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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240306
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240307
DTSTAMP:20260404T024539
CREATED:20240302T143521Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240302T143521Z
UID:11639-1709683200-1709769599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW ROAD \nFrom a sermon of St Caesarius of Arles4 \n◊◊◊ \nI beseech you\, beloved\, with God’s help let us celebrate these days\, \nsalutary for bodies and healing for the soul\, in so holy and spiritual a manner \nthat the observance of a holy Lent may lead to progress for us and not judgment. \nFor if we lead a careless life\, involving ourselves in too many occupations\, \nrefusing to observe chastity\, not applying ourselves to fasting and vigils and \nprayers\, neither reading Sacred Scripture ourselves nor willingly listen to others \nreading it\, the very remedies are changed into wounds for us. As a result of this \nwe shall have judgment\, where we could have had a remedy… \nFor this reason\, dearest brethren\, “Have no love for the world\, nor the \nthings the world affords\,” because “the world with its seductions is passing \naway”. What\, then\, remains in a man except what each one has stored up in the \ntreasury of his conscience for the salvation of his soul by reading or prayer or \nthe performance of good works? For miserable pleasure\, still more wretched \nlust and dissipation\, through a passing sweetness prepare eternal bitterness; \nbut abstinence\, vigils\, prayer and fasting lead to the delights of paradise through \nthe briefest hardships. The Truth does not lie when He says in the Gospel: \n“Straight and narrow is the road that leads to eternal life\, and how few there are \nthat find it!” Not for long is there rejoicing on the broad way\, and not for long is \nthere labor on the straight and narrow road. After brief sadness those who travel \nthe latter receive eternal life\, while those who travel the former\, after short joy\, \nsuffer endless punishment. \nFor this reason\, dearest brethren\, by fasting\, reading and prayer in these \nforty days we ought to store up for our souls provisions\, as it were\, for the whole \nyear. Although through the mercy of God you frequently and devoutly hear the \ndivine lessons throughout the entire year\, still during these days we ought to \nrest from the winds and the sea of this world by taking refuge\, as it were\, in the \nhaven of Lent\, and in the quiet of silence to receive the divine lessons in the \nreceptacle of our heart. Devoting ourselves to God out of love for eternal life\, \nduring these days let us with all solicitude strive to repair and compose in the \nlittle ship of our soul whatever throughout the year has been broken or \ndestroyed or damaged or ruined by many storms\, that is\, by the waves of sins. \nAnd since it is necessary for us to endure the storms and tempests of this world \nwhile we are still in this frail body\, as often as the enemy wills to lead us astray \nby means of the roughest storms or to deceive us by the most voluptuous \npleasures\, with God’s help may <the enemy> always find us prepared against \nhim. \nIf…you both willingly heed and strive faithfully to fulfill…the truths which \nwe are suggesting for the salvation of all by presuming on your obedience\, you \nwill celebrate Easter with joy and happily come to eternal life. May He Himself \ndeign to grant this\, who together with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and \nreigns for ever and ever. \n  \n4 St Caesarius of Arles\, Sermons\, vol.3\, The Fathers of the Church\, vol. 66\, Catholic University of America Press\, \nWashington DC\, 1973\, pg. 41.9 \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-165/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240307
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240308
DTSTAMP:20260404T024539
CREATED:20240302T143658Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240302T143658Z
UID:11641-1709769600-1709855999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE BEATING HEART OF THE UNIVERSE \nFrom a homily by Pope Benedict XVI5 \n◊◊◊ \nIt is not God’s presence that alienates man\, but His absence: without the \ntrue God\, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ\, illusory hopes become an invitation \nto escape from reality. Speaking with God\, dwelling in His presence\, letting \noneself be illuminated and purified by His Word introduces us\, instead\, into the \nheart of reality\, into the very motor of becoming cosmic; it introduces us\, so to \nspeak\, to the beating heart of the universe. \nIn a harmonious connection with prayer\, fasting and almsgiving can also \nbe considered occasions for learning and practicing Christian hope. \nThe…ancient writers liked to emphasize that these three dimensions of Gospel \nlife are inseparable\, reciprocally enrich each other and bear more fruit the more \nthey collaborate with each other. Lent as a whole\, thanks to the joint action of \nprayer\, fasting and almsgiving\, forms Christians to be men and women of hope \nafter the example of the Saints… \n“The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship \nto suffering and the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for \nsociety. Easter\, to which Lent is oriented\, is the mystery which gives meaning \nto human suffering\, based on the superabundant compassion of God\, brought \nabout in Jesus Christ. The Lenten journey therefore\, since it is wholly steeped \nin the Easter light\, makes us relive what happened in Christ’s divine and human \nheart while he was going up to Jerusalem for the last time to offer himself in \nexpiation. \nSuffering and death fell like darkness as he gradually came nearer to the \nCross\, but the flame of love shone brighter. Indeed Christ’s suffering was \npenetrated by the light of love. It was the Father’s love that permitted the son to \nconfidently face his last “baptism”\, which he himself defines as the apex of his \nmission. \nJesus received that baptism of sorrow and love for us\, for all of humanity. \nHe has suffered for truth and justice\, bringing the gospel of suffering to human \nhistory\, which is the other aspect of the Gospel of love. God cannot suffer\, but \nHe can and wants to be compassionate. Through Christ’s passion he can bring \nhis <consolation> to every human suffering\, “the consolation of God’s \ncompassionate love – and so the star of hope rises.” \nAs for prayer\, so for suffering: the history of the Church is very rich in \nwitnesses who spent themselves for others without reserve\, at the cost of harsh \nsuffering. The greater the hope that enlivens us\, the greater is the ability within \nus to suffer for the love of truth and good\, joyfully offering up the minor and \nmajor daily hardships and inserting them into Christ’s great compassion. \n  \n5 L’Osservatore Romano – February 13\, 2008 – pg 6.11 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-166/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240308
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240309
DTSTAMP:20260404T024539
CREATED:20240302T143835Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240302T143835Z
UID:11643-1709856000-1709942399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:HE BORE THE PUNISHMENT \nWHICH BRINGS US PEACE \nFrom a sermon by St Cyril of Alexandria6 \n◊◊◊ \nIn the account of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac\, the Bible portrays \nthe mystery of our Savior in all its aspects. Because I want you to have a clear \nunderstanding of this deep mystery of our religion\, I must show you the \nconnection between the events that typified the truth itself\, and explain how \neach part of the story should be interpreted. \nThe holy Abraham took his son and hastened to the place that God had \nshown him. The fact that the boy was brought to be sacrificed by his father is \nmeant to teach us by way of type or sign that the Lord Jesus Christ was not \nraised upon the cross by any human power\, nor by the wickedness of those who \nlaid snares for him\, but by the will of the Father\, whose providential plan \npermitted him to suffer death for the whole world. The Savior himself said as \nmuch when he answered Pilate: you would have no power over me if it had not \nbeen given you from above. At another time\, speaking to his Father in heaven\, \nhe said: Father\, if it is possible\, let this cup pass me by. But your will\, not mine\, \nbe done. \nAbraham laid the wood for the sacrifice on his son’s shoulders. In the \nsame way\, the Jews laid the wood of the cross on the Savior’s shoulders and they \ndid this with the consent\, one might almost say the cooperation of the Father; \nfor it is not possible to compel the divine power. The prophet Isaiah bears \nreliable witness to this when he says: He bore the punishment which brings us \npeace\, and by his wounds we are healed. We had all strayed like sheep\, \neveryone had gone his own way and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. \nWhen the patriarch eventually arrived at the appointed place\, he put all \nhis skill into building a good altar. This too we are meant to interpret in a \nspiritual way and so to understand that what appears to the human eye as a \ncross and a gibbet is in fact in the eyes of the Father of the whole universe a vast \nand towering altar raised up for the salvation of the world\, and blackened by the \nsmoke of a pure and most holy sacrifice. \nBy his words\, I bared my back to the scourge\, and let myself be struck on \nthe face\, Isaiah foretold the blows that his enemies would shamelessly inflict on \nthe Savior’s body\, and their spitting upon it… Our Lord Jesus Christ\, \ndisregarding the shame\, humbled himself in obedience to the Father\, even to \nthe extent of dying for our salvation. He died to give us life through the Holy \nSpirit and to raise us up with himself\, to open the gates of heaven to us and to \nlead us in\, thus restoring to the Father the human race whose sin had long ago \nmade it fly from his presence. \nTherefore\, beloved\, let this great work of our Savior be acclaimed by every \nvoice\, let his praise be on every tongue. Let the sweet sound of that ancient song \nbe heard again: God has gone up with shouts of jubilation\, the Lord has \nascended with a fanfare of trumpets. He completed the work of our salvation \nand then ascended\, indeed he not only ascended but he also led captivity \ncaptive and gave gifts to mortals. \n  \n6 A Word in Season – vol. II – Exordium Books – 1982 – pg 147.13 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-167/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240309
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240310
DTSTAMP:20260404T024539
CREATED:20240302T143950Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240302T143950Z
UID:11645-1709942400-1710028799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:HE CAME TO CALL SINNERS \nFrom a letter by St Maximus the Confessor7 \n◊◊◊ \nGod’s will is to save us and nothing pleases him more than our coming \nback to him with true repentance. The heralds of truth and ministers of divine \ngrace have told us this from the beginning\, repeating it in every age. Indeed \nGod’s desire for our salvation is the primary and preeminent sign of his infinite \ngoodness\, and it was precisely in order to show that there is nothing closer to \nGod’s heart that the divine Word of God the Father\, with untold condescension\, \nlived among us in the flesh\, and that he did\, suffered\, and said all that was \nnecessary to reconcile us to God the Father when we were at enmity with him\, \nand to restore us to the life of blessedness from which we have been exiled. He \nhealed our physical infirmities by miracles; he freed us from our sins\, many and \ngrievous as they were\, by suffering and dying\, taking them upon himself as if he \nwere answerable for them\, sinless though he was. He also taught us in many \ndifferent ways that we should wish to imitate him by our own kindness and \ngenuine love for one another. \nThus he proclaimed that he had come to call sinners to repentance\, not \nthe righteous\, and that it was not the healthy who required a doctor\, but the \nsick. He declared that he had come to look for the sheep that was lost and that \nit was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel that he had been sent. Speaking \nmore obscurely in the parable of the silver coin\, he tells us that the purpose of \nhis coming was to reclaim the royal image\, which had been coated with the filth \nof sin. You can be sure that there is joy in heaven\, he said\, over one sinner who \nrepents. \nTo the same lesson he revived the man who\, having fallen into the hands \nof brigands\, had been left stripped and half-dead from his wounds; he poured \nwine and oil on the wounds\, bandaged them\, placed the man on his own mule\, \nand brought him to an inn\, where he left sufficient money to have him cared for\, \nand promised to repay any further expense on his return. \nAgain\, he told of how the father\, who is goodness itself\, was moved with \npity for his profligate son who returned and made amends by repentance; how \nhe embraced him\, dressed him once more in the fine garments that befitted his \nown dignity\, and did not reproach him for any of his sins. \nThen there was the time when one of the hundred sheep in God’s flock \nwent astray. When he found it wandering in the mountains and hills he did not \nexhaust it by driving it back to the fold\, but placed it on his own shoulders\, and \nso in his compassion restored it safely to the flock. \nHis teaching was the same when he cried out: “Come to me\, all you that \ntoil and are heavy of heart.” “Accept my yoke\,” he said\, by which he meant his \ncommands\, or rather the whole way of life that he taught us in the Gospel. He \nthen speaks of a burden\, but that is only because repentance seems difficult. In \nfact\, however\, “my yoke is easy\,” he assures us\, “and my burden is light.” \nThen again he instructs us in divine justice and goodness\, telling us to be \nlike our heavenly Father\, holy\, perfect and merciful. Forgive\, he says\, and you \nwill be forgiven. Treat other people as you would wish them to treat you. \n  \n7 A Word in Season – Monastic Lectionary – vol. II – Lent – Exordium Books – 1982 – pg. 14.15 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-168/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240310
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240311
DTSTAMP:20260404T024539
CREATED:20240310T161504Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240310T161504Z
UID:11650-1710028800-1710115199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n4th Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 10 – 16\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n10\nMon\n11\nTue\n12\nWed\n13\nThu\n14\nFri\n15\nSat\n16\n\n\nOffice\n4th Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nDeut 21:1-9\, 22-23\nDeut 24:10-22\nDeut 26:1-15\nDeut 26:16-27:10\nDeut 27:11-26\nDeut 28:1-19\nDeut 28:58-69\n\n\nLauds\nExod 14:10-14\nExod 14:19-22\nExod 14-26-31\nExod 15:19-21\nExod 16:1-3\nExod 16:9-15\nExod 19:1-8\n\n\nMass\n32\n243\n245\n246\n247\n248\n249\n\n\n1st\n2 Chr 36:14-16\, 19-23\nMic 7:7-9\nEzek 47:1-9\, 12\nIsa 49:8-15\nExod 32:7-14\nWis 2:1a\, 12-22\nJer 11:18-20\n\n\n2nd\nEph 2:4-10\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 3:14-21\nJohn 9:1-41\nJohn 5:1-3a\, 5-16\nJohn 5:17-30\nJohn 5:31-47\nJohn 7:1-2\, 10\, 25-30\nJohn 7:40-53\n\n\nVespers\nHeb 11:1-7\nHeb 11:8-16\nHeb 11:17-22\nHeb 11:23-31\nHeb 11:32-40\nHeb 12:1-6\nHeb 12:7-13
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-64/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240310
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240311
DTSTAMP:20260404T024539
CREATED:20240310T161642Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240310T161642Z
UID:11652-1710028800-1710115199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 4th Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:THE CROSS OF OUR LORD \nFrom a commentary by St John Chrysostom1 \n◊◊◊ \nAlthough we praise our common Lord for all kinds of reasons\, we praise \nand glorify him above all for the cross. It fills us with awe to see him dying like \none accursed. It is this death for people like ourselves that Paul constantly \nregards as the sign of Christ’s love for us. He passes over everything else that \nChrist did for our advantage and consolation and dwells incessantly on the \ncross. The proof of God’s love for us\, he says\, is that Christ died for us while we \nwere still sinners. Then in the following sentence he gives us the highest ground \nfor hope: If\, when we were alienated from God\, we were reconciled to him by \nthe death of his Son\, how much more\, now that we are reconciled\, shall we be \nsaved by his life! It is this above all that made Paul so proud\, so happy\, so full \nof joy and exultation\, when he wrote to the Galatians: God forbid that I should \nglory in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. What wonder\, indeed\, \nif Paul rejoices and glories in the cross\, when the Lord himself spoke of his \npassion as his glory. Father\, he prayed\, the hour has come: glorify your Son. \nThe disciple who wrote those also told us that the Holy Spirit had not yet \ncome to them because Jesus was not yet glorified\, calling the cross glory. And \nwhen he wanted to show God’s love\, did he do so by referring to signs\, wonders\, \nor miracles of any sort? By no means: he pointed to the cross\, saying: God so \nloved the world that he gave his only Son\, that all who believe in him might \nnot perish but have eternal life. And Paul writes: Since he did not spare his own \nSon\, but gave him up for us all\, how can he fail to lavish every other gift upon \nus? And in his exhortation to humility he uses the same example\, saying: You \nshould have the same dispositions as you find in Christ Jesus. Although his \nnature was divine\, he did not cling to his equality with God\, but emptied \nhimself to assume the condition of a slave. Bearing the human likeness\, \nsharing the human lot\, he humbled himself and was obedient even to the point \nof dying – dying on a cross! \nReturning to the subject of love\, Paul again urges his hearers to love one \nanother\, even as Christ loved us\, and gave himself up for us as a fragrant \noffering and sacrifice to God. And Christ himself showed how the cross was his \nchief preoccupation\, and how much he longed to suffer. In his ignorance\, Peter\, \nfirst of the Twelve\, foundation of the Church\, leader of the Apostles\, protested: \nGod forbid\, Lord! This shall never happen to you! Listen to what Christ called \nhim: Get behind me\, Satan. You are an obstacle in my way\, proving by the \nstrength of his reprimand his great eagerness to suffer on the cross. \n  \n1 Journey with the Fathers -Year B – New City Press – NY – 1993 – pg 36.3 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-4th-sunday-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240311
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240312
DTSTAMP:20260404T024539
CREATED:20240310T162028Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240310T162028Z
UID:11654-1710115200-1710201599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THINK OF YOURSELF IN HUMILITY \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny2 \n◊◊◊ \nNow you\, blessed sinner\, although not blessed because a sinner but \nbecause repentant of sin\, what encouragement was yours in your father’s \nembrace and his kiss\, when he restored his love to you of whom he had almost \ndespaired\, when he made your heart clean again and overwhelmed you with the \njoy of your salvation. \n“And how\,” he says\, “shall speech explain what the mind cannot contain?” \nUnspeakable are the groans and inexplicable the affections to which the spirit \ngives birth as if impregnated by the incomprehensible. The human heart is too \nnarrow for them and therefore it is torn and pours itself out. The ardor\, which \nit conceives but cannot contain\, it breathes forth and spreads abroad in what \nways it can\, by tears\, groans\, sighs. These things are better known to people who \nhave tasted them often and abundantly. \nNow also\, I say\, when you have been released after those embraces and \nkisses\, when you think over what has passed between you and him\, when you \nconsider what your cause was and how it was judged by him\, bearing in mind \non the one hand the abundance of your offence\, on the other hand the \nsuperabundance of his grace\, to what\, I ask\, does your thought give birth in you? \n“Naught but this”\, he says\, “that an unutterable fire blazes out in my \nmeditation\, on the one hand for sorrow and shame\, on the other hand for joy \nand love. I would not consider myself a man but a stone if I were so hard-hearted \nas not to grieve or be ashamed\, or so wicked and ungrateful as not to be wholly \nliquefied for joy or love of that father.” \nKeep then\, O happy sinner\, keep carefully and watchfully this spirit of \nyours\, this most fitting affection of humility and devotion by which you may \nalways think of yourself in humility and of the Lord in goodness. There is \nnothing greater than it among the gifts of the Holy Spirit\, nothing more precious \nin the treasures of God\, nothing more holy among all the charisms\, nothing \nmore health giving in all the sacraments…. \n  \n2 Guerric of Igny – Liturgical Sermons – vol. 1 – CF #8 _ Cistercian Publications – Spencer\, MA – 1970 p 143.5 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-169/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240312
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240313
DTSTAMP:20260404T024539
CREATED:20240310T162146Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240310T162146Z
UID:11656-1710201600-1710287999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:GOD WILL HELP YOU \nFrom the Fourth Vision of St Hildegard of Bingen3 \n◊◊◊ \nDearest children\, open your eyes and ears… The choirs of angels sing\, \n“You are just\, O Lord!”\, because God’s justice has no flaw in it; for God delivered \nMan not by power but by mercy\, when He sent His Son into the world to redeem \nhim… But you\, when you consider good and evil\, are standing\, as it were\, where \ntwo roads branch off. If you despise the darkness of evil and want to see Him \nWhose creature you are\, and Whom you acknowledged in holy baptism where \nthe old sin of Adam was nullified in you; and if you say\, “ I want to fly from the \nDevil and his works and follow the true God and His precepts”; then think how \nyou have been taught to turn away from evil and do good\, and how the Heavenly \nFather did not spare His Only-Begotten but sent Him for your deliverance; and \npray to God to help you. And He\, hearing you\, will say\, “These eyes are pleasing \nto me!” And if you then cast off weariness and run courageously in God’s \ncommands\, He will always hear the cry of your prayers… \nBut if you have fallen into sin\, quickly rise by confession and pure \npenitence\, before death lays claim to you. For your Father wants you to cry out\, \nweep and ask for help so as not to remain in the squalor of sin. For if you have \nbeen wounded\, you seek a physician lest you die. Does not God often send \npeople troubles\, so that they will more intently invoke Him? But you\, O human\, \nsay “I cannot do good works!” I say you can. And you say “How?” And I say\, \n“By thought and action.” And you answer\, “I lack decision.” And I answer\, \n“Learn to fight against yourself!” And you say\, “I cannot fight against myself \nunless God helps me.” Hear then how you can fight against yourself. When evil \nrises up in you and you do not know how to get rid of it\, then\, touched by…grace\, \nwhich reaches you in the paths of your inner vision\, at once cry out\, pray\, \nconfess and weep so that God will help you\, and remove evil from you\, and grant \nyou strength in good. For this good is yours by the knowledge that lets you \nunderstand God by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit… So let the faithful person \nrecognize his pain and seek a physician before he falls dead. \n  \n3 Hildegard of Bingen. Scivias. Trans. Mother Columba Hart and Jane Bishop. New York: Paulist Press\, 1990. 125-128.7 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-170/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240313
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240314
DTSTAMP:20260404T024539
CREATED:20240310T162300Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240310T162300Z
UID:11658-1710288000-1710374399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER \nFrom a sermon by St Leo the Great4 \n◊◊◊ \nIn the gospel of John the Lord says: “In this will all people know that you \nare my disciples\, if you have love for one another”. In a letter of the same apostle \nwe read: “Beloved\, let us love one another\, for love is from God\, and everyone \nwho loves is born of God and knows God; whoever does not love does not know \nGod\, for God is Love”. \nThe faithful should enter into themselves and make a true judgment on \ntheir attitudes of mind and heart. If they find some store of love’s fruit in their \nhearts\, they must not doubt God’s presence within them. If they would increase \ntheir capacity to receive so great a guest\, they should practice greater generosity \nin doing good\, with persevering charity. \nAny time is the right time for works of charity\, but these days of Lent \nprovide a special encouragement. Those who want to be present at the Lord’s \nPassover in holiness of mind and body should seek above all to win this grace\, \nfor charity contains all other virtues and covers a multitude of sins. \nAs we prepare to celebrate that greatest of all mysteries\, by which the \nblood of Jesus Christ did away with our sins\, let us first of all make ready the \nsacrificial offerings of works of mercy. In this way we shall give to those who \nhave sinned against us what God in his goodness has already given to us. \nLet us extend to the poor and those afflicted in different ways a more \nopen-handed generosity\, so that God may be thanked through many voices and \nthe relief of the needy supported by our fasting. No act of devotion on the part \nof the faithful gives God more pleasure than that which is lavished on his poor. \nWhere he finds charity with its loving concern\, there he recognizes the reflection \nof his own fatherly care. \nIn these acts of giving do not fear a lack of means. A generous spirit is \nitself great wealth. There can be no shortage of material for generosity where it \nis Christ who feeds and Christ who is fed. In all this activity there is present the \nhand of him who multiplies the bread by breaking it\, and increases it by giving \nit away. \nThe giver of alms should be free from anxiety and full of joy. His gain will \nbe the greatest when he keeps back least for himself. The holy Apostle Paul tells \nus: “He who provides seed for the sower will also provide bread for eating; he \nwill provide you with more seed\, and will increase the harvest of your \ngoodness”\, in Christ Jesus our Lord\, who lives and reigns with the Father and \nthe Holy spirit for ever and ever. \n  \n4 The Liturgy of the Hours – vol II – pg 295 – Catholic Book Publishing Co – 1976.9 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-171/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11660-1710374400-1710460799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE ROLE OF THE PROPHET \nFrom the writing of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel5 \n◊◊◊ \nThe certainty of being inspired by God\, of speaking in His name\, of having \nbeen sent by Him to the people\, is the basic and central fact of the prophet’s \nconsciousness. Other people regard experience as the source of certainty; what \nsingles out the prophet in the world of man is that to him the source of his \nexperience is the source of his certainty. To his mind\, the validity and \ndistinction of his message lie in the origin\, not only in the moment of his \nexperience… \nIn a variety of ways\, in utterance and in action\, the prophets stressed their \nstaggering claim. It was such certainty of being inspired that enabled the \nprophet to proclaim again and again: “Thus says the Lord”; “Hear the word of \nthe Lord”… There is no doubt that the prophets were conscious of their own \nsincerity; that their tongues were not confuted by their consciences. “What I \nheard from the Lord of hosts\, … I announce to you\,” said Isaiah. And Jeremiah \ninsisted “That which came out of my lips was before Thy face”. \nThe prophet does not speak of a resolution or a purpose\, framed by \nhimself\, to devote himself to his vocation\, but describes a decisive moment in \nwhich he received a call. He thinks of himself as “a messenger of God”\, sent by \nHim to His people. Moreover\, he does not speak on the strength of a single \nexperience or sporadic inspirations. His entire existence is dedicated to his \nmission… When “Jeremiah’s harsh word of judgment against the Temple of \nJerusalem provoked the priests… that they wanted to kill him\,” Jeremiah had \nnothing to say in his defense before the royal officials except: “…the Lord has \nsent me to you\, to say all these words in your ears”… \nTo the consciousness of the prophet\, the prophetic act is more than an \nexperience; it is an objective event… It is not a discovery\, a coming upon \nsomething permanently given by the mind of the prophet…a timeless idea… \njustice\, a law\, but something dynamic\, an act of giving; not an eternal word\, but \na word spoken\, a word expressed\, springing from a Presence\, a word in time\, a \npathos overflowing in words. His experience is a perception of an act that \nhappens rather than a perception of a situation that abides… \nThus\, to the prophetic consciousness\, inspiration is…experienced as a \ndivine act which takes place not within but beyond\, as an event which happens \nin one’s view rather than in one’s heart. The prophet does not merely feel it; he \nfaces it. \n  \n5 Heschel\, Abraham J. The Prophets. New York: Harper & Row\, 1962. 426-433.11 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-172/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11662-1710460800-1710547199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A CHURCH OF PENANCE AND PRAYER \nFrom a sermon by St Oscar Romero6 \n◊◊◊ \nNot everyone… will have the honor of offering their blood physically or of \nbeing killed for the faith. But God does ask all those who believe in him to have \nthe spirit of martyrdom. In other words\, all of us should be ready to die for our \nfaith even if the Lord does not grant us this honor. If we are so disposed\, then \nwhen our time comes to give an accounting of our lives\, we can say: “Lord\, I was \nwilling to give my life for you. And I have given it\, because giving one’s life is \nnot only being killed; it means living with the spirit of martyrdom and giving \nthrough duty\, through silence\, through prayer”. Indeed\, it is in the honest \nfulfillment of duty and in the silence of daily life that we give our lives to God. \nWe give our lives as does the mother who with no fuss\, with the simplicity of \nmotherly martyrdom\, gives birth and gives her breast to her children and \nlovingly cares for them. This is what it means to give one’s life… May we all \ninterpret for our lives what is now so necessary: surrendering our lives to \nholiness and being faithful to our obligations… \nIt is wonderful to be Catholic at this time. Let us not be distressed but \nhappy. Let us feel joyful in our spirit of courage and in our commitment to \nGod… The less we place our trust in the things of earth\, the greater will be God’s \nprotection… In God is our hope. \nPenance was the word with which Christ began to preach the gospel\, and \nit is also the substance of the church’s preaching: “Do penance! Be converted! \nLeave behind your evil ways!”… How I wish…that this Gospel word\, spoken with \ntenderness…would reach those places where so many criminals are hidden\, \nthose dark corners of hell where so many calumnies are being plotted: “Be \nconverted. Do not plant seeds of hatred! Do not kill more of our sisters and \nbrothers! Do not spread more calumnies. Be converted\, for these perverse \nroads lead to hell\, and the Virgin wants you in her heaven. \n… May prayer never fail in our hearts and on our lips. May we lift up our \nhearts to God\, seeking favors\, giving thanks\, and asking for mercy. At this time \nI have great confidence… because there are many souls deep in prayer. As long \nas people are praying\, I am not distressed. I tell the Lord in the intimacy of my \nMass\, as all priests do\, “Lord\, look not on my sins\, but on the faith of your \nchurch”. The faith of your church\, Lord\, is the old woman praying her rosary. \nThe faith of our church is the sick man who feels useless but offers his suffering \nto God. The faith of the church is the father worried about supporting his \nfamily\, honest and faithful to his home. The faith of the church is the religious \nwho becomes holy in her own vocation. It is the priest\, the seminarian\, the \nchild\, and all those who live their vocation as church. The church is made up of \nall of us\, and insofar as we pray and become holy\, we are the power of the world\, \nthe force that descends from God\, because the power of our prayer is derived \nfrom God. \n…Let us become a church of penance and prayer… that this Blood of \nChrist “that is shed for you” may become truly a rain of peace\, tranquility\, \nharmony and reconciliation…. \n  \n6 Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero. A Prophetic Bishop Speaks to His People: Vol. 1. Trans. Joseph \nOwens\, S.J. Miami\, FL: Convivium Press\, 2015. 110-114.13 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-173/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11664-1710547200-1710633599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:LABOR WHILE IT IS YET DAY \nFrom a sermon by St Ambrose7 \n◊◊◊ \nGive thanks\, brethren\, to the Divine Mercy which has brought you safely \nhalf-way through the season of Lent. For this favor they give praise to God\, \nthankfully and with devotion\, who in these days have striven to live in the \nmanner in which they were instructed at the beginning of Lent: that is\, those \nwho\, coming with eagerness to the church\, have sought with sighs and tears\, in \ndaily fasting and alms\, to obtain the forgiveness of their sins. \nThey\, however\, who have neglected this duty\, that is to say\, those who \nhave not fasted daily\, or given alms\, or those who were indifferent or unmoved \nin prayer\, they have no reason to rejoice\, but cause rather for mourning. Yet let \nthem not mourn as if they had no hope; for He who could give back sight to the \nman blind from birth can likewise change those who now are lukewarm and \nindifferent into souls fervent and zealous in His service\, if with their whole heart \nthey desire to be converted unto Him. \nLabor therefore\, beloved children in the Lord\, labor while it is yet day; for \nas Christ our Lord says\, The night comes\, when no man can work. Daytime is \nthis present life; night is death and the time that follows death. If after this life \nthere is no more freedom to work\, as the Truth tells us\, why then does every \nperson not labor while yet there is time…while he still lives in this world? \nBe fearful\, brethren\, of this death. All those who now work evil are \nwithout fear of this death\, and because of this when they depart from this life \nthey shall encounter everlasting death. Labor while you yet live\, and particularly \nin these days; fasting from dainty fare\, withholding yourselves at all times from \nevil works. For those who abstain from food\, but do not withhold themselves \nfrom wickedness\, are like the devil\, who while he eats not\, never ceases from \nevildoing. \n  \n7 The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers – vol. 2 – Henry Regnery Co – Chicago – 1958 – pg \n82.15 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-174/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11678-1710633600-1710719999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema: 5th Week of Lent
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n5th Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 17 – 23\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n17\nMon\n18\nTue\n19\nWed\n20\nThu\n21\nFri\n22\nSat\n23\n\n\nOffice\n5th Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nSt Joseph\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nDeut 29:1-20\nDeut 30:1-14\nHosea 11:1-11\nDeut 31:16-29\nDeut 31:30-32:20\nDeut 32:36-52\nDeut 34:1-12\n\n\nLauds\nExod 19:16-19\nExod 20:1-7\nWis 10:9-12\nExod 20:18-21\nExod 24:12-18\nExod 32:7-14\nExod 32:30-35\n\n\nMass\n35\n250\n543\n253\n254\n255\n256\n\n\n1st\nJer 31:31-34\n2 Kgs 4:18b-21\, 32-37\n2 Sam 7:4-5a\, 12-14a\, 16\nDan 3:14-20\, 91-92\, 95\nGen 17:3-9\nJer 20:10-13\nEzek 37:21-28\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 5:7-9\n\nRom 4:13\, 16-18\, 22\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 12:20-33\nJohn 11:1-45\nMatt 1:16\, 18-21\, 24a\nJohn 8:31-42\nJohn 8:51-59\nJohn 10:31-42\nJohn 11:45-56\n\n\nVespers\nHeb 12:14-17\nJames 1:22-27\nEph 3:14-21\nHeb 13:1-8\nHeb 13:9-16\nHeb 13:17-25\nGal 3:7-14
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-5th-week-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11680-1710633600-1710719999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:5th Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE\nFrom a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria 1\n◊◊◊\nAs the first fruits of our renewed humanity\, Christ escaped the curse of\nthe law precisely by becoming accursed for our sake. He overcame the forces of\ncorruption\, by himself becoming once more\, free among the dead. He trampled\ndeath under foot and came to life again\, and then he ascended to the Father as\nan offering\, the first fruits…of the human race. He ascended\, as Scripture says\,\nnot to a sanctuary made by human hands\, a mere copy of the real one\, but into\nheaven itself\, to appear in God’s presence on our behalf. He is the life-giving\nbread that came down from heaven\, and by offering himself to God the Father\nas a fragrant sacrifice for our sake\, he also delivers us from our sins and frees us\nfrom the faults that we commit through ignorance. \nWe can understand this best if we think of him as symbolized by the calf\nthat used to be slain as a holocaust and by the goat that was sacrificed for our\nsins committed through ignorance. For our sake\, to blot out the sins of the\nworld\, he laid down his life. Recognized then in bread as life and the giver of\nlife\, in the calf as a holocaust offered by himself to God the Father as an\nappeasing fragrance\, in the goat as one who became sin for our sake and was\nslain for our transgressions\, Christ is also symbolized in another way by a sheaf\nof grain… \nThe human race may be compared to spikes of wheat in a field\, rising\, as\nit were\, from the earth\, awaiting their full growth and development\, and then in\ntime being cut down by the reaper\, which is death. The comparison is apt\, since\nChrist himself spoke of our race in this way when he said to his holy disciples:\nDo you not say\, “Four months and it will be harvest time?” Look at the fields I\ntell you\, they are already white and ready for harvesting. The reaper is\nalready receiving his wages and bringing in a crop for eternal life. \nNow Christ became like one of us; he sprang from the holy Virgin like a\nspike of wheat from the ground. Indeed\, he spoke of himself as a grain of wheat\nwhen he said: I tell you truly\, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and\ndies\, it remains as it was\, a single grain; but if it dies its yield is very great.\nAnd so\, like a sheaf of grain\, the first fruits\, as it were\, of the earth\, he offered\nhimself to the Father for our sake. \nFor we do not think of a spike of wheat\, any more than we do of ourselves\,\nin isolation. We think of it rather as part of a sheaf\, which is a single bundle\nmade up of many spikes. The spikes have to be gathered into a bundle before\nthey can be used\, and this is the key to the mystery they represent\, the mystery\nof Christ who\, though one\, appears in the image of a sheaf to be made up of\nmany\, as in fact he is. Spiritually\, he contains in himself all believers. As we\nhave been raised up with him\, writes Saint Paul\, so we have also been\nenthroned with him in heaven. He is a human being like ourselves\, and this has\nmade us one body with him\, the body being the bond that unites us. We can say\,\ntherefore\, that in him\, we are all one\, and indeed as he himself says to God\, his\nheavenly Father: It is my desire that as I and you are one\, so they also may be\none in us. \n1\nJourney with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – NY – 1993 – pg 38.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/5th-sunday-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11682-1710720000-1710806399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS\nFrom a sermon by St Leo the Great 2\n◊◊◊\nLet us take refuge in the ever-present mercy of God\, and so that we may\nwith becoming reverence celebrate the holy Pasch of the Lord\, let all the faithful\nseek to make holy their hearts. Let harshness give way to mildness\, let wrath\ngrow gentle\, forgive one another your offenses\, and let him who seeks to be\nforgiven be not himself a seeker of vengeance. For when we say Forgive us our\ndebts\, as we also forgive our debtors\, we bind ourselves in the most enduring\nbonds unless we fulfill what we profess. And if the most sacred contract of this\nprayer has not in every respect been fulfilled\, let every person examine their\nconscience\, and gain the pardon of his own sins by forgiving those of others. \nFor when the Lord says: If you will forgive others their offences\, your\nheavenly Father will forgive you also your offenses\, what He is here asking is\nclose to each one of us; for the sentence of the Judge will depend on the\nclemency of the supplicant. For the Just and Merciful Receiver of the prayers of\nmen has laid it down that our own generosity is the measure of His fairness to\nourselves; so that He will not treat with strict justness those whom He finds not\neager for revenge. And generosity is becoming to kind and gentle souls. Nothing\nis more fitting than that a person imitate his Maker\, and that as best he can he\nis a doer of the works of God. For when the hungry are fed\, the naked clothed\,\nthe sick assisted\, are not the hands that minister but completing the help that\nGod gives\, and is not the generosity of the giver also a gift from God? \nHe who has no need of a helper to perform His works of mercy\, so orders\nHis own omnipotence that it by means of mortals that He comes to the aid of\nmortals. And rightly do we give thanks to God for the ministers of that charity\nwhose works of mercy are seen in His servants. It was because of this the Lord\nHimself said to His disciples: So let your light shine before others\, that they\nmay see your good works\, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. \n2 The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers – vol. 2 – Henry Regnery Co – Chicago – 1958 – pg\n127.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-6/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11684-1710806400-1710892799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:St. Joseph
DESCRIPTION:EVERYTHING HE DID WAS DONE FOR GOD\nFrom a sermon by Jacques Benigne Bossuet 3\n◊◊◊\nAmong all the various vocations\, I have noticed in Scripture two which\nseem complete opposites: the first is that of the apostles; the second that of St.\nJoseph. Jesus was revealed both to the apostles and to St Joseph\, but for very\ndifferent reasons. He was revealed to the apostles so that they could proclaim\nhim to the whole world. He was revealed to Joseph so that he could remain\nsilent and conceal him. The apostles were lights to make Jesus Christ visible to\nthe whole world. Joseph was a veil to hide him\, and under this veil of mystery\nwere hidden for us the virginity of Mary and the greatness of the Savior. So we\nread in Scripture that when people wished to belittle him they would say: Is he\nnot Joseph’s son? For the apostles then\, Jesus was a Word to be proclaimed.\nPreach the message of this gospel. For Joseph\, however\, Jesus was an unspoken\nword which was not to be revealed. \nSee what the result is. The holy apostles proclaimed the word so loudly\nthat their word was re-echoed in the heavens\, and St. Paul dared to say that the\nheavenly powers learned the counsels of the divine Wisdom through the\nChurch. On the other hand\, when Joseph heard the marvels of Jesus Christ\nspoke of\, he listened\, wondered\, and kept silence. \nWhat is the meaning of this difference? Is God at odds with Himself in\nsuch contrasting vocations? No\, you must not think so. All this diversity is\nmeant to teach God’s children the important truth that the whole of Christian\nperfection lies simply in submission. He who glorified the apostles by conferring\non them the honorable duty of preaching\, glorified Saint Joseph also by giving\nhim the humble duty of keeping silent. We should learn from this that true\nChristian glory lies not in employments that win public acclaim\, but in doing\nGod’s will. \nIf everyone cannot have the honor of preaching Jesus Christ\, everyone\ncan have the honor of obeying him\, and that is the glory of Saint Joseph\, the\ntrustworthy honor of Christians. So do not ask me what Saint Joseph did in his\nhidden life. I cannot possibly tell you. I can only reply the words of the Psalmist:\nBut what has the just man done? Usually the lives of sinners attract more\nattention than those of good people because it is excitement and passion which\nmake a stir in the world. The sinners have drawn the bow\, says David\, they\nhave let fly at the righteous\, destroyed\, overthrown – he speaks only of worldly\npeople – for they have destroyed what you have made. He goes on. But what\nhas the just man done? He means that he has done nothing. Indeed he has done\nnothing for people to see\, because everything he did was done for God. \nThat is the way Saint Joseph lived. He saw Jesus Christ and remained\nsilent; he had experience of him but spoke no word. He did not share his glory\nwith others\, but was satisfied with God alone. He fulfilled his vocation because\,\njust as the apostles were the ministers appointed to make Jesus Christ known\,\nso Joseph was his minister and companion in his hidden life. \n3  A Word in Season – vol. IV – Augustinian Press – 1991 – pg.40.7
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/st-joseph/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11686-1710892800-1710979199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:YOUR INNUMERABLE CHOICES\nFrom an excerpt from “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis 4\n◊◊◊\nHuman beings judge one another by their external actions. God judges\nthem by their moral choices… When a man who has been perverted from his\nyouth and taught that cruelty is the right thing\, does some tiny little kindness\,\nor refrains from some cruelty he might have committed\, and thereby\, perhaps\,\nrisks being sneered at by his companions\, he may\, in God’s eyes\, be doing more\nthan you and I would do if we gave up life itself for a friend… \nSome of us who seem quite nice people may\, in fact\, have made so little\nuse of a good heredity and a good upbringing that we are really worse than those\nwhom we regard as fiends. Can we be quite certain how we should have behaved\nif we had been saddled with the psychological outfit\, and then with the bad\nupbringing\, and then with the power\, say\, of Himmler? That is why Christians\nare told not to judge. We see only the results which a man’s choices make out\nof his raw material. But God does not judge him on the raw material at all\, but\non what he has done with it. Most of the man’s psychological make-up is\nprobably due to his body: when his body dies all that will fall off him\, and the\nreal central man\, the thing that chose\, that made the best or the worst out of\nthis material\, will stand naked. All sorts of nice things which we thought our\nown\, but which were really due to a good digestion\, will fall off some of us: all\nsorts of nasty things which were due to complexes or bad health will fall off\nothers. We shall then\, for the first time\, see every one as he really was. There\nwill be surprises… \nPeople often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God\nsays\, “If you keep a lot of rules I’ll reward you\, and if you don’t I’ll do the other\nthing.”… I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are\nturning the central part of you\, the part of you that chooses\, into something a\nlittle different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole\, with all\nyour innumerable choices\, all your life long you are slowly turning this central\nthing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a\ncreature that is in harmony with God\, and with other creatures\, and with itself\,\nor else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God\, and with its fellowcreatures\, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that it is joy\nand peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness\, horror\,\nidiocy\, rage\, impotence\, and eternal loneliness… \nOne man may be so placed that his anger sheds the blood of thousands\,\nand another so placed that however angry he gets he will only be laughed at.\nBut the little mark on the soul may be much the same in both. Each has done\nsomething to himself which\, unless he repents\, will make it harder for him to\nkeep out of the rage next time he is tempted\, and will make the rage worse when\nhe does fall into it. Each of them\, if he seriously turns to God\, can have that\ntwist in the central man straightened out again: each is\, in the long run\, doomed\nif he will not. The bigness or smallness of the thing\, seen from the outside\, is\nnot what really matters… \nWhen a man is getting better\, he understands more and more clearly the\nevil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse\, he understands his\nown badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a\nthoroughly bad man thinks he is all right… Good people know about both good\nand evil: bad people do not know about either. \n4 Lewis\, C.S. Mere Christianity. New York: The Macmillan Company\, 1966. 85-87.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-7/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11688-1710979200-1711065599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:PRAYER\, MERCY\, AND FASTING\nFrom a sermon by St Peter Chrysologus 5\n◊◊◊\nThere are three things\, my brethren\, by which faith stands firm\, devotion\nremains constant\, and virtue endures. They are prayer\, fasting and mercy.\nPrayer knocks at the door\, fasting obtains\, mercy receives. Prayer\, mercy and\nfasting: these three are one\, and they give life to each other. \nFasting is the soul of prayer; mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one\ntry to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or\nnot all together\, you have nothing. So if you pray\, fast; if you fast\, show mercy;\nif you want your petition to be heard\, hear the petition of others. If you do not\nclose your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself. \nWhen you fast\, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you\nare hungry\, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy\, show mercy. If\nyou look for kindness\, show kindness. If you want to receive\, give. If you ask for\nyourself what you deny to others\, your asking is mockery. \nLet this be the pattern for all peoples when they practice mercy: show\nmercy to others in the same way\, with the same generosity\, with the same\npromptness\, as you want others to show mercy to you.\nTherefore let prayer\, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our\nbehalf\, one speech in our defense\, and a threefold-united prayer in our favor. \nLet us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others.\nLet us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting. There is nothing more\npleasing that we can offer\, as the Psalmist said in prophecy: “A sacrifice to God\nis a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart”. \nOffer your soul to God; make him an oblation of your fasting\, so that your\nsoul may be a pure offering\, a holy sacrifice\, a living victim\, remaining your own\nand at the same time made over to God. Whoever fails to give this to God will\nnot be excused\, for if you are to give him yourself you are never without the\nmeans of giving. \nTo make these acceptable\, mercy must be added. Fasting bears no fruit\nunless it is watered by mercy. Fasting dries up when mercy dries up. Mercy is\nto fasting as rain is to the earth. However much you may cultivate your heart\,\nclear the soil of your nature\, root out vices\, sow virtues\, if you do not release the\nsprings of mercy\, your fasting will bear no fruit. \nWhen you fast\, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you\nfast\, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn. Therefore do not lose\nby saving\, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor\, and you give to yourself.\nYou will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others. \n5 The Liturgy of the Hours – vol. II – pg. 231 – Catholic Book Publishing Co – 1976.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-8/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11690-1711065600-1711151999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:THE POWER OF VIRTUE \nFrom the discourses and sayings of Dorotheos of Gaza 6 \n◊◊◊ \nAt the time when I was one of Abba Seridos’ disciples there came a disciple of a great old monk…about some business for his abbot. He had the command from his senior to return after vespers to his own cell. When the time came to leave\, a violent thunderstorm arose\, with rain heavy enough to cause flooding\, and yet he wanted to leave as the senior had told him. We begged him to stay\, seeing that it was impossible to get safely across the river. He would not be persuaded to stay with us. At last we said\, ‘Let us go with him as far as the river. When he sees it\, he will return of his own accord.’ So we went off with him\, and when we reached the river he took off his cloak and bound it round his head\, tied up his scapular and jumped into the raging waters of the river. We just stood there astonished and fearful that he would be drowned\, but he kept afloat\, and very soon he was seen on the other bank. He put on his cloak\, threw us a profound bow from there\, received ours in return\, and went off at a run. But we stood in wonder\, astonished at the power of virtue. We came near with fear\, but he went through without danger because of his obedience. \nAnother Brother was sent by his abba on some necessary business to a correspondent in the country. When he saw himself solicited by the [man’s] daughter to a shameful act and himself in danger of falling\, simply cried out\, ‘O God of my Father\, deliver me’\, and straightway he was found on the road to Skete\, fleeing toward his spiritual father. \nNotice the power of virtue\, notice the efficacy of prayer… Mark well the humility and discretion of both… Each of them was counting on the prayers of his  father. See how they yoked obedience to humility! Just as horses are yoked together in a chariot so that one does not outstep the other\, so obedience needs to have humility yoked together with it. How can a man be worthy of this grace\, unless… he treats himself harshly to cut off the desires of his own and to give himself\, after God\, to his [spiritual] father\, without hesitation\, doing everything with full confidence as though obeying God. Such a man is worthy to find mercy\, such a man is worthy to find salvation. \nThe story is told of Blessed Basil that\, making a visitation of his monasteries\, he said to one of the Heads\, ‘Have you any saints here?’ The Abba said\, ‘Through your prayers\, my Lord\, we all desire to be saints.’ And again Blessed Basil said to him\, ‘No! I mean have you got any saints here?’ And the Abba tumbled to it (for he\, too\, had spiritual insight). ‘Yes\,” he \, and he sent for a certain brother. When he arrived\, the Saint said to him\, ‘ Wash my feet’ and he went and fetched what was necessary. And after his feet were washed\, Basil said to the brother\, ‘Wait till I wash your feet.’ And without a murmur he allowed himself to be washed by the holy man. After testing the brother in this way\, he said\, ‘When I enter the sanctuary\, you come\, too! And remind me to ordain you.’ Again without a murmur\, the brother obeyed\, and when he saw the holy Basil in the inner sanctuary he went up and reminded him\, and Basil ordained him and took him with him\, for who else but this blessed brother was suitable to be with this holy godbearing father?… Everyone who throws himself completely into obedience to the Fathers shall surely possess this state of freedom from care and peacefulness of soul. \n6 Dorotheos of Gaza. Discourses and Sayings. CS 33. Trans. Eric P. Wheeler. Kalamazoo\, MI: Cistercian Publications\, INC.\, 1977. 89-92. 13
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-9/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11693-1711152000-1711238399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:SUBMISSION TO GOD IN SUFFERING\nFrom the writing of Dom Columba Marmion 7\n◊◊◊\nWhen we thus submit ourselves entirely to Christ Jesus\, when we\nabandon ourselves to Him\, when our soul only responds\, like His own\, with a\nperpetual Amen to all that He asks of us in the name of His Father… then Christ\nJesus establishes His peace in us: His peace\, not that which the world promises\,\nbut the true peace which can only come from Himself… \nDoubtless\, here below\, peace is not always sensible; upon earth we are in\na condition of trial and\, most often\, peace is won by conflict… We may be\nslighted\, opposed\, persecuted\, be unjustly treated\, our intentions and deeds\nmay be misunderstood; temptation may shake us\, suffering may come suddenly\nupon us; but there is an inner sanctuary which none can reach; here is the\nsojourn of our peace\, because in this innermost secret of the soul dwell\nadoration\, submission and abandonment to God. “I love my God\,” said St.\nAugustine\, “no one takes Him from me: no one takes from me what I ought to\ngive Him\, for that is enclosed within my heart… \nDeath cannot trouble the soul that has sought only God. Has it not\nconfided itself to the One Who says: “He that believeth in Me\, although he be\ndead\, shall live”… \nIn one of her “Exercises\,” St. Gertrude allows her assurance\, which the\ninfinite merits of Jesus give her\, to overflow. “Woe\, woe unto me\, if\, when I\ncome before Thee\, I had no advocate to plead my cause!… Come Thou with me\nto judgment… there let us stand together. Judge me\, for the right is Thine; but\nremember Thou are also my Advocate. In order that I be fully acquitted\, Thou\nhas but to recount what Thou didst become for love of me\, the price wherewith\nThou hast purchased me… \nFor souls moved by such sentiments\, death is but a transition; Christ\ncomes Himself to open to them the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem… There will\nbe no more darkness\, trouble\, tears\, or sighs; but peace\, infinite and perfect\npeace. “Peace first becomes ours with the longing and seeking for the Creator;\nit is in the full vision and eternal possession of Him that peace is made perfect. \n7 Marmion\, Dom Columba\, O.S.B. Suffering with Christ: An anthology of the Writings of Dom Columba Cmarmion\, O.S.B.\nCompiled by Dom Raymund Thibaut\, O.S.B. Westminster\, Maryland: The Newman Press\, 1954. 220-221\, 232-233.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-10/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11726-1711238400-1711324799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema for Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\nHoly Week\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 24 – 30\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n24\nMon\n25\nTue\n26\nWed\n27\nThu\n28\nFri\n29\nSat\n30\n\n\nOffice\nPalm Sunday\nMonday of Holy Week\nTuesday of Holy Week\nWednesday of Holy Week\nHoly Thursday\nGood Friday\nHoly Saturday\n\n\nVigils\nZech 9:9-17\nLam 1:1-16\nLam 2:1-10\nLam 2:18-22\nLam 3:19-54\nLam 4:1-6\nLam 5:1-22\n\n\nLauds\nZeph 3:14-20\nLam 1:17-22\nLam 2:11-17\nLam 3:1-18\nLam 3:55-66\nWis 2:10-22\nIsa 63:1-6\n\n\nMass\n38\n257\n258\n259\n39\n40\n\n\n\n1st\nIsa 50:4-7\nIsa 42:1-7\nIsa 49:1-6\nIsa 50:4-9a\nExod 12:1-8\, 11-14\nIsa 52:13-53:12\n\n\n\n2nd\nPhil 2:6-11\n\n\n\n1 Cor 11:23-26\nHeb 4:14-16; 5:7-9\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 14:1-15:47\nJohn 12:1-11\nJohn 13:21-33\, 36-38\nMatt 26:14-25\nJohn 13:1-15\nJohn 18:1-19:42\n\n\n\nVespers\n1 Tim 6:11-16\nRom 5:6-11\n1 Cor 1:18-25\n1 Pet 2:20-25\n\n\n1 Pet 4:1-8
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-for-holy-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11728-1711238400-1711324799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Palm Sunday
DESCRIPTION:PROCESSION AND PASSION\nFrom a commentary by Blessed Guerric of Igny 1\n◊◊◊\nWhen Jesus entered Jerusalem like a triumphant conqueror\, many were\nastonished at the majesty of his bearing; but when a short while afterward he\nentered upon his passion\, his appearance was ignoble\, an object of derision. If\ntoday’s procession and passion are considered together\, in the one Jesus\nappears as sublime and glorious\, in the other as lowly and suffering. The\nprocession makes us think of the honor reserved for a king\, whereas the passion\nshows us the punishment due to a thief. \nIn the one Jesus is surrounded by glory and honor\, in the other he has\nneither dignity nor beauty. In the one he is the joy of all and the glory of the\npeople\, in the other the butt of men and the laughing stock of the people. In the\none he receives the acclamation: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he\nwho comes as the king of Israel; in the other there are shouts that he is guilty\nof death and is reviled for having set himself up as king of Israel. \nIn the procession the people meet Jesus with palm branches\, in his\npassion they slap him in the face and strike his head with a rod. In the one they\nextol him with praises\, in the other they heap insults upon him. In the one they\ncompete to lay their clothes in his path\, in the other he is stripped of his own\nclothes. In the one he is welcomed to Jerusalem as a just king and savior\, in the\nother he is thrown out of the city as a criminal\, condemned as an impostor. In\nthe one he is mounted on an ass and accorded every mark of honor; in the other\nhe hangs on the wood of the cross\, torn by whips\, pierced with wounds\, and\nabandoned by his own. If\, then\, we want to follow our leader without stumbling\nthrough prosperity and through adversity\, let us keep our eyes upon him\,\nhonored in the procession\, undergoing ignominy and suffering in the passion\,\nyet unshakably steadfast in all such changes of fortune. \nLord Jesus\, you are the joy and the salvation of the whole world; whether\nwe see you seated on an ass or hanging on the cross\, let each one of us bless and\npraise you\, so that when we see you reigning on high we may praise you for ever\nand ever\, for to you belong praise and honor throughout all ages. \n1 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – NY – 1993 – pg 40.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/palm-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11730-1711324800-1711411199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Monday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:WHEN ALL WAS TO BE PUT TO THE TEST\nBy Henri Daniel-Rops2\n◊◊◊\nThe day which followed the astonishing Sunday of the triumphal entry\nwas not so striking\, but was nonetheless full of significance. Jesus entered\nJerusalem every day\, went up to the Temple\, and spoke to audiences which\nlistened to him with enthusiasm\, while the chief priests and scribes sought\nmeans to destroying him. To Jesus\, the slightest incident was an occasion for a\nlesson\, which often took the form of a warning. \nSo it was all through the Monday. What precisely was the meaning of the\ncurious episode\, uncharacteristic of Christ’s normally merciful manner\, in\nwhich he condemned a fig tree on which he found no figs to wither? And who\nis the bad son who pretends to be submissive to his father’s will\, but in reality\ndisobeys him? Or the rebellious wine dressers who kill their master’s servants\nin order to seize the harvest? What is the name of the stone rejected by the\nbuilders which will be the cornerstone of the new building? And do we not know\nthese guests invited to the royal feast who refuse to attend? One is almost afraid\nto understand at whom these gestures\, these parables are aimed. At this\nmoment\, Israel’s refusal seems to haunt Jesus’ mind and to fill it with anguish. \nWe are hardly surprised to find that the leaders of the community sent\nemissaries to ask Jesus with what right he was behaving as he was. He avoided\nthe question by himself asking them an embarrassing one concerning what kind\nof a man was John\, and they could not give him any answer. But we can hardly\nbe surprised that their anger grew\, and that they were on the point of laying\nhands on him. Jesus cast a real challenge at his adversaries at this moment\nwhen he knew that all was to be put to the test. \n2 The Life of Our Lord. Daniel-Rops. Hawthorn Books Inc. NY\, 1965\, p. 140.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/monday-of-holy-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11732-1711411200-1711497599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Tuesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:THE GREAT DISCOVERY\nBy Fr Louis Bouyer 3\n◊◊◊\nThe discovery of grace\, the discovery of love which loves us without\nlooking for any return\, which loves us although we are sinners\, which loves us\nin our sin\, but which alone will lead us\, by obscure ways known to God alone\,\nfrom sin to sanctity\, that is\, in the last analysis\, the great discovery. Then it is\nthat God reveals Himself to us as One who speaks to us\, as One whose Word for\nthe second time draws us out of nothingness to being\, as One whom we have\nnot so much to seek as to discover seeking us. It is He\, the Shepherd who left\nthe ninety-nine sheep in safety to seek and save that which was lost. It is He\, the\nFather of the prodigal who goes along the road to welcome his son when he has\nscarcely started out to meet his father\, and takes him in his arms. \n“To seek God”\, to seek Him as a person\, as the Person par excellence\, and\nnot only as the “Thou” to whom all our love should be addressed\, but as the “I”\nwho has first approached us\, whose word of love\, addressed to the primeval\nchaos\, drew us forth from it in the first place\, and\, spoken to us in our sin\, draws\nus forth from it again: to be a monk is nothing else than this. To be a monk\,\nthen\, is simply to be an integral Christian. And regarded in this light\, the\nChristian is simply the person restored by the Word of the Gospel to the\nvocation which the creative Word destined for each: to respond to the Word of\nAgape by the word of faith\, in order eventually to meet God face to face.\nCommenting on Canticle of Canticles\, Origen tells us that the Church\, under the\nold dispensation\, only heard the Bridegroom’s voice\, whereas in the new\, she is\noffered the sight of his countenance. And he adds that the development of the\nChristian life is made up solely of this transition. The monk is the one who does\nnot limit him or herself to accepting it in some measure passively\, by yielding\nto grace slothfully and reluctantly. The monk is one who responds with the\nwhole heart to the call which comes from the very heart of God. \nMonks are of the number of the violent who will not allow the divine\nKingdom to fall upon them as it were unawares\, but who take it by storm in\nadvance. For that the monks have staked their all\, they have burned their boats.\nTo the one who believes that life consists in what is possessed\, the monk seems\nto be consenting to\, even to be deliberately seeking\, a fatal renunciation. To the\none who knows that being is of greater value than having\, and that being which\nis of value is not that which passes but that which endures\, the monk will seem\nto be the only true humanist. For the human person is born only as subject to\nthe divine Word and will only be fully that person the day when\, freed from the\nnothingness which holds one prisoner\, fully surrendered to the Word which\ncalls\, the person will at last come to discover the Face which promised us being\nin promising us His own image. \n3 The Life of Our Lord. Daniel-Rops. Hawthorn Books Inc. NY\, 1965\, p. 140.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/tuesday-of-holy-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11734-1711497600-1711583999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Wednesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:LIFT YOUR HEART TO GOD  \nFrom the writing of Franҫois Fénelon 4 \n◊◊◊ \nThe whole Christian life is only one long and continual aspiration of our heart towards that eternal righteousness for which we long here on earth. Our whole happiness is to be always thirsting for this. Now\, this thirst is a prayer: long unceasingly for this righteousness\, and you will never cease to pray. Do not imagine that you have to utter a long string of words and to have a great struggle before beseeching God. To pray is to ask that God’s will may be done\, is to form some good resolution\, to lift the heart to God\, to long for the good things God promises\, to groan at the sight of our misery. \nThis prayer needs neither knowledge\, method\, nor reasoning; we do not have to bother our head; it only needs a moment of time and a good impulse of the heart. We can pray without any precise thought; we only need to return to our heart for a moment; and this moment can be spent doing something else at the same time; God’s condescension to our feebleness is so great that God lets us share this need of the moment between God and creatures. Yes\, in this moment go on with your work: it is enough if you offer to God the most ordinary things that you are occupied in doing. \nThis is the constant prayer which St. Paul postulates. It is a prayer that many good people imagine to be \, but it is easy to practise for anyone who knows that the best prayer of all is that of acting with purity of intention\, of frequently renewing the desire to do everything in God and for God. \nIs there anything tiresome or burdensome in this law of prayer\, when it reduces everything to the habit of acting freely in an ordinary way in order to attain your salvation and please your sovereign Lord? \nIs it asking too much of ourselves to want to make us ask God often for the things we cannot obtain by ourselves? Is there anything better than never to depart from the state of living our life in dependence on God and of knowing our own feebleness at every moment and our need for God’s help?…It is for this that the Holy Spirit\, who makes saints\, is praying in the saints and for them “with sighs too deep for words”; it is for this that\, possessing as we do the first fruits of the Spirit\, we long for the plenitude of this Spirit and groan as we await the perfect fulfillment of the divine adoption. \n4 Entretien sur la Prière\, première partie. Oeuvres de Fénelon\, tome XVII\, A. Lebel\, Paris 1823\, p.323-325. [Orval\, Fiche U3]..
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/wednesday-of-holy-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11736-1711584000-1711670399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Holy Thursday
DESCRIPTION:THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE COVENANT \nAND THE EUCHARIST\nBy St Edith Stein 5\n◊◊◊\nWe know from the Gospel narratives that Christ prayed as a Jew who\nbelieved in and was faithful to the Law. When he was a child with his parents\,\nand later with his disciples\, he used to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem at the\nappointed times to take part in the festivals that were celebrated in the temple.\nHe sang joyfully with the pilgrims\, “I was glad when they said unto me: We\nwill go into the house of the Lord”. He recited the ancient prayers of blessing\,\nwhich are still said today\, for bread\, wine\, and the fruits of the earth\, as the\naccounts of the Last Supper bear witness. This was wholly consecrated to the\nfulfillment of one of the holiest religious obligations: the solemn Passover meal\nwhich commemorated the deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Perhaps it is here\nthat we are given the deepest insight into the prayer of Christ\, as it were the key\nwhich gives access to the prayer of the Church. \nNow as they were eating\, Jesus took bread\, and blessed\, and broke \nit\, and gave it to the disciples\, and said\, “Take\, eat; this is my \nbody.” And he took a cup\, when he had given thanks he gave it to \nthem\, saying\, “Drink of it\, all of you; for this is my blood of the \ncovenant\, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of \nsins”. \nThe blessing and giving of the bread and wine have become part of the\nrite of the Passover meal. But at the Last Supper this blessing and giving takes\non a wholly new meaning. For this is the birth of the Church. Doubtless it was\nonly at Pentecost that the Church was born a spiritual and visible community.\nBut here\, at the Supper\, took place that grafting of the shoot in the vine branch\nwhich made the outpouring of the Spirit possible. The ancient prayers of\nblessing became creative words of life on Christ’s lips. The fruits of the earth\nbecame his flesh and blood\, filled with his life. The visible creation into which\nhe was inserted by his incarnation is now bound to him in a new and mysterious\nway. The foods that are indispensable for the growth of the human organism\nare transformed in their nature\, and those partaking of them with faith are\nthemselves transformed too; incorporated into Christ in a living union\, they are\nfilled with his divine life. The quickening power of the Word is fused with the\nsacrifice. The Word becomes flesh to give us that Life which is his own. He\noffered himself\, and has thus offered the creation which he ransomed by this\noffering\, as a sacrifice of praise to the Creator. The passover of the ancient\ncovenant has become the passover of the new covenant\, at the Lord’s Last\nSupper\, at the Sacrifice of the Cross\, and\, between the Resurrection and the\nAscension\, at the joyful agape where the disciples recognized their Lord in the\nbreaking of the bread; and\, in the Sacrifice of the Mass\, at Holy Communion. \n5\n“Liturgy & Eucharist”\, reprinted in “Lectures chrétiennes pour notre temps”: 8 1971\, #2\, E4. Abbaye d’Orval\,\nBelgium.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/holy-thursday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11740-1711670400-1711756799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Good Friday
DESCRIPTION:TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE\nA commentary by St John Chrysostom 6\n◊◊◊\nToday the cross has opened Paradise which had been closed to us for\nthousands of years. For today God has brought a robber there. Thus he effects\ntwo marvels: he opens Paradise\, and he brings in a thief. Today God has given\nus our ancient fatherland\, today he has brought us to the paternal city\, today he\nhas opened his house to the whole of humanity. ‘Today\,’ he said\, ‘you will be\nwith me in Paradise’. \nWhat did you say\, Lord? You are crucified\, nailed there\, and you\npromise Paradise? \nYes\, so that you may learn how great is my power on the cross. \nIt is indeed a cruel sight. And to deflect your attention from this aspect\nof the cross and make you realize the power of the Crucified\, Jesus works this\nmiracle from the cross\, the miracle which more than any other bears witness to\nhis power. For it was not when raising the dead\, commanding the wind and the\nwaves\, expelling demons\, but when crucified\, fixed with nails\, covered with\ninsults\, spittle\, mockery and abuse\, that he had power to change the evil state\nof the thief; and in this you can see two aspects of his power. He shook the\nwhole of creation\, he split the rocks\, and he drew the soul of the thief\, which\nwas harder than rock; for the thief believed in him and Jesus said in return\,\n‘Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Doubtless the cherubim guarded\nparadise\, but he was master of the cherubim. A flaming sword twirled at the\nentrance\, but he had all power over fire and sword\, over life and death. \nTruly\, no king ever allowed a thief or any other subject to sit with him\nwhile he made an entrance into a town. But Christ has done this: when he\nentered into his fatherland he brought a thief with him. In doing this he did not\nslight Paradise\, did not dishonor it by the thief’s presence there; on the contrary\,\nhe honored Paradise\, because it is glorious for Paradise to have a master who\ncan make a thief worthy of the joys to be found there. Likewise when he brings\npublicans and prostitutes into the kingdom of heaven he is not insulting the\nkingdom but honoring it\, for he shows that the master of the kingdom of heaven\nis strong enough to make prostitutes and publicans worthy enough to receive\nsuch an honor and such a gift. \n6\n“Today you will be with me in Paradise”\, St John Chrysostom\, from Christian Readings for Today\, #2\, F 2\, Abbaye\nd’Orval\, Belgium.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/good-friday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11742-1711756800-1711843199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Holy Saturday
DESCRIPTION:GOD’S SURPASSING LOVE  \nA homily by St Augustine 7 \n◊◊◊ \nToday\, my dearest friends\, there is every reason for heaven to rejoice and earth to be glad. It is a day on which more light shines forth from the tomb than rays from the sun. When our Lord and Savior was born as one of us he brought light into the world; so also today\, being dead in the body\, he has illumined the underworld with the powerful presence of his divinity as well as of his human soul. Today at the Lord’s visitation there is leaping and dancing in the nether regions over the fulfillment of the prophecy: The people that sat in darkness(that is to say the whole human race enveloped in the gloom of Sheol) has seen a great light. He who created Adam has this day sought him out in the underworld\, and by his own power has set him free. \nWonderful beyond words is the loving kindness of our God! Death had indeed invaded Paradise\, but life has now conquered the abyss\, and by assuming our mortality the Son of God has trodden underfoot the law that all must die. Thus he has made good the prophet’s assertion: O death\, I will be your death! Those whom you have caused to die through sin I will gather up from that place of eternal ruin\, and by dying myself I will deliver them from everlasting death. \nLook now at the author of our undoing! With what snares he is entangled and fettered! As he deceived us\, so he is himself deceived; in the very act of killing he is destroyed. \nWhen the Lord’s body was laid in the tomb\, he himself descended into the lowest and most hidden abode of the infernal regions. There\, where he was presumed to be held captive\, he bound death fast\, and so broke the chains of all who had died. And from that place whence none had ever returned before\, not even alone\, he carried off an immense with which he penetrated the heavens. \nSee what tremendous things God’s surpassing love has accomplished for our healing and restoration! For our sake he was led like a sheep to the slaughter\, having taken upon himself the evils of this present life in order to bestow upon us the good things of eternity. \n7 Sermo Mai 146: PLS 2\, 1242-1243( CL I p 168-169).
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/holy-saturday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11745-1711843200-1711929599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\nEaster Octave\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 31 – April 1\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n31\nMon\n1\nTue\n2\nWed\n3\nThu\n4\nFri\n5\nSat\n6\n\n\nOffice\nEaster Sunday\nEaster Monday\nEaster Tuesday\nEaster Wednesday\nEaster Thursday\nEaster Friday\nEaster Saturday\n\n\nVigils\n* Easter Vigil\nActs 1:1-26\nActs 2:1-21\nActs 2:22-41\nActs 2:42-3:11\nActs 3:12-26;4:1-4\nActs 4:5-31\n\n\nLauds\nActs 13:28-33\n1 Cor 15:1-11\n1 Cor 15:12-19\n1 Cor 15:20-28\n1 Cor 15:35-41\n1 Cor 15:42-49\n1 Cor 15:50-58\n\n\nMass\n42\n261\n262\n263\n264\n265\n266\n\n\n1st\nActs 10:34a\, 37-43\nActs 2:14\, 22-33\nActs 2:36-41\nActs 3:1-10\nActs 3:11-26\nActs 4:1-12\nActs 4:13-21\n\n\n2nd\nCol 3:1-4\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 20:1-9\nMatt 28:8-15\nJohn 20:11-18\nLuke 24:13-35\nLuke 24:35-48\nJohn 21:1-14\nMark 16:9-15\n\n\nVespers\nRev 1:12-18\nRev 1:1-8\nRev 1:9-11\nRev 2:1-7\nRev 2:8-11\nRev 2:12-17\nRev 2:18-29\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEaster Vigil Readings* 1st) Gen 1:1-2:2 2nd) Gen 22:1-18 3rd) Exod 14:15-15:1 4th) Isa 54:5-14 5th) Isa 55:1-11 6th) Bar 3:9-15\,32-4:4 7th) Ezek 36:16-17a\,18-28 Epistle) Rom 6:3-11 Gospel) B: Mk 16:1-8
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-65/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240331
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LAST-MODIFIED:20240330T223628Z
UID:11747-1711843200-1711929599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Easter Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A NEW DIMENSION OF BEING \nFrom a homily by Pope Benedict XVI1 \n◊◊◊ \n“You seek Jesus of Nazareth\, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not \nhere.” With these words\, God’s messenger\, robed in light\, spoke to the women \nwho were looking for the body of Jesus in the tomb. But the evangelist says the \nsame thing to us: Jesus is not a character of the past. He lives and He walks \nbefore us as one who is alive; he calls us to follow him\, the Living One\, and in \nthis way to discover for ourselves the path of life. At Easter we rejoice because \nChrist did not remain in the tomb\, his body did not see corruption; he belongs \nto the world of the living\, not to the world of the dead; we rejoice because he is \nthe Alpha and also the Omega\, as we proclaim in the Rite of the Paschal candle; \nhe lives not only yesterday\, but today and for eternity. \nBut somehow the Resurrection is situated so far beyond our horizon\, so \nfar outside all our experience that\, returning to ourselves\, we find ourselves \ncontinuing the argument of the disciples: Of what exactly does this “rising” \nconsist? What does it mean for us\, for the whole world\, and the whole of history? \nA theologian once said that the miracle of a corpse returning to life would be \nultimately irrelevant precisely because it would not concern us. In fact if it were \nsimply that someone was once brought back to life\, and no more than that\, in \nwhat way would that concern us? But the point is that Christ’s Resurrection is \nsomething more\, something different. If we may borrow the language of \nevolution\, it is the greatest “mutation”\, absolutely the most crucial leap into a \ntotally new dimension that there has ever been in the long history of life and its \ndevelopment: a leap into a completely new order which does concern us\, and \nconcerns the whole of history. \nThe crucial point is that this man Jesus was not alone\, he was not an “I” \nclosed in upon itself. He was one single reality with the living God\, so closely \nunited with him as to form one Person with him. He found himself\, so to speak\, \nin an embrace with him who is life itself\, an embrace not just on the emotional \nlevel\, but one which included and permeated his being. His own life was not just \nhis own\, it was an existential and essential communion with God\, a “being taken \nup” into God\, and hence\, it could not in reality be taken away from him. \nOut of love\, he could allow himself to be killed\, but precisely by doing so \nhe broke the definitiveness of death\, because in him the definitiveness of life \nwas present. He was one single reality with indestructible life\, in such a way that \nit burst forth anew through death… His death was an act of love\, of self-giving. \nAt the Last Supper he anticipated death and transformed it into self-giving. His \nexistential communion with God was concretely an existential communion with \nGod’s love\, and this love is the real power against death\, it is stronger than \ndeath. \nThe Resurrection was like an explosion of light\, an explosion of love which \ndissolved the hitherto indissoluble <interpenetration> of “dying and \nbecoming”. It ushered in a new dimension of being. A new dimension of life in \nwhich\, in a transformed way\, matter too was integrated and through which a \nnew world emerges. \n  \n1 L’Osservatore Romano English edition – April 19\, 2006 – pg 5.3 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/easter-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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