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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250222
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250223
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250216T143009Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250216T143009Z
UID:13143-1740182400-1740268799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Chair of St Peter
DESCRIPTION:THE CHAIR OF ST PETER \nBy St John Henry Newman \n◊◊◊ \nThe very first act of the Apostles after Christ was gone out of their sight\, \nwas the ordination of Matthias in the place of the traitor Judas. That ordination \nis related very minutely. Every particular of it is full of instruction; but at \npresent I wish to draw attention to one circumstance more especially: namely\, \nthe time when it occurred. It was contrived (if one may say so) exactly to fall \nwithin the very short interval which elapsed between the departure of our Lord\, \nand the arrival of the Comforter in His place: on that ‘little while\,’ during which \nthe Church was comparatively left alone in the world. Then it was that St Peter \nrose and declared with authority\, that the time was come for supplying the \nvacancy which Judas had made. ‘One\,’ said he\, ‘must be ordained;’ and without \ndelay they proceeded to the ordination. Of course\, St Peter must have had from \nour Lord express authority for this step. Otherwise it would seem most natural \nto defer a transaction so important until the unerring Guide\, the Holy Spirit\, \nshould have come among them\, as they knew he would in a few days. \nOn the other hand\, since the Apostles were eminently Apostles of our \nIncarnate Lord\, since their very being\, as Apostles\, depended entirely on their \npersonal mission from him…one should naturally have expected that he himself \nbefore his departure would have supplied the vacancy by personal designation. \nBut we see it was not his pleasure to do so. As the Apostles afterwards brought \non the ordination sooner\, so he had deferred it longer than might have been \nexpected. Both ways it should seem as if there were a purpose of bringing the \nevent within those ten days\, during which\, as I said\, the church was left to \nherself; left to exercise her faith and hope\, much as Christians are left now\, \nwithout any miraculous aid or extraordinary illumination from above. Then\, at \nthat moment of the New Testament history in which the circumstances of \nbelievers corresponded most nearly to what they have been since miracles and \ninspiration ceased\, — just at that time it pleased our Lord that afresh Apostle \nshould be consecrated\, with authority and commission as ample as the former \nenjoyed. In a word\, it was his will that the eleven Disciples alone\, not himself \npersonally\, should name the successor of Judas; and that they chose the right \nperson\, he gave testimony very soon after\, by sending his Holy Spirit on St \nMatthias\, as richly as on St John\, St James\, or St Peter.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-chair-of-st-peter/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250223
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250224
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250223T124252Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250223T124252Z
UID:13149-1740268800-1740355199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema: 7th Week in Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n7th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nFeb. 23 – March 1\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n23\nMon\n24\nTue\n25\nWed\n26\nThu\n27\nFri\n28\nSat\n1\n\n\nOffice\n7th Sunday\nWeekday\nWeekday\nOffice for Vocations\nWeekday\nWeekday\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\n1 Kings 18:41-19:3\n1 Kings 19:4-21\n1 Kings 20:1-22\n1 Kings 20:23-34\n1 Kings 20:35-43\n1 Kings 21:1-16\n1 Kings 21:17-29\n\n\nLauds\nHabakkuk 1:1-4\nHab 1:5-11\nHab 1:12-17\nHab 2:1-4\nHab 2:5-8\nHab 2:9-14\nHab 2:15-20\n\n\nMass\n81\n341\n342\n343\n344\n345\n346\n\n\n1st\n1 Sam 26:2\, 7-9\, 12-13\, 22-23\nSir 1:1-10\nSir 2:1-11\nSir 4:11-19\nSir 5:1-8\nSir 6:5-17\nSir 17:1-15\n\n\n2nd\n1 Cor 15:45-49\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 6:27-38\nMark 9:14-29\nMark 9:30-37\nMark 9:38-40\nMark 9:41-50\nMark 10:1-12\nMark 10:13-16\n\n\nVespers\n1 Cor 15:12-19\n1 Cor 15:20-28\n1 Cor 15:29-34\n1 Cor 15:35-44\n1 Cor 15:45-49\n1 Cor 15:50-58\n1 Cor 16:1-9
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-7th-week-in-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250223
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250224
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250223T124919Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250223T124919Z
UID:13152-1740268800-1740355199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:MERCY AND FAITHFULNESS\nFrom a commentary by St Augustine of Hippo 1\n◊◊◊\nWe have here a tremendous statement on the subject of faithfulness and mercy. Mercy is mentioned because it is not our deserts but his own goodness that God regards. He forgives us all our sins and promises us eternal life. But is also speaks of faithfulness\, because God never fails to honor his promises. Acknowledging this to be so\, let us practice these virtues ourselves in our present circumstances.. Just as God has shown us His mercy and faithfulness – his mercy by forgiving our sins and his faithfulness by keeping his promises – so we too should practice mercy and faithfulness in our own lives. Let us show mercy to the sick and needy\, even our enemies\, and practice faithfulness by refraining from sin. Never let us add sin to sin\, because whoever presumes too much on God’s mercy has secretly consented to the suggestion that he can cause God to be unjust. Such a person imagines that even if he persists in sin and refuses to give up his wrong doing\, God will still come and give him a place among his obedient servants. \nWould this be justice\, for God to assign an obstinate sinner like you the same place as those who have turned their backs on sin? Would you be so unjust as to expect God to be unjust too? Why then are you trying to bend God to your will? Bend yourself\, rather\, to his. Yet how many people do\, in fact\, bend their wills to God’s? Only those few of whom it is said: The one who perseveres to the end will be saved. \nIt is with good reason that Scripture asks: Who will seek God’s mercy and faithfulness for his own sake? What precisely does for his own sake mean?\nSurely it would have been enough to say Who will seek without adding for his own sake. \nThe answer is that many people seek to discover God’s mercy and faithfulness from the sacred books\, and yet\, when their learning is done\, they live for their own sake and not for God’s. They are intent on their own interests\, not those of Jesus Christ. They preach mercy and faithfulness without practicing them. Their preaching proves that they know their subject\, for they would not preach without knowledge. But it is a different matter in the case of someone who loves God and Christ. When such a person preaches God’s mercy and faithfulness\, he seeks to make them known for God’s sake\, not his own. This means that he is not out to gain temporal benefits from his preaching; his desire is to help Christ’s members\, that is\, those who believe in him\, by faithfully sharing with them the knowledge he himself possesses\, so that the living may no longer live for themselves\, but for him who died for all. \n1\nJourney with the Fathers – Year C – New City Press = 1982 = pg 82.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/7th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250224
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250225
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250224T040439Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250224T040439Z
UID:13154-1740355200-1740441599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Weekday
DESCRIPTION:THE LOVE OF ONE’S NEIGHBOR\nBy Alan of Lille 2\n◊◊◊\nCertainly he who cuts himself off from the love of his neighbor strays from the love of God\, for: “Anyone who does not love his neighbor whom he has seen\, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” O man\, surely\, you wish that your neighbor should love you for God’s sake? Love him for your own sake. \nAs Seneca\, the moral philosopher\, says: “If you wish to be loved\, love.” O happy love…which is truly grafted into the nature of the highest good\, which is content without envy. Such love possesses its delight within itself; it does not grow anxious; it rests in tranquility. It does not dissolve into mockery. O how joyous it is to find your very self in another! It is indolence and negligence to let the employment of love fall into disuse\, and not to exercise the most noble of the virtues. It is the glory of true friendship to be the instrument of purging the last dregs of merely superficial delight. \nYou have a friend\, not so that he should visit you when you are sick\, or feed you when you are famished\, or comfort you in prison\, but so that you should visit him in prison\, feed him when he is hungry\, give him drink when he is thirsty; if he is a wanderer\, take him in. If you love a poor neighbor\, you give him alms out of love alone\, for the alms of the heart are much greater than that of the body. Love alone is enough\, in almsgiving\, without earthly substance. That which is given physically is not enough\, unless it is bestowed in a kindly spirit. Keep therefor to the order of love. Love God above all\, yourself next\, and your neighbor as yourself\, the flesh least of all. \nLove the flesh\, not so that you may be its slave\, but so that you may set it right with discipline. Love it for its good\, not for the sake of worldly debauchery. Do not heed its will\, but force it to heed yours. Like a good doctor\, cure by this means what is weak\, broken or diseased. So let it grieve now that it may rejoice in eternity. Let it now taste the bitterness of medicine\, that the soundness of eternal health may follow. \n2\nCF 23:93-94
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/weekday-17/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250226
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250224T040845Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250224T040845Z
UID:13156-1740441600-1740527999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Weekday
DESCRIPTION:HOW FAITH CRIES OUT TO BE LIVED\nBy Catherine de Hueck Doherty 3\n◊◊◊\nWhat is faith? Some say they have lost it. Some hunger for the first taste. Some are indifferent to whether they have it or not. Others fight against it\, hate it\, and want to destroy it in others. What is faith? A Catholic can easily answer from early catechetical instructions in childhood. Faith is a free gift from God\, given to a person at Baptism. A Catholic will say too that no one can really acquire faith by his own efforts. He will repeat over and over again that it is indeed a free gift from God. \nYes\, faith is a free\, loving gift of God to us. Faith is the cradle of love and of hope. But this gift given to us at Baptism can grow\, must grow\, must be incarnated into our lives\, must become part of us\, must become\, like breathing\, an utterly integral part of us. \nHow can it become all these things? By prayer. God never refuses a prayer for the deepening and growth in faith. Prayer is the food that will make faith grow\, strengthen it\, root it with deep and lasting roots into human hearts. Faith grows by living it out. Faith is a pilgrimage toward the Absolute. Faith gives every Christian sandals and a pilgrim’s staff and bids him to arise and go in search of him whom every Christian longs for – God. \nFaith appears to be blind sometimes but in reality it sees very deeply. It alone can walk in utter darkness. It alone can fold the wings of the intellect when necessary and open them when it needs to. Chasms\, abysses\, steep mountains present no problem or difficulty to faith. On the contrary\, all of life – pains\, sorrows\, joys symbolized by these chasms – becomes its food and its nourishment. Faith grows until it leaves all darkness behind and walks like a child bathed in the light of God’s love. \nNo one can keep or hide faith for himself alone. It will escape and extend itself to others. Faith never walks alone\, but always walks with love and hope. Faith can be transmitted by words\, but it is best communicated by actions. Faith cries out to be lived\, to be incarnated\, incarnated in love. For love is a Person\, love is God\, and faith is his gift to us. The hands of faith are filled with gifts for those who embrace her. Gifts of peace\, love\, joy and strength. Gifts of courage and laughter. Faith is a child who smiles at theologians and at human wisdom. Faith invites them to come and play with God. \n3\nTHE GOSPEL WITHOUT COMPROMISE\, Catherine de Hueck Doherty (Ave Maria Press IN 1976) pp. 127-128.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/weekday-18/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250226
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250227
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250224T041415Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250224T041415Z
UID:13158-1740528000-1740614399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:FOLLOWING CHRIST\nFrom a commentary by St Jerome 4\n◊◊◊\nPeter spoke up and said to Jesus\, “Look\, we have given up everything and have followed you. What are we going to possess?” \nGreat self-confidence! Peter was a fisherman\, he had never been wealthy\, he earned his bread by his labour and skill; and yet he confidently asserts\, “We have left everything.” And since it is not enough merely to leave everything\, he completes his thought by adding\, “And we have followed you. We have done what you commanded. How then will you reward us?” \nBut Jesus said to them\, “Amen I say to you that you who have followed me\, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory\, you shall also sit on twelve thrones\, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Jesus did not say\, “you who have left everything.” For…many others besides have shown contempt for wealth. What Jesus did say was\, “you who have followed me.” This applies only to the apostles and believers. \nIn the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory\, when even the dead will rise incorrupt from their state of corruption\, you also shall sit on judgment seats….And everyone who has left house\, or brothers\, or sisters\, or father\, or mother\, or wife\, or children\, or lands\, for my name’s sake\, shall receive a hundredfold\, and shall possess life everlasting. \nThis passage agrees with that other statement of our Saviour\, where he says\, “I have come not to send peace\, but a sword. For I have come to set a man at variance with his father\, and a daughter with her mother\, and a daughter-in-law with her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household”. Those\, therefore\, who\, for the sake of their faith in Christ and the preaching of the gospel\, have sacrificed their natural feelings and all the wealth and pleasures of this world — they shall receive a hundredfold\, and shall possess life everlasting. \n4\nIn Matth.\, 3\,19. PL 26\, 138-139. Trans. from “Cistercian Lectionary Project\, 1968\,” 40-41.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/office-for-vocations-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250227
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250228
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250224T041933Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250224T041933Z
UID:13160-1740614400-1740700799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Weekday
DESCRIPTION:THE CHURCH AS\nTHE COMMUNITY OF PARDON\nFrom “Seasons of Celebration” by Thomas Merton 5\n◊◊◊\nLet us remember especially that the Church is a community of pardon. All who have entered the common life of the body of Christ have done so by the way of pardon. And they remain in the Body of Christ only through pardon\, through the mystery of Christ: not only of Christ\, as Head\, but also of Christ in His members. \nThe mercy and pardon of Christ must be continually at work in all the members and through all the members of the Mystical Body. This is what makes the Church truly a Mother: she gives life by gentleness\, understanding\, love and pardon. She forgives sins\, that is to say she heals separations. Sin is separation from God\, and from those who love God. Sin is a cutting off from life. It is a spiritual death and pardon is the restoration of life. \nThe Spirit by which the Church lives is the Spirit of love\, of unity. Unity can be preserved or restored only by understanding\, acceptance and pardon. The Church is a body of people who know they are forgiven and who forgive repeatedly because they are themselves forgiven repeatedly. \nThe Church is then not so much a body of people who are pure and never offend\, but of those who\, in their weakness and frailty\, frequently err and offend\, but who have received from God the power to forgive one another in His name. They possess the Holy Spirit and they can give the Holy Spirit in some sense\, to one another. The Holy Spirit Himself moves them to do this\, and acts in them\, to save others. \nWe\, then\, who form one body in Christ\, share with one another the message of Christ’s divine truth\, we share His word\, we share His worship\, we share His love\, we share His Spirit. \nIn building a community of pardon which is the temple of God\, we have to recognize that no one of us is complete\, self-sufficient\, perfectly holy in himself. No one can rest in one’s own virtues and interior life. We do not live for ourselves alone. To live for oneself alone is to die. We grow and flourish in our own lives in so far as we live for others and through others. What we ourselves lack God has given them. They must complete us where we are deficient. \nOften the good that is given us by God is given us only to be shared with another. If God sees that we will not pardon and will not be open\, that we will not share\, then the good is not given us. But to the one in whom there is the greatest readiness to share with all\, most is given. \nThe greatest of gifts then is this openness\, this love\, this readiness to accept and to pardon and to share with others\, in the Spirit of Christ. If we are open we will not only offer pardon\, but will not disdain to seek it and recognize our own desperate need of it. \n5\npp. 225-230.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/weekday-19/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250228
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250301
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250224T042520Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250224T042520Z
UID:13162-1740700800-1740787199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Weekday
DESCRIPTION:SERVING EACH OTHER\nIN JUSTICE AND CHARITY\nBy William of St Thierry 6\n◊◊◊\n[The Apostle Paul says that]\, if because of your food your brother is grieved\, you no longer walk according to charity. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. For a proper reason we should sometimes avoid what is licit\, but we are not commanded to do what is illicit for any reason. \n[He also says\,] Let our good not be spoken of as evil. What is this good of ours? It is the good proper to Christ’s disciples\, of which he himself says\, ‘By this shall all men know that you are my disciples\, if you have love for one another’. Just as the disciples of Christ are distinguished by the sign of mutual charity\, so when charity is neglected the entire brilliance of the Christian religion seems to be obscured. Then this wonderful teacher proclaims the mystery of the kingdom of heaven in order to restrain the faults of the present time by the authority of a future mystery\, and in order to establish the form of the Church. \n[He says]: For the kingdom of God is not food and drink. As if he said\, ‘Why do we deal so much with food when we are hastening to the kingdom of heaven? For there\, just as they do not marry\, and are not given in marriage\, so they neither eat nor drink\, but are like the angels of God.’ Thus\, with a most perfect and clear teaching the Apostle establishes that there is no need of food and drink in the kingdom of heaven\, but that there is justice and peace. And because fleshly joy usually accompanies food and drink\, he adds here joy\, but in the Holy Spirit. These things effect the kingdom of heaven in us here\, but in the future they lead us where these same things are possessed more certainly and more firmly. There is justice in work; peace is in the heart or conscience; joy is in the Lord. Whoever has these things already has the kingdom of God within him. \nFor he who in this way serves Christ pleases God and is approved by men. He who serves Christ in the Holy Spirit pleases God and is approved by men in justice\, and he dwells harmoniously with himself in peace. \nLet us pursue the things of peace outside because of the disposition of peace that we enjoy within; and from a disposition for justice let us keep the things that are edifying. What does justice demand more clearly than that we not destroy on account of food the work of Christ’s redemption in our brothers? \nAll things are indeed clean\, but it is evil for a man to eat with offense\, because he wounds the conscience of inner justice if the soul of his brother is endangered by that with which he refreshes himself. \n6\nCF 27 : 252-253.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/weekday-20/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250301
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250302
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250224T042956Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250224T042956Z
UID:13164-1740787200-1740873599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Memorial of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:MARY AND HER SON\nBy Fr Romano Guardini 7\n◊◊◊\nThe life of Mary\, as the Gospel tells it\, is as humanly true as it can possibly be\, but in this human quality it is filled with a mystery of divine communion and love the depth of which is unfathomable. \nJesus is the substance of Mary’s life\, just as the child is the life-blood of its mother\, for whom it is the one and all. But\, at the same time\, He is also her redeemer\, and that another child cannot be for its mother. Not only was Mary’s existence as a human mother achieved in her relation to Jesus\, but also her redemption. Becoming a mother\, she became a Christian. By living with her child\, she lived with the God whose living revelation He is. Growing humanly along with the child\, as do all mothers who really love; releasing him on the road of life with so much resignation and pain\, she ripened in God’s divine grace and truth. \nFor this reason\, Mary is not only a great Christian\, one among a number of saints\, but she is unique. No one is like her\, because what happened to her happened to no other human being. Here lies the authentic root of all exaggeration about her. If people cannot be extravagant enough in their praises of Mary\, and even say reckless and foolish things\, they are still right in one respect: even though the means are faulty\, they seek to express a fact the tremendous depth of which must overwhelm everyone who realizes it. But exaggerations are useless and harmful\, because the simpler the word expressing a truth\, the more tremendous and at the same time the more deeply realized the facts become.\n7\nThe Rosary of Our Lady\, New York\, 1955\, pp. 30-31.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/memorial-of-the-bvm-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250302
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250303
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250302T120501Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250302T120501Z
UID:13173-1740873600-1740959999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n8th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nMarch 2 – 8\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n2\nMon\n3\nTue\n4\nWed\n5\nThu\n6\nFri\n7\nSat\n8\n\n\nOffice\n8th Sunday\nSt Katherine Drexel\nOffice for the Dead\nAsh Wednesday\nThursday after Ash Wednesday\nFriday after Ash Wednesday\nSaturday after Ash Wednesday\n\n\nVigils\n1 Kings 22:1-28\n1 Kings 22:29-40\n1 Kings 22:41-53\nDan 9:1-19\nHeb 1:1-14\nHeb 2:1-18\nHeb 3:1-19\n\n\nLauds\nHab 3:1-7\nHab 3:8-15\nHab 3:16-19\nSir 17:20-32\nExod 1:6-14\nExod 1:15-22\nExod 2:1-10\n\n\nMass\n84\n347\n348\n219\n220\n221\n222\n\n\n1st\nSir 27:5-8\nSir 17:20-24\nSir 35:1-12\nJoel 2:12-18\nDeut 30:15-20\nIsa 58:1-9a\nIsa 58:9b-14\n\n\n2nd\n1 Cor 15:54-58\n\n\n2 Cor 5:20-6:2\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 6:39-45\nMark 10:17-27\nMark 10:28-31\nMatt 6:1-6\, 16-18\nLuke 9:22-25\nMatt 9:14-15\nLuke 5:27-32\n\n\nVespers\n1 Cor 16:10-24\nPhilem 1-11\nPhilem 12-25\nEph 2:4-10\nDeut 1:3-8\nDeut 4:1-8\nDeut 4:25-31
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-105/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250302
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250303
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250302T120655Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250302T121102Z
UID:13176-1740873600-1740959999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 8th Sunday Ordinary time
DESCRIPTION:THE DISCIPLE IS NOT \nABOVE HIS TEACHER \nFrom a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria \n◊◊◊ \nThe disciples were to be the spiritual guides and teachers of the whole \nworld. It had therefore to be clearly seen by all that they held fast to the true \nfaith. It was essential for them to be familiar with the gospel way of life\, skilled \nin every good work\, and to give teaching that was precise\, salutary\, and \nscrupulously faithful to the truth they themselves had long pondered\, \nenlightened by the divine radiance. Otherwise they would be blind leaders of the \nblind. Those imprisoned in the darkness of ignorance can never lead others in \nthe same sorry state to knowledge of the truth. Should they try\, both would fall \nheadlong into the ditch of the passions. \nTo destroy the ostentatious passion of boastfulness and stop people from \ntrying to win greater honor than their teachers\, Christ declared: The disciple is \nnot above his teacher. Even if some should advance so far as to equal their \nteachers in holiness\, they ought to remain within the limits set by them\, and \nfollow their example. Paul also taught this when he said: Be imitators of me\, as \nI am of Christ. So\, then\, if the Master does not judge\, why are you judging? He \ncame not to judge the world\, but to take pity on it. \nWhat he is saying\, then\, is this: “If I do not pass judgment\, neither must \nyou\, my disciple. You may be even more guilty of the faults of which you accuse \nanother. Will you not be ashamed when you come to realize this?” The Lord uses \nanother illustration for the same teaching when he says: Why do you look for \nthe speck in your brother’s eye? \nWith compelling arguments he persuades us that we should not want to \njudge others\, but should rather examine our own hearts\, and strive to expel the \npassions seated in them\, asking this grace from God. He it is who heals the \ncontrite of heart and frees us from our spiritual disorders. If your own sins are \ngreater and worse than other people’s\, why do you censure them\, and neglect \nwhat concerns yourself? \nThis precept\, then\, is essential for all who wish to live a holy life\, and \nparticularly for those who have undertaken the instruction of others. If they are \nvirtuous and self-restrained\, giving an example of the gospel way of life by their \nown actions\, they will rebuke those who do not choose to live as they do in a \nfriendly way\, so as not to break their own habit of gentleness.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/8th-sunday-ordinary/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13178-1740960000-1741046399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Katherine Drexel
DESCRIPTION:ST KATHERINE DREXEL \nAn excerpt from “All Saints” by Robert Ellsberg \n◊◊◊ \nKatherine Drexel came from one of the wealthiest families in America. \nHer father was an extremely successful banker\, a Catholic of Austrian descent. \nKatherine did not know her mother\, who died five weeks after her birth. But a \nyear later her father was remarried to another eminent Catholic\, Emma \nBouvier\, who exerted a strong influence on Katherine and her two sisters. When \nFrances Drexel died he established a trust for his three daughters of \n$14\,000\,000. Inspired by their Catholic faith\, they all three regarded this \nfortune as an opportunity to glorify God through the service of others. \nThis was the great era of Catholic immigration\, as American cities \nstretched to accommodate new arrivals from Europe. The Church responded \nwith an extraordinary system of schools\, hospitals\, orphanages\, and other \ncharitable institutions\, proving to the world that Catholics knew how to “look \nafter their own.” There were certainly plenty of claims on the generosity of a \nyoung Catholic heiress. But Katherine Drexel’s concern extended to those \noutside the church\, indeed to those all but excluded from American society – \nnamely\, Indians and blacks. She began by endowing scores of schools on Indian \nreservations across the country. In 1878 during a private audience with Pope \nLeo XIII she begged the pope to send priests to serve the Indians. He responded\, \n“Why not become a missionary yourself?” \nAt this point Katherine realized that it was not enough to share her \nwealth. God was calling her to give everything. Consequently she embarked on a \nlong search to find a religious order corresponding to her own sense of mission. \nBut when none could be found\, she received the support of her bishop to \nestablish her own religious congregation. In 1891 she was professed as the first \nmember of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People. \nWithin the year ten other women had joined her order. \nThough Katherine embraced a vow of personal poverty\, she continued to \nadminister the income from her trust – an enormous sum of $400\,000 a year. \nShe might have spent the money to endow the establishment of her own \ncongregation\, but she insisted that her own Sisters rely on alms… In the 1920’s \nshe contributed toward the founding of Xavier University in New Orleans\, the \nfirst Catholic college established for blacks. All told she was personally \nresponsible for establishing 145 Catholic missions and 12 schools for Indians\, \nand 50 schools for black students. \nMother Drexel died on March 3\, 1955\, at the age of ninety-six\, her life \nhaving spanned the era of slavery and the Indian wars to the dawn of the \nmodern civil rights movement. It was a period in which blacks and Indians\, the \ncommunities to which Mother Drexel devoted her life\, were far from the \nconsciousness of most American Catholics. Her charitable works did little \ndirectly to challenge the structures of racism and discrimination. But in the era \nof rigidly enforced racial segregation her work had a profound “witness value.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-katherine-drexel/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13180-1741046400-1741132799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:THE SUPREME RISK \nby Gustave Thibon \n◊◊◊ \nThe being who runs the least risk is that being who\, down here\, comes \nnearest to nothingness: the one who risks nothing is nothing. The risk is made to \nbe run: every being carries within itself what it takes to overcome the risks to \nwhich its nature or its vocation exposes it. The greatest risk of all concerns our \nhighest destiny… The acceptance of death is the only risk which is in any way \nproportionate to the supernatural destiny of the soul\, and anyone who is not \nready to run it is not truly Christian. Where are we to find the counterpart of \neternal life if not in the total annihilation of temporal life? One sole risk \nmeasures up to the absolute promise of God\, and that “sole risk” is to risk what \nlooks like losing everything. \nEveryone’s destiny is governed by our inward response to this question: \nwhich of the two is an illusion\, love or death? Those who are Christians bank on \nlove\, and for love they are ready to risk death. They belong among those who\, \nbelieving in love\, can no longer believe in death. The Christian risk consists in \ngoing all the way in subordinating death to love. Since Calvary\, death has given \nup working for its own ends: love never gives up stealing its victory from it. The \nsupreme risk has become the supreme hope. \nEveryone exercises discretion according to the nature of their treasure\, of \ntheir heart. True discretion has two eyes: one is fixed on the goal to be obtained\, \nthe other on the risk to be run; discretion sees all the way to the end\, and for that \nreason it can take on the risk. False discretion is\, in a sense\, one-eyed. Its one \neye is fixed only on the risk\, it sees no further than the risk\, and for that reason it \nrefuses to let itself run the risk. Deprived of both the healthy outlook which sees \nthe goal and of the holy inclination which leads towards it\, it no longer has any \ndesire but at all costs to escape the risk. Those who do this are then given up \neither to stagnation or to regression; they no longer dream of anything but shell- \nback coverings or protective railings\, and life is transformed into a vast \nenterprise of “insurance against all risks”. \nThere is no greater indiscretion than this false discretion. By being over- \nanxious to preserve themselves\, such people destroy themselves. Those who\, in \norder to take better care of themselves\, confine themselves to their own lower \nelements\, work for their own ruin\, for they are acting against a central demand \nof nature and of life\, and they compromise beyond repair the inferior good that \nthey claim to save… For we are not down here to remain on a steady level\, and if \nwe refuse to climb we increase the chance of falling. For the fruitful task of life \nand love\, false discretion substitutes everywhere the sterile risk of egoism and \ndeath.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-18/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13183-1741132800-1741219199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Ash Wednesday
DESCRIPTION:THE GOD OF LENT \nby Thomas Merton4 \n◊◊◊ \nLent is not a season of punishment so much as one of healing… a season of \nspecial reflection and prayer\, a forty-day retreat in which each Christian\, to the \nextent he is able\, tries to follow Christ into the desert by prayer and fasting… \nThe cross of ashes\, traced upon the forehead of each Christian… is the sign of \nChrist’s victory over death. The words “Remember man that thou art dust\, and that \nto dust thou shalt return” are not to be taken as… a kind of “sacrament of death”… \nThe declaration that the body must fall temporarily into dust is a challenge to \nspiritual combat\, that our burial may be “in Christ” and that we may rise with Him \nto “live unto God.”… \nTo say there is joy in Ash Wednesday is not to empty the procession of its \nsorrows and anguish. “Save me O God… for the waters are come in even unto my \nsoul.” This is not a song of joy. If we present our selves before God to receive ashes \nfrom the hand of the priest it is because we are convinced of our sinfulness… A \nsinner is a drowning man\, a sinking ship. The waters are bursting into him on all \nsides… They are closing over his head\, and he cries out to God: “the waters are \ncome in even unto my soul.”… Ash Wednesday is for people who know what it \nmeans for their soul to be logged with these icy waters: all of us are such people\, if \nonly we can realize it… The light of Lent is given us to help us with this realization. \nNevertheless\, the liturgy of Lent is not focused on the sinfulness of the \npenitent but on the mercy of God… Nowhere will we find more tender expressions \nof the divine mercy than on this day… In the Introit for Ash Wednesday we sing: \n“You have mercy upon all\, O Lord\, and hate none of those which You have made.”… \nThe God of Lent is like a calm sea of mercy. In Him there is no anger. This \n“hiding” of God’s severity is not a subterfuge. It is a revelation of His true nature. \nHe is not severe… He is love. Love becomes severe only to those who make Him \nsevere for themselves. Love is hard only to those who refuse Him. It is not\, and \ncannot be Love’s will to be refused. Therefore it is not and cannot be Love’s will to \nbe severe and punish… Those who refuse Him are severe to themselves\, and \nimmolate themselves to the blood-thirsty god of their own self-love. It is from this \nidol that Love would deliver us. To such bitter servitude\, Love would never \ncondemn us. \n  \n4 Seasons of Celebration – Farrar\, Straus & Giroux – NY – 1965 – pg. 1189 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ash-wednesday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13185-1741219200-1741305599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE HAVEN OF LENT \nBy St Caesarius of Arles \n◊◊◊ \nBehold\, dearest brethren\, through the mercy of God the season of Lent is \nupon us. Therefore I beseech you\, beloved\, with God’s help let us celebrate these \ndays\, salutary for bodies and healing for the soul\, in so holy and spiritual a \nmanner that the observance of a holy Lent may lead to progress for us and not \njudgment. For if we lead a careless life\, involving ourselves in too many \noccupations\, not applying ourselves to fasting and vigils and prayers\, neither \nreading Sacred Scripture ourselves nor willingly listening to others reading it\, \nthe very remedies are changed into wounds for us. As a result of this we shall \nhave judgment\, where we could have had a remedy. \nFor this reason I exhort you\, dearest brethren\, to rise rather early for \nvigils\, and above all to come to Terce\, Sext and None. Let no one withdraw \nhimself from the holy Office unless either infirmity or public service or at least \ngreat necessity keeps him occupied. Let it not be enough for you that you hear \nthe divine lessons in church\, but read them yourselves in your room or look for \nsomeone else to read them and willingly listen to them when they do. \nRemember the thought of our Lord\, brethren\, when he says: “If he were to gain \nthe whole world and destroy himself in the process\, what can a man offer in \nexchange for his very self?” Finally\, if you cannot do more\, at least labor as much \non behalf of your soul as you desire to labor for the sake of your body. \nFor this reason\, dearest brethren\, “Have no love for the world\, nor for the \nthings the world affords\,” because “the world with its seductions is passing \naway.” What\, then\, remains in a person except what each one has stored up in \nthe treasury of his conscience for the salvation of his soul by reading or prayer or \nthe performance of good works? For miserable pleasure and dissipation \nthrough a passing sweetness prepare eternal bitterness; but abstinence\, vigils\, \nprayer and fasting lead to the delights of paradise through the briefest \nhardships. The Truth does not lie when He says in the Gospel: “Straight and \nnarrow is the road that leads to life\, and how few there are who find it!” \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 the 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 through the year has been broken or destroyed or \ndamaged by many storms\, that is\, by the waves of sin. And since it is necessary \nfor us to endure the storms and tempests of the world while we are still in this \nfrail body\, as often as the enemy wills to lead us astray by means of the roughest \nstorms\, with God’s help may he always find us prepared against him. \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-267/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
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UID:13187-1741305600-1741391999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE HOLY DAYS \nOF LENT \nFrom a sermon by St Leo the Great6 \n◊◊◊ \nDuring this holy time we should not hear the sound of discord coming \nfrom those to whom the consolations of holy joy are never wanting. And when \nyou are engaged in works of mercy\, do not fear a lessening of your own earthly \npossessions. Christian poverty is ever rich; for that which it possesses is greater \nthan that which it does not possess… \nBut be certain\, dearly beloved\, that the devil\, the enemy of all virtue\, will \nlook with envy upon these pious practices to which we trust you freely give \nyourselves; and he will bring against them all the force of his malice\, so that \nfrom piety itself he may weave snares against piety\, so that those he could not \ndestroy through despair he will seek to undo through vainglory. For standing \nclose at hand to all our actions is the iniquity of pride; and vanity lies ever in wait \nfor virtue; for it rarely happens that the praise of men is not given to those who \nlive worthy lives\, unless\, as was written\, “Whoever glories\, let him glory in the \nLord” \nLet us therefore\, dearly beloved\, be watchful against the deceits of the \ndevil\, not only against the enticements of gluttony\, but even in our very purpose \nof fasting. For he who knew how to bring death upon all by means of food\, \nknows how to injure us even in our fast. For just as by a serpent he brought it \nabout that what was forbidden was eaten by Adam and Eve\, so by the same \nserpents he persuades mortals to shun what is lawful. \n\nWhatever is given us as food and as drink is clean and holy\, no matter \nwhat it may be. But if it is indulged in with unmeasured appetite it will dishonor \nboth those who eat it and those who drink it. Yet it is not the nature of the food \nthat defiles us. For “all things are clean to the clean; but to those that are defiled \nand to unbelievers\, nothing is clean\, but both their mind and their conscience \nare defiled” \nBut you\, dearly beloved\, the holy offspring of the Catholic Mother\, whom \nthe Spirit of God has taught in the School of Truth\, use your freedom of action \nwith right reason\, knowing that it is good to abstain\, even from what is lawful; \nand when you must practice self-denial\, so abstain from food as merely putting \naside its use\, not as condemning its nature. \nEnter then with pious devotion upon these holy days of Lent; and prepare \nfor yourselves the works of mercy\, that you may merit the Divine Mercy. \nExtinguish the fires of anger\, wipe away all hate\, love the bond of unity\, give way \nto each other in the simplicity of true humility. \nRule your servants with justice\, and likewise all who are subject to you. \nLet there be an end to vengeance. Let offenses be forgiven. Let harshness be \nchanged to mildness\, disdain to gentleness\, and discord into peace. Let us all \nstrive to be modest\, let all be gentle\, all be kind\, so that our fasting may be \npleasing to God. To Him we shall offer a true sacrifice of self-denial and \ndevotion if we keep ourselves from all iniquity; being helped in all things by \nalmighty God\, who with the Son and the Holy Spirit is One in divinity\, one in \nMajesty\, for ever and ever. \n  \n6 The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers\, vol 2\, Henry Regnery Co\, Chicago\, 1958\, pg 30.13 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-268/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
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UID:13189-1741392000-1741478399@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 the ministers of \ndivine grace have told us this from the beginning\, repeating it in every age. \nIndeed God’s desire for our salvation is the primary and preeminent sign of his \ninfinite goodness\, and it was precisely in order to show that there is nothing \ncloser to God’s heart than the divine Word of the Father. With untold \ncondescension\, he lived among us in the flesh\, and did\, suffered and said all that \nwas necessary to reconcile us to God the Father\, when we were at enmity with \nhim\, and to restore us to the life of blessedness from which we had been exiled. \nHe healed our physical infirmities by miracles; he freed us from our sins\, many \nand grievous as they were\, by suffering and dying\, taking them upon himself as \nif he were answerable for them\, sinless though he was. He also taught us in \nmany different ways that we should wish to imitate him by our own kindness \nand genuine love for one another. \nSo it was that Christ proclaimed that he had come to call sinners to \nrepentance\, not the righteous\, and that it was not the healthy who required a \ndoctor\, but the sick. He declared that he had come to look for the sheep that was \nlost\, and that it was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel that he had been sent. \nTo give the same lesson he revived the man who\, having fallen into the \nhands of brigands\, had been left stripped and half-dead from his wounds; he \npoured wine and oil on the wounds\, bandaged them\, placed the man on his own \nmule\, and brought him to an inn\, where he left sufficient money to have him \ncared for\, and promised to repay any further expense on his return. \nAgain\, he told of how that 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. \nSo too\, when he found wandering in the mountains and hills the one \nsheep that had strayed from God’s flock of a hundred\, he brought it back to the \nfold\, but he did not exhaust it by driving it ahead of him. Instead\, he placed it on \nhis own shoulders and so\, compassionately\, he restored it safely to the flock. \nSo also he cried out: “Come to me\, all you that toil and are heavy of heart. \nAccept my yoke”\, he said\, by which he meant his commands\, or rather the whole \nway of life that he taught us in the Gospel. He then speaks of a burden\, but that \nis only because repentance seems difficult. In fact\, however\, “my yoke is easy”\, \nhe 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 \nyou will be forgiven. Behave toward other people as you would wish them to \nbehave toward you”.     \n  \n7 The Liturgy of the Hours – vol II – pg 304 – Catholic Book Publishing co – 1976.15 \n\n  \n.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-269/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13196-1741478400-1741564799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n1st Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nMarch 9 – 15\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n9\nMon\n10\nTue\n11\nWed\n12\nThu\n13\nFri\n14\nSat\n15\n\n\nOffice\n1st Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nHeb 4:1-13\nHeb 4:14-5:10\nHeb 5:11-6:20\nHeb 7:1-10\nHeb 7:11-28\nHeb 8:1-13\nHeb 9:1-10\n\n\nLauds\nExod 2:23-3:6\nExod 3:7-10\nExod 3:11-15\nExod 3:16-22\nExod 4:10-17\nExod 5:1-5\nExod 6:2-9\n\n\nMass\n24\n224\n225\n226\n227\n228\n229\n\n\n1st\nDeut 26:4-10\nLev 19:1-2\, 11-18\nIsa 55:10-11\nJonah 3:1-10\nEsth C:12\, 14-16\, 23-25\nEzek 18:21-28\nDeut 26:16-19\n\n\n2nd\nRom 10:8-13\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 4:1-13\nMatt 25:31-46\nMatt 6:7-15\nLuke 11:29-32\nMatt 7:7-12\nMatt 5:20-26\nMatt 5:43-48\n\n\nVespers\nDeut 4:32-40\nDeut 5:1-10\nDeut 5:11-15\nDeut 5:16-22\nDeut 5:32-6:3\nDeut 6:4-9\nDeut 6:10-15
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-106/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13198-1741478400-1741564799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 1st Sun of Lent
DESCRIPTION:THE GREAT VALUE \nOF FASTING \nFrom a commentary by St John Chrysostom \n◊◊◊ \nThen Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the \ndevil. What does “then” mean? After the Spirit descended\, after the voice from \nheaven said: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. The amazing \nthing is that Scripture says it was the Holy Spirit who led him there! \nAll that Jesus did and suffered was for our instruction. He consented to be \nled into the desert and to do battle with the devil so that when the baptized were \nassailed by greater temptations after baptism than before they would not be \ntroubled as though this were something unexpected\, but would remain \nsteadfast\, bearing them all nobly. You did not receive weapons so that you might \nsit at ease\, but so that you might fight! \nThe reason God does not prevent the onslaught of temptations are these: \nFirst\, so that you may learn that you have become now much stronger; then\, so \nthat you may remain modest\, for you will not be puffed up by the greatness of \nyour gifts if temptations can humble you; next\, because the wicked demon may \ndoubt at first whether you have really renounced him\, and the test of temptation \nwill convince him of your total desertion; fourth\, to confirm you\, who are now \nstronger and steadier than iron; fifth\, to give you clear evidence of the treasures \ncommitted to you. The devil would not have attacked you if he had not seen that \nyou have been raised to a position of great honor. \nNotice where it was that the spirit led Jesus – not into the city or the \nmarket place\, but into the desert. Since Jesus wished to entice the devil he gave \nhim his opportunity not only by his own hunger\, but also by his choice of place. \nThe devil usually attacks people when he sees them alone by themselves. He \ndoes not dare to do so when he sees them together with others. It is for this \nreason especially that we should frequently meet with one another. If we do not \nwe may become an easy prey for the devil. And so\, the devil finds Jesus in the \ndesert\, in a trackless wilderness. \nConsider how vile and wicked the devil’s approach is\, and what sort of \nopportunity he watches for. He does not come near when Jesus is fasting\, but \nonly when he is hungry. You should learn from this the great value of fasting and \nthat no weapon is more powerful against the devil. After baptism you should not \nbe filled with food and drink from a well laden table\, but should rather devote \nyourself to fasting. Jesus fasted not because he himself had any need to do so\, \nbut to give us an example.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-1st-sun-of-lent-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13200-1741564800-1741651199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE MANNER OF KEEPING \nTHE LENTEN OBSERVANCE \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux \n◊◊◊ \nI beseech you\, most dearly beloved\, to enter with all possible fervor upon \nthis Lenten time\, which is commended to us not only by the law of abstinence\, \nbut also and much more by the mystery it contains. Oh\, with what devotion \nshould we observe what has been transmitted to us as an inheritance from the \nrighteous Moses who\, by a special privilege granted to no other prophet\, spoke \nto the Lord face to face. With what eagerness should we embrace a practice \ncommended to us by the example of Elias\, who was taken up to heaven in a fiery \nchariot. We are encouraged to undertake this fast by the example of Moses and \nElias\, who\, illustrious though they may be\, are still our fellow-servants. But \nmuch greater encouragement should be given in the example of our Lord Jesus \nChrist Who also fasted for forty days. What kind of monk\, or even what kind of \nChristian\, would one be who would submit only with reluctance to an \nobservance given to us by Christ?… We ought to imitate His example with all the \nmore fervor knowing that He fasted not for His own sake but for ours… \nThey are clearly in error who suppose that these few days are sufficient for \nthe practice of penance\, since it is obvious that the whole period of our earthly \nlife is ordered for no other purpose. “Seek the Lord\,” says the prophet\, and not \nonly during forty days\, but “while He may be found”. “Call upon Him while He is \nnear”… Therefore since the Lord is near during all this time of mercy\, “seek \nHim\,” most dearly beloved\, “seek Him while He may be found; call upon Him \nwhile He is near.” \nNevertheless we ought to seek Him with greater ardor during these forty \ndays of Lent\, which is not only a part\, but the most sacred part of the whole \nseason of mercy. If\, then\, at other times we have allowed our zeal to grow slack\, \nit is fitting that our hearts should now be warmed with a renewal of spiritual \nfervor. If the stomach alone has sinned\, let the stomach alone fast\, and that \nsuffices. But if the other members have sinned also\, why should they not be \nmade to fast as well as the stomach? Therefore let the “eye which has wasted the \nsoul” be made to fast. Let the ear\, too\, be made to fast\, and the tongue\, and the \nhand\, and even the soul herself. Let the eye fast from curious looks\, so that\, \nwholesomely humbled\, it may now be kept in penitential restraint. Let the ear \nfast from news and idle tales and from all that is vain and worthless with regard \nto salvation. Let the tongue fast from detraction and murmuring\, from \nunprofitable\, vain and frivolous words\, and – because of the great importance of \nsilence – sometimes even from words that seem necessary. Let the hand fast \nfrom every work not sanctioned by obedience. \nBut above all\, let the soul fast from vice and the following of her own will. \nFor without this kind of fasting\, all the rest will have no value in the eyes of God. \nFor we read in the prophet Isaiah that when the people said to the Lord: “Why \nhave we fasted and you have not regarded?”\, they received this answer: “Behold \nin the day of your fast your own will is found.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-270/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250311
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250312
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250309T142923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250309T142923Z
UID:13202-1741651200-1741737599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:PRAYER\, FASTING\, \nAND MERCY \nFrom a homily by St Peter Chrysologus \n◊◊◊ \nPerseverance in faith\, devotion\, and virtue is assured by three things: \nprayer\, fasting\, and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door\, fasting gains entrance\, \nmercy receives. These three things\, prayer\, fasting\, and mercy are all one and \nthey give life to each other. \nFasting is the soul of prayer\, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one \ntry to separate them\, for this is impossible. If we have only one of them\, if we \nhave not all three together\, we have nothing. Whoever prays\, then\, must also \nfast; whoever fasts must also show mercy. If we want our own petitions heard \nwe must hear the petitions of others. God’s ear will be open to us if we do not \nturn a deaf ear to other people. \nWhen we fast we should understand what it means to be really hungry. If \nwe want God to take account of our hunger we must feel for the hunger of \nothers. If we hope for mercy we must show mercy. If we look for kindness we \nmust show kindness. If we want to receive we must give. Only a shameless \nperson would ask for himself what he refused to give to others. In showing \nmercy this should be the rule: show it in the same way\, with the same \ngenerosity\, with the same promptness as you would wish it to be shown to you. \nLet prayer\, mercy\, and fasting\, then\, be one single appeal to God on our \nbehalf\, one speech in our defense\, one threefold plea in our favor. What we have \nlost by despising others let us regain by fasting. By fasting let us offer our souls \nin sacrifice\, for we can make no better offering to God\, as is proved by the \nprophet’s words: A sacrifice pleasing to God is a contrite spirit. A contrite and \nhumbled heart\, O God\, you will not spurn. \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 gift to God will \nnot be excused for you are never without the means of giving if the gift to be \ngiven is yourself. \nTo make these offerings acceptable mercy must be added. Fasting bears \nno fruit unless it is watered by mercy. When mercy dries up fasting is arid. \nMercy is to fasting as rain is to the earth. However much you may cultivate your \nheart\, clear the soil of your nature\, root out your vices and sow virtues\, if you do \nnot release the springs of mercy your fasting will bear no fruit. When you fast a \nthin sowing of mercy will mean a thin harvest. When you fast what you pour out \nin mercy overflows into your barn. So do not lose by saving\, but gather in by \nscattering. Give to the poor and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to \nkeep what you have refused to give to others.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-271/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250312
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250313
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250309T143017Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250309T143017Z
UID:13204-1741737600-1741823999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:RETURN WITH YOUR \nWHOLE HEART \nFrom a homily by St Faustus of Riez \n◊◊◊ \nOur Lord and Savior exhorts us through the prophet and advises us how \nwe ought to come to Him after many negligences\, saying: “Come let us bow \ndown in worship\, let us kneel before the Lord who made us”; and again: “Return \nto me with your whole heart\, with fasting\, with weeping and mourning”. If we \nnotice carefully\, dearest brethren\, the holy days of Lent signify the life of the \npresent world\, just as Easter prefigures eternal bliss. \nNow just as we have a kind of sadness in Lent in order that we may rightly \nrejoice at Easter\, so as long as we live in this world we ought to do penance in \norder that we may be able to receive pardon for our sins in the future and arrive \nat eternal joy. Each one ought to sigh over his own sins\, shed tears and give alms \nin such a way that with God’s help he may always try to avoid the same faults as \nlong as he lives. Just as there never has been\, is not now\, and never will be a soul \nwithout slight sins\, so with the help and assistance of God we ought to be \naltogether without serious sins. \nNow in order that we may obtain this\, if burdens of the world keep us \noccupied at other times\, at least during the holy days of Lent let us reflect on the \nlaw of the Lord\, as it is written\, by day and by night. Let us so fill our hearts with \nthe sweetness of the divine law that we leave no place within us devoid of virtues \nso that vices could occupy it. Just as at the time of the harvest or vintage… \nenough is gathered so that the body may be fed\, so during the days of Lent as at a \ntime of spiritual harvest or vintage we ought to gather the means whereby our \nsoul may live forever. Whenever a careless person fails to gather anything at the \ntime of harvest or vintage\, he will be distressed by hunger throughout the entire \nspace of the year. In the same way if anyone at this season neglects to provide \nand gather spiritual wheat and heavenly wine in the storehouse of his soul by \nfasting\, reading and prayer\, he will suffer forever the most severe thirst and \ncruel want. \nKnow for sure\, dearest brethren\, that the soul which is not fed \ncontinuously by the word of God is like a body which receives food only after \nmany days. Just as the body becomes thin and dehydrated\, almost like a \nshadow\, through hunger and want\, so the soul which is not fed on God’s word is \nfound to be parched and useless\, fit for no good work. Consider\, brethren\, if \nevery year we fill the barn and wine cellar and storehouse in order that our body \nmay have food for one year\, how much do you think we ought to store up so that \nour soul may be nourished forever?
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-272/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250313
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250314
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250309T143115Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250309T143115Z
UID:13206-1741824000-1741910399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE DRIVING FORCE \nOF THE WORLD \nBy Pope Benedict XVI \n◊◊◊ \nLent renews in us the hope in the God who made us pass from death to \nlife. Lent\, fully oriented to the mystery of Redemption\, is defined the “path of \ntrue conversion”… Prayer nourishes hope because nothing expresses the reality \nof our God in our life better than praying with faith. Even in the loneliness of the \nmost severe trial\, nothing and no one can prevent me from addressing the \nFather “in the secret” of my heart\, where He alone sees\, as Jesus says in the \ngospel… Thus\, prayer proves to be the first and principal “weapon” with which \nto win the victory in our struggle against the spirit of evil. \nChrist’s prayer reaches its culmination on the Cross. It is expressed in \nthose last words which the Evangelists have recorded. Where he seems to utter a \ncry of despair: “My God\, my God\, why have you forsaken me?” Christ was \nactually making his own the invocation of someone beset by enemies with no \nescape\, who has no other than God to turn to and\, over and above any human \npossibilities\, experiences his grace and salvation. \nWith these words of the Psalm\, first of a man who is suffering\, then of the \nPeople of God in their suffering\, caused by God’s apparent absence\, Jesus made \nhis own this cry of humanity that suffers from God’s apparent absence\, and \ncarried this cry to the Father’s heart. So\, by praying in this ultimate solitude \ntogether with the whole of humanity\, he opens the heart of God to us… \nThe prayer of supplication full of hope is consequently the leitmotif of \nLent and enables us to experience God as the only anchor of salvation. Indeed \nwhen it is collective\, the prayer of the People of God is a voice of one heart and \nsoul\, it is a “heart to heart” dialogue\, like Queen Esther’s moving plea when her \npeople were about to be exterminated: “O my Lord\, you only are our King; help \nme\, who am alone and have no helper but you.” … “for a great danger \novershadows me”. In the face of a “great danger” greater hope is needed: only \nthe hope that can count on God. \nPrayer is a crucible in which our expectations and aspirations are exposed \nin the light of God’s Word\, immersed in dialogue with the One who is Truth\, and \nfrom which they emerge free from hidden lies and compromises with various \nforms of selfishness. Without the dimension of prayer\, the human “I” ends by \nwithdrawing into himself\, and the conscience\, which should be an echo of God’s \nvoice\, risks being reduced to a mirror of the self\, so that the inner conversation \nbecomes a monologue\, giving rise to self-justifications by the thousands. \nTherefore\, prayer is a guarantee of openness to others: whoever frees \nhimself for God and his needs simultaneously opens himself to the other\, to the \nbrother or sister who knocks at the door of his heart and asks to be heard\, asks \nfor attention\, forgiveness\, at times correction\, but always in fraternal charity. \nThus prayer is never self-centered\, it is always centered on the other. As such\, it \nopens the person praying to the “ecstasy” of charity\, to the capacity to go out of \noneself to draw close to the other in humble\, neighborly service. True prayer is \nthe driving force of the world\, since it keeps it open to God. For this reason \nwithout prayer there is no hope but only illusion.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-273/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250314
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250315
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250309T143214Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250309T143214Z
UID:13208-1741910400-1741996799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE SEASON OF PENANCE \nFrom a sermon by St Ambrose \n◊◊◊ \nBehold now is the appointed time\, in which you must confess your sins to \nGod\, and to the priest; and by prayer and by fasting\, by tears and by almsgiving\, \nwipe them away. Why should sinners be ashamed to make known their sins\, since \nthey are already known and manifest to God\, and to the angels\, and even to the \nblessed in heaven? Confession delivers the soul from death. Confession opens the \ndoor to heaven. Confession brings us hope of salvation. Because of this the \nScripture says through Isaiah: “First tell your iniquities\, that you may be \njustified.” Here we are shown that they will not be saved who\, during their life\, do \nnot confess their sins. Neither will that confession deliver you which is made \nwithout true repentance. For true repentance is grief of heart and sorrow of soul \nbecause of the evils one has committed. True repentance causes us to grieve over \nthem with the firm intention of never committing them again. \nAnd even though every day we live may rightly be a day of repentance\, yet is \nit in these days more appropriate to confess our sins\, to fast\, and to give alms to the \npoor\, since in these days you may wash clean the sins of the whole year. Therefore I \ncounsel all of you\, and I exhort each one of you to repair whatever you know within \nyour soul is blameworthy. Whoever among you discerns within yourself what is \nunworthy in a Christian\, make amends. What does it mean to give tithes faithfully\, \nbut that no one should offer to God [anything that] is defective or stunted. For of \nall things which the Lord bestows on us\, a tenth part we reserve to God. So it is not \nlawful to keep what is reserved to God. And if you do not give God’s tenth part\, God \nwill take nine parts from you. \nAgain\, if you know in your own heart that you have taken something unjustly \nfrom another\, make amends by restoring what you have unjustly taken. For if you \ndo not render the tenth to God\, which is reserved for Him\, and [return] to another \nwhat you took from him unjustly\, you are a person who no longer fears God and \ndoes not know the meaning of true repentance\, or of true confession of sins. \nAnd you ought to do this\, since each person should give to the needy \naccording to his means; that is\, that you who have much should give much and if \nyou have little ought to give little; as the holy Tobias taught his son: “Give alms out \nof your substance\, and do not turn away your face from the poor\, that the face of \nthe Lord may not be turned away from you”.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-274/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250315
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250316
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250309T143322Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250309T143322Z
UID:13210-1741996800-1742083199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:LET US REND \nOUR HEARTS \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux \n◊◊◊ \nIf you grieve for your sin or your neighbor’s\, you do well\, and this sadness \nleads to salvation. If you rejoice at the gifts of grace\, this is a holy joy and a true \njoy in the Holy spirit. You must rejoice in the love of Christ with your brothers\, \nin their successes and grieve with them in adversity\, as it is written: Rejoice with \nthose who rejoice\, weep with those who weep. \nThis does not mean that we should value lightly the physical turning. As \nwe know\, it is no small support for the spiritual. That is why when the Lord had \nsaid “with all your heart” here\, he immediately added “with fasting”\, for that is \nof the body. Yet I would have you warned\, my brothers\, that that means not only \nabstaining from food\, but from all fleshly lusts and all bodily pleasures; indeed \nyou must fast from vices far more than from food. But there is a bread from \nwhich I do not wish you to fast lest you faint on the way; if you do not know what \nit is\, I am speaking of the bread of tears… It demands mourning of us by way of \nrepentance for our former way of life; it demands weeping with desire for future \nbeatitude. You do not have sufficient cravings for the joys to come if you do not \nbeg for them every day with tears; if your soul does not refuse comfort until they \ncome\, then you know too little of them. \nLet the Spirit rend your heart with his sword\, which is the Word of God; \nlet him rend it and speedily shatter it into many fragments. There is no way to \nturn to the Lord with all your heart except your heart be rent. Listen to one \nwhom God found to be after his own heart. My heart is ready\, O God\, my heart \nis ready\, he says – ready for both adversity and prosperity\, ready for what is low \nand what is lofty; ready for whatever you command. Who is faithful as David in \nhis going out and coming in? He used to say of sinners\, Their heart is curdled \nlike milk\, but I have meditated on your law. This is the reason for hardness of \nheart and obstinacy of mind\, that someone does not meditate on the law of the \nLord but on his own will. \nLet us rend our hearts\, dearly beloved\, but keep our garments whole. Our \ngarments are our virtues; love is a good garment\, obedience is a good garment. \nHappy is the one who cares for these garments that he may not walk naked. \nHappy are those whose sins are covered; love covers a multitude of sins. Let us \nrend our hearts…that we may keep our garments whole\, as was our Savior’s \ntunic. The rending of the heart not only keeps the garment whole\, but also \nmakes it long and of many colors\, like the coat the holy patriarch Joseph gave \nthe son whom he loved more than the others. From this comes perseverance in \nvirtue\, from this the many colored unity of a beautiful way of life. \nWe may also take this rending of the heart in another way; if the heart is \nwicked it may be rent by confession; if hard\, by compassion. Is not an ulcer rent \nso that the diseased matter may flow out? Is not the heart rent to overflow in \ncompassion? Both rendings are expedient\, that the poison of sin may not be \nhidden in the heart\, and we may not shut off our compassion from our \nneighbor’s need\, that we may receive mercy from Our Lord Jesus Christ\, who is \nover all\, blessed forever.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-275/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250316
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250317
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250316T110015Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250316T110015Z
UID:13230-1742083200-1742169599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n2nd Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nMarch 16 – 22\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n16\nMon\n17\nTue\n18\nWed\n19\nThu\n20\nFri\n21\nSat\n22\n\n\nOffice\n2nd Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nSt Joseph\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nHeb 9:11-28\nHeb 10:1-18\nHeb 10:19-39\nSir 51: 13-30\nHeb 11:17-40\nHeb 12:1-13\nHeb 12:14-29\n\n\nLauds\nExod 7:1-7\nExod 7:8-13\nExod 7:19-22\nZech 10:6-12\nExod 8:12-15\nExod 9:1-7\nExod 9:8-12\n\n\nMass\n27\n230\n231\n543\n233\n234\n235\n\n\n1st\nGen 15:5-12\, 17-18\nDan 9:4b-10\nIsa 1:10\, 16-20\n2 Sam 7:4-5a\, 12-14a\, 16\nJer 17:5-10\nGen 37:3-4\, 12-13a\, 17b-28a\nMic 7:14-15\, 18-20\n\n\n2nd\nPhil 3:17–4:1\n\n\nRom 4:13\, 16-18\, 22\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 9:28b-36\nLuke 6:36-38\nMatt 23:1-12\nMatt 1:16\, 18-21\, 24a\nLuke 16:19-31\nMatt 21:33-43\, 45-46\nLuke 15:1-3\, 11-32\n\n\nVespers\nDeut 6:16-19\nDeut 6:20-25\nEph 3:14-21\nJames 1:22-27\nDeut 7:12-15\nDeut 7:16-21\nDeut 8:1-6
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-107/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250316
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250317
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250316T110152Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250316T110152Z
UID:13232-1742083200-1742169599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 2nd Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:THE VISION OF CHRIST’S GLORY \nFrom a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria \n◊◊◊ \nWith three chosen disciples Jesus went up the mountain. Then he was \ntransfigured by a wonderful light that made even his clothes seem to shine. \nMoses and Elijah stood by him and spoke with him on how he was going to \ncomplete his task on earth by dying in Jerusalem. In other words\, they spoke of \nthe mystery of his incarnation\, and of his saving passion upon the cross. For the \nLaw of Moses and the teaching of the holy prophets clearly foreshadowed the \nmystery of Christ. The Law portrayed it by types and symbols inscribed on \ntablets. The prophets in many ways foretold that in his own time he would \nappear\, clothed in human nature and that for the salvation of all our race he \nwould not refuse to suffer death upon the cross. \nThe presence of Moses and Elijah\, and their speaking together\, was meant \nto show unmistakably that the Law and the prophets were the attendants of Our \nLord Jesus Christ. He was their master\, whom they had themselves pointed out \nin advance in prophetic words that proved their perfect harmony with one \nanother. The message of the prophets was in no way at variance with the \nprecepts of the Law. \nMoses and Elijah did not simply appear in silence\, they spoke of how \nJesus was to complete his task by dying in Jerusalem. They spoke of his passion \nand cross\, and of the resurrection that would follow. Thinking no doubt that the \ntime for the kingdom of God had already come\, Peter would gladly have \nremained on the mountain. He suggested putting up three tents\, hardly \nknowing what he was saying. But it was not yet time for the end of the world\, nor \nwas it in this present time that the hopes of the saints would be fulfilled – those \nhopes founded on Paul’s promise that Christ would transform our lowly bodies \ninto the likeness of his glorious body. Only the initial stage of the divine plan \nhad as yet been accomplished. Until its completion. was it likely that Christ\, who \ncame on earth for love of the world\, would give up his wish to die for it? For his \nsubmitting to death was the world’s salvation\, and his resurrection was death’s \ndestruction. \nAs well as the vision of Christ’s glory\, wonderful beyond all description\, \nsomething else occurred which was to serve as a vital confirmation \, not only of \nthe disciples’ faith\, but of ours as well. From a cloud on high came the voice of \nGod the Father saying: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. \nListen to him.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-2nd-sunday-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250317
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250318
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250316T110516Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250316T110516Z
UID:13234-1742169600-1742255999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:I HAVE BROUGHT FASTING \nINTO MY SOUL \nFrom a meditation by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich \n◊◊◊ \nWith fasting I gladden my hope in You\, my Lord\, Who are to come again. \nFasting hastens my preparation for Your coming\, the sole expectation of my days \nand nights. Fasting makes my body thinner\, so that what remains can more easily \nshine with the spirit… \nBut truly\, abstaining from food will not save me. Even if I were to eat only \nthe sand from the lake\, You would not come to me\, unless the fasting penetrated \ndeeper into my soul. \nI have come to know through my prayer\, that bodily fasting is more a symbol \nof true fasting\, very beneficial for someone who has only just begun to hope in You\, \nand nevertheless very difficult for someone who merely practices it. \nTherefore I have brought fasting into my soul to purge her of many impudent \nfiancés and to prepare her for You like a virgin. And I have brought fasting into my \nmind\, to expel from it all daydreams about worldly matters and to demolish all the \nair castles\, fabricated from those daydreams…to receive Your Wisdom. \nAnd I have brought fasting into my heart\, so that by means of it my heart \nmight quell all passions and worldly selfishness…so that heavenly peace might \nineffably reign over my heart\, when Your stormy Spirit encounters it. \nI prescribe fasting for my tongue\, to break itself of the habit of idle chatter \nand to speak reservedly only those words that clear the way for You to come. \nAnd I have imposed fasting on my worries so that it may blow them all away \nbefore itself like the wind that blows away the mist\, lest they stand like dense fog \nbetween me and You\, and lest they turn my gaze back to the world. \nAnd fasting has brought into my soul tranquility in the face of uncreated and \ncreated realms\, and humility towards men and creatures. And it has instilled in me \ncourage\, the likes of which I never knew when I was armed with every sort of \nworldly weapon. What was my hope before I began to fast except merely another \nstory told by others\, which passed from mouth to mouth? The story told by others \nabout salvation through prayer and fasting became my own. \nFalse fasting accompanies false hope\, just as no fasting accompanies \nBut just as a wheel follows behind a wheel\, so true fasting follows \nhopelessness. true hope…
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-276/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250318
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250319
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250316T110639Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250316T110639Z
UID:13236-1742256000-1742342399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:PRAYER AND FASTING \nBy St Bernard of Clairvaux \n◊◊◊ \nNotice in this Lenten observance how prayer and fasting assist each other \nlike two allies\, as it is written: “When a neighbor helps a neighbor\, both shall be \ncomforted”. Prayer obtains the strength for fasting and fasting merits the grace \nto pray. Fasting renders prayer more powerful\, and prayer responds by \nsanctifying the fast and presenting it to the Lord. What would our fast profit us \nif – God forbid – it were allowed to remain on the earth? Let it therefore be lifted \nup on the wing of prayer. But since this one wing may not be sufficient\, it is \nnecessary to add a second. “The prayer of the just one pierces the heavens”\, says \nEcclesiasticus. Consequently\, in order that our fast may be easily lifted up to \nheaven\, let it be provided with the two wings of prayer and justice. \nNow what is justice but the virtue which inclines us to render everyone \ntheir due? Therefore it is not enough to have regard only to God. You are a \ndebtor also to your human superiors\, and a debtor to your equals. It is certainly \nnot the will of God that you should despise those whom He is far from despising. \nYou may have said to yourself\, “It is enough for me if I have the approval of God \nalone for my conduct. Why should I be concerned about the judgment of \nothers?” But be assured of this: that the Lord is pleased with no action of yours \nwhich either gives scandal to His children or which is done contrary to the will of \nthe one whom you are obliged to obey as God’s representative. \nJoel says: “Sanctify the fast; call a solemn assembly”. What is it to “call a \nsolemn assembly” but to preserve unity\, to foster peace\, to “love the family of \nbelievers”? The proud Pharisee fasted; he also returned thanks to God. But he \ndid not call the assembly\, since he rather isolated himself by saying\, “I am not as \nothers”. And therefore his fast\, borne up on only one wing\, was unable to ascend \nto heaven. See to it carefully that your fast shall have two wings\, “peace\, namely\, \nand holiness\, without which no one shall see God”. “Sanctify the fast\,” that is to \nsay\, let a pure intention and devout prayer offer it to the Divine Majesty; and \n“call a solemn assembly\,” that is to say\, your fast should not be singular or \ndetrimental to unity. \nSince I have spoken about justice and fasting\, it is right that I should say \nsomething concerning prayer. Now just as this holy exercise is more efficacious \nwhen discharged as it ought to be\, so the adversary strives to hinder it. \nSometimes he obstructs prayer by inspiring “smallness of spirit” and \nimmoderate fear. This happens when a person is so taken up with consideration \nof their own unworthiness that they lose sight altogether of the goodness of God. \nThe psalmist says: “Abyss calls on abyss”: the abyss of light on the abyss of \ndarkness\, the abyss of mercy on the abyss of misery. For the human heart is \ndeep and unfathomable. But although my iniquity is great\, much greater\, O \nLord\, is Your goodness. And consequently\, whenever my soul disquiets me\, I \nshall be “mindful of the multitude of Your mercies” and so shall be comforted.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-277/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250319
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250320
DTSTAMP:20260403T154941
CREATED:20250316T110739Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250316T111122Z
UID:13238-1742342400-1742428799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Joseph
DESCRIPTION:THE GUARDIAN AND PROTECTOR \nOF THE SON OF GOD \nFrom a homily by Fr Karl Rahner \n◊◊◊ \n“Joseph\, the husband of Mary\, being a just man\, and not wishing to \nexpose her to reproach\, was minded to put her away privately.” \nWhy should Joseph have wanted to put Mary away? Could it have been \nperhaps for this reason: that he felt himself\, was bound to feel himself\, somehow \nshut out from this mystery which had come to pass between Mary and heaven? \nSince she had now been claimed by someone higher\, indeed by God himself\, we \nmay well suppose that Joseph felt he could have no further claim of any kind \nupon her and resolved\, therefore\, to put her away privately. \nIf we interpret the text in this way – and it is at least a possible \ninterpretation of an obscure and difficult text – then the message that Joseph \nreceived from heaven\, the angel that appeared to him in a dream\, takes on a new \nand different light. The angel does not merely tell Joseph that Mary has \nconceived her child through the power of God – though this fact\, which Joseph \nalready knew from Mary\, is confirmed by the apparition – but has as his \nprincipal message: “Take Mary as your wife.” \nBe a father to this child\, heaven is saying\, fulfill the duties of a father \ntowards this child which heaven has sent to your bride. Protect\, watch over\, \nlove\, shield\, take care of this child. This duty is laid on Joseph by God himself. \nWe can say\, therefore\, that he is the foster-father and guardian of the child\, not \njust because his wedded bride has conceived a child from heaven\, but because \nGod himself wished him to take the place of a father to the son of God who had \ncome to save the world… Through this message from above Joseph is drawn into \nthe great\, public\, official story of salvation. He acts no longer in the purely \nprivate capacity of bridegroom and later husband of Mary\, but plays an official \nrole in the salvation story. He is the guardian and protector of the Son of God\, \ndirectly appointed to that office\, and not just drifting into this relationship with \nthe divine child through the accident of his betrothal to Mary. \nWe too are often called to be guardians of the Holy One in ourselves\, in \nour lives\, in our work… We are being called upon to be the guardians of \nsomething holy\, something great: God’s grace in us and about us. For us no \nangel from heaven appears\, no dream-apparition bids us: Take the child to \nyourself. And yet it seems as though through purely earthly incidents we are \nmade responsible for what is heavenly and divine\, for God’s grace in our own \nhearts and in our earthly surroundings. In all these the Son of God who became \nman continues his life\, and we are all asked whether the task of guarding this \nSon of God\, whom we meet in others\, will find us as true as Joseph\, of whom it is \nsaid: he was faithful\, he took the child and his mother to himself\, he spent his \nwhole life guarding the child so that it might become in truth the savior and the \nlife of the world.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-278/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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