is the radiating influence of one’s own grace in unselfish
service for the salvation of others, Mary is the most perfect instance of what it
means to be a Christian, for it was the salvation of us all, Jesus Christ our Lord,
whom she conceived by the consent of her faith and in the physical reality of her
divine motherhood.

Vigils Reading - SS Basil & Gregory
2026-01-02
ST BASIL AND ST GREGORY
From a treatise by St John Henry Newman
◊◊◊
The instruments raised up by Almighty God for the accomplishment of
His purposes are of two kinds, equally gifted with faith and piety, but from
natural temper and talent, education, or other circumstances, differing in the
means by which they promote their sacred cause.
The first of these are men of acute and ready mind, with accurate
knowledge of human nature, and large plans, and persuasive and attractive
bearing, genial, sociable, and popular, endued with prudence, patience,
instinctive tact and decision in conducting matters, as well as boldness and
zeal…
There is an instrument in the hand of Providence, of less elaborate and
splendid workmanship, less rich in its political endowments, so to call them, yet
not less beautiful in its texture, nor less precious in its material… Such, perhaps,
was Basil, who issued from the solitudes of Pontus to rule like a king, and
minister like the lowest in the kingdom; yet to meet little but disappointment,
and to quit life prematurely in pain and sorrow.
Such was his friend, the accomplished Gregory, however different in
other respects from him, who left his father’s roof for an heretical city, raised a
church there, and was driven back into retirement by his own people, as soon as
his triumph over the false creed was secured…
No comparison is, of course, attempted here between the religious
excellence of the two descriptions of men; each of them serves God according to

the peculiar gifts given to him. If we might continue our instances by way of
comparison, we should say that St Paul reminds us of the former, and Jeremiah
of the latter.

Vigils Reading - Christmas Weekday
2026-01-03
TO SEEK AND DISCOVER
From the book “Jesus Christ” by Fr Réné Voillaume
◊◊◊
Jesus appears in the world without giving any warning of his coming and
without making known to any neighbor who he is. Had he come into the world
in his house at Nazareth, all his relatives would have made an event of his birth
with the neighbors and the other inhabitants of the town. He would have been
heralded and celebrated. He would thus have allowed himself to behave well
enough like a true little Nazarene, but he would have been confiscated, as it
were, by his earthly family and his earthly country.
Quite to the contrary, he elects to be born away from home, on a journey,
amid an anonymous crowd; in this way, he would really belong to everybody,
and could come quietly and discreetly, with no tumult and excitement. God, if
he had so wished, could naturally have made all sorts of efforts to spread the
news abroad. And if any proof were needed of this, one could point to his having
mobilized the angels but contented himself with bringing a few poor shepherds
to the manger. It is also clear from this that he could easily have brought the
whole of Jerusalem and all the just among the Israelites with pure and upright
hearts, worshipers of God and living in expectancy of the Messiah. And there
were in fact many of them, all true friends of his, in the country of Judea and
Galilee!
But it is obvious that God did not wish to impose his Son: people must
come to him by seeking and discovering him. Even the shepherds and the Wise
Men, though warned personally, had to search for him with the help of a sign
which, rather than leading them easily and directly to the manger, was little
more than a suggestion to send them on their way. The shepherds must have
gone to many houses and stables before they found the right babe wrapped in
swaddling clothes.
As for the Magi, they had to show some initiative in order to discover, by
the normal means at their disposal, the birthplace of the young king of Israel.
Jesus was infinitely discreet; he simply waited, and such a way of appearing
could have made us somewhat impatient, had it not been proved for centuries
back that people have found in this very discretion a true sign of God.
That sign of weakness, which draws people in spite of themselves, makes
them surrender and acknowledge themselves outdone, without Jesus ever
having forced himself upon them in any way other than a certain presence — a
presence that waits, and invites, and demonstrates God’s heaven in a humble
manner which gives hope and humility, peace and love — just how, one does not
really know! God is a master who knows how to go about speaking to us with the
use of the things of the earth — these various beings, both animate and
inanimate — and the events of human history.

Skema
2026-01-04
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
Epiphany Week

Mass Readings: Sunday (A), Weekdays (II)
January 4 – 10, 2026

Sun
4
Mon
5
Tue
6
Wed
7
Thu
8
Fri
9
Sat
10

Office
Epiphany of the Lord
St John Neumann
Weekday after Epiphany
Weekday after Epiphany
Weekday after Epiphany
Weekday after Epiphany
St William of Bourges

Vigils
Isa 60:1-22
Isa 54:1-17
Isa 55:1-13
Isa 56:1-8
Isa 59:7-21
Baruch 4:5-29
Baruch 4:30-5:9

Lauds
Isa 49:13-23
Isa 63:7-9
Isa 63:15-19
Isa 64:4-11
Isa 65:17-25
Isa 66:10-14
Isa 66:18-23

Mass
20
212
213
214
215
216
217

1st
Isa 60:1-6
1 John 3:22-4:6
1 John 4:7-10
1 John 4:11-18
1 John 4:19-5:4
1 John 5:5-13
1 John 5:14-21

2nd
Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6

Gospel
Matt 2:1-12
Matt 4:12-17, 23-25
Mark 6:34-44
Mark 6:45-52
Luke 4:14-22a
Luke 5:12-16
John 3:22-30

Vespers
Rev 21:22-27
Col 2:16-23
Col 3:1-11
Col 3:12-17
Col 3:19-4:1
Col 4:2-6
Col 2:8-15

Vigils Reading - Epiphany of the Lord
2026-01-04
KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUE LIGHT
From a commentary by St Leo the Great
◊◊◊
Dearly beloved, the day on which Christ first showed himself to the
Gentiles as the Savior of the world should be held in holy reverence among us.
We should experience in our hearts the same joy as the three wise men felt when
the sign of the new star led them into the presence of the king of heaven and
earth, and they gazed in adoration upon the one in whose promised coming they
had put their faith.
Although that day belongs to the past, the power of the mystery which was
then revealed has not passed away; we are not left with a mere report of bygone
events, to be received in faith and remembered with veneration. God’s bounty
towards us has been multiplied, so that even in our own times we daily
experience the grace which belonged to those first beginnings.
The Gospel story specifically recalls the days when, without any previous
teaching from the prophets or instruction in the law, three men came from the
far east in search of God; but we see the same thing taking place even more
clearly and extensively in the enlightenment of all those whom God calls at the
present time. We see the fulfillment of that prophecy of Isaiah which says: The
Lord has bared his holy arm in the sight of all nations, and the whole world
has seen the salvation that comes from the Lord our God. And again: Those
who have not been told about him shall see, and those who have not heard
shall understand.
When we see the people being led out of the abyss of error and called to
knowledge of the true light, people who, far from professing faith in Jesus
Christ, have hitherto devoted themselves to worldly wisdom, we can have no
doubt that the splendor of divine grace is at work. Whenever a shaft of light
newly pierces darkened hearts, its source is the radiance of that same star,
which impresses the souls it touches by the miracle of its appearance and leads
them forward to worship God.
If on the other hand we earnestly ask ourselves whether the same
threefold oblation is made by all who come to Christ in faith, shall we not
discover a corresponding gift offering in the hearts in the hearts of true
believers? To acknowledge Christ’s universal sovereignty is in fact to bring out
gold from the treasury of one’s soul; to believe God’s only Son has made himself
truly one with human nature is to offer myrrh, and to declare that he is in no way
inferior to the Father in majesty is to worship him with frankincense.

Vigils Reading - St John Neumann
2026-01-05
THE PROPOSAL TO
GO TO AMERICA
From the autobiography of St John Neumann
◊◊◊
On the feast of All Saints, 1831, I began the study of theology… I studied
Sacred Scripture, Hebrew and Church History… At the end of the first year of
theology I was one of the few who were to receive Tonsure and the four Minor
Orders. This actually took place on July 21, 1832.
In the second year of theology we had the New Testament in Latin and
Greek together with Exegesis and Canon Law. What appealed to me most were
the letters of the Apostle, St Paul, which the professor knew how to explain very
well. About this time I began to read the reports of the Leopoldine Society,
especially the letters of Father Baraga and other missionaries among the
Germans in North America. This is how there arose in one of my fellow
students, Adalbert Schmidt, and in myself on the occasion of a walk along the
Moldau River, the determination to devote ourselves to North America as soon
as we acquired some experience after ordination.
Two or three of our fellow students, whom we invited to join us, marvelled
at our decision, but they did not want to promise anything. Obviously, it was not
their vocation. From that moment on my resolution was so strong and lively
that I could no longer think of anything else.
We had talks on how to carry out our project. We thought it would be
better for me to try to obtain from the bishop the recently vacated foundation
scholarship at the University of Prague for a theologian from the seminary. We
did this in the hope of easily learning French and English there because we
thought that the knowledge of these languages was much more important than
is actually the case. The bishop granted my request, but I found myself very
much disappointed. I had hardly gone to the French classes at the Clementinum
for a few [days or weeks] when an order came from the archbishop that no
seminarian was to attend these classes. As for English, I could learn even less
because that language was not taught at the University then.
Meanwhile, the bishop of Philadelphia, Fr. Francis Patrick Kenrick
empowered Dr. Raess, the rector of the Strassburg seminary to accept young
priests or, even better, theologians for his diocese. The latter wrote to a very
saintly priest, who was Vicar of the Budweis Cathedral, about the possibility of
getting some of them from Bohemia. Through a special disposition of divine
providence this turned out to be the one (Father Hermann) who happened to be
the confessor of my friend Adalbert Schmidt and knew about our proposal to go
to America.
Aside from three or four or our fellow students and him, no one knew
about this. He was very happy to discover in us the first two that he found ready
to go to America. The request to Dr. Raess and our decision seemed to be signs
that his plan would be feasible. Since the bishop, who was over eighty, was sick,
and since, for four or five months, there was no prospect that he would hold an
ordination, he was all in favor of the two of us being ready to take off as soon as
possible.

Vigils Reading
2026-01-06
THE FESTIVAL
OF THE WHOLE UNIVERSE
From a homily by St Basil the Great
◊◊◊
The star came to rest over the place where the Child lay. When they saw it,
the Wise Men were filled with great joy. Let us also welcome that joy of theirs
into our own hearts, for it is the same as the glad tidings which the angels
proclaimed to the shepherds. Let us worship the Lord with the Wise Men,
glorify him with the shepherds, and join in the angels’ chorus, singing: This day
is born to us a Savior who is Christ the Lord. The Lord is our God, and he has
shone upon us. For fear of terrifying the weak he would not dazzle our eyes by
appearing in the form of God, but he came to us as a servant, in order to set free
what was held in bondage.
Who could be so dull of heart, so ungrateful as not to rejoice, be glad and
exult with all here present? This is the festival of the whole universe, for it pours
out on earth the blessings of heaven, sending the archangels to Zechariah and to
Mary, and assembling the angelic choirs for their song: Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good will among all.
The stars traverse the skies; the Wise Men journey from pagan lands,
while the earth receives its Redeemer in the cave. There must be no one without
some gift to offer, no one unmindful of the gratitude he owes. Let us celebrate
the world’s salvation, the day Christ was born in our humanity, for today Adam’s
sentence is reversed.
No longer can it be said, You are earth, and to the earth you shall return
; rather, “You are now united to heaven, and to heaven you shall be admitted”.
Now we no longer hear, In sorrow you shall bring forth your children, since
happy is she who bore Emmanuel, and happy is the breast which has nursed
him. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and sovereignty shall be
upon his shoulder.
Come then, and join those who gladly welcomed the Lord from heaven.
Think of the shepherds now clothed with wisdom, the priests blessed with the
gift of prophecy, and the women, Mary and Elizabeth, filled with happiness, the
one rejoicing at Gabriel’s message, the other at John’s leaping in her womb.
Think of Anna proclaiming the good news and Simeon holding the child in his
arms. Adoring the mighty God in the tiny infant, they did not despise what they
saw but praised his divine majesty. Like light shining through clear glass, the
power of the Godhead shone in radiance through that human body for those
whose inner gaze was pure.
May the Lord grant us also to be counted among them, so that beholding
his radiance with unveiled face, we may be transformed from glory to glory by
the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be honor and
power for ever and ever. Amen.

Vigils Reading
2026-01-07
RISE UP, BE ENLIGHTENED
From a sermon by St Aelred of Rievaulx
◊◊◊
Rise up, be enlightened, Jerusalem, for your light has come. This is the
Jerusalem which the Lord Jesus, who is the true and highest peace, is building
up out of living stones, the Jerusalem that aspires to the vision of him and
believes with utter certainty that it shall find its happiness in that vision. It is the
holy Church. It is each and every holy gathering, each and every holy soul. Rise
up, he said, be enlightened, Jerusalem.
Rightly was it told: Rise up, for it was lying prostrate. Rightly is it told, Be
enlightened, for it was blind. It was lying prostrate, blind, in darkness, in error,
in sin. Therefore it was told: Rise up, because he who would raise it up had
already stooped down. It is told: Be enlightened, because he who would
enlighten it was already present. What else does that new star proclaim from the
heavens but Rise up, be enlightened? The sign of the Lord’s birth has appeared
in the heavens so that we may rise from the love of earthly things to heaven. And
this sign takes the form of a star so that we may know that by his birth we shall
be enlightened…
The three kings of whom we have spoken came to Jerusalem and asked:
Where is he who is born King of the Jews? As soon as Herod heard those words
he was dismayed. Why, if not because he was earth and darkness covered the
earth? He was afraid of losing his earthly kingdom. Because all he sought was an
earthly kingdom, he thought that the newborn king would seek only an earthly
kingdom…
But now lying prostrate in carnal desires and in the darkness of iniquities
is a matter for great agitation, for the true light that enlightens every one
coming into the world, Christ Jesus, has now come. We cannot have further
excuse for our sins, for Christ, who takes away the sins of the world and justifies
the wicked, now speaks to us openly. Someone who follows me does not walk in
darkness but will have the light of life.
And what is the way by which he walks and which leads to him? Let him
tell you himself: Anyone who chooses to come after me must deny himself, take
up his cross and follow me. The apostle also points out the way that leads to
Christ; it is, he says, through many tribulations that we must enter the
kingdom of heaven. Again, the Lord tells us in the Gospel: Blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This is the way by which Jesus walked and by which we shall come to him:
the renunciation of our own will, the imitation of Christ’s passion, the hardships
of the present life, and voluntary poverty. This is the way which sacred Scripture
shows us, which, as we said, appeared to the three kings.

Vigils Reading
2026-01-08
THE FAITH OF THE MAGI
From a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny
◊◊◊
O with what joy does the faith of the Magi exult there as they look upon
the babe now reigning in that heavenly Jerusalem, him whom they adored as a
crying babe in Bethlehem. Here he was seen in the inn of the poor; there he is
seen in the palace of the angels; here in the swaddling clothes of infants, there in
the splendor of the saints; here in his mother’s lap, there on his Father’s throne.
Truly the faith of the blessed Magi deserved to be rewarded with so
blissful a sight. Their faith, although it saw in him only what was weak and
contemptible, could not however find in that a stumbling-block to prevent them
from worshiping God in man and man in God.
These first-fruits of the nations, then, these beginnings of the new-born
Church, aptly prefigure the stages by which faith progresses in individuals. For
just as they began with the sight of the star, advanced to the sight of the Child,
arrived at the sight of God, so in us faith is born by the preaching of heavenly
luminaries, it is strengthened by the sight of certain images which show us God
incarnate, through a confused reflection in a mirror, and will be brought to its
consummation when the naked truth of things will be seen as present and we
shall contemplate face to face what now is scarcely seen for a fleeting moment
now and then… Then faith itself will be transformed into knowledge, hope into
possession, desire into enjoyment…
Therefore the Lord said: “You are the light of the world”; and again: “Let
your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your
Father who is in heaven”. So they shine by their word, they shine by their
example, and by these two rays of light they proclaim the rising of eternal Light.
They preach with their voices one who is in heaven and commend him also by
the resemblance of a heavenly life.
Look up, brethren, into heaven, for your true home is in heaven. Look up
and direct the eyes of your mind at least on the brilliance of the stars, if you are
not able yet to gaze upon the sun’s disk. Admire the splendor of the saints,
imitate their faith, emulate their holiness. Those stars blaze like a flame and
show clearly that the Light of lights has risen. They lead to the cradle of the new
King, to the bedchamber of the Virgin Mother, faith’s inviolable mystery, indeed
they lead to the temple of the King, to the sanctuary of God the father, faith’s
reward that surpasses all understanding.
In the meantime however, while we are not able to search out the wisdom
of God which is hidden in mystery or to contemplate the majesty which is to be
our reward, let us be content to wonder at the brightness of the saints… Let us
exercise ourselves in the works of light and He will show it to us now from time
to time to encourage us in our work and afterwards will give it to us as a reward.

Vigils Reading
2026-01-09
A HIDDEN GOD
By Edward Leen
◊◊◊
Everybody knows that the call of the Magi typifies the vocation of the
Gentiles to the Church of God. But to penetrate more deeply into this mystery
and to read therein an experience common to a multitude of souls demand a
deeper understanding of God’s way of manifesting himself to his creatures, and
a keener discernment of his action in human souls.
God is a hidden God, and must be so for us. He manifests himself
obscurely. God does not hide himself from us purposely or to make approach to
him more difficult. He desires revelation of himself to us, and approach to him
on our part. God in his approach to us but tempters his brilliancy to
accommodate it to our weak and diseased spiritual vision. He, as it were, takes
care not to hurt our soul’s sight. But he aims at revelation through dimmed
radiance. The incarnation, which is the utmost concealment of the Godhead
that there is, or that can be — except that of the Eucharist alone — is the greatest
revelation of God.
That we are dull of perception is certainly not due to the mode in which
God reveals himself, but must be traceable to our fault. It is the poor quality of
our faith that is responsible for this dullness. We do not take God on his own
conditions. We are always given to imposing ours on him. We have a tendency
to decide for ourselves what shall be the sensible exterior vesture of God’s
message. We clothe that message with a garment woven of our own ideas and
imaginings, and we reject the material selected by God himself for his
revelation.
Not so the wise men. They took God on his own terms. We choose a
certain mode for his manifestation, and they acknowledged him as God in the
lowliness of the guise in which he appeared. They looked on a babe and they said
God. Their faith was superb.
That the three wise men were able to discern in the form of a helpless
babe, lying in an earthly Mother’s frail arms, under a miserable roof, the king of
kings, the great redeemer of the human race that had been spoken of in
prophecy for centuries before, was a truly marvelous thing…
The wonderful faith of these men passes all belief. Their appearance in the
pages of Saint Matthew is like a sudden burst of glorious sunshine, breaking in a
flood of glory, through a sky wrapped in a mantle of somber gray. And the star
went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was; and seeing
the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy…
As they saw the humble roof under which the child was, and as they
perceived the lowly simple conditions of his parents, were they taken aback?
Had they any misgivings? Were they harassed by any doubts?… It was the
supreme test to which they were put, and their magnificent faith triumphed
over all appearances. Their hearts responded loyally to the touch of grace, for
they were unprejudiced and ready to concede to God whatever form he should
choose for his manifestation.

Vigils Reading - St William of Bourges
2026-01-10
ST WILLIAM OF BOURGES
From Butler’s Lives of the Saints
◊◊◊
Guillaume de Donjeon came from a distinguished family of Nevers on the
river Loire in central France. He was educated by his uncle Peter, who was
archdeacon of Soissons north-east of Paris. At an early age he was appointed canon
on Soissons and then of Paris. He felt the call to the solitary life, however, and
retired to Grandmont Abbey. A dispute there disturbed his peace, and he joined
the stricter Cistercian Order, being clothed at the abbey of Pontigny. He was
elected abbot of two smaller abbeys dependent on Pontigny, first Fontaine-Jean
then Chalis, near Senlis.
When Henri de Sully, archbishop of Bourges, died, a successor was sought
from among the Cistercian Abbots. William was elected by a process of drawing
the first of three names from slips placed on the altar by Henri’s brother Eudes,
bishop of Paris, a choice that confirmed the vote of the clergy. William would have
refused the appointment had he not received direct orders to take it up both from
Pope Innocent III and from his religious superior, the Abbot of Citeaux. He proved
to be a model bishop, austere in private life, wearing a hair shirt and abstaining
from red meat, and full of pastoral care for the spiritual and material welfare of the
poor, whom he saw as his first responsibility. He defended the rights of his church,
including its lands, against threatened encroachment by the civil powers, arguing
his case successfully even against the king.
The Albigensians were numerous in France at this time, and he was active in
crusading against them, making many converts. He was preparing a mission to
them when his final illness came upon him. He preached a last sermon to his
people, which brought on a high fever and hastened his end. At his request he was
laid on a bed of ashes, and he died with the first two words of the Nocturns on his
lips, just after midnight on January 10, 1209. His body was interred in the
cathedral of Bourges, and many miracles were attributed to him. A shrine was
accordingly built in 1217, and he was canonized by Pope Honorius III the following
year.

Skema
2026-01-11
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
1st Week in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings: Sunday (A), Weekdays (II)
January 11 – 17, 2026

Sun
11
Mon
12
Tue
13
Wed
14
Thu
15
Fri
16
Sat
17

Office
Baptism of the Lord
St Aelred
Weekday
Office for the Dead
Ss Maur & Placid
Weekday
St Anthony

Vigils
Joshua 3:1-17
Judges 1:1-20
Judg 2:1-23
Judg 3:1-11
Judg 3:12-31
Judg 4:1-24
Judg 5:1-31

Lauds
Acts 19:1-7
Amos 1:1-5
Amos 1:6-10
Amos 1:11-15
Amos 2:1-5
Amos 2:6-16
Amos 3:1-8

Mass
21
305
306
307
308
309
310

1st
Isa 42:1-4, 6-7
1 Sam 1:1-8
1 Sam 1:9-20
1 Sam 3:1-10, 19-20
1 Sam 4:1-11
1 Sam 8:4-7, 10-22a
1 Sam 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1

2nd
Acts 10:34-38

Gospel
Matt 3:13-17
Mark 1:14-20
Mark 1:21-28
Mark 1:29-39
Mark 1:40-45
Mark 2:1-12
Mark 2:13-17

Vespers
Rev 21:1-7
Philippians 1:1-11
Phil 1:12-18a
Phil 1:18b-26
Phil 1:27-30
Phil 2:1-11
Phil 2:12-18

Vigils Reading - Baptism of the Lord
2026-01-11
THE KISS OF THE DOVE
From a homily by Bede the Venerable
◊◊◊
John gave testimony, saying,’I saw the Spirit descending like a dove
from heaven, and it rested on him’. It is good that the Spirit descended upon the
Lord in the form of a dove, so that the faithful may learn that they cannot be
filled with his Spirit unless they are simple, unless they possess true peace with
their brothers and sisters, which is signified by the kiss of doves.
Ravens also have kisses, but they tear flesh (which a dove does not do at
all), signifying those who speak peace with their neighbor, but wicked things
are in their hearts. A dove, which by nature is innocent of the tearing of flesh,
most suitably fits those innocents who pursue peace and sanctity with everyone,
solicitous to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And so the Spirit,
by descending as a dove, does not represent merely its own innocence and
simplicity, or that of him on whom it descended, but likewise that of those who
think of him in goodness and seek him in simplicity of heart.
The Lord himself says in praise of the piety that they share with one
accord, and of the gentleness granted by a spiritual grace, One is my dove; she is
the only one of her mother, the elect of her progenetrix. Indeed, he calls the
grace of the Spirit ‘the mother and progenetrix of the Church’. By that inspiring
grace she too receives the capacity of being rightly called a dove. Accordingly, in
Hebrew, the language in which holy scripture was set forth, ‘spirit’ is a name
that is feminine in gender. On this account, the Church is appropriately given
the name ‘the one dove of Christ,’ and ‘the elect of her mother and progenetrix,’
for undoubtedly it is not because of her own merits, but because of gift of
spiritual grace she has received, that she is gathered into the unity of the
Christian faith from many nations, that she is gladdened by a mutual dove-like
peace, and that she is blessed by her share in election.
‘And I,’ John says,‘was not aware of him’. You understand what is
implied: ‘I did not recognize him as sublimely as I recognized him when the
Spirit descended upon him’. ‘But he who sent me to baptize with water said to
me, “The one upon whom you will see the Spirit descending and resting upon
him, he it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”‘ The Lord baptizes with the
Holy Spirit, pardoning sins through the gift of the Holy Spirit. For either he
would first baptize some of his disciples with water, through whom the river of
baptism would flow to the rest of the faithful; he would baptize them too with
the Spirit by unloosing them from their sins and administering the gifts of the
Spirit – or else his faithful, calling upon his name, would baptize the elect with
water and anoint them with sacred chrism.
Nevertheless, he himself baptizes them in the Holy Spirit, for no one
except him is capable of releasing the bonds of sins or of bestowing the gifts of
the Holy Spirit.

Vigils Reading - St Aelred of Rievaulz
2026-01-12
THE PASTORAL PRAYER
of St Aelred of Rievaulx
◊◊◊
O Jesus, good Shepherd, O Jesus, kind and loving shepherd, a wretched
and miserable shepherd cries out to you. Although he is weak, ignorant, and
useless, still he is the shepherd of your sheep… You, dear Lord, have entrusted
such a one with the care of the household, you have appointed such a one over
the sheep of your pasture. You order me who am too little solicitous for myself to
be solicitous for them; who am not able to pray for my own sins to pray for them;
and to teach them when I have not sufficiently taught myself.
Why do you, Fountain of mercy, why do you wish to entrust those who are
so dear to you to one whom your watchful care has lost sight of? Did you appoint
such a one over your family that your mercy might be made manifest and your
wisdom known? If by chance it is pleasing to your goodness for such a one to
rule your family well, may he not boast as a wise man in his own wisdom, or as a
strong man in his own strength, or as a just man in his own justice, since when
he rules your people well, you rule rather than he. Not to us, Lord, not to us the
glory; let your name alone be honored.
Since you have given them this blind leader, this unlearned teacher and
ignorant guide, if not for my sake then for theirs, teach him whom you have
commanded to teach others, lead him whom you have commanded to lead
others, direct him whom you have set over others to guide. Our merciful God,
hear me when I pray for them through affection and duty or from the
consideration of your kindness. You know, sweet Lord, how I love them, how my
heart is poured out on them, how my affection melts over them. You know, My
Lord, that I do not command by austerity or by the power of my spirit. You know
how I wish in charity to be useful to them rather than to rule over them; in5
humility to be under them but by affection to be in them. This I ask, that your
eyes should be ever watching, night and day. Spread your wings most lovingly to
protect them, extend your holy right hand to bless them, infuse your holy Spirit
into their hearts, until we all realize our common unity through faith.
O sweet Lord, by the working of your holy Spirit may they be at peace with
themselves, with one another, and with me. May they be modest, kind, and
obedient; serving and supporting one another; fervent in spirit, rejoicing in
hope. Be in their midst according to your faithful promise. Since you know what
is necessary for each, I beseech you to strengthen what is weak in them, support
what is warm, make firm what is unstable, so that each one may feel that your
grace is not lacking in his necessities and temptations…
I entrust them to your holy hands and your loving providence. No one can
tear away from your hand or from the hand of your servant to whom you have
entrusted them, but may they happily persevere in their holy purpose and –
persevering – obtain eternal life through you, our dearest Lord, who lives and
reigns, world without end. Amen.

Vigils Reading
2026-01-13
SHARERS OF THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
From a sermon by St Leo the Great
◊◊◊
I rejoice, dearly beloved, in the pious affection of your devotion, and I give
thanks to God that I see in you the love of Christian unity. For your very
presence here testifies that you understand that the annual return of this day is
a matter for common rejoicing; and that in celebrating the annual festival of the
Shepherd, you are honouring the whole flock.
For though the universal Church is ordered in varying degrees, so the
whole is made up from the diverse members of the sanctified Body, we are all, n
evertheless, as the Apostle says, one in Christ; and no one is separated by office
from another, so that even the least among us is related to the head. Therefore,
Beloved, in its unity of faith and baptism, our society is undivided, and its
dignity is the dignity of all its members; according to the words of the blessed
Peter, spoken by his own consecrated voice: Be you as living stones built up, a
spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to
God by Jesus Christ. And a little later: You are a chosen generation, a kingly
priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people.
For all who are born again in Christ, the sign of the Cross makes kings,
and the anointing of the Holy Spirit consecrates priests; so that apart from the
special service of our ministry, let all spiritual and reasoning Christians know
that they are of royal birth, and sharers of the priestly office. For what is so
kingly as the soul that is subject to God, and the ruler of its own body? And what
is so priestly as to dedicate to the Lord a pure conscience, and to offer him on the
altar of our hearts the unstained gift of our love?
And since by God’s grace this has been given to us all, it is for you a devout
and praiseworthy thing to rejoice on the day of our coronation as though the
honour were your own.

Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
2026-01-14
LOVE AND HATE
From “New Seeds of Contemplation” by Thomas Merton
◊◊◊
There is in every weak, lost and isolated member of the human race an
agony of hatred born of his own helplessness, his own isolation. Hatred is the
sign and the expression of loneliness, of unworthiness, of insufficiency. And in
so far as each one of us is lonely, is unworthy, each one hates himself. Some of us
are aware of this self-hatred, and because of it we reproach ourselves and punish
ourselves needlessly. Punishment cannot cure the feeling that we are unworthy.
There is nothing we can do about it as long as we feel that we are isolated,
insufficient, helpless, alone.
Others, who are less conscious of their own self-hatred, realize it in a
different form by projecting it on to others. There is a proud and self-confident
hate, strong and cruel, which enjoys the pleasure of hating, for it is directed
outward to the unworthiness of another. But this strong and happy hate does
not realize that like all hate, it destroys and consumes the self that hates, and not
the object that is hated. Hate in any form is self-destructive, and even when it
triumphs physically it triumphs in its own spiritual ruin.
Strong hate, the hate that takes joy in hating, is strong because it does not
believe itself to be unworthy and alone. It feels the support of a justifying God, of
an idol of war, an avenging and destroying spirit. From such blood-drinking
gods the human race was once liberated, with great toil and terrible sorrow, by
the death of a God who delivered himself to the Cross and suffered the
pathological cruelty of his own creatures out of pity for them.
In conquering death he opened their eyes to the reality of a love which
asks no questions about worthiness, a love which overcomes hatred and
destroys death. But men and women have now come to reject this divine
revelation of pardon, and they are consequently returning to the old war gods,
the gods that insatiably drink blood and eat the flesh of others. It is easier to
serve the hate-gods because they thrive on the worship of collective fanaticism.
To serve the hate-gods, one has only to be blinded by collective passion. To serve
the God of Love one must be free, one must face the terrible responsibility of the
decision to love in spite of all unworthiness whether in oneself or in one’s
neighbor.

Vigils Reading - St Maur & St Placid
2026-01-15
ST MAURUS AND ST PLACID
From the “Dialogues” of St Gregory the Great
◊◊◊
The holy man, St Benedict, having returned to Subiaco, long continued to
shine by his virtue and miracles, and assembled a great number of solitaries
who consecrated themselves to the service of God, so that, with the aid of our
Lord Jesus Christ, he built twelve monasteries, placing in each twelve Religious
with an Abbot to govern them. He retained with himself only a few of his
disciples who, he thought, still needed his presence to be better formed to
perfection. It was at this time that many persons in Rome, conspicuous for their
nobility and virtue, began to visit him and offer their children that he might
mold them to piety, and teach them to live for God alone. Aequitas and
Tertullus, who had the honor of being Roman Patricians, came to see the saint
and confided to his care their two children; the former was distinguished for
spotless innocence of life, and merited, though young, to be chosen by his
master to assist him in his functions. As to Placid, being only a boy, he was
subject to the weaknesses inseparable from tender age…
The venerable Benedict being one day in his cell, the boy Placid…went out
to fetch water from the lake, but, when dipping his pitcher into the water, not
taking sufficient heed, his body followed the vessel and he fell into the lake. The
waves immediately bore him out from the land as far as the usual flight of an
arrow. The saint, who was in his cell, knew of the sad accident at that very
instant, and at once calling Maurus, his disciple, said to him: “Brother Maurus,
run with all speed; the boy who went to fetch water fell into the lake and has
been already carried off a long distance.”…
Maurus having asked and received the blessing, ran to the lake to execute
the order of his Abbot. Thinking he was treading upon dry land, he advanced to
the very place where the waves had carried off the child, and laying hold of him
by the hair, brought him back with great haste to the shore. Having reached the
land, he began to reflect on what he did, and casting a look behind, saw that he
had been running over the waves. He was astonished thereat and very much
afraid, seeing that he had performed what he would not have dared to undertake
if he had been aware of what he was doing.
Having returned to the monastery, he narrated the whole occurrence to
the Abbot. The venerable Benedict did not attribute this miracle to his own
merit, but to the obedience of the disciple. Maurus, on the other hand, said he
was only fulfilling a command, and could have no share in a miracle which he
unconsciously performed. During this pious dispute arising from the humility
of the holy Abbot and his disciple, the boy rescued from peril presented himself
as arbitrator, and put an end to the contest thus: “When I was being drawn out
of the waves, I saw the Abbot’s robe above my head, and it seemed to me that it
was he who delivered me from the water.”…
An ancient tradition says that the monk Maurus was sent into Gaul by the
same holy Father. There, according to the same tradition, he founded a
monastery at Glannofol; after having governed it for a long time, he died in the
Lord in a good old age, renowned for his sanctity and miracles… while Placid
died a martyr’s death in Sicily in 541, a few years before the death of St Benedict
himself.

Vigils Reading
2026-01-16
THE FAITH
OF THE GENTILES
From a sermon by John of Ford
◊◊◊
The way the dawn rises seems a very apt symbol of the speed, eagerness
and greatness of the faith of the Gentiles in Jesus Christ. It awoke from a sleep
whose heaviness had been so long and so profound, and at the very first light of
the Lord’s birth, it sped towards him, like ‘the rising dawn’, It broke free from
the darkness of such a great want of faith to forestall, with eager devotion, the
Sun of justice. I say “forestall’ because it did not wait for the Wisdom of God to
come and discuss with it the sublimities he had seen and heard when he spoke at
home with this Father… [Nor did it] await his dazzling display of miracles and
virtues and his giving commands to sickness and health, to wind and sea, to
every angelic and human spirit, even to the demons themselves.
On the contrary, [this gentile faith] would not allow even the time of his
infancy to escape it, but in the lowly beginnings of that infancy, it sought out and
recognized its creator. And so the faith of the gentile nations was swift in its
speed, eager in its rejoicing, wise in its search, resolute in its finding, faithful in
its adoration, generous in its gift of itself…
Think of the faith of the centurion, at which scripture tells us that Jesus
marveled. In fact, he went so far as to say that he had not found faith as great in
Israel. That he was here commending the faith of the gentiles is clear enough
from what he said to those who were following him. ‘I tell you most solemnly,
that many will come from the east and from the west, and sit down with
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob; but the children of the kingdom will be cast out
into the exterior darkness .̓
Then we have the Canaanite woman who interceded for her daughter, and
when she was refused, persisted, and by the great noise she made, battered at
the silence of Jesus. When he turned away from her, she followed him without
apology; she humbly adored him when he rejected her; she listened patiently to
his reproaches, and so, in the end, she brought forth ‘honey from the rock, and
oil from the flinty stone I repeat, in the person of this woman, the church of the .̓
gentiles deserved to hear the Lord Jesus say: ‘O woman, great is your faith!’
Then there was the woman of Samaria, who found the God of Jacob
beside Jacob’s well, and in place of the water that does not quench our thirst,
drew for herself ‘the fount of living water’, so as never to know thirst again. She
too is a figure of the faith of the gentiles, and she was commended by the very
author of faith when he said to the disciples who were asking him to eat, ‘I have
food to eat that you know nothing about He added, ‘Lift up your eyes and see .̓
the fields, that they are white for the harvest Here he was making unmistakable .̓
reference to the ripeness and zealous eagerness of the gentile faith, which he
considered food that he hungered after and would eat in the near future…
And there was the centurion, too, when Jesus was suffering and the faith
of the disciples was exceedingly disturbed. He reached the full stature of a
strong faith, and the crucified Jesus, whom others saw and fell away,
scandalized, drew him forward in praise.

Vigils Reading - St Anthony
2026-01-17
BY HIS STRIPES
WE ALL WERE HEALED
From the letters of St Anthony the Great
◊◊◊
The Creator saw that the wound in human nature was grown great, and
needed the care of a physician – and Jesus Himself is their Creator, and Himself
heals them, – and He sent forerunners before His face. And we are not afraid to
say of Moses the Lawgiver that he is one of His forerunners, and that the same
Spirit which was with Moses worked also in the choir of the saints; and they all
prayed for the Only-begotten Son of God.
John again is one of his forerunners: and for this cause the Law and the
Prophets were until John, and ‘the Kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the
violent take it by force.’ And being clothed with the Spirit, they saw that none
among the creatures was able to heal that great wound, but only the bounty of
God, that is to say His Only-begotten, whom He sent to be the Saviour of all the
world; for He is the great physician, who is able to heal the great wound.
And they asked God, and of His bounty the Father of creatures spared not
His Only-begotten for our salvation, but delivered Him up for us all and for our
iniquities. And he humbled Himself, and by his stripes we all were healed. And
by the word of His power He gathered us out of all lands, from one end of the
world to the other end of the world, and raised up our hearts form the earth, and
taught us that we are members one of another.
I beseech you, dearly beloved in the Lord: understand that this Scripture
is the command of God. For it is a great thing for us to understand the form that
Jesus accepted for us: for He became in all things like unto us, apart from sin.
Now therefore it is right that we also should set ourselves free by His advent,
that by His foolishness He may make us wise, and by His poverty may enrich us,
and by His weakness strengthen us, and confer resurrection upon us all,
destroying him that had the power of death…
The advent of Jesus helps us to do what is good, until we have destroyed
all our vices. Then Jesus will say to us, ‘Henceforth I call you not servants, but
friends.’ When therefore the Apostles attained to receiving the Spirit of
Adoption, then the Holy Spirit taught them to worship the Father as they ought.
And to me, this poor prisoner of Jesus, this time to which we have come
has brought joy and lamentation and weeping. For many of our generation have
put on the robe of religion but denied its power. As for those who have prepared
themselves to be set free through the advent of Jesus, over them I rejoice. But
those who do business in the name of Jesus, and do the will of their heart and
their flesh – over such I lament. Those who have looked at the length of the time,
and their heart has failed them, and they have put off the robe of religion, and
are become beasts – for them I weep.
Know therefore that for such as these the advent of Jesus becomes a great
judgment. But do you, my beloved in the Lord, know yourselves, that you may
also know this time, and prepare to offer yourselves as a sacrifice acceptable to
God.
