Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey

Skema
2023-12-03
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
1st Week of Advent

Mass Readings: Sunday (B), Weekdays (II)
December 3 – 9, 2023

Sun
3
Mon
4
Tue
5
Wed
6
Thu
7
Fri
8
Sat
9

Office
1st Sunday of Advent
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday
St Ambrose
Immaculate Conception
Advent Weekday

Vigils
Isa 6:1-13
Isa 7:1-17
Isa 8:1-18
Isa 9:7-20
Isa 10:5-21
Rom 5:12-21
Isa 13:1-22

Lauds
Micah 7:14-20
Isa 1:10-18
Isa 1:21-27
Isa 2:6-11
Isa 2:12-21
Judges 6:34-40
Isa 5:1-7

Mass
2
175
176
177
178
689
180

1st
Isa 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7
Isa 2:1-5
Isa 11:1-10
Isa 25:6-10a
Isa 26:1-6
Gen 3:9-15, 20
Isa 30:19-21, 23-26

2nd
1 Cor 1:3-9

Eph 1:3-6, 11-12

Gospel
Mark 13:33-37
Matt 8:5-11
Luke 10:21-24
Matt 15:29-37
Matt 7:21, 24-27
Luke 1:26-38
Matt 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8

Vespers
Rev 22:12-21
Rom 1:1-12
Rom 1:13-17
Rom 2:1-11
Rom 8:28-39
1 Jn 3:4-9
Rom 3:21-26

Vigils Reading - 1st Sun Advent
2023-12-03
PRAYING FOR THE COMING OF CHRIST
From a sermon by St John Henry Newman1
◊◊◊
Before Christ came, the faithful remnant of Israel were consoled with the promise that “their eyes should see” him, who was to be their “salvation.” “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” Yet it is observable that the prophecy, though cheering and encouraging, had with it something of an awful character too.
This reflection leads us to a parallel thought concerning the state and prospects of all Christians in every age. We who are looking out for Christ’s coming, we are bid to look out, we are bid to pray for it; and yet it is to be a time of judgment. It is to be the deliverance of all saints from sin and sorrow for ever; yet they, every one of them, must undergo an awful trial. How then can any look forward to it with joy, not knowing (for no one knows) the certainty of his own salvation?
And the difficulty is increased when we come to pray for it, to pray for its coming soon: how can we pray that Christ would come, that the day of judgment would hasten, that his kingdom would come, that his kingdom may be at once, may come on us this day or tomorrow, when by so coming he would be shortening the time of our present life, and cut off those precious years given us for conversion, amendment, repentance, and sanctification? Is there not an inconsistency in professing to wish our judge already come, when we do not feel ourselves ready for him? In what sense can we really and heartily pray that he would cut short the time, when our conscience tells us that, even were our life longest, we should have much to do in a few years?

When we pray for the coming of Christ, we do but pray in the Church’s words, that he would “accomplish the number of his elect and would hasten his kingdom.” That is, we do not pray that he would simply cut short the world, but, so to express myself, that he would make time go quicker, and the wheels of his chariot speed on. Before he comes, a certain space must be gone over; all the saints must be gathered in, and each saint must be matured. Not a grain must fall to the ground; not an ear of corn must lose its due rain and sunshine. All we pray is that he should please to crowd all this into a short space of time; that he would “finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,” and “make a short work upon the earth”; that he would accomplish – not curtail, but fulfill – the circle of his saints, and hasten the age to come without disordering this. Indeed it cannot be otherwise.
All God’s works are in place and season; they are all complete. As in nature, the structure of its minutest portions is wrought out to perfection, and an insect is as wonderful as Leviathan; so, when in his providence he seems to hurry, he still keeps time, and moves upon the deep harmonies of truth and love. When then we pray that he would come, we pray also that we may be ready; that all things may converge and meet in him; that he may draw us while he draws near us, and makes us the holier the closer he comes. We pray that we may not fear that which at present we justly fear; that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming

1Parochial and Plain Sermons V, pp. 46-51; reprinted in Meditations on the Sunday Gospels: Year B; introduced and edited by John E. Rotelle, Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1995, pp. 14-15.

Vigils Reading
2023-12-04
THE COMING OF THE LORD
From a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny2 ◊◊◊
Come…Lord, save me and I shall be saved. Come and smile upon us and we shall find deliverance. We have waited for you, be our stronghold, our deliverer in time of trouble… Abraham, our father, was full of joy to see the day of Christ. He saw it – but in the lower regions – and rejoiced. In that day the coldness and hardness of our hearts will be greatly punished… if we do not look forward with joy of spirit to the anniversary of Christ’s birth… In fact Holy Scripture seems to insist we have such joy so that our spirit, lifted out of itself, may run to meet the arrival of Christ in transports of joy, and, straining forward impatient of delay, may strive to pierce the future even now…
I believe that when we are admonished in many places in Scripture to meet the coming of Christ it is not only the second coming that is referred to but the first also… Because just as in the second coming we shall go to meet him, our bodies rising up in exultation, so we must greet his first coming with hearts straining with desire and leaping with joy. For you know that in the resurrection, when we have put on new bodies, as the Apostle says, we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so we shall ever be with the Lord…
In this fashion it may happen that before his actual coming the Lord may come to us, and before he arrives for the world in general he may pay us a friendly visit. “I will not leave you orphans,” he says, “I will come to you.” And indeed, be it for a person’s merit or ardent striving, that coming of the Lord to the individual is frequent in this middle time between his first coming and his final coming, conforming us to the first, preparing us for the last. He comes to us now of course so that his first coming will not have been in vain nor his last in anger against us. In this coming he is intent to reform our spirit of pride, making it conform to his humility which he manifested in his first coming, so that he might also refashion our lowly body, making it like to his glorious body which he will manifest when he comes again the second time… For “God loves mercy and truth; the Lord will give grace and glory,” granting grace through his mercy, conferring glory through his truth…

Into what a sweet and happy state of absorbed admiration of himself does he plunge and keep the soul contemplating him; all the inward man exclaims: “Lord who is like you?”…
Since then the first coming brought grace and the last will bring glory, this one indeed partakes both of grace and of glory; for in it, through the consolation of grace, we are given a foretaste of future glory… Utterly wonderful and lovable it is when God, the Love of the lover, is grasped even in the senses, when the Bridegroom embraces the Bride and they become one in the Spirit, as she is transformed into the same image in which as in a mirror she sees the glory of the Lord. How blessed are they who because of their burning love have already merited to receive this privilege. Blessed too are they whose holy simplicity leads them to hope for it… We who have not had experience of such a wonderful consolation are in the meantime encouraged by firm faith and a pure conscience to wait patiently for the coming of the Lord… that is, of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever

2 Liturgical Sermons – Guerric of Igny – Cistercian Fathers – vol.8 – pg. 10-13. Cistercian Publications.

Vigils Reading
2023-12-05
THE WOLF SHALL DWELL WITH THE LAMB
From a sermon by St Aelred of Rievaulx3 ◊◊◊
The prophet Isaiah said: “You came down and the mountains dissolved before your face.” Oh dearest brothers, if only we, now that we see this fulfilled, could feel as much joy as he felt when he saw that it was yet to be fulfilled. We see it now. We can turn to the Lord and say with great joy: “Lord, you have come down and the mountains dissolved before your face”. This has now been fulfilled. And look how the proud of this earth were dissolved, that is how they were humbled. They began to weep for their sins. Do you not see this every day, brothers? Do you not see the proud of this world turning to the Lord in great confusion, with great fear humbling themselves and weeping for their sins? Even if it does not happen before our eyes every day, it is happening every day in the holy Church.
Accordingly… we see what holy Isaiah says… is to happen at the Lord’s coming, he says: The wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the goat; the calf and the lion shall graze together and a little child will herd them.
Reflect how God has gathered you here – from what diverse parts of the country, from what diverse backgrounds. One of you, when he was in the world – what was he but a lion in his wealth and pride, despising others and vaunting himself as superior to them? Another of you – was he not like a wolf, living by plunder, trying to grab the property of others? The leopard is an animal characterized by changeableness; so were some of you in your slyness, your trickery, your deceit.

Again there are many in this community who reeked of wantonness. Those… were like goats, for the goat is an evil-smelling animal. There were some, too, who when they were in the world lived innocently; they can well be compared to lambs. There were yet others who in the simple lives they led were like sheep. Now look, brothers, in what harmony and peace God has gathered all of them together in one fellowship… Why has all this come about, except because our Lord came down and the mountains dissolved before his face…
And a little child shall herd them. Who is this little child if not he of whom Isaiah says: For us a child is born and a little one is given to us? It was he, surely, who herded Paul and made him go to Ananias. It was also he who herded the wolves and the lions who have come into this fellowship from the world and he still herds them along in front of himself towards all the things we do. He has to herd us ahead of himself, brothers, until we are in the condition of being able to follow him… Yet someone who has already often tasted how sweet our Lord is, who has begun to love him… that person is now following Christ. His shepherd has no need to herd him but has only to go before him and show him the way by which he wants him to follow. This person can say: I have run the way of your commandments now that you have enlarged my heart… Surely, brothers, we should not only follow, but run, after him

3 Aelred of Rievaulx – The Liturgical Sermons – Cistercian Fathers Series #58 – Cistercian Publications – Kalamazoo – 2001 pg 66.

Vigils Reading
2023-12-06
CHRIST SHOULD BE RECEIVED WITH GREAT REVERENCE
From “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas à Kempis4 ◊◊◊
You command me to come to you with confidence if I want to be one with you, to receive the foodof immortality if I wish to obtain eternal life and happiness. “Come,” you say to me, “all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest”. What a sweet and loving word for a sinner to hear, when you, Lord my God, invite the poor and needy to Communion, your most sacred Body!… What does this loving condescension and friendly invitation mean?… How can I invite you into my house after having so often offended you? The angels and archangels stand before you in reverential awe, while the saints and the just tremble. And you say, “Come all of you to me”. If this was not said by you, Lord, who could believe it is true? And unless you had commanded it, who would dare approach?…
Solomon, the wisest of the kings of Israel, devoted seven years to building a magnificent temple to praise your name. And for eight days he celebrated the feast of its dedication, offering a thousand victims as peace offerings. Then with great solemnity, he brought the Ark of the Covenant with the sound of trumpets and great rejoicing into the place prepared for it. And I, the most unhappy and least among men, how can I admit you into my house, I, who hardly know how to spend one half-hour in devout prayer?…
The devout King David danced with all his might before the Ark of God, as he remembered all the benefits given in times past to his fathers. He made musical instruments of various kinds, composed psalms and ordered that they be sung with happiness, and he himself, inspired by the grace of the Holy Spirit, often sang them upon his harp… But here, in the sacrament of the altar, you are entirely present, my God…Christ Jesus. Here we receive the fruit of salvation abundantly each time that we reverently and worthily receive you. We are not drawn to this sacrament lightly, out of curiosity, or a desire to gratify our senses, but by a constant faith, a devout hope, and a pure charity.

O invisible God, Creator of the universe, how wonderfully you deal with us! You act so sweetly and so kindly toward us, your chosen, offering yourself to be received in this sacrament! This defies all human understanding and attracts to itself especially the hearts of the devout, and inflames their affection. Those truly faithful to you, who spend their entire lives trying to better themselves, often receive from this holy sacrament the great benefit of fervor and love of virtue… In this sacrament, spiritual grace is received, lost virtue is restored in the soul, and beauty marred by sin comes back again. Sometimes the grace received from the fullness of devotion is so great that not only the mind, but also the fragile body experiences an increase of strength.
Despite this, we must feel sorry about, and greatly lament, our lukewarmness and negligence because we do not go with greater fervor to receive Jesus Christ, in whom rests all the hope and merit of those who wish to be saved… For if this most holy sacrament were celebrated only in one place in the whole world and consecrated by only one priest, with how great a desire, do you think, would people wish to go to that place and to that priest of God, in order to see the divine mysteries celebrated? Now, instead, there are many priests and Christ is offered up in many places, so that God’s grace and love for us may appear so much the greater because this Holy Communion is so widely distributed throughout the world. I thank you, good Jesus, eternal Shepherd, because you have willed to feed us poor exiles with your precious Body and Blood, and that you invite us to partake of these mysteries by words you yourself said, “Come to me, all who are weary and bear heavy burdens, and I will give you rest”

4 Thomas à Kempis. The Imitation of Christ – Revised Translation. Boston: Pauline Books & Media, 2015. 326-332.

Vigils Reading - St Ambrose
2023-12-07
THE BODY IS CHRIST’S
From the writing of St Ambrose5
◊◊◊
It is a marvelous thing that God rained manna on the fathers, and they were fed by daily nourishment from heaven. Therefore, it is said: ‘Man has eaten the bread of angels.” But yet all those who ate that bread died in the desert, but this food which you receive, this ‘living bread, which came down from heaven,’ furnishes the substance of eternal life, and whoever eats this bread ‘will not die forever’; for it is the body of Christ…
Perhaps you may say… how do you tell me that I receive the Body of Christ?’… The people of the fathers were thirsty; Moses touched the rock; and water flowed forth from the rock. Did not grace work contrary to nature for the rock to throw forth water which its nature did not have… But if the benediction of man had such power as to change nature, what do we say of divine consecration itself, in which the very words of our Lord and Saviour function? For that sacrament, which you receive, is effected by the words of Christ. But if the words of Elias had such power as to call down fire from heaven, will not the words of Christ have power enough to change the nature of the elements? You have read about the works of the world: ‘that He spoke and they were done; He commanded and they were created.” So, cannot the words of Christ, which were able to make what was not out of nothing, change those things that are into the things that were not? For it is not of less importance to give things new natures than to change nature.

But why do we use arguments? Let us use His own examples, and by the mysteries of the Incarnation let us establish the truth of the mysteries… It is clear that the Virgin conceived contrary to the course of nature. And this body which we make is from the Virgin. Why do you seek here the course of nature in the body of Christ, when the Lord Jesus himself was born of the Virgin contrary to nature? Surely it is the true flesh of Christ, which was crucified, which was buried; therefore it is truly the sacrament of that flesh.
The Lord Jesus himself declares: “This is my body.” Before the benediction of the heavenly words another species is mentioned; after the consecration the body is signified. He Himself speaks of His blood. Before the consecration it is mentioned as something else; after the consecration it is called blood. And you say ‘Amen,’ that is, ‘It is true.’ What the mouth speaks, let the mind within confess; what words utter, let the heart feel.
Christ then feeds His Church on these sacraments, by which the substance of the soul is made strong… Therefore, the Church also, seeing so much grace, urges her sons, urges her neighbors to come together to the sacraments, saying: ‘Eat, my neighbors, and drink and be inebriated, my brethren.’ What we eat, what we drink, the Holy Spirit expresses to you elsewhere, saying: “Taste and see that the Lord is sweet: Blessed is the man who trusts in Him.’ Christ is in that sacrament, because the body is Christ’s..

5 St Ambrose. Theological and Dogmatic Works. Trans. Roy J. Deferrari, PH.D. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1963, 21-27.

Vigils Reading - Immaculate Conception
2023-12-08
MARY REVEALS HER NAME
From the final writing of St Maximilian Kolbe6
◊◊◊
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. These words fell from the lips of the Immaculata herself. Hence, they must tell us in the most precise and essential manner who she really is. Who then are you, O Immaculate Conception? Not God, of course, because he has no beginning. Not an angel, created directly out of nothing. Not Adam, formed out of the dust of the earth. Not Eve, molded fromAdam’s rib. Not the Incarnate Word, who exists before all ages… You, O Mary, are different from all other children of Eve. They are conceptions stained by original sin; whereas you are the unique, Immaculate Conception.
If the fruit of created love is a created conception, then the fruit of divine Love, that prototype of all created love, is necessarily a divine “conception.” The Holy Spirit is, therefore, the “uncreated, eternal conception,” the prototype of all the conceptions that multiply life throughout the whole universe. The Father begets; the Son is begotten; the Spirit is the “conception” that springs from their love; there we have the intimate life of the three Persons by which they can be distinguished one from another. But they are united in the oneness of their Nature, of their divine existence. The Spirit is, then, this thrice holy “conception,” this infinitely holy, Immaculate Conception.
In what does this life of the Spirit in Mary consist? He himself is uncreated Love in her; the Love of the Father and of the Son, the Love by which God loves himself, the very love of the Most Holy Trinity. He is a fruitful Love, a “Conception.” Among creatures made in God’s image the union brought about by married love is the most intimate of all. In a much more precise, more interior, more essential manner, the Holy Spirit lives in the soul of the Immaculata, in the depths of her very being. He makes her fruitful, from the very first instant of her existence, all during her life, and for all eternity.

This eternal “Immaculate Conception” (which is the Holy Spirit) produces in an immaculate manner divine life itself in the depths of Mary’s soul, making her the Immaculate Conception, the human Immaculate Conception. And the virginal womb of Mary’s body is kept sacred for him; there he conceives in time…the human life of the Man-God. And so the return to God (which is love)…by the Spirit the Son becomes incarnate in the womb of the Immaculata; and through this Son love returns to the Father. In the Holy Spirit’s union with Mary we observe more than the love of two beings; in one there is all the love of the Blessed Trinity; in the other, all of creation’s love. So it is that in this union heaven and earth are joined; all of heaven with all the earth, the totality of eternal love with the totality of created love. It is truly the summit of love…
If among human beings the wife takes the name of her husband because she belongs to him, is one with him, becomes equal to him and is, with him, the source of new life, with how much greater reason should the name of the Holy Spirit, who is the divine Immaculate Conception, be used as the name of her in whom he lives as uncreated Love, the principle of life in the whole supernatural order of grace

6 H.M. Manteau-Bonamy, OP. Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit. Trans. Richard Arnandez, FSC. Libertyville, IL: Franciscan, Marytown Press, 1977. 2-5.

Vigils Reading
2023-12-09
CHRISTIAN UNITY
From the writing of Matthew the Poor7
◊◊◊
It is because the Christian seeks God that he seeks unity; he feels it present in his soul, according to the measure in which he feels the presence of God. Christian unity is, therefore, a supreme demand of faith; we seek it because it is entreating us from the bottom of our hearts. Yet, since all do not have the same awareness of God, unity is not approached from the same angle; it expands or contracts within men in proportion to their hearts’ relationship with God. Some do not feel it at all; others even deny it. It is a test of faith…
The unity of men is an ideal that surpasses human strength if it is sought at a divine level. It flows, as a necessity, as an inevitable and direct consequence, from the union of man with God… The first commandment says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and the second: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. Scripture affirms here that the second commandment springs from the first… The second without the first would have no value; it would indeed be near to sin…
If there were indeed a spiritual renaissance, a deep fervor for the faith, unity would have taken the form of a collective and individual return to God, a sweeping movement for conversion, repentance, and begging God for forgiveness — as has always happened to God’s people after a period of half-heartedness or aberration…

In order for us to secure for the weak and persecuted Churches the true meaning of “Christian unity” in their journey through history and in their encounters with temporal situations, and in order for the divine consciousness to rise in them, the first necessity is that they should understand that Christian unity is a state of divine weakness over against the world — like that of their Master, who surrendered His infinite power to be crucified by anyone who wished and in whatever way they wished.
Christ, desiring to reveal to us “the strength of His weakness”… drew His disciples’ attention to it at the very moment of His testing, although He was being subjected to the most appalling trials that a defenseless man could endure… The Church that has temporal power cannot taste a crucifixion that is forced upon it, for one cannot be crucified except through weakness, like the Master of all, who “was crucified in weakness”… The cross in our life is a foundation; the cross is “the power of God for salvation. . .” and His “power is made perfect in weakness”. With our free will we pray for weakness, and we bear it without fear if it comes to us, for with weakness there is always grace… We wish and we pray that the Churches may have a unity, divine both in appearance and in essence, a unity above the realm of time

7 Matthew the Poor. The Communion of Love. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1984. 224-225, 231-234.

Skema
2023-12-10
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
2nd Week of Advent

Mass Readings: Sunday (B), Weekdays (II)
December 10 – 16, 2023

Sun
10
Mon
11
Tue
12
Wed
13
Thu
14
Fri
15
Sat
16

Office
2nd Sunday of Advent
Advent Weekday
Our Lady of Guadalupe
St Lucy
St John of the Cross
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday

Vigils
Isa 14:1-21
Isa 27:1-13
Prov 8:32-9:11
Isa 30:15-26
Isa 32:1-20
Isa 34:1-17
Isa 35:1-10

Lauds
Isa 4:2-6
Isa 10:20-27a
Sir 4:11-18
Isa 12:1-6
Isa 55:6-12
Zeph 3:14-20
Isa 11:10-16

Mass
5
181
690A
183
184
185
186

1st
Isa 40:1-5, 9-11
Isa 35:1-10
Rev 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab
Isa 40:25-31
Isa 41:13-20
Isa 48:17-19
Sir 48:1-4, 9-11

2nd
2 Pet 3:8-14

Gospel
Mark 1:1-8
Luke 5:17-26
Luke 1:39-47
Matt 11:28-30
Matt 11:11-15
Matt 11:16-19
Matt 17:9a, 10-13

Vespers
Rom 5:1-11
Rom 6:1-11
Gal 3:23-29
Rom 6:16-23
Rom 7:14-25
Rom 8:1-6
Rom 8:9-17

Vigils Reading - 2nd Sun of Advent
2023-12-10
PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD
From a sermon by St Francis de Sales1
◊◊◊
NOW, since our divine Savior is near, what must we do to prepare for his
coming? St. John tells us this when he says in his preaching, that we must do
penance. All must do this without exception, for as we are all sinners, we all have
need of penance.
But that is too general: let us hint at certain particular features. St. John has
pointed out some in the Gospel. “Prepare the way of the Lord, straighten out his
paths,” he says, “every valley is to be bridged, and the rough paths made into
smooth roads.”
“Do penance,”
… that is to say, humble these mountains of pride, fill these
lukewarm and faint-hearted valleys because salvation is at hand. Now these
valleys that this glorious saint wishes us to fill are simply fear, which, when it is
too great, leads us into discouragement. The sight of great faults committed brings
with it a certain dread, an astonishment and a fear which depresses the heart.
These are the valleys which must be filled with confidence and hope for the coming
of our Lord.
“Humble the mountains and hills,” says the glorious St. John. What are these
mountains but presumption, pride and that self-esteem which is a great hindrance
to the coming of our Lord, who is accustomed to humiliate and reduce the proud;
for he penetrates the depth of the heart in order to discover the pride which is
hidden therein.
Level the roads, straighten those which are crooked so as to make them
even, which is as if he said: Correct so many dodging and crooked intentions, so as
to have only that of pleasing God in doing penance, which should be the end
towards which we ought to aim. As the sailor, when he guides his ship, always has
his eye on the compass to see if he is going straight to his goal, so we ought always
to have our eyes open to see what acts of penance we can undertake, so that we
may come to that heaven to which we aspire.
To smoot the paths is to calm moods by the mortification of the passions,
inclinations and aversions. How desirable it is, this equality of spirit and mood,
and how we ought to work faithfully to acquire it! For we are more variable and
inconstant than words can tell. We find people who are now in a good humor,
talking pleasantly and joyfully: but in a twinkling, you find them vexed and
unquiet. You will find others to whom it is necessary to speak now in this manner,
now in another; such men are at present mild-hearted, who a moment after, for
little reason, will be impatient. In short, what does one see among men except
continual oddities and inequalities of spirit which are the tortuous, rugged ways
which we must make straight before the coming of our Lord.
But in order to do it well, we must go to the school of the glorious St. John
the Baptist and beg him to receive us as his disciples, and if he does so he will put
us into the hands of our divine Savior, who in turn will put us into those of the
Eternal Father who will give us his grace in this world and his glory in the next,
where we shall praise him eternally.

Sermon for the 4th Sunday of Advent, Trans., Lectionary and Martyrology, ed. Encalcat Abbey, Dourgne-Tarn 1956, 27-28.3

Vigils Reading
2023-12-11
THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH
From a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux2
◊◊◊
At the first coming John the Baptist cries out like a herald— or rather, as his
herald— Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world! He
does not say ‘diseases of the body ’ or ‘vexations of the flesh’, but ‘sin’, which is a
disease of the soul and a corruption of the mind. Behold him who takes away the sins
of the world. [Take away] from where? From the hand, from the eye, from the
neck…from the very flesh on which it has been so deeply impressed. He takes sin
away from the hands when he wipes out the sins they have committed. He takes it
away from the eye when he purifies the purpose of the heart. He takes it from the neck
when he sets aside abusive domination, as is written: You have vanquished the rod of
their oppressor as on the day of Midian…
You grasp why Christ came and what a Christian’s purpose should be. For this
reason, O body, do not anticipate the time! You can hinder the soul’s salvation, you
cannot bring about your own… Let the soul work now for itself—or rather, you work
with it— because if you suffer with it you will also reign with it. To the degree you
hinder its restoration, you hinder your own, because you cannot be restored at all
until God sees his image re-formed in your soul. You have a noble guest, O flesh, noble
indeed, and your welfare depends entirely on its welfare. Honor so great a guest! You
are dwelling in your own land, but the soul is a pilgrim, an exile, lodging with you.
I ask you, if someone noble and powerful should want to lodge with them,
would any peasant not willingly sleep in some corner of the house— or under the
stairs or even in the ashes— giving up the best place to the guest, as is appropriate?
And you, therefore, do likewise. Take no notice of your own slights or inconvenience
so long as your guest can stay with you with honor. The honor is yours if for his sake
you meanwhile present yourself as being without honor.
And in case you look down on or undervalue your guest because it seems to
you to be a pilgrim and a stranger, think carefully about what you gain from the
presence of this guest. This is who grants sight to the eyes and hearing to the ears;
who supplies sound to the tongue, taste to the palate, movement to all your limbs…
Indeed… just as soon as the soul departs the tongue will fall silent, the eyes will see
nothing, the ears will go deaf, the whole body will stiffen, and the face will lose its
color. In a short time the whole corpse will decay and become putrid; all its
attractiveness will turn to corruption.
Why then do you distress and wound this guest for the sake of some transient
pleasure which you could not even experience except through it? Besides, if it confers
so much on you when it is an exile, estranged from its master’s face because of
hostilities, what all will it give you when it has been reconciled? Do not, O body, do
not impede this reconciliation; abundant glory is prepared for you from it. Patiently—
or rather, gladly— surrender yourself to everything. Omit nothing that seems capable
of furthering this reconciliation. Say to your guest: Your Lord will remember you and
restore you to your former position. Just remember me!… Then all our longings are
going to be fulfilled and the whole earth shall be filled with the majesty of the Lord.
To this glory, to this happiness, to this peace which surpasses all understanding may
he in his mercy lead us. May he not disappoint us in our expectation, he who is the
Saviour we expect Jesus Christ our Lord, who is over all, God blessed forever
2 Bernard of Clairvaux. Sermons for Advent and the Christmas Season. CF 51. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications,
2007. 36-40.5

Vigils Reading - Our Lady of Guadalupe
2023-12-12
THE APPEARANCE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
AT GUADALUPE
From the first written Aztec account of the apparition3
◊◊◊
Upon his reaching the top of the hillock, Juan Diego catches sight of a
woman, one who has been taking her stand there. She beckons him to come on,
closer up to herself. Upon reaching her presence, he greatly marvels at her
extreme, her surpassing, her perfect wonderfulness.
Her garments are as the sun, gleaming, glittering. Even the boulder, the crag,
on which she takes her stand sparkles in resplendence, like fine emerald jade or a
bangle when it shines, like the swarming glow of a rainbow in the gloom. Even the
soil, the brambles and prickles and the rest of the varied weeds that struggle to
survive there are shining like emerald, like divine turquoise, to the tip of every
leaf; are glittering like the golden scourings of the gods up every stalk and twig and
thorn.
In her presence he prostrates; he listens to her utterance, her declaration.
These are as of one who sets others at ease, one whose manner is to attract, one
whose attitude is to esteem. She addresses him: “Do listen to me, my littlest one,
Juanito!…
“Do know this, do be assured of it in your heart, my littlest one, that I
myself, I am the entirely and ever Virgin Saint Mary, Mother of the True Divinity,
God Himself: Because of Him, life goes on, Creation goes on; His are all things afar,
His are all things near at hand, things above in the heavens, things here below on
the earth. How truly I wish it, how greatly I desire it, that here they should erect
me my temple! Here would I show forth, here would I lift up to view, here would I
make a gift of all my fondness for my dear ones, all my regard for my needy ones,
my willingness to aid them, my readiness to protect them. For truly I myself, I am
your compassionate mother, yours, for you yourself, for everybody here in the
land, for each and all together, for all others too, for all folk of every kind, who do
but cherish me, who do but raise their voices to me, who do but seek me, who do
but raise their trust to me.
For here I shall listen to their groanings, to their saddenings; here shall I
make well and heal up their each and every kind of disappointment, of exhausting
pangs, of bitter aching pain… Therefore, to realize all that my clemency claims, go
to the palace of the Bishop of Mexico, and say that I sent you to make manifest to him
my great desire; namely, that here in the valley a temple should be built to me. Tell
him word for word all that you have seen and heard and admired. Be assured that I
shall be grateful and that I will reward you, for I will make your life happy and cause
you to become worthy of the labor you have taken and the trouble you perform to
do what I enjoin you. Now you have heard all my bidding, least of my sons. Go and
do your utmost.’
“At this point he bowed before her and said, ‘Lady, I go to do your bidding. As
your humble servant, I take my leave of you.’ Then he went on to accomplish her
will, taking the causeway that leads directly to Mexico City.
3 GUADALUPE, a translation of the NICAN MOPOHUA by Fr Martinus Cawley, OCSO; CARA Studies on
Popular Devotion, vol.II; Guadalupan Studies Monograph No. 6.7

Vigils Reading - St Lucy
2023-12-13 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
THE HISTORICAL MEETING POINT OF MARTYRDOM
AND MONASTICISM
From the writing of St Christian de Chergé4
◊◊◊
From the beginnings of Christian monasticism, there has been both
continuity and discontinuity between the monastic choice and martyrdom. As we
know, there is continuity in time: during the first centuries of persecutions there
were certainly vocations to the solitary life, dedicated to prayer and intercession
for all. It is easy to imagine John the Evangelist withdrawing into solitude and
inspiring followers. But the threat was there for them and for everyone, and there
was need to sustain believers’ courage and faith in that direct form of sequela
Christi—the offering of martyrdom—to which they left themselves exposed by the
very fact of being Christian. And there is discontinuity, because Constantine’s
“peace of the Church” was needed in order for monasticism to find its specific
place, when laxity and ease were quickly undermining the vitality of gospel
witness.
It was indeed the gospel that incited Anthony to “lose his life” in a way
different from the shedding of blood through “pagan” hatred. Paganism was not
dead; it transplanted itself in the Church, where “secularization” made rapid
headway. Anthony, therefore, would be “pursued” by the Word. He heard it and
embodied it by following it literally and on the spot. It happened as quickly as the
fall of the ax on the neck of Cecilia or Lucy. But for Anthony it was only the first
step of the Pasch, the passing over. It then took dozens of years for the letter to be
truly rewritten in terms of the spirit, in order to find, following Jesus’ example,
Cahier de Tibhirine 1, Abbaye Notre-Dame d’Aiguebelle, p. 449. Trans. Fr. Elias Dietz, OCSO.9
ways of combining time and eternity, the earth and the things above. Anthony and
many others instinctively returned to the place of the first Passover, the desert, for
this unique kind of martyrdom.
Earlier persecutions had singled out towns—and even big cities—to offer
the spectacle of faith to the crowds in the arenas as if it were a game. The
persecutions faded away, but the Adversary remained and continued to have his
fun. He, then, was the one to take on directly. Anthony’s combat was not against
people, pagans or not, but against the traditional Enemy of humankind, whom he
confronted as a solitary, confident that he could contribute to conquering him
where he is most rampant.
This flight from the spirit of the world and this fierce but humble solitude
will become, strangely enough, “the seeds of Christianity,” to use the phrase
Tertullian applied to the early martyrs. It is to this drop by drop spending of flesh
and blood in the desert that we must constantly return, in order to sustain the
specific fruitfulness of our lives here and now
4 Christian de Chergé, Dieu pour tout jour. Chapitres de Père Christian de Chergé à la communauté de Tibhirine [1986–1996], Les

Vigils Reading - St John of the Cross
2023-12-14
LOVE OF THE CROSS
From an essay by St Edith Stein
◊◊◊
We hear repeatedly that St. John of the Cross desired nothing for himself but
to suffer and be despised. We want to know the reason for this love of suffering. Is
it merely the loving remembrance of the path of suffering of our Lord on earth, a
tender impulse to be humanly close to him by a life resembling his? This does not
seem to correspond to the lofty and strict spirituality of the mystical teacher. And
in relation to the Man of Sorrows, it would almost seem that the victoriously
enthroned king, the divine conqueror of sin, death and hell is forgotten. Did not
Christ lead captivity captive? Has he not transported us into a kingdom of light and
called us to be happy children of our heavenly Father?
The sight of the world in which we live, the need and misery, and the abyss
of human malice, again and again dampens jubilation over the victory of light. The
world is still deluged by mire, and still only a small flock has escaped from it to the
highest mountain peaks. The battle between Christ and the Antichrist is not yet
over. The followers of Christ have their place in this battle, and their chief weapon
is the cross…
The entire sum of human failures from the first Fall up to the Day of
Judgment must be blotted out by a corresponding measure of expiation. The way
of the cross is this expiation. The triple collapse under the burden of the cross
corresponds to the triple fall of humanity: the first sin, the rejection of the Savior
by his chosen people, the falling away of those who bear the name of Christian…
The Savior is not alone on the way of the cross… The archetype of followers
of the cross for all time is the Mother of God. …Everyone who, in the course of time,
has borne an onerous destiny in remembrance of the suffering Savior or who has
freely taken up works of expiation has by doing so canceled some of the mighty
load of human sin and has helped the Lord carry his burden.… The disciples, both
men and women, who surrounded [the Savior] during his earthly life, assist him
on the second stretch. The lovers of the cross whom he has awakened and will
always continue to awaken anew in the changeable history of the struggling
church, these are his allies at the end of time. We, too, are called for that purpose…
But because being one with Christ is our sanctity, and progressively
becoming one with him our happiness on earth, the love of the cross in no way
contradicts being a joyful child of God. Helping Christ carry his cross fills one with
a strong and pure joy, and those who may and can do so, the builders of God’s
kingdom, are the most authentic children of God. And so those who have a
predilection for the way of the cross by no means deny that Good Friday is past
and that the work of salvation has been accomplished. Only those who are saved,
only children of grace, can in fact be bearers of Christ’s cross. Only in union with
the divine Head does human suffering take on expiatory power. To suffer and to
be happy although suffering, to have one’s feet on the earth, to walk on the dirty
and rough paths of this earth and yet to be enthroned with Christ at the Father’s
right hand, to laugh and cry with the children of this world and ceaselessly sing
the praises of God with the choirs of angels — this is the life of the Christian until
the morning of eternity breaks forth

5 from The Hidden Life, volume 4 of The Collected Works of Edith Stein, edited by L. Gelber and Michael Linnsen; ICS Publications, 1992, pp. 91-93.11

Vigils Reading
2023-12-15
CHRIST IS WITH US
From “Love Letters from Cell 92”
– The correspondence between
Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his fiancé Maria von Wedemeyer6
◊◊◊
[Tegel] 13 December, 1943
Without abandoning all hope that things may yet take a turn for the better
just in time, I must now write you a Christmas letter. Be brave for my sake, dearest
Maria, even if this letter is your only token of my love this Christmas-tide. We shall
both experience a few dark hours – why should we disguise that from each other?
We shall ponder the incomprehensibility of our lot and be assailed by the question
of why, over and above the darkness already enshrouding humanity, we should be
subjected to the bitter anguish of a separation whose purpose we fail to
understand. How hard it is, inwardly to accept what defies our understanding;
how great is the temptation to feel ourselves at the mercy of blind chance; how
sinister the way in which mistrust and resentment steal into our hearts at such
times; and how readily we fall prey to the childish notion that the course of our
lives reposes in human hands!
And then, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that
we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our
ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light
because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all. God is in the manger,
wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandonment. No evil can befall us;
whatever men may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed
as love and rules the world and our lives. We must learn to say: “I know how to be
abased and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the
secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him
who strengthens me”
– and this Christmas, in particular, can help us to do so. What
is meant here is not stoical resistance to all extraneous occurrences, but true
endurance and true rejoicing in the knowledge that Christ is with us.
Dearest Maria, let us celebrate Christmas in that way. Be as happy with the
others as a person can only be at Christmas-time. Don’t entertain any awful
imaginings of me in my cell, but remember that Christ, too, frequents prisons, and
that he will not pass me by. Besides, I hope to find myself a good book for
Christmas and read it in peace. May you do likewise. A little oblivion is
permissible in view of everything else. First one has and finally one is entitled to
forget it; but the reverse order would be mistaken and unproductive. Dearest
Maria, let’s not talk of what we both feel; we know it, and every word merely makes
the heart heavier. Above all, let us be careful not to feel sorry for ourselves; to do
so would truly be a blasphemy on God, who means us well. For all our difficulties,
let us say, with Isaiah: “Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it”
– even in this Christmas

6 Love Letters From Cell 92 – The Correspondence between Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Maria von Wedemeyer. Ed. Ruth-Alice von
Bismarck and Ulrich Kabitz. Trans. John Brownjohn. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995. 133-135.13

Vigils Reading
2023-12-16
ON REPENTANCE
From the writing of St Silouan the Athonite
◊◊◊
Glory be to the Lord that He gave us repentance. Through repentance we
shall all, every one of us, be saved. Only those who refuse to repent will not find
salvation, and therein I see their despair, and shed abundant tears of pity for them.
They have not known through the Holy Spirit how great is God’s mercy. But if
every soul knew the Lord, knew how deeply He loves us, no one would ever
despair, or murmur against his lot. Every soul that has lost peace should repent
and the Lord will forgive her her sins, and there will be joy and peace in the soul…
Here is a token of forgiveness: if you detest sin, it means the Lord has forgiven you
your sins…
The truly repentant man readily bears every affliction – hunger and
nakedness, cold and heat, sickness and poverty, humiliation and exile, injustice
and slander; for his soul is turned with longing towards God, and he has no care
for earthly things but prays to God with a pure mind. But the man who is attached
to worldly goods and riches can never have a mind pure in God, since in the depths
of his soul he is constantly preoccupied with his possessions; and if he does not
repent whole-heartedly, and mourn at having grieved God, he will die bearing the
burden of his passions, without having come to know the Lord…
Let us not be distressed over the loss of worldly goods: such losses are a
small matter. My own father taught me this early in life. When some misfortune
happened at home, he would remain serene. When our house caught fire and the
neighbours said, ‘Ivan Petrovich, your house is burnt down!’ he replied, ‘With
God’s help I’ll build it up again.’ Once we were walking along the side of our field,
and I said, ‘Look, they’re stealing our sheaves!’ ‘Aye, son,’ he answered me, ‘the
Lord has given us corn and to spare, so if anyone steals it, it means he’s in want.’
…
The Lord is quick to forgive the sins of the merciful. The merciful man bears
no ill-will. He will suffer injury or the loss of his goods with unconcern, for he
knows the mercy of God, and no one can take the Lord’s mercy from us: it comes
from on high; it is of God… But we here below are swept about like dust before the
wind, while our minds cling to the things of this world… A little wind can blow it
out like a candle; but the spirit of the saints glowed with fire like the burning bush,
fearless of the wind… The love of God is a consuming fire. For the love of God the
saints bore every affliction…
All my desire is to learn humility and the love of Christ, that I may offend no
man but pray for all as I pray for myself… This is the law we have: if you forgive
others, it is a sign that the Lord has forgiven you; but if you refuse to forgive, then
your own sin remains with you. The Lord wants us to love our fellow-man; and if
you reflect that the Lord loves him, you have a sign of the Lord’s love for you… If
you do not feel pity for the sinner destined to suffer the pains of hellfire, it means
that the grace of the Holy Spirit is not in you, but an evil spirit. While you are still
alive, therefore, strive by repentance to free yourself from this spirit.

7 Saint Silouan the Athonite. Trans. Rosemary Edmonds. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1999. 345-
352.15

Skema
2023-12-17
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
3rd Week of Advent

Mass Readings: Sunday (B), Weekdays (II)
December 17 – 23, 2023

Sun
17
Mon
18
Tue
19
Wed
10
Thu
21
Fri
22
Sat
23

Office
3rd Sunday of Advent
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday
175 Years
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday

Vigils
Micah 4:1-14
Isa 40:12-31
Isa 41:8-20
Isa 41:21-29
Isa 42:10-25
Isa 43:1-15
Isa 43:16-28

Lauds
Zech 2:10-17
Isa 45:1-8
Isa 45:18-25
Isa 46:5-13
Isa 49:8-13
Isa 49:14-21
Isa 49:22-26

Mass
8
194
195
196
701.1, 704.4, 706.4
198
199

1st
Isa 61:1-2a, 10-11
Jer 23:5-8
Judg 13:2-7, 24-25a
Isa 7:10-14
1 Kgs 8:22-23, 27-30
1 Sam 1:24-28
Mal 3:1-4, 23-24

2nd
1 Thess 5:16-24

1 Pet 2:4-9

Gospel
John 1:6-8, 19-28
Matt 1:18-24
Luke 1:5-25
Luke 1:26-38
Jn 4:19-24
Luke 1:46-56
Luke 1:57-66

Vespers
Rom 9:1-8
Phil 1:3-11
Phil 3:17-21
Phil 4:4-9

1 Cor 4:1-5
Jas 5:7-11

Vigils Reading - 3rd Sunday Advent
2023-12-17
THE AUTHENTIC WITNESS
From the writings of Fr Jean Danielou
◊◊◊
As John the Baptist was the Lord’s precursor even before his birth, so
also he was the forerunner of Christ’s public life. After the desert period came
the crowning moment of a life spent preparing the way for Christ. There was a
man named John sent by God, who came as a witness to testify to the light,
so that through him all might believe.
This text shows that the essential mission of John the Baptist was to bear
witness to the light, to point to Jesus. His was a pre-eminent role in the
preparation for the coming of Christ and of Christ’s own work. John it was who
paved the way for our Lord’s public life and teaching by predisposing the souls
of his hearers to receive it. One might say he was an educator of souls; his task
was…to do the preliminary chiseling that would make them more receptive to
Christ’s message. Our Lord’s teaching would have been too strong for souls not
previously prepared for it. They needed some schooling in advance. Their
interests had to be re-directed; it was necessary to wean them from worldly
habits and to arouse a spiritual dissatisfaction in their hearts.
That was John the Baptist’s assignment. Sent to people utterly heedless
of the things of God, it was his task to awaken in them sufficient concern to
disturb their subtle ways and to stir up their initial goodwill, so that they might
be capable of understanding Christ.
John the Baptist thus joins the long succession of those who have taken
part in the work of preparing for the Lord’s coming, those who, like John, were
withdrawn by God from the things of this world and mysteriously admitted to
the divine plans, in order that they might blaze the way for God among the
people. John in his turn will move among his contemporaries to mark out the
Lord’s way, smoothing paths and leveling hills. But for such a mission he must
from the outset be possessed by the Lord in the depths of his being, since it is
a hard furrow he will have to plow. The people of the Baptist’s generation were
absorbed in the same pursuits as the people of our own day. St. Luke describes
them in a memorable passage: the soldiers engaged in violence and false
charges, and the tax collectors in demanding more than their due.
Such is human nature. It was so in the time of John, and it is the same
today. Preoccupied with worldly affairs, people are completely heedless of
God. As one goes here and there in the world it is very painful to experience
the utter indifference of the rank and file. To shake the world out of this [kind
of] vision, who can rouse the masses from their inertia? They have to be
authentic witnesses. A witness is someone who has first been granted an inner
vision; God has introduced him to the divine viewpoint so that he can pass on
what he has seen to others.
So it was with John the Baptist. God first admitted him to his own
council, revealing to him the mystery of the divine plan, drawing him into the
desert to share with him his own joy. Then came the essential part of his
vocation: he was a witness to Christ; that is to say, he was the one who pointed
out Christ to the people
1 Le mystère de l’Avent, Paris 1948, pp. 82-84; reprinted in Meditations on the Sunday Gospels: Year A; introduced
and edited by John E. Rotelle, Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1995, pp. 18-19.3

Vigils Reading
2023-12-18
“O ADONAI”
THE LORD WHO LOVED US FIRST
From the writings of William of St Thierry
◊◊◊
You alone are the Lord. By ruling us you save us and we are saved by
serving you. Lord, you save your people and bless them, but what does it mean
to be saved by you if not to receive the grace of loving you and of being loved
by you? And so, Lord, you willed the Son at your right hand, the man you made
strong for your service, to be called Jesus, which means Savior, for he will save
his people from their sins, and indeed salvation is to be found in him alone.
He taught us to love him by first loving us, even to the extent of dying on the
cross. By loving us and holding us so dear he aroused our love for him who first
loved us to the very end…
One seldom meets a person who can say: “I love you, in order that you
may love me!” This is what really happened. You loved us first to make us love
you, not because you needed our love, but because we could not be what you
created us to be, except by loving you.
In many ways and on various occasions you spoke to our ancestors
through the prophets. Now in these last days you have spoken to us through
the Son, your Word, by whom the heavens were made, by whose breath the
whole heavenly host came to be.
By speaking through your Son you made the extent of your love for us as
plain as day. You did not spare your own Son but gave him up for all of us. And
he himself loved us and gave himself up for us. This Lord is your Word to us,
your omnipotent Word. While all things were in profound silence (that is, in
the depths of error) he came from his royal throne, the stern conqueror of error
and gentle apostle of love. You wanted us to love you because otherwise our
salvation would not have been just, and we could not do so unless you made it
possible. Therefore, Lord, you loved us first. For our part, we love you with the
love you yourself have given us. Your love is your goodness. It is the Holy Spirit.
By his inspiration, by keeping us from harm and by providing for our needs, he
unites God to us and us to God

William of St Thierry. On the Contemplation of God. CF 3. Trans. Unknown (Different from CF 3). 51-53.5

Vigils Reading
2023-12-19
WHEN PRAYER IS SILENCED
From a commentary by Servant of God Dolindo Ruotolo
◊◊◊
Zechariah was Priest of the eighth class… Elizabeth, his wife was also of priestly
birth. They lived in a holy manner, and they did not have children, because Elizabeth was
sterile. In those times to be sterile was the greatest disgrace, because every woman hoped
to be the mother of the awaited Messiah. Being both old, notwithstanding all the prayers
to God to conceive a son, now they had lost all hope… But what prayer is useless before
God? Even when it seems not granted, even when it seems now absurd to even think that
it can be granted, is instead granted in a way far above any expectations, and blooms like
a blooming tree in spring…
It was the hour of the Vespers, and Zechariah entered the Sanctuary to offer
incense. The multitude of the people fervently prayed, asking to be freed, since they were
oppressed by foreign domination… Zechariah, on hearing the lamentations of his people,
lifted with more eagerness his heart to the Lord, and considering his own affliction, deeply
humiliated himself… He put the incense on the flame, and in the solemnity of the
moment… his prayer, like the spiral of the perfumed smoke of the incense, rose highly…
When all of a sudden… a mysterious fright took hold of him: on the right side of the
Altar…a human figure had appeared, most beautiful, majestic… The Angel spoke to him;
his words peaceful and penetrating… <Zechariah’s> prayer was granted and Elizabeth
would have a son…
Instead of exulting and thanking God, <Zechariah> said with great distrust and
unbelief: “How shall I know this?”
… It was the manifestation of the “I”, the “I” that
pretends to raise himself to be the judge in the plans of God; the “I” that chokes the most
delicate germs of grace, assuming to want to evaluate everything with his own idea; it was
the word of his own mind in opposition to the word of God; thus, and rightly so, Zechariah
was deprived of his word and became mute. The Angel became stern, his majesty flashed
like a thunderbolt. Zechariah had not considered in answering him that he was speaking
with a superior being… Now the Angel called him up to reality, telling him: “I am Gabriel
(which means the strong one of God), and I stand before God.”
In pronouncing those words… a ray of divine majesty enveloped him. He was the
strong one, the expression of the true strength, something immense, deep… towering… It
was a celestial word, that made its meaning known and by saying it, it made it alive. These
words hit Zechariah like a thunderbolt of extraordinary power; they…made him dumb…
and his dumbness became a sign of truth: he showed with a visible punishment that what
he heard, was not a deception.
What a lesson for us, who are used to oppose with great ease the plan of God with
our own plans… Here our program comes before the grace that can touch and transport
us… thus our spirit faints and our prayer remains mute… We believe that it is our
graciousness to comply… instead it is all a gift of God. When we are not worthy of the
Lord because of our pride, we cannot believe and speak to God… Our words of faith and
the voice of our prayers are the measure of our soul; as soon as our soul is misled, by the
proud misery of our “I” or by the degradation of our senses, we lose our word, the interior
word that makes us to say “I believe” and the exterior words that can speak to God… When
a faithful person does not know how to speak to God, he needs to purify or renew himself,
because his spiritual muteness is a sign of an interior paralysis… This should be the path
followed by a hardened soul: to pray, to attempt to do some work of sacred zeal…
Pessimism is always deadly for the life of the spirit. Yet, hope and abandonment to the
Divine Mercy is the secret of a great life.

Ruotolo, Dolindo. The Sacred Scripture – The Gospel According to Luke. Trans. Giovanna I. Ellis. Accessed online, 2014.7

Vigils Reading
2023-12-20
“O KEY OF DAVID”
From a treatise by St John Chrysostom
◊◊◊
Christ had the power to set the human race free from all evils, not only
the Romans, but the Persians, and simply every race of barbarians. And he
succeeded in doing this with no force of arms, nor expenditure of money, nor
by starting wars of conquest, nor by inflaming men to battle. He had only
eleven men to start with, men who were undistinguished, without learning, ill-
informed, destitute, poorly clad, without weapons or sandals, men who had but
a single tunic to wear. …He was able to persuade so many nations of men to
pursue the true doctrine, not only in what concerns the present life but also the
life hereafter. He succeeded in winning over these men to drag down their
ancestral laws, to tear out their ancient customs, long and deeply rooted as they
were, and to plant in their place other ways, which led them from the easy-
going life to his own program of austerity. And he succeeded in doing this when
the whole world was waging war against him, when they jeered at him, and
forced him to endure the most shameful death of the cross.
These successes are not confined to the cities. They have spread to the
desert, the villages, the fields, the islands, the ship basins, and harbors. Not
only simple citizens and petty rulers but even those who wear the imperial
crown have shown great faith and served as subjects to him who was crucified…
I do not wish you to suspect that what I say had not been foretold.
Therefore, I must bring forward as evidence the books of the Jews, the
Scriptures, over which the Jews have kept such careful guard, and set before the
eyes of those who are still unbelieving the predictions and testimonies about
<how> Christ would become man and still stay God. “This is our God; no other
will be compared to him. He has discovered the whole way of understanding,
and has given it to Jacob, his servant, and to Israel, his well-beloved. Since
then he has appeared on earth and moved among men.”
Do you see how, in a few words, the prophet made it altogether clear that
Christ, still remaining God, became man, that he moved among men, and that
he is, himself, the Lawgiver of the Old Testament? For the prophet said: “He
has discovered the whole way of understanding and has given it to Jacob, his
servant, and to Israel, his well-beloved.” For here the prophet shows that,
before his coming in the flesh, he arranged and disposed all things, that he did
all things by giving the Law, by exercising his providence, and by granting to
men the blessings of his care.

Demonstration Against the Pagans That Christ is God. Trans. Paul W. Harkins, Fathers of the Church Series, vol. 73.
Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1985. pp. 191ff.

Vigils Reading - 175 year Anniversary
2023-12-21
GETHSEMANI ABBEY:
ITS FOUNDATION
From the account of Dom Eutropius Proust
◊◊◊
We arrived at Gethsemani on the twenty-first of December, at two P.M.
… The cold was excessive, and all we could do the first days was to gather
firewood in the forest with which to warm ourselves. We also collected or
shucked a field of corn that had remained. In the mornings and evenings we
shelled the corn in the workshop, while one of the brothers, in a loud voice, read
a spiritual book. Such were our occupations during these first days.
We improvised a dormitory, refectory, chapter-room… choosing for this
purpose the most suitable places. The old cabins were torn down to make room
for a kitchen, adjoining the refectory. But the kitchen was so exposed to the
weather that, when it rained, all our dishes were not sufficient to collect the
water… The little chapel used by the Sisters of Loretto served us for a church,
but, as a great number of people flocked to our offices, attracted by the novelty
of the religious ceremonies, which, notwithstanding our poverty, we conducted
with great solemnity, our chapel was much too small. We were obliged to
enlarge it one-half, which we did, with the debris of the old cabins…
It is impossible to describe the impression produced on these sylvan
inhabitants on seeing our religious ceremonies and hearing for the first time the
solemn and majestic chant of La Trappe. At the approach of grand feasts, the
rumor spread far that on that day the Trappists of Gethsemani would have
beautiful ceremonies, a thing which generally brought vast assemblies… The
people came from Bardstown and neighboring villages to see us and satisfy
themselves of that which had been said in the journals concerning those
extraordinary solitaries of Gethsemani…
One of the salutary effects that our presence created was the elevation of
the negro-slave in his own estimation… These unfortunate slaves were
astonished to see priests in the morning at the altar, and sometimes later at the
plough…devoted to all kinds of agricultural work. In thus seeing men who were
venerated in their country, work like themselves, they are honored before their
own eyes, and the humble occupation of labor is elevated. They realized at last
that manual labor does not degrade, nor work enslave the tiller of the soil.
Thus, from the commencement, we gained the good will of all our
neighbors… There was not, even amongst the Protestant ministers themselves,
a single one who did not show us some marks of good will… “These are the good
citizens, ” they would say, “who have just come from Europe. They are French,
who bring us excellent methods of farming. They are going to effect much good
in our country. It is not necessary to disturb them; but on the contrary to hold
them in high esteem.”… So you see that in a short time Gethsemani put on a
new aspect

Dom Eutropius Proust. Gethsemani Abbey: Its Foundation. Messenger Magazine, 1898. (Complete manuscript
available in CSQ 2021).11

Vigils Reading
2023-12-22
RAISE YOUR HEADS,
BECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION IS DRAWING NEAR
From the writings of St Rafael Arnaiz6
◊◊◊
There are many ways to wait for the God who is to be born among human beings.
There are many ways that the world celebrates the event of God’s coming…
Christmastime in La Trapa… Joy in the liturgy, hope in the songs we sing in church,
hymns that speak of love and gentleness of heart. Thinking, in the silence of the temple,
about Mary’s humility, Joseph’s chastity… God’s love. The harmonious blend of angels’
melodies and shepherds’ ballads… Christmas in La Trapa… Frankincense and myrrh
offered up by souls who quietly live their lives in the divine service… the gold of
sacrifices. No loud cheers or external expressions or music or drums…The parties, the
joy, the music, the drumbeat… he carries all that in his heart, which loves Jesus so
much, in a joyful silence… an inner song… a quiet, silent love.
During this time, he meditates upon the great mysteries of his faith… and
very, very deep within his soul, he delights in the consolations that the Child
Jesus offers him through sacred Scripture… In peace and quiet, he meditates
upon the psalms, the hymns, and the whole liturgical arsenal that the church
provides for this season. He contemplates with amazement how the young
woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, and
how the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places a plain.
You don’t need to make noise to love God. You won’t mind solitude,
silence, austerity, penance, or any amount of suffering if you know that the
wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing…
Everything balances out in this world… In the perfect harmony of creation,
every person and thing follows the path that God has laid out before them.
What a joy it is to know we are rooted in His will… Wherever we might go,
wherever we are, so long as we don’t separate our heart from Jesus’ heart, what
do we have to fear?… The world is very small, and God is so great that it cannot
contain Him… But no matter, God has made Himself small in order to save
humanity… To God, the whole world is a vast temple… and the Son has come
down into it, and it is in this world that He does the will of His Father…
Now that Christmas is approaching, and perhaps my struggles on this
front are harder, God is calling me to account. Without letting anyone else
overhear, He is saying to me very softly, “What does it matter?”
… And then I
come to see the poverty of this world, the brevity of this life… we must make
good use of it… We must not waste time…thinking about our past joys that will
never come back again. And then the soul comes to understand and
contemplate the only truth… and that is Christ. Christ, who transforms the
world into a great big stable! Christ, with Joseph and Mary… Christ, made
human for love of humanity… Christ, born among the animals and hay, with no
shelter or clothing, in great solitude… And faced with the thought of an
incarnate God, faced with the grandeur of His boundlessness, the soul
stretches…and the voice of Christ sweetly draws me in, speaks to me of love, and
makes me forget all my cares.
Today, at prayer, a little monk was thinking about this. Looking around
him, he could not help but close his eyes as he realized that nothing in this world
will remain… Leaving behind his feelings and sorrows, he lifted his eyes to
heaven and heard his soul cry out clearly… “Brother!…Brother!…Love
Christ…As for everything else…what does it matter?”
… “The Lord is now near;
come, let us adore him.

Saint Rafael Arnaiz. The Collected Words. MW 61. Trans. Catherine Addington. Collegeville, MN: Cistercian
Publications, 2022. 502-506.13

Vigils Reading
2023-12-23
IF YOU KNEW THE GIFT OF GOD
From the writing of St Elizabeth of the Trinity
◊◊◊
What is the gift of God if not Himself?… The beloved disciple tells us: “He
came to His own and His own did not accept Him.” St. John the Baptist could
still say to many souls these words of reproach: “There is one in the midst of
you, ‘in you,’ whom you do not know… If you knew the gift of God…”
There is one who knew this gift of God, one who did not lose one particle
of it, one who was so pure, so luminous that she seemed to be Light itself. One
whose life was so simple, so lost in God that there is hardly anything we can say
about it.
Faithful Virgin, “who kept all these things in her heart.” She remained so
little, so recollected in God’s presence, in the seclusion of the temple, that she
drew down upon herself the delight of the Holy Trinity: “Because He has looked
upon the lowliness of His servant, henceforth all generations shall call me
blessed!” The Father bending down to this beautiful creature, who was so
unaware of her own beauty, willed that she be the Mother in time of Him whose
Father He is in eternity. Then the Spirit of love who presides over all of God’s
works came upon her; the Virgin said her fiat: “Behold the servant of the Lord,
be it done to me according to Your word,” and the greatest of mysteries was
accomplished. By the descent of the Word in her, Mary became forever God’s
prey.
It seems to me that the attitude of the Virgin during the months that
elapsed between the Annunciation and the Nativity is the model for interior
souls, those whom God has chosen to live within, in the depths of the bottomless
abyss. In what peace, in what recollection Mary lent herself to everything she
did! How even the most trivial things were divinized by her! For through it all
the Virgin remained the adorer of the gift of God! This did not prevent her from
spending herself outwardly when it was a matter of charity; the Gospel tells us
that Mary went in haste to the mountains of Judea to visit her cousin Elizabeth.
Never did the ineffable vision that she contemplated within herself in any way
diminish her outward charity. For… if contemplation “continues toward praise
and towards the eternity of its Lord, it possesses unity and will not lose it.
If an order from Heaven arrives, contemplation turns towards men,
sympathizes with their needs, is inclined towards all their miseries; it must cry
and be fruitful. It illuminates like fire, and like it, it burns, absorbs and devours,
lifting up to Heaven what it has devoured. And when it has finished its work
here below, it rises, burning with its fire, and takes up again the road on high.

Elizabeth of the Trinity. I Have Found God, The Complete Works: Volume One. Trans. Sister Aletheia Kane, O.C.D. ICS
Publications, 1984. 110-111.15

Skema
2023-12-24
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
4th Sunday/Christmas Octave

Mass Readings: Sunday (B), Weekdays (II)
December 24 – 30, 2023

Sun
24
Mon
25
Tue
26
Wed
27
Thu
28
Fri
29
Sat
30

Office
4th Sunday of Advent
Nativity of the Lord
St Stephen
St John
Holy Innocents
5th Day in Christmas Octave
6th Day in Christmas Octave

Vigils
Isa 44:1-8, 21-23
*vigil and midnight Mass
Acts 6:1-15
Wis 7:21-8:1
Exod 1:6-22
Song 1:1-11
Song 1:12-2:7

Lauds
Isa 63:15-19
Baruch 3:36-4:4
2 Chron 24:17-22
Prov 8:22-30
Baruch 4:21-29
Isa 51:1-8
Isa 52:8-12

Mass
11
16
696
697
698
202
203

1st
2 Sam 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
Isa 52:7-10
Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59
1 John 1:1-4
1 John 1:5-2:2
1 John 2:3-11
1 John 2:12-17

2nd
Rom 16:25-27
Heb 1:1-6

Gospel
Luke 1:26-38
John 1:1-18
Matt 10:17-22
John 20:1a, 2-8
Matt 2:13-18
Luke 2:22-35
Luke 2:36-40

Vespers
2 Pet 3:8-14
1 John 4:7-16
Acts 7:51-8:2
Acts 4:13-20
1 Pet 4:12-19
Col 1:1-8
Phil 2:1-11

*Midnight Mass: 1) Isa 9:1-6 2) Titus 2:11-14 Gospel) Luke 2:1-14

Vigils Reading - 4th Sunday Advent
2023-12-24
YOU SHALL CONCEIVE AND BEAR A SON
From a commentary by St Bede the Venerable
◊◊◊
Today’s reading of the gospel calls to mind the beginning of our
redemption, for the passage tells us how God sent an angel from heaven to a
virgin. He was to proclaim the new birth, the incarnation of God’s Son, who
would take away our age-old guilt; through him it would be possible for us to be
made new and numbered among the children of God. And so, if we are to
deserve the gifts of the promised salvation, we must listen attentively to the
account of its beginning.
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named
Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house
of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. What is said of the house of David
applies not only to Joseph but also to Mary. It was a precept of the law that
each man should marry a wife from his own tribe and kindred. Saint Paul also
bears testimony to this when he writes to Timothy: Remember Jesus Christ,
risen from the dead, descended from David, as preached in my gospel. Our
Lord is truly descended from David, since his spotless mother took her ancestry
from David’s line.
The angel came to her and said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have
found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear
a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called
the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his
father David.” The angel refers to the kingdom of the Israelite nation as the
throne of David because in his time, by the Lord’s command and assistance,
David governed it with a spirit of faithful service. The Lord God gave to our
Redeemer the throne of his father David, when he decreed that he should
take flesh from the lineage of David. As David had once ruled the people with
temporal authority, so Christ would now lead them to the eternal kingdom by
his spiritual grace. Of this kingdom the Apostle said: He has delivered us from
the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved
Son.
He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever. The house of Jacob here
refers to the universal Church which, through its faith in and witness to Christ,
shares the heritage of the patriarchs. This may apply either to those who are
physical descendants of the patriarchal families, or to those who come from
gentile nations and are reborn in Christ by the waters of baptism. In this house
Christ shall reign for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. During this
present life, Christ rules in the Church. By faith and love he dwells in the hearts
of his elect, and guides them by his unceasing care toward their heavenly
reward. In the life to come, when their period of exile on earth is ended, he will
exercise his kingship by leading the faithful to their heavenly country. There,
for ever inspired by the vision of his presence, their one delight will be to praise
and glorify him

1 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – NY -1993 – pg 16-17.3

Vigils Reading -Nativity of the Lord
2023-12-25
TODAY A SAVIOR HAS BEEN BORN FOR YOU
From a commentary by St Aelred of Rievaulx
◊◊◊
Today, in the city of David, the Savior of the world is born for us: he is
Christ the Lord. That city is Bethlehem. We must run there as the shepherds
did when they heard these tidings, and so put into action the words we
traditionally sing at this season: They sang of God’s glory, they hastened to
Bethlehem.
And this shall be a sign for you: you will find the child wrapped in
swaddling bands and lying in a manger. Now this is what I say: you must love.
You fear the Lord of angels, yes, but love the tiny babe; you fear the Lord of
majesty, yes, but love the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes; you fear him
who reigns in heaven, yes, but love him who lies in the manger.
What sort of sign were the shepherds given? You will find the child
wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. It was by this that they
were to recognize their Savior and Lord. But is there anything great about being
wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a stable – are not other children also
wrapped in swaddling clothes? What kind of sign, then, can this be?
Indeed it is a great one, if only we understand it rightly. Such
understanding will be ours if this message of love is not restricted to our
hearing, but if our hearts too are illuminated by the light which accompanied
the appearance of the angels. The angel who first proclaimed the good tidings
appeared surrounded by light to teach us that only those whose minds are
spiritually enlightened can truly understand the message.
Much can be said of this sign; but as time is passing, I shall say little, and
briefly. Bethlehem, the house of bread, is holy Church, in which is distributed
the body of Christ, the true bread. The manger at Bethlehem is the altar of the
church; it is there that Christ’s creatures are fed. This is the table of which it is
written, You have prepared a banquet for me. In this manger is Jesus, wrapped
in the swaddling clothes which are the outward form of the sacraments. Here
in this manger, under the species of bread and wine, is the true body and blood
of Christ. We believe that Christ himself is here, but he is wrapped in swaddling
clothes; in other words, he is invisibly contained in these sacraments. We have
no greater or clearer proof of Christ’s birth than our daily reception of his body
and blood at the holy altar, and the sight of him who was once born for us of a
virgin daily offered in a sacrifice for us.
And so let us hasten to the manger of the Lord. But before drawing near
we must prepare ourselves as well as we can with the help of his grace; and then,
in company with the angels, with pure heart, good conscience, and unfeigned
faith, we may sing to the Lord in all that we do throughout the whole of our life:
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth; through our Lord
Jesus Christ, to whom be honor and glory for ever and ever

2 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – NY -1993 – pg 18-19.5

Vigils Reading - St Stephen
2023-12-26
THE GIFT OF LOVE
From a sermon by St Fulgentius, Bishop of Ruspe
◊◊◊
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 unrivalled
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 heave

3 Sermon 3,1-3,5-6: CCL 91A, 905-909. cf. A Word in Season, I (1st series) p132f.7

Vigils Reading - Holy Innocents
2023-12-28
CHILDREN OF GOD
From the letters of St Cyprian of Carthage
◊◊◊
The martyrdom of children marked the very beginning of Christ’s life: for
his name’s sake, all those of two years old and under were put to death. Too
young to fight, they were yet able to win a martyr’s crown, and by their
innocence bear witness to the innocence of all who shed their blood for Christ.
When even such as these make martyrs, clearly no one is immune from the peril
of persecution.
What a shameful thing it would be for Christ’s servants to recoil from
suffering when their Master suffered first; for us to be unwilling to endure
something for our sins, when he, though sinless, endured so much for us! The
Son of God suffered in order to make us children of God; will the children of
this world refuse to persevere in that sonship through suffering? If we have to
bear with the world’s hatred, we must remember that Christ bore it before we
did. We may have to endure insults, exile, torture in this world, but the Creator
and Lord of the world knew them first in harsher form, and warned us of them,
saying, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me before you. If you
belonged to the world, the world would love its own. But you are not of the
world; I chose you out of it, and therefore it hates you. Remember the saying I
gave you, ‘The servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecute me, they
will persecute you also.” Our Lord and God practiced all he taught, so there can
be no excuse for a disciple who hears his teaching but does not act on it…
Let these be the sentiments, dearly beloved brethren, that ever abide in
your hearts. And may we thus make ready our arms by fixing our thoughts, day
and night, on this reflection, by holding before our eyes and turning over
constantly in our minds and our hearts what tortures are inflicted upon the
wicked, what rewards are merited by the just, what the Lord threatens by way
of punishment to those who deny, what, by contrast, He promises by way of
glory to those who confess. If the day of persecution should come upon us whilst
we meditate upon and contemplate these thoughts, then the soldier of Christ,
being thus instructed by His precepts and counsels, shows no fear in the face of
battle but is now ready for his crown.

5 St. Cyprian of Carthage. The Letters of St. Cyprian of Carthage – Vol. 3 (Letter 58). Trans. G.W. Clarke. New York:
Newman Press, 1986. 64-65, 68.11

Vigils Readings - 5th day in Christmas Octave
2023-12-29
WHY CHRIST HAD TO BE BORN
From the missionary letters of St Nikolai Velimirovich
◊◊◊
You have asked why Christ had to be born, grow and be tormented? Why
did he not suddenly appear out of the Heavens in the form of a grown man, like
Apollo does in Hellenic fairy tales? A completely inappropriate comparison!
How can one compare a true man with a phantom and the true man with made-
up monsters?
As much as heaven is above the earth, so much is the wisdom of God
beyond the reason of man. According to the wisdom of the Most High, Christ
had to come into the world as a child and as a youth and as a mature man, so
that He could be accessible to everyone and gain everyone. Had He never been
a child, His words would have been pale and cold –
“Let the children come to
me and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” And also the
other saying,
“Indeed I say to you, if you do not return and become as children,
you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
…
Christ could have undoubtedly appeared to the world as you imagine. But
had He done that, He could not have been for the human race what He wanted
to be, that is, the Teacher and Savior of all, and an example to all generations.
A thought torments you. You think that the Lord has magnified the
mystery of His being for our reason by His unusual birth. But would His
mystery not be far greater and less comprehensible had He suddenly appeared
among men, outside of any kinship with them? Would the world then not talk
of Him as of an apparition? In that case, His person, and along with it His
teaching and sacrifice, would lose their true foundation and true meaning. For
if He had been an apparition, who would listen to and imitate an apparition?
The Lord also had to be born, exactly in the way in which He was, in order
to show us the possibility and point out the importance of our spiritual rebirth,
which is in the center of His teaching about man. According to His word, “If
one is not born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” As He was born of
the Holy Spirit from the body of Mary the Virgin, so can we be spiritually born
of the Holy Spirit in the purity of our soul. Great Orthodox elders have always
taught that the rebirth of a man is conditioned by a virginal purity of the soul.
In other words, souls which completely cleanse themselves, even from impure
thoughts, come to resemble the pure Virgin, and are deemed worthy by God’s
goodwill to become the habitation of Christ. If Christ’s birth from the Virgin
Mary is not easily comprehended by the human mind, it is fantastically
beneficial and inspiring for all those who desire a spiritual and mortal rebirth
of their being.
So, be at peace and thank the eternal Wisdom that the Savior of mankind
had appeared as He Himself thought it was best. And exclaim with Apostle
Paul, “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and understanding of God!

6 Saint Nikolai Velimirovich. Missionary Letters of Saint Nikolai Velimirovich. Trans. Hierdeacon Serafim. Grayslake, IL:
New Gracania Monastery, 2008. 177-179.13
