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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241208
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241209
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241207T135237Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241207T135237Z
UID:12899-1733616000-1733702399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n2nd Week of Advent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nDecember 8 – 14\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n8\nMon\n9\nTue\n10\nWed\n11\nThu\n12\nFri\n13\nSat\n14\n\n\nOffice\n2nd Sunday of Advent\nImmaculate Conception\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nOur Lady of Guadalupe\nSt Lucy\nSt John of the Cross\n\n\nVigils\nIsa 22:8b-23\nRom 5:12-21\nIsa 24:19-25:5\nIsa 25:6-26:6\nProv 8:32-9:11\nIsa 27:1-13\nIsa 29:1-8\n\n\nLauds\nIsa 4:2-6\nIsa 43:1-7\nIsa 9:1-6\nIsa 11:1-9\nSir 4:11-18\nZeph 3:14-20\nIsa 11:10-16\n\n\nMass\n6\n689\n182\n183\n690A\n185\n186\n\n\n1st\nBar 5:1-9\nGen 3:9-15\, 20\nIsa 40:1-11\nIsa 40:25-31\nRev 11:19a; 12:1-6a\, 10ab\nIsa 48:17-19\nSir 48:1-4\, 9-11\n\n\n2nd\nPhil 1:4-6\, 8-11\nEph 1:3-6\, 11-12\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 3:1-6\nLuke 1:26-38\nMatt 18:12-14\nMatt 11:28-30\nLuke 1:39-47\nMatt 11:16-19\nMatt 17:9a\, 10-13\n\n\nVespers\nRom 5:1-11\nGal 4:21-5:1\nRom 8:18-27\nRom 6:16-23\nGal 3:23-29\nRom 8:1-6\nRom 8:9-17
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-95/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241208
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241209
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241207T135346Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241207T135346Z
UID:12901-1733616000-1733702399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 2nd Sunday of Advent
DESCRIPTION:PREPARE A WAY FOR THE LORD \nFrom a commentary by Origen of Alexandria \n◊◊◊ \nThe word of God was addressed to John\, son of Zechariah\, in the desert\, \nand he went through all the Jordan valley. Where else could he go but through \nthe Jordan valley\, where there would be water at hand to baptize those wishing \nto amend their lives? \nNow the word Jordan means descent or coming down. Coming down and \nrushing in full flood is the river of God\, the Lord our Savior\, in whom we were \nbaptized. This is the real\, life-giving water\, and the sins of those baptized in it \nare forgiven. \nSo come\, catechumens\, and amend your lives so that you may have your \nsins forgiven in baptism. In baptism the sins of those who cease to sin are \nforgiven\, but if anyone comes to be baptized while continuing to sin\, that \nperson’s sins are not forgiven. This is why I urge you not to present yourselves \nfor baptism without thinking very carefully\, but to give some evidence that you \nreally mean to change your way of living. Spend some time living a good life. \nCleanse yourselves from all impurity and avoid every sin. Then when you \nyourselves have begun to despise your sins\, they will be forgiven you. You will be \nforgiven your sins if you renounce them. \nThe teaching of the Old Testament is the same. We read in the prophet \nIsaiah: A voice cries out in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord. Build him a \nstraight highway.What way shall we prepare for the Lord? A way by land? \nCould the Word of God travel such a road? Is it not rather a way within ourselves \nthat we have to prepare for the Lord? Is it not a straight and level highway in our \nhearts that we are to make ready? Surely this is the way by which the Word of \nGod enters\, a way that exists in the spaciousness of the human body. The human \nheart is vast\, broad\, and capacious\, if only it is pure… You ought to judge it not \nby its physical size but by its power to embrace such a vast amount of knowledge \nof the truth. \nBut so that I may convince you that the human heart is large by a simple \nexample from daily life\, let us consider this. Whatever city we may have passed \nthrough\, we have in our minds. We remember its streets\, walls\, and buildings\, \nwhat they were like and where they were situated. We have a mental picture of \nthe roads we have traveled. In moments of quiet reflection our minds embrace \nthe sea that we have crossed. So\, as I said\, the heart that can contain all this is \nnot small! \nTherefore\, if what contains so much is not small\, let a way be prepared in \nit for the Lord\, a straight highway along which the Word and Wisdom of God \nmay advance. Prepare a way for the Lord by living a good life and guard that way \nby good works. Let the Word of God move in you unhindered and give you a \nknowledge of his coming and of his mysteries.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-2nd-sunday-of-advent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241209
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241210
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241207T135501Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241207T135501Z
UID:12903-1733702400-1733788799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Immaculate Conception
DESCRIPTION:IMMACULATE MARY \nBy Fr Hugo Rahner \n◊◊◊ \nFrom the first instant of Mary’s human existence until her assumption \ninto heaven\, every detail of her life that Revelation has provided is a ‘type of \nwhat is to come.’ The Church is symbolized in Mary. \nThat is true of the first and underlying mystery of her life\, which we know \nfrom the sources of Revelation and from the solemn declaration of the Church\, \nnamely that Mary in the first instant of her conception\, in virtue of the \nredemptive death to come of her divine son\, was preserved free from all stain of \noriginal sin. She possessed from the beginning also\, precisely as a member of \nthe human race redeemed by Christ\, that gift of sanctifying grace which was \ndestined originally for the whole human race from Adam and Eve\, and restored \nto every believer by the death of Christ\, the son of Mary. Thus it is that Mary \nImmaculate is already an essential symbol of the restoration to grace\, a work \nwhich began on the Cross and will have its entire fulfillment at the end of time \nby presenting to the eternal father the family of our first parents\, redeemed into \nthe one glorified Body of Christ: a symbol therefore of the Church. This is how \nthe early fathers saw in Mary Immaculate the Ecclesia Immaculata\, and in this \nfigure of the Church Immaculate the glorious conclusion of the work of \nredemption\, which will be revealed on that day when God who is able to \npreserve you without sin will present you spotless before the presence of his \nglory with exceeding joy\, in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. \nGod’s first word of salvation\, spoken outside the locked gates of Paradise\, \nalready indicates a woman\, a single woman\, who could never be overcome by \nSatan: I will put enmities between you and the woman\, and your seed and her \nseed. This woman was first of all Eve\, to whom the astounding promise was \nmade that the Redeemer should come from her race. But the full meaning of the \nprophecy is only realized\, when we see foreshadowed in Eve the other Mother of \nall the living\, who herself should actually give birth to the Savior. But already \nthen\, said Augustine\, Mary was included in Eve; yet is was only when Mary \ncame\, that we knew who Eve was. The woman who crushed the serpent’s head \nwas the mother of God Incarnate. From the beginning of catholic theology the \ntext has been thus interpreted. Christ\, the son of the woman of the promise\, \nwould conquer Satan\, and therefore God put enmities between the serpent and \nthe woman\, until the promised seed came to crush its head\, the seed of Mary.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-immaculate-conception-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241210
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241211
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241207T135601Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241207T135601Z
UID:12905-1733788800-1733875199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:COME\, LORD JESUS \nBy Fr Johannes Pinsk \n◊◊◊ \nAdvent means coming\, the coming of the Lord. If we want to celebrate \nAdvent with the Church\, we must first seek to understand what this means: \n“God is coming.” the word “coming” may be regarded as one of the primordial \nwords in the language of religion\, for if religion is the loving and unifying \nencounter with God\, it can only be realized when God comes. Unfortunately the \nsame thing happens with God’s coming to us as with his loving us — in both \ncases we want to take the second step before the first one. We think that we must \nlove God first so that he will love us first; and yet\, in his first letter Saint John \nstates expressly\, Here is love\, not that we loved God\, but that he loved us. Yes\, \nwe must love God because he first loved us. We cannot come to God unless he \nfirst comes to us. \nThis coming of God is not merely an interior\, spiritual affair; it happens \nrather in palpable\, concrete forms. So the coming of God has the same meaning \nas the revelation of God. Those\, therefore\, who carefully read and contemplate \nthe words of holy scripture\, which are a sign of his continued and continuous \ncoming\, will not find it difficult to understand that the actual content of \nscripture is the proclamation of the coming of God. His coming is the key to the \nhistory of the Old Testament and the basic theme of its people\, but this is only a \nprelude to that coming of God in which the Word was made flesh. \nAll these are ideas with which we are very familiar\, so familiar in fact that \nwe tend to think that everything has already been fulfilled. God has come in \nJesus Christ; through him he is with us in his grace by faith and the sacraments. \nGospels: Year A; introduced and edited by John E. Rotelle\, Hyde Park\, NY: New City Press\, 1995\, pp. 16-17.7 \nEach individual Christian personally\, and the Church of Christ as a community\, \nis a sign of the fact that God has come and is with us forever. Lo\, I am with you \nalways\, even to the end of the world. These are the words of our Lord at the end \nof Saint Matthew’s gospel. \nWe Christians today are so conscious of the joy of our belief in the \npresence of the Lord\, above all in the Eucharist\, that we almost forget that Christ \nhimself continued to speak of his coming right up to the end of his earthly life\, \neven though he was already present\, He spoke of a further coming\, beyond the \nChurch and the sacraments. \nAlthough the One who is to come has already appeared\, the New \nTestament\, like the Old\, is full of the promise and expectation of a new coming \nof Christ. The gospels speak of it\, so do the apostolic letters\, and most of all the \nRevelation of Saint John. This final book of the Bible teaches us: The Spirit and \nthe Bride say\, “Come.” Let him who hears say: “Come.” He who testifies to \nthese things says: Yes\, indeed\, I am coming soon\, and the congregation of the \nfaithful cries out once more: Come\, Lord Jesus!
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-239/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241212
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241207T135710Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241207T135710Z
UID:12907-1733875200-1733961599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:PATIENCE WITH THE PROVISIONAL \nBy Fr Karl Rahner \n◊◊◊ \nPeople of Advent\, of waiting for God\, of burning longing for the eternal\, can \nbe overcome by the most terrible and dangerous impatience that there is\, a \nreligious radicalism which has the appearance of being glorious and sublime but \nin reality is the contrary of the truly advent attitude. \nWe thirst for God\, hope in him\, hope that he will soon establish his \nkingdom. He wills the unconditional\, the radiant truth whose splendour at once \nburns every doubt from the mind\, the radical goodness which would destroy all \nfear that goodness itself is only a form of self-seeking. But only precursors ever \ncome; only beginnings are made; messengers come but always with God’s truth \nstill in merely human words which obscure it. Those messengers of God are \nhuman beings with human traits and sometimes inhuman ones. All that ever \nhappens are God’s saving deeds (called sacraments) in human ceremonies. All \nthese provisional things simply continue to proclaim that they themselves are not \nthe reality. The reality is merely hidden there in al those non-real words\, human \nbeings\, signs. \nThen human beings who even in their purest religious feeling are sinners\, \nmay lose patience. What are you doing in religion\, you human beings\, words\, \nsigns\, if you are after all not the reality\, not the unveiled God immediately \npresent? Then the impatient think that this God may perhaps be found outside \nthe human beings\, the words and the signs of the Church: in nature\, in the infinity \nof their own heart\, in political projects to establish for ever by force here and now\, \nthe Kingdom of God. Or somewhere else. But in the end these impatient people \nrealize\, very often too late\, that they have wandered into the wilderness of their \nown empty hearts where the devils dwell\, not God; into the loveless desert of a \nblind and cruel nature which is only benevolent on Sunday afternoons; into the \narid wasteland of the world where the waters of ideals ooze away the farther one \nadvances; into the desolate wilderness of a politics which brings about not the \nKingdom of God but simply the tyranny of naked forces. \nNo\, we are not spared it. We must have the patience of men and women of \nadvent. The Church is only the voice of one crying in the wilderness\, announcing \nthat the final radiant Kingdom of God is still coming and that when God wills\, \nnot when it suits us. We cannot try to ignore the voice of precursors simply \nbecause it comes from the mouths of human beings; we cannot disregard the \nmessenger of the Church because he too is not worthy to loosen the shoelaces of \nthe Lord whose forerunner he is\, or because he cannot call down fire from \nheaven like Elijah. For it is still advent. The Church itself is still an advent \nChurch; for we are still waiting for him who is to come in the unveiled radiance \nof unconditional Godhead with the eternal Kingdom. The Church rightly tells to \nprepare of this God the true way\, the way of faith\, of love\, of humility\, and the \nway of patience with its unimpressive provisional messengers of their poor \nwords and small signs. For then God will certainly come. He only comes to \nthose who in patience love his forerunners and the provisional.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-240/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241212
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241213
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241207T135827Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241207T135827Z
UID:12909-1733961600-1734047999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Our Lady of Guadalupe
DESCRIPTION:THE APPEARANCE OF THE \nBLESSED VIRGIN MARY \nAT GUADALUPE \nFrom the first written Aztec account of the apparition \n◊◊◊ \nUpon his reaching the top of the hillock\, Juan Diego catches sight of a \nwoman\, one who has been taking her stand there. She beckons him to come on\, \ncloser up to herself. Upon reaching her presence\, he greatly marvels at her \nextreme\, her surpassing\, her perfect wonderfulness. \nHer garments are as the sun\, gleaming\, glittering. Even the boulder\, the \ncrag\, on which she takes her stand sparkles in resplendence\, like fine emerald \njade or a bangle when it shines\, like the swarming glow of a rainbow in the \ngloom. Even the soil\, the brambles and prickles and the rest of the varied weeds \nthat struggle to survive there are shining like emerald\, like divine turquoise\, to \nthe tip of every leaf; are glittering like the golden scourings of the gods up every \nstalk and twig and thorn. \nIn her presence he prostrates; he listens to her utterance\, her declaration. \nThese are as of one who sets others at ease\, one whose manner is to attract\, one \nwhose attitude is to esteem. She addresses him: “Do listen to me\, my littlest one\, \nJuanito!… “Do know this\, do be assured of it in your heart\, my littlest one\, that I \nmyself\, I am the entirely and ever Virgin Saint Mary\, Mother of the True \nDivinity\, God Himself: Because of Him\, life goes on\, Creation goes on; His are \nall things afar\, His are all things near at hand\, things above in the heavens\, \nthings here below on the earth. How truly I wish it\, how greatly I desire it\, that \nhere they should erect me my temple! Here would I show forth\, here would I lift \nup to view\, here would I make a gift of all my fondness for my dear ones\, all my \nregard for my needy ones\, my willingness to aid them\, my readiness to protect \nthem. For truly I myself\, I am your compassionate mother\, yours\, for you \nyourself\, for everybody here in the land\, for each and all together\, for all others \ntoo\, for all folk of every kind\, who do but cherish me\, who do but raise their \nvoices to me\, who do but seek me\, who do but raise their trust to me. \nFor here I shall listen to their groanings\, to their saddenings; here shall I \nmake well and heal up their each and every kind of disappointment\, of \nexhausting pangs\, of bitter aching pain… Therefore\, to realize all that my \nclemency claims\, go to the palace of the Bishop of Mexico\, and say that I sent you \nto make manifest to him my great desire; namely\, that here in the valley a temple \nshould be built to me. Tell him word for word all that you have seen and heard and \nadmired. Be assured that I shall be grateful and that I will reward you\, for I will \nmake your life happy and cause you to become worthy of the labor you have taken \nand the trouble you perform to do what I enjoin you. Now you have heard all my \nbidding\, least of my sons. Go and do your utmost.’ \n“At this point he bowed before her and said\, ‘Lady\, I go to do your bidding. \nAs your humble servant\, I take my leave of you.’ Then he went on to accomplish \nher will\, taking the causeway that leads directly to Mexico City.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-our-lady-of-guadalupe-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241213
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241214
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241207T143410Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241207T143410Z
UID:12911-1734048000-1734134399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Lucy
DESCRIPTION:ST LUCY \nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints \n◊◊◊ \nSt Lucy is said to have been a Sicilian\, born in the city of Syracuse of noble \nand wealthy parents and brought up a Christian. She wished to devote her life to \nGod and to give her fortune to the poor\, but during the Diocletian persecutions \na man\, usually represented as a Roman soldier\, tried to rape her\, and she \nresisted. He denounced her as a Christian\, and she was arrested\, tortured and \nkilled. \nThough these traditions have no ascertainable historical basis\, her \nconnection with Syracuse and the existence of an early cult connected with her \nname are well established. A fourth-century inscription mentioning that a girl \ncalled Euskia died on Lucy’s feast-day survives at Syracuse. Lucy was honoured \nat Rome in the sixth century as one of the most illustrious virgin martyrs whose \nlives the Church celebrates. Her name is included in the Canons of the Roman \nand Ambrosian rites and occurs in the oldest Roman sacramentaries\, in Greek \nliturgical books\, and in the marble calendar of Naples. Churches were dedicated \nto her in Rome\, Naples\, and eventually Venice. In England two ancient \nchurches were dedicated to her\, and she has certainly been known since the \nend of the seventh century. St Aldhelm\, bishop of Sherborne (23 May)\, \ncelebrated her in both prose and verse\, though he unfortunately relied on \nspurious sources. \nPossibly on account of her name\,which has connotations of light and \npurity (Latin lux/Lucia)\, legends have long gathered around St Lucy. Some of \nthe legends and many paintings relate to her eyes. One gruesome story is that \nshe tore her eyes out rather than surrender to her attacker\, and she is sometimes \nshown offering them to him. Oddly\, she is the patron saint of those with eye \ntrouble\, and a gentler interpretation is that this is because the eyes are the \nsource of our awareness of light. Her feast-day had long been the occasion for \nspecial ceremonies connected with virginity. It occurs near the shortest day of \nthe year and is especially celebrated in Sweden as a festival of light\, with a \nprocession of young girls dressed in white and crowned with lighted candles. \nThe song “Santa Lucia” celebrates her memory.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-lucy-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241214
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241215
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241207T143534Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241207T143534Z
UID:12913-1734134400-1734220799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St John of the Cross
DESCRIPTION:LOVE OF THE CROSS \nFrom an essay by St Edith Stein \n◊◊◊ \nWe hear repeatedly that St. John of the Cross desired nothing for himself \nbut to suffer and be despised. We want to know the reason for this love of \nsuffering. Is it merely the loving remembrance of the path of suffering of our \nLord on earth\, a tender impulse to be humanly close to him by a life resembling \nhis? This does not seem to correspond to the lofty and strict spirituality of the \nmystical teacher. And in relation to the Man of Sorrows\, it would almost seem \nthat the victoriously enthroned king\, the divine conqueror of sin\, death and hell \nis forgotten. Did not Christ lead captivity captive? Has he not transported us \ninto a kingdom of light and called us to be happy children of our heavenly \nFather? \nThe sight of the world in which we live\, the need and misery\, and the abyss \nof human malice\, again and again dampens jubilation over the victory of light. \nThe world is still deluged by mire\, and still only a small flock has escaped from it \nto the highest mountain peaks. The battle between Christ and the Antichrist is \nnot yet over. The followers of Christ have their place in this battle\, and their \nchief weapon is the cross… \nThe entire sum of human failures from the first Fall up to the Day of \nJudgment must be blotted out by a corresponding measure of expiation. The \nway of the cross is this expiation. The triple collapse under the burden of the \ncross corresponds to the triple fall of humanity: the first sin\, the rejection of the \nSavior by his chosen people\, the falling away of those who bear the name of \nChristian… \nThe Savior is not alone on the way of the cross… The archetype of \nfollowers of the cross for all time is the Mother of God. …Everyone who\, in the \ncourse of time\, has borne an onerous destiny in remembrance of the suffering \nSavior or who has freely taken up works of expiation has by doing so canceled \nsome of the mighty load of human sin and has helped the Lord carry his \nburden.… The disciples\, both men and women\, who surrounded [the Savior] \nduring his earthly life\, assist him on the second stretch. The lovers of the cross \nwhom he has awakened and will always continue to awaken anew in the \nchangeable history of the struggling church\, these are his allies at the end of \ntime. We\, too\, are called for that purpose… \nBut because being one with Christ is our sanctity\, and progressively \nbecoming one with him our happiness on earth\, the love of the cross in no way \ncontradicts being a joyful child of God. Helping Christ carry his cross fills one \nwith a strong and pure joy\, and those who may and can do so\, the builders of \nGod’s kingdom\, are the most authentic children of God. And so those who have \na predilection for the way of the cross by no means deny that Good Friday is past \nand that the work of salvation has been accomplished. Only those who are \nsaved\, only children of grace\, can in fact be bearers of Christ’s cross. Only in \nunion with the divine Head does human suffering take on expiatory power. To \nsuffer and to be happy although suffering\, to have one’s feet on the earth\, to walk \non the dirty and rough paths of this earth and yet to be enthroned with Christ at \nthe Father’s right hand\, to laugh and cry with the children of this world and \nceaselessly sing the praises of God with the choirs of angels — this is the life of \nthe Christian until the morning of eternity breaks forth.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-john-of-the-cross-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241215
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241216
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241215T123652Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241215T123652Z
UID:12918-1734220800-1734307199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n3rd Week of Advent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nDecember 15 – 21\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n15\nMon\n16\nTue\n17\nWed\n18\nThu\n19\nFri\n20\nSat\n21\n\n\nOffice\n3rd Sunday of Advent\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nIsa 29:13-24\nIsa 30:15-26\nIsa 45:1-13\nIsa 46:1-13\nIsa 47:1-15\nIsa 48:1-11\nIsa 48:12-22\n\n\nLauds\nZech 2:10-17\nIsa 12:1-6\nIsa 40:1-5\nIsa 40:6-11\nIsa 40:25-31\nIsa 41:1-10\nIsa 41:11-16\n\n\nMass\n9\n187\n193\n194\n195\n196\n197\n\n\n1st\nZeph 3:14-18a\nNum 24:2-7\, 15-17a\nGen 49:2\, 8-10\nJer 23:5-8\nJudg 13:2-7\, 24-25a\nIsa 7:10-14\nSong 2:8-14\n\n\n2nd\nPhil 4:4-7\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 3:10-18\nMatt 21:23-27\nMatt 1:1-17\nMatt 1:18-24\nLuke 1:5-25\nLuke 1:26-38\nLuke 1:39-45\n\n\nVespers\nRom 9:1-8\nRom 10:1-13\n1 Thess 5:16-24\nPhil 1:3-11\nPhil 3:17-21\nPhil 4:4-9\n1 Cor 1:1-9
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-96/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241215
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241216
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241215T123813Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241215T123813Z
UID:12920-1734220800-1734307199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 3rd Sunday of Advent
DESCRIPTION:YOU MUST BUILD UPON ROCK \nFrom a commentary by Origen of Alexandria \n◊◊◊ \nThe baptism that Jesus gives is a baptism in the Holy Spirit and in fire. \nBaptism is one and the same no matter who receives it\, but its effect depends on \nthe recipient’s disposition. He who is portrayed as baptizing in the Holy Spirit \nand in fire holds a winnowing fan in his hand\, which he will use to clear the \nthreshing floor. The wheat he will gather into his barn\, but the chaff he will \nburn with fire that can never be quenched. \nI should like to discover our Lord’s reason for holding a winnowing fan \nand to inquire into the nature of the wind that scatters the light chaff here and \nthere\, leaving the heavier grain lying in a heap – for you must have a wind if you \nwant to separate wheat and chaff. \nI suggest that the faithful are like a heap of unsifted grain\, and that the \nwind represents the temptations which assail them and show up the wheat and \nchaff among them. When your soul is overcome by some temptation\, it is not the \ntemptation that changes you into chaff. No\, you were chaff already\, that is to \nsay\, fickle and faithless; the temptation simply discloses the stuff you were \nmade of. On the other hand\, when you endure temptations bravely it is not the \ntemptation that made you faithful and patient; temptation merely brings to \nlight the hidden virtues of patience and fortitude that have been present in you \nall along. Do you think that I had any other purpose in speaking to you\, said the \nLord to Job\, than to reveal your virtue? In another text he declares: I humbled \nyou and made you feel the pangs of hunger in order to find out what was in \nyour heart. \nIn the same way\, a storm will not allow a house to stand firm if it is built \non sand. If you wish to build a house\, you must build it upon rock. Then any \nstorms that arise will not demolish your handiwork\, whereas the house built \nupon sand will totter\, proving thereby that it is not well founded. \nSo while all is yet quiet\, before the storm gathers\, before the squalls begin \nto bluster or the waves to swell\, let us concentrate all our efforts on the \nfoundations of our building and construct our house with the many strong\, \ninterlocking bricks of God’s commandments. Then when cruel persecutions is \nunleashed like some fearful tornado against Christians\, we shall be able to show \nthat our house is built upon Christ Jesus our rock. \nFar be it from us to deny Christ when the time comes. But if anyone \nshould do so\, let that person realize that it is not at the moment of his public \ndenial that apostasy took place. Its seeds and roots had been hidden within him \nfor a long time; persecution only brought into the open and made public what \nwas already there. Let us pray to the Lord then that we may be firm and solid \nbuildings that no storm can overthrow\, founded on the rock of our Lord Jesus \nChrist.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-3rd-sunday-of-advent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241216
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241217
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241215T123923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241215T123923Z
UID:12922-1734307200-1734393599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:O KING OF ALL NATIONS \nFrom a treatise by St Hilary of Poitiers \n◊◊◊ \n[A verse from the second Psalm says:] Ask of me\, and I will give you \nthe nations to be your inheritance and the ends of the earth to be \nyour possession. Christ has indeed received the nations as the inheritance he \nasked for. When was this? It was when he prayed: Father\, the hour has come. \nGive glory to your Son that he may give glory to you\, since you have given him \nauthority over the whole human race\, to give eternal life to all those you have \ngiven him. \nThis\, then\, is Christ’s inheritance: the whole human race\, to whom he \ndesires to give eternal life. All nations are to be baptized\, instructed\, and born \nagain to new life. No longer will they be subject to the government of angels \nreferred to in the inspired Song of Moses\, nor will they be divided up among the \nangels in proportion to their numbers; they will be received into the Lord’s \nfamily and reckoned as servants of God. From the dominion of unjust rulers \nthey will be taken into God’s eternal kingdom. In the past Israel alone was the \nLord’s portion and Jacob his allotted heritage; but now the whole company of \nnations has become a single people\, the people of the one and only God. All who \nare to rise from the dead form the everlasting inheritance of God’s eternal Son\, \nthe firstborn from the dead. \nYou will rule them with a rod of iron; you will shatter them \nlike the potter’s vessel. To many people these words seem to conflict with \nthe goodness of God. Are the nations which the Son of God asked for and \nreceived as his inheritance to be terrorized by an iron rule and smashed like \nvessels of clay? No good person\, they say\, gives or receives anything for the \npurpose of destroying it. Does not the Lord prefer the repentance of sinners to5 \ntheir death? How then will he be acting in accordance with the nature he claims \nto have if he shatters with an iron rod those whom he has asked for as his \ninheritance? \nThese people misunderstand the divine decrees or else fail to recognize \ntheir justice and propriety. You will rule them means that Christ will lead \nthem like a shepherd\, guiding them with a shepherd’s loving care\, for he is the \nGood Shepherd and we the sheep for whom he laid down his life.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-241/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241217
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241218
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241215T124029Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241215T124029Z
UID:12924-1734393600-1734479999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:O WISDOM \nA letter from an anonymous author to Diognetus \n◊◊◊ \nNo one has ever seen God or known him\, but God has revealed himself to \nus through faith\, by which alone it is possible to see him. God\, the Lord and \nmaker of all things\, who created the world and set it in order\, not only loved us \nbut was also patient with us. So he has always been\, and is\, and will be: kind\, \ngood\, free from anger\, truthful; indeed\, he and he alone is good. \nHe devised a plan\, a great and wonderful plan\, and shared it only with his \nSon. As long as he preserved his secrecy and kept his own wise counsel he \nseemed to be neglecting us\, to have no concern for us. But when – through his \nbeloved Son – he revealed and made public what he had prepared from the \nbeginning\, he gave us all at once gifts such as we could never have dreamt of\, \neven sight and knowledge of himself. \nAfter making all his plans in consultation with his Son\, God still allowed \nus for a time to go our own way\, to be swept along by unruly passion\, enslaved by \nsensuality. This does not mean that he took pleasure in our sins\, but only that he \ntolerated them. When we had shown ourselves to be unworthy of life\, his \ngoodness would make us worthy of it. When we had shown our inability to enter \nthe kingdom of God by our own power\, we would be enabled to do so by God’s \npower. \nHow immeasurable is God’s generosity and love! He did not show hatred \nfor us or reject us or take vengeance. He gave his own Son as the price of our \nredemption\, the holy One to redeem the wicked\, the sinless One to redeem \nsinners\, the just One to redeem the unjust\, the incorruptible One to redeem the \ncorruptible\, the immortal One to redeem mortals. For what else could have7 \ncovered our sins but his sinlessness? In whom could we have been sanctified but \nin the Son of God alone? \nHow wonderful a transformation\, how mysterious a design\, how \ninconceivable a blessing! The wickedness of the many is hidden in the One who \nis holy\, and the holiness of One sanctifies the many.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-242/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241218
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241219
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241215T124126Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241215T124126Z
UID:12926-1734480000-1734566399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:O ADONAI \nFrom a sermon by St Gregory of Nazianzus \n◊◊◊ \nThe very Son of God\, older than the ages\, the invisible\, the \nincomprehensible\, the incorporeal the beginning of beginning\, the light of light\, \nthe fountain of life and immortality\, the image of the archetype\, the immovable \nseat the perfect likeness\, the definition and word of the Father: he it is who \ncomes to his own image and takes our nature for the good of our nature\, and \nunites himself to an intelligent soul for the good of my soul to purify like by like. \nHe takes to himself all that is human except for sin. He was conceived by the \nVirgin Mary\, who had been first prepared in soul and body by the Spirit; his \ncoming to birth had to be treated with honor\, virginity had to receive new honor. \nHe comes forth as God\, in the human nature he has taken\, one being\, made of \ntwo contrary elements\, flesh and spirit. Spirit gave divinity\, flesh received it. \nHe who makes rich is made poor; he takes on the poverty of my flesh\, that \nI may gain the riches of his divinity. He who is full is made empty; he is emptied \nfor a brief space of his glory\, that I may share in his fullness. What is this wealth \nof goodness? What is this mystery that surrounds me? I received the likeness of \nGod\, but failed to keep it. He takes on my flesh\, to bring salvation to the likeness \nand immortality to the flesh. He enters a second union with us\, a union far more \nwonderful than the first. \nHoliness had to be brought to us by the humanity assumed by one who is \nGod\, so that God might overcome the tyrant and so deliver us and lead us back \nto himself through the mediation of his Son. The Son arranged this for the honor \nof the Father\, to whom the Son is clearly obedient in all things. The Good \nShepherd\, who lays down his life for the sheep\, came in search of the straying \nsheep to the mountains and hills on which we used to offer sacrifice.9 \nChrist\, the light of all lights\, follows John\, the lamp that goes before him. \nThe Word of God follows the voice in the wilderness; the bridegroom follows the \nbridegroom’s friend\, who prepares a worthy people for the Lord by cleansing \nthem by water in preparation for the Spirit. We need God to take our flesh and \ndie\, that we might live. We have died with him\, that we may be purified. We have \nrisen again with him\, because we have died with him. We have been glorified \nwith him\, because we have risen again with him.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-243/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241219
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241220
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241215T124221Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241215T124221Z
UID:12928-1734566400-1734652799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:O ROOT OF JESSE \nFrom a homily by Fr Geoffrey Preston \n◊◊◊ \nJesus does not come of a particularly good family. His family is in fact \nparticularly ungood for much of its past. In the Te Deum we sing to Christ “You \ndid not scorn the Virgin’s womb.” At first sight that seems rather strange \nlanguage to use about the Virgin when she is honored as Mary Immaculate. But \nsurely it is Mary’s ancestry which is in debate here. The hymn celebrates the \nextraordinary condescension of Jesus in being prepared to take not the flesh of \nAdam before the Fall but the flesh of all those generations stretching from Adam \nthrough Abraham and David down to Mary. \nSo we pray to him: “O Root of Jesse.” This means praying to him as Son \nof David\, as son of all those kings after David\, people like Solomon and Asa and \nManasseh and Jeconiah. If he was prepared to come to an Israel and a world \nthat had produced people like that\, then we can fairly expect that he will be \nprepared to come to our world and our hearts with all their accumulated weight \nof sin. We can be confident that he will come to us as we are\, coming through our \npast and making it his own. In this way he will reach us where we are and \ntransform our past so that when we tell the story of our lives we will be able to \ninclude all the mistakes we have made and all the blind alleys we have explored. \nNot that we cease to regret. Not that we excuse ourselves for our mistakes. \nNot that we become complacent about our evil deeds and thoughts and words. It \nis not as though what was once bad has now become good. But if and when the \nMessiah comes to us\, then we can sing the story of our lives as the story of the \npath which he took to come to us\, leaping upon the mountains and bounding \nover the hills as we hear in the Song of Songs. When he comes we can tell the11 \nstory of our past all over again\, as nations retell their history after a change in \ntheir fortunes. \nIt is a mistake to brood over our past. It is a misunderstanding of what \nMessiah means for us to worry about the past. That past is only the raw material \nof a story. What matters is how we tell the story using the raw materials. If the \nMessiah has come\, then the story can be solemnly and gladly sung\, to the \naccompaniment of all that makes for rejoicing.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-244/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241220
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241221
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241215T124345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241215T124345Z
UID:12930-1734652800-1734739199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:O KEY OF DAVID \nFrom a sermon by St Odilo of Cluny \n◊◊◊ \nThe testimony of the ancient prophets to Christ’s eternal being and his \nboundless divine presence is indeed trustworthy and true\, and is confirmed by the \nresounding call of that inspired heavenly trumpet: Jesus Christ\, yesterday and today\, \nthe same for ever. Our Savior himself tells the Jews in the gospel: Before Abraham \never existed\, I am. With God the Father from all eternity\, before Abraham existed \n(more accurately\, before anything existed\,) he had his eternal being; and yet he chose \nto be born in time from the stock of Abraham — Abraham who was told by God the \nFather: In your posterity all the peoples of the earth will be blessed. \nThe blessed patriarch David was also granted the sublime privilege of a \nsimilar promise. Revealing to him the hidden secrets of his wisdom\, God the Father \ntold him: The fruits of your body I will set upon your throne. \nThese two received the promise of the Savior’s coming more plainly than any \nof our other forebears\, and so they deserved to be given the first and most important \nplace in the records of our Lord’s ancestry according to the evangelist\, Matthew\, the \nopening words of whose gospel are: The genealogy of Jesus Christ\, the son of \nDavid\, the son of Abraham. With these sacred words of the evangelist both the \nprophetic oracles and the apostolic preaching are in accord. It is evident that when \nthe prophet Isaiah said in the person of God the Father: And so\, Israel my servant\, \nJacob whom I have chosen\, the seed of Abraham my friend in whom I took \npossession of you\, his message was that the mediator between God and humankind \nwould be born according to the flesh from the stock of Abraham.13 \nThe man in the Gospel who was freed from the darkness of ignorance and \nenlightened by faith addressed God’s Son as Son of David. Not only did he receive \nspiritual insight\, but he also deserved to have his bodily sight restored. Christ the \nLord desires to be called by this name\, knowing that there is no other name by which \nthe world can be saved. And if we ourselves wish to be saved by him who is the one \nand only Savior\, each of us must also say to him: Lord\, son of David\, have mercy on \nme.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-245/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241221
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241222
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241215T124451Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241215T124451Z
UID:12932-1734739200-1734825599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:O RADIANT DAWN \nBy St Irenaeus \n◊◊◊ \nThere is one God who\, through the Word and Wisdom\, made everything \nand brought everything into harmony. It is he who is the Creator and who gave \nthis world over to the human race. Because of his greatness he is unknown to all \nthe beings whom he has made; for no one\, either in ancient times or today\, has \nlooked upon the great eminence in which he dwells. Yet because of his love he is \nknown at all times\, thanks to him through whom he created all things. He is \nnone other than the Word\, our Lord Jesus Christ\, who in these latter times \nbecame a human being among humans in order to join the end to the beginning \nagain\, humanity to God. That is why the prophets\, when they had received the \ngift of prophecy\, foretold in their preaching that he would come according to the \nflesh and that the uniting and communion of God and humanity would be \nrealized according to the Father’s good pleasure. \nFrom the very beginning the Word proclaimed that God would be seen by \nhumans\, that he would live and talk with them on earth and that he would take \npart in the work which he himself had planned. He proclaimed that he would do \nthis to save his work\, and proclaimed that he would let himself be seized by it\, \n“to save us from the hands of all who hate us”\, from all spirit of transgression. \nHe also proclaimed that he would act in such a way that “we shall serve him \nwithout fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life”\, so that\, \ncaught up by the Spirit of God\, humanity might attain to the glory of the \nFather… The prophets\, then\, foretold that God would be seen among \nhumankind\, according again to what the Lord said: “Blessed are the pure in \nheart\, for they shall see God”. \nIt is true that because of his greatness and inexpressible glory\, “no one \nshall see God and live”\, for the Father is unattainable. But because of his love \nand goodness towards humanity and of his power to do all things\, he goes so far \nas to grant to those who love him the privilege of seeing God — just as the \nprophets foretold — “for what is impossible with humans is possible with God”. \nBy their own power humans will never be able to see God; but God\, if he \nwills it\, will be seen by humans\, by those whom he intends to see him\, when – \nand how – he intends it. For God can do all things: seen of old through the \nintervention of the Spirit in the manner of the prophets; then seen again \nthrough the mediation of the Son in accordance with the adoption\, he will be \nseen again in the Kingdom in accordance with the Fatherhood\, the Holy \nSpirit preparing humanity in advance for the Son of God\, the Son leading \nthem to the Father\, and the Father bestowing on them that incorruptibility \nand eternal life which comes to everyone from the fact of their seeing God. \nJust as those who see the light are themselves in the light and share in its \nsplendor\, so those who see God are in God and share in his splendor.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-246/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241222
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241223
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241222T125921Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241222T125939Z
UID:12942-1734825600-1734911999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n4th Week of Advent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nDecember 22 – 28\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n22\nMon\n23\nTue\n24\nWed\n25\nThu\n26\nFri\n27\nSat\n28\n\n\nOffice\n4th Sunday of Advent\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nNativity of the Lord\nSt Stephen\nSt John\nHoly Innocents\n\n\nVigils\nIsa 49:8-26\nIsa 51:1-11\nIsa 51:17-52:10\n*vigil and midnight mass\nActs 6:1-15\nWis 7:21-8:1\nExod 1:6-22\n\n\nLauds\nIsa 41:17-20\nIsa 43:9-13\nIsa 63:15-19\nBaruch 3:36-4:4\nWis 4:7-15\nProv 8:22-30\nJer 31:15-20\n\n\nMass\n12\n199\n200\n16\n696\n697\n698\n\n\n1st\nMic 5:1-4a\nMal 3:1-4\, 23-24\n2 Sam 7:1-5\, 8b-12\, 14a\, 16\nIsa 52:7-10\nActs 6:8-10; 7:54-59\n1 John 1:1-4\n1 John 1:5-2:2\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 10:5-10\n\n\nHeb 1:1-6\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 1:39-45\nLuke 1:57-66\nLuke 1:67-79\nJohn 1:1-18\nMatt 10:17-22\nJohn 20:1a\, 2-8\nMatt 2:13-18\n\n\nVespers\n1 Cor 4:1-5\nJas 5:7-11\n2 Pet 3:8-14\nActs 13:16-26\nGal 2:15-21\nActs 4:13-20\nPhil 2:1-11\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n* Mass during the Night:   1) Isa 9:1-6   2) Titus 2:11-14   Gospel) Luke 2:1-14
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-97/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241222
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241223
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241222T130045Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241222T130045Z
UID:12944-1734825600-1734911999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 4th Sunday of Advent
DESCRIPTION:WAIT PATIENTLY \nFOR THE LORD TO COME \nFrom a commentary by Blessed Guerric of Igny \n◊◊◊ \nOur King and Savior is coming; let us go to meet him! Good news from a \nfar country\, in the words of Solomon\, is like cold water to a thirsty soul; and to \nannounce the coming of our Savior and the reconciliation of the world\, together \nwith the good things of the life to come\, is to bring good news indeed. How \nbeautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings and publish peace! Such \nmessengers truly bear a refreshing draught to the soul that thirsts for God; with \ntheir news of the Savior’s coming\, they joyfully draw and offer us water from the \nsprings of salvation. In the words and spirit of Elizabeth\, the soul responds to \nthe message\, whether it be of Isaiah or his fellow-prophets: Why is this granted \nto me\, that my Lord should come to me? For behold\, when the voice of your \ngreeting came to my ears\, my spirit leapt for joy within me in eager longing to \nrun ahead to meet my Lord and Savior. \nLet us too arise with joy and run in spirit to meet our Savior. Hailing him \nfrom afar\, let us worship him\, saying: Come\, Lord\, save me and I shall be saved! \nCome and show us your face\, and we shall all be saved. We have been waiting \nfor you; be our help in time of trouble. This is how the prophets and saints of old \nran to meet the Messiah\, filled with intense desire to see with their eyes\, if \npossible\, what they already saw in spirit… \nI believe that the many texts of scripture which urge us to go out to meet \nhim speak of Christ’s first coming as well as his second… Between these two \ncomings of his\, the Lord frequently visits us individually in accordance with our \nmerits and desires\, forming us to the likeness of his first coming in the flesh\, and \npreparing us for his return at the end of time. He comes to us now\, to make sure \nthat we do not lose the fruits of his first coming nor incur his wrath at his \nsecond. His purpose now is to convert our pride into the humility which he \nshowed when he first came\, so that he may refashion our lowly bodies into the \nlikeness of that glorious body which he will manifest when he comes again. \nGrace accompanied his first coming\, glory will surround his last; this \nintermediate coming is a combination of both\, enabling us to experience in the \nconsolations of his grace a sort of foretaste of his glory. Blessed are those whose \nburning love has gained for them such a privilege! \nAnd so\, my brothers\, though we have not yet experienced this wonderful \nconsolation\, we are encouraged by firm faith and a pure conscience to wait \npatiently for the Lord to come. In joy and confidence let us say with St. Paul: I \nknow the one in whom I have put my trust\, and I am confident of his power to \nguard what has been put into my charge until the day when our great God and \nSavior Jesus Christ comes in glory.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-4th-sunday-of-advent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241223
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241224
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241222T130200Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241222T130200Z
UID:12946-1734912000-1734998399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:O EMMANUEL \nFrom a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria \n◊◊◊ \nIsaiah speaks at some length of Cyrus\, king of the Medes and Persians. \nRaised up against the Chaldeans\, he was urged on by God himself\, who opened \ntheir bronze doors to him and shattered their iron bars. Having conquered the \nland of Babylonia and laid it waste\, Cyrus released enslaved Israel from captivity \nand caused the foundations of the temple in Jerusalem to be laid. \nBut this is only part of the story\, for after indicating that the rejoicing and \nthe release from captivity were for those of Israelite blood and them alone\, \nIsaiah goes on to apply these images to Emmanuel\, who was consecrated by God \nthe Father to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the \nblind; that is to say\, to deliver those inescapably bound by the chains of their \nown sins\, to declare them free from tyranny\, and so to prepare the inhabitants of \nthe earth to return to himself\, to be led by him to God the Father. \nHe has become the mediator between God and ourselves\, and through \nhim we have been reconciled in the one Spirit to the Father. He is our peace. \nHe himself has rebuilt his own holy temple\, which is the Church\, and has taken \nher to himself as a pure virgin\, having neither spot or wrinkle\, nor any such \nimperfection. Thus one can easily see in Cyrus and his deeds an image of the \ndivine blessings bestowed by God upon all the inhabitants of the earth. \nLet heaven rejoice\, and let the clouds rain down justice. Let \nearth open and bring forth both mercy and justice. Mercy is the love \nwhich is the fulfillment of the law\, for it goes hand in hand with the justice of the \ngospel that Christ himself teaches us and bestows on us. It could also be said \nthat mercy and justice coming forth and growing from the earth is our Lord5 \nJesus Christ himself. For if we think it strange that the earth is commanded to \nbring forth justice\, let us remember that Emmanuel himself wrought justice in \nthe midst of the earth. That is\, Christ did not bring his own body down to us \nfrom heaven\, but was born in the body of a woman who was one of the \ninhabitants of the earth.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-247/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241222T130300Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241222T130300Z
UID:12948-1734998400-1735084799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:HOLY NIGHT \nBy Karl Rahner \n◊◊◊ \nWhy do we call the feast we are keeping tonight a “sacred night”? Night \nbecause a beginning\, holy night because a blessed and unconquerable \nbeginning; of such a beginning we would have to say: holy night\, sacred night. \nAnd so the church sings “Silent night\, holy night.” Everywhere in the world \nthese words are sung for this feast… For this hour is the holy and sacred night. \nFaith tells the Christians: that was the beginning. There God himself \ncame gently forth from the terrifying radiance in which he dwells as God and \nLord\, and came to us; he quietly entered the poor dwelling of our earthly \nexistence and was found as a man; he began where we begin\, quite poor\, \nvulnerable\, quite childlike and gentle\, quite helpless. He who is infinite\, distant \nfuture which of ourselves we never reach because it seems to retreat farther and \nfarther away as we hurry towards it on the hard roads of life\, he himself has \napproached us\, arrived among us\, because otherwise we should never have \nfound our way to him. He has accompanied us on our way to him so that this \nmay find a blessed end\, because the very end itself has become our beginning. \nGod is near; his eternal word of mercy is where we are; it is a pilgrim on \nour paths\, experiences our joy and our distress\, lives our life and dies our death. \nHe has brought his eternal life quietly and gently into this world and its death. \nHe has redeemed us\, for he shared our lot. He made our beginning his own\, \nfollowed the path of our destiny and so opened it up into the infinite expanses of \nGod. And because he accepted us irrevocably\, because God’s Word will never \ncease to be human\, this beginning which is ours and his is a beginning of \nindestructible promises… \nThe eternal future has entered our time. Its radiance still dazzles us\, so \nthat we think it is night. But at all events it is a blessed night\, a night in which \nthere is already warmth and light\, which is beautiful\, welcoming and secure by \nreason of the eternal day which it bears hidden within it. It is a silent\, holy night \nfor us\, however\, only if we admit the holy silence of this night into our inner \nselves\, only if our heart too keeps watch in solitude. It can do so easily. For such \nsolitude and quiet is not hard. For of course we are solitary. There exists in our \nheart an interior land where we are alone\, to which no one finds his way but \nGod. This innermost\, unfrequented chamber of our heart is really there – the \nonly question is whether we ourselves avoid it foolishly out of guilty fear\, \nbecause no one and no familiar things of this earth can accompany us if we enter \nit. The silent and solitary soul sings here to the God of the heart its quietest and \nmost ardent song. And it can have confidence that he hears it. For this song no \nlonger has to seek a beloved God beyond the stars in that inaccessible light in \nwhich he dwells and which makes him invisible to all. \nBecause of Christmas\, because the Word was made flesh\, God is near and \nthe quietest word in the stillest room of the heart\, the word of love\, comes to his \near and his heart. And those who have entered into themselves even when it is \nnight\, hear in this nocturnal quiet in the depth of the heart God’s gentle word of \nlove… Let us enter quietly and shut the door behind us. Let us listen to the \nunutterable melody which sounds in the silence of that night. For the ultimate \nis only spoken in the silence of the night\, now that…through the gracious \ncoming of the Word\, there has come to be Christmas\, holy night\, silent night.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-248/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241222T130515Z
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UID:12950-1735084800-1735171199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Nativity of the Lord
DESCRIPTION:THE NATIVITY KERYGMA \nBy Thomas Merton3 \n◊◊◊ \nIn its prayers\, the Church plunges us into the Light of God shining in the \ndarkness of the world\, in order that we may be illuminated and transformed by \nthe presence of the newborn Savior\, and thus that he may be born and truly live \nin us by making all our thoughts and actions light in himself. What joy\, then\, \nthat he who dwells eternally in the inaccessible light and peace of the Father has \nleft the throne of his glory and descended to be one of us! Or rather\, without \nleaving the bosom of the Father\, veiling the too brilliant light of his glory in the \ncloud of human nature\, he who is enthroned above the cherubim takes up his \nabode among us in a poor manger. \nThis Child who the shepherds\, dazzled by the brilliance of the angelic \nhost\, can scarcely see in the darkness of the cave lit by Joseph’s lantern\, this \nChild is (by his divinity) the Ancient of Days\, the Creator and Judge of Heaven \nand earth\, of whom the prophet Daniel wrote: “I beheld till thrones were placed \nand the Ancient of Days sat\, his garment was as white as snow\, and the hair of \nhis head like clean wool; his throne like flames of fire: the wheels of it like a \nburning fire. A swift stream of fire issued forth before him: thousands of \nthousands ministered to him and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood \nbefore him.” \nThis\, is Daniel’s vision of the divinity of the Word Who\, in his human \nnature\, lies here helpless in the dark. But the Son of Man\, who is here born\, is \nhimself the Word\, consubstantial with the Father. To this only-begotten Son\, \nwho is equal to the Father in all things as God\, but less than the Father in so far \nas he is human\, all power is given by the Father. So\, Daniel says again: “I beheld \ntherefore in the vision of the night\, and lo one like the Son of Man came with the \nclouds of heaven\, and he came even to the Ancient of Days and they presented \nhim before him\, and he gave him power and glory and a kingdom\, and all \npeoples\, tribes and tongues shall serve him\, his power is an everlasting power \nthat shall not be taken away and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed.” This\, \nthen is the King promised from the beginning of the world and of whose \nKingdom there shall be no end. \nDo not be afraid of him. God has emptied himself and come to us as a \nchild\, in order that we who have not been saved by fear\, but only destroyed by it\, \nmay now take heart and be saved by confidence. In “Emptying himself” and \ntaking the form of a servant the Lord laid aside his majesty and his divine power\, \nin order to dwell among us in goodness and mercy. \n  \n3 SEASONS OF CELEBRATION by Thomas Merton (Farrar\, Straus & Giroux\, NY 1965) pp. 108-08.9
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-nativity-of-the-lord-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241222T130647Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241222T130647Z
UID:12952-1735171200-1735257599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Stephen
DESCRIPTION:THE GIFT OF LOVE \nFrom a sermon by St Fulgentius \n◊◊◊ \nYesterday we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal king; today we \ncelebrate the triumphant suffering of a soldier. For yesterday our king\, nobly \narrayed in flesh\, proceeding from the chaste womb of the Virgin Mary\, deigned \nto visit this world; today a soldier\, leaving the confines of the body\, made his \nway in triumph to heaven. \nOur king\, though he is the Most High\, for our sake came in humility; yet \nhe could not come empty-handed. It was indeed a generous gift that he brought \nfor us\, one by which he not only abundantly enriched us but gave us the strength \nto do battle and never be vanquished. What he brought was the gift of love\, \nwhich was to lead us to become sharers in the godhead. He brought it only to \nexpend it\, without in any way diminishing his own store; while turning the \npoverty of his followers into riches he remained himself\, as by a miracle\, fully \npossessed of his own inexhaustible treasury. \nLove then\, the same love that brought Christ down from heaven to earth\, \nraised Stephen from earth to heaven; the same love shown first in the king was \nreproduced in its splendor in the warrior. \nAnd so Stephen\, in order to earn his right to the crown his name signifies\, \narmed himself with love\, and by that same love won every battle. It was love of \nGod that made him yield not an inch\, love of his neighbor that led him to \nintercede for those who stoned him. It was through love that he was able to \nexpose those in error so that they might change their ways; through love that he \nprayed for those who stoned him so that they should not be punished. Trusting \nonly in love\, he overcame Saul’s cruel rage\, and the very man who had been his \npersecutor on earth he won as his companion in heaven. That same holy and \nuntiring love longed to win over by prayer those whom it could not convert by \npersuasion… \nLove is therefore the source and origin of every good\, an unrivaled \nprotection\, the road that leads to heaven. Those who walk in love can be neither \nlost nor afraid; love is the guide and protector\, and brings them to the end of \ntheir journey. For this reason\, beloved\, since Christ has set up a stairway of love \nby which every Christian can mount up to heaven\, keep a firm hold on love \nalone; love one another\, and by growing in love climb together up to heaven.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-stephen-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241227
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DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241222T130802Z
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UID:12954-1735257600-1735343999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St John
DESCRIPTION:THE ROOT OF CHARITY \nFrom a sermon by St John Henry Newman \n◊◊◊ \nThe love of God is not the same thing as the love of our parents\, though \nparallel to it; but the love of mankind in general should be in the main the same \nhabit as the love of our friends\, only exercised towards different objects… What \nis meant by loving all people is\, to feel well disposed to all\, to be ready to assist \nthem\, and to act towards those who come in our way\, as if we loved them. We \ncannot love those about whom we know nothing; except indeed we view them in \nChrist\, as the objects of his Atonement\, that is\, rather in faith than in love. And \nlove\, besides\, is a habit\, and cannot be attained without actual practice\, which \non so large a scale is impossible. \nWe see then how absurd it is when writers (as is the manner of some who \nslight the Gospel) talk magnificently about loving the whole human race with a \ncomprehensive affection\, of being the friends of all\, and the like. Such vaunting \nprofessions\, what do they come to? That such men or women have certain \nbenevolent feelings towards the world\, — feelings and nothing more – nothing \nmore than unstable feelings\, the mere offspring of an indulged imagination\, \nwhich exist only when their minds are wrought upon\, and are sure to fail them \nin the hour of need. This is not to love people; it is but to talk about love. The \nreal love of another must depend on practice\, and therefore\, must begin by \nexercising itself on our friends around us; otherwise it will have no existence. \nBy trying to love our relations and friends\, by submitting to their wishes\, \nthough contrary to our own\, by bearing with their infirmities\, by overcoming \ntheir occasional waywardness by kindness\, by dwelling on their excellences\, and \ntrying to copy them\, thus it is that we form in our hearts that root of charity\, \nwhich\, though small at first\, may\, like the mustard seed\, at last even overshadow \nthe earth. The vain talkers about philanthropy…usually show the emptiness of \ntheir profession\, by being morose and cruel in the private relations of life\, which \nthey seem to account as subjects beneath their notice. \nFar different indeed\, far different…with the great Apostle\, whose memory \nwe are today celebrating\, utterly the reverse of this fictitious benevolence was \nhis elevated and enlightened sympathy for all men. We know he is celebrated for \nhis declarations about Christian love. “Beloved\, let us love one another\, for love \nis of God. If we love one another\, God dwells in us\, and his love is perfected in \nus…” \nNow did he begin with some vast effort at loving on a large scale? Nay\, he \nhad the unspeakable privilege of being the friend of Christ. Thus he was taught \nto love others; first his affection was concentrated then it was expanded. Next he \nhad the solemn and comfortable charge of tending our Lord’s Mother\, the \nBlessed Virgin\, after his departure. Do we not here discern the secret sources of \nhis especial love of the brethren? Could he\, who first was favored with his \nSavior’s affection\, then trusted with a son’s office towards his Mother\, could he \nbe other than a memorial and pattern (as far as man or woman can be)\, of love\, \ndeep\, contemplative\, fervent\, unruffled\, unbounded?
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-john-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241229
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241222T130911Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241222T130911Z
UID:12956-1735344000-1735430399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Holy Innocents
DESCRIPTION:THE HOLY INNOCENTS \nFrom the letters of St Cyprian \n◊◊◊ \nThe martyrdom of children marked the very beginning of Christ’s life: for \nhis name’s sake\, all those of two years old and under were put to death. Too \nyoung to fight\, they were yet able to win a martyr’s crown\, and by their \ninnocence bear witness to the innocence of all who shed their blood for Christ. \nWhen even such as these make martyrs\, clearly no one is immune from the peril \nof persecution. \nWhat a shameful thing it would be for Christ’s servants to recoil from \nsuffering when their Master suffered first; for us to be unwilling to endure \nsomething for our sins\, when he\, though sinless\, endured so much for us! The \nSon of God suffered in order to make us children of God; will the children of this \nworld refuse to persevere in that sonship through suffering? If we have to bear \nwith the world’s hatred\, we must remember that Christ bore it before we did. \nWe may have to endure insults\, exile\, torture in this world\, but the Creator and \nLord of the world knew them first in harsher form\, and warned us of them\, \nsaying\, “If the world hates you\, remember that it hated me before you. If you \nbelonged to the world\, the world would love its own. But you are not of the \nworld; I chose you out of it\, and therefore it hates you. Remember the saying I \ngave you\, ‘The servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecute me\, they \nwill persecute you also.” Our Lord and God practiced all he taught\, so there can \nbe no excuse for a disciple who hears his teaching but does not act on it… \nLet these be the sentiments\, dearly beloved brethren\, that ever abide in \nyour hearts. And may we thus make ready our arms by fixing our thoughts\, day \nand night\, on this reflection\, by holding before our eyes and turning over \nconstantly in our minds and our hearts what tortures are inflicted upon the \nwicked\, what rewards are merited by the just\, what the Lord threatens by way of \npunishment to those who deny\, what\, by contrast\, He promises by way of glory \nto those who confess. If the day of persecution should come upon us whilst we \nmeditate upon and contemplate these thoughts\, then the soldier of Christ\, being \nthus instructed by His precepts and counsels\, shows no fear in the face of battle \nbut is now ready for his crown.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-holy-innocents-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241229
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241230
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241229T115255Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241229T115255Z
UID:12965-1735430400-1735516799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\nChristmas Season\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nDec. 29\, 2024 – Jan. 4\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n29\nMon\n30\nTue\n31\nWed\n1\nThu\n2\nFri\n3\nSat\n4\n\n\nOffice\nHoly Family\n6th Day in Octave\n7th Day in Octave\nMary\, Mother of God\nSS Basil & Gregory\nChristmas Weekday\nSt Elizabeth Ann Seton\n\n\nVigils\nEph 5:21-6:4\nCol 1:15-2:3\nCol 2:4-15\nSir 24:1-12\, 19-22\nCol 2:16-3:4\nCol 3:5-16\nCol 3:17-4:1\n\n\nLauds\nSir 26:1-4\, 13-16\nIsa 44:1-5\nIsa 44:6-8\, 21-23\n1 Sam 2:1-10\nIsa 54:1-5\nIsa 54:6-10\nIsa 55:1-5\n\n\nMass\n17\n203\n204\n18\n205\n206\n207\n\n\n1st\n1 Sam 1:20-22\, 24-28\n1 John 2:12-17\n1 John 2:18-21\nNum 6:22-27\n1 John 2:22-28\n1 John 2:29-3:6\n1 John 3:7-10\n\n\n2nd\n1 John 3:1-2\, 21-24\n\n\nGal 4:4-7\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 2:41-52\nLuke 2:36-40\nJohn 1:1-18\nLuke 2:16-21\nJohn 1:19-28\nJohn 1:29-34\nJohn 1:35-42\n\n\nVespers\n1 Cor 13:1-8a\nEph 1:11-14\nHeb 2:10-18\nJames 3:13-18\nEph 1:15-23\nEph 2:1-10\nRev 21:22-27
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-98/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241229T115658Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241229T115658Z
UID:12967-1735430400-1735516799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Holy Family Sunday
DESCRIPTION:THE FAMILY AT NAZARETH \nBy Fr Ambroise-Marie Carré \n◊◊◊ \nIn these days when the Church is experiencing a renewal of its youth\, how \nmany families would be enriched by contemplation of the extraordinary beauty \nto be seen in the unique love of the family at Nazareth! For centuries it has been \nby constantly returning to the marriage of Joseph and Mary\, to the home to \nwhich Jesus first brought his radically new message of salvation\, that \ntheologians have defined the principles of marriage for those baptized into the \nChristian faith. St Augustine never spoke of marriage without reference to the \nHoly Family. And there are wonderful pages in Bossuet devoted to the subject \nof that union\, which was\, he said\, “most true\,” because Mary and Joseph\, \ntrusting each other with their virginity\, “gave themselves to each other” in love. \nA sentence of St. Luke’s sheds light on this great mystery: Mary “kept all \nthese things in her heart”. The family at Nazareth lived in complete harmony\, \ncherishing “compassion\, kindness\, lowliness\, meekness\, and patience”. The \npresence of God incarnate\, and of his love\, transfigured all in joy and wonder. \nSuch things as Mary and Joseph were able to understand penetrated them to the \nvery depths of their being. And what they could not understand\, such as that \noccasion when their young son disappeared and was later found in the temple\, \nthey kept within them\, so that those gestures and words of his whose meaning \nthey could not grasp with their minds might act on their hearts\, and gradually \nopen them to the measure of the Father’s will. \nSurely this is\, very specially\, the right way to live for any who have taken \nvows in the name of the Lord. If you wish the ideal\, you must let Christ live \namong you and within you. Whatever you find in your lives that seems to you \nclear\, happy and fruitful\, you should learn how to appreciate it: there are so \nmany who do not! And as for your misunderstanding\, which are the cause of \nsuffering in so many homes…you should keep all these things in your heart\, not \nto swell into bitterness\, but so as to let suffering and the divine force of you \nsacramental vow transform that self-centered heart. Nor will the love which is \nblessed by God and which follows God’s command ever leave us: it can only be \ndismissed. But you have not dismissed love. So let God purify and renew your \nlove\, as he purifies and renews the faith of those who seek him. On the third day\, \nin the love of Jesus\, it will rise again.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-holy-family-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241230
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241231
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241229T115815Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241229T115815Z
UID:12969-1735516800-1735603199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 6th Day in Octave
DESCRIPTION:THE ABSOLUTE GOODNESS \nOF GOD \nFrom a treatise by St John Eudes \n◊◊◊ \nOur loving Savior\, in various places in the Scriptures\, assures us that he is \never watchful over us\, that we are and always will be in his most compassionate \ncare. How he carries us in his heart… In one place [in Isaiah] he even repeats it \nfive times in succession: Hearken to me\, O house of Jacob\, all the remnant of \nthe house of Israel\, who have been borne by me from your birth\, carried from \nthe womb; even to your old age I am He\, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I \nhave made\, and I will bear; I will carry and will save. \nElsewhere [in Scripture] he tells us the same thing in many ways. \nAlthough\, he says\, it may sometimes happen that a mother can forget her child\, \nyet he will never forget us\, and he has engraved us on his hands to have us ever \nbefore him. Whoever touches one of us\, he says\, touches the apple of his eye. \nAgain\, we should not be anxious about how we are going to get enough to eat or \nwear\, because he well knows our needs and takes care of them. He has even \ncounted the very hairs of our heads\, and not one shall perish. He also tells us \nthat as he loves his Father so his Father loves us\, and that his own love for us is \nthe same as his Father’s love for him. He wishes us to be where he is — that is\, he \nwishes us to dwell with him in his Father’s heart… \nLet us beware of being dependent on the power or favor of our friends\, or \non our own possessions\, on our minds\, knowledge\, strength\, good desires and \nresolutions\, prayers\, or even on the faith we believe we have in God\, or on \nhuman means of any sort\, or on anything in creation\, but rely entirely on the \nmercy of God. We should indeed use all these things I have mentioned\, and \ncontribute in every way we can to the suppression of vice\, the practice of virtue\, \nthe carrying to completion of whatever God has entrusted to our care\, and the \nfulfillment of the duties which accompany our station in life. What we have to do \nis to give up all tendency to rely on our own means\, and put our trust in the \nabsolute goodness of our Lord. Therefore we must take as much care\, and work \nas hard\, as if we expected no help from God\, and at the same time regard this \nwork of ours as nothing\, and put all our hope in God’s mercy. \nThis is what the Holy Spirit exhorts us to do\, speaking through the mouth \nof the King and Prophet David: Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him\, and \nhe will act. And elsewhere: Cast your burden on the Lord\, and he will sustain \nyou. And in the words of Peter\, the leader of the Apostles\, the Spirit advises us to \ncast all our anxieties on God\, for he cares about us. Our Lord spoke the same \ncomfort to Saint Catherine of Siena: “My daughter\, forget yourself and think of \nme\, and I shall never cease to think of you.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-6th-day-in-octave/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241231
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250101
DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241229T115937Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241229T115937Z
UID:12971-1735603200-1735689599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 7th Day in Octave
DESCRIPTION:GOD’S DESIGN FOR LOVE \nFrom the writing of Pope St Paul VI \n◊◊◊ \nAs holy scripture teaches us\, before it is a sacrament marriage is a great \nearthly reality: God created man in his own image; he created him in the image \nof God: he created them man and woman. We always have to go back to that \nfirst page of the Bible if we want to understand what a human couple\, a family\, \nreally is and what it ought to be. Psychological analyses\, psychoanalytical \nresearch\, sociological surveys\, and philosophical reflection may of course have a \ncontribution to make with the light they shed on human sexuality and love; but \nthey would blind us if they neglected this fundamental teaching which was given \nto us at the very beginning: the duality of the sexes was decreed by God\, so that \ntogether man and woman might be the image of God and\, like him\, the source of \nlife: Be fruitful and increase\, fill the earth and subdue it… \nThe Christian knows that human love is good by its very origin; and if\, like \neverything else in us\, it is wounded and deformed by sin\, it finds its salvation \nand redemption in Christ. Besides\, isn’t this the lesson that twenty centuries of \nChristian history have taught us? How many couples have found the way to \nholiness in their conjugal life\, in that community of life which is the only one to \nbe founded on a sacrament! \nLove one another\, as I have loved you. The ways in which they express \ntheir affection are\, for Christian husband and wife\, full of the love which they \ndraw from the heart of God. And if its human source threatens to dry up\, its \ndivine source is as inexhaustible as the unfathomable depths of God’s affection. \nThat shows us the intimacy\, strength\, and richness of the communion which \nconjugal love aims at. It is an inward and spiritual reality\, transforming the \ncommunity of life of husband and wife into what might be called…“the domestic \nChurch”… \nSuch is the mystery in which conjugal love takes root\, and which \nilluminates all its expressions. The rapture which moves husband and wife to \nunite is the carrier of life\, and enables God to give himself children. On \nbecoming parents\, the husband and wife discover with a sense of wonder\, at the \nbaptismal font\, that their child is from now on a child of God\, reborn from \nwater and the Spirit; and that the child is entrusted to them so that they may \nwatch over its physical and moral growth\, certainly\, but also the opening out \nand blossoming in him of the new nature. Such a child is no longer just what \nthey see\, but just as much what they believe\, “an infinity of mystery and love \nwhich would dazzle us if we say it face to face”… Therefore [the] upbringing [of \nchildren] becomes true service of Christ\, according to his own saying: whatever \nyou do for one of these little ones\, you do for me.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-7th-day-in-octave/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12973-1735689600-1735775999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Mary\, Mother of God
DESCRIPTION:LOOK TO MARY \nFrom the letters of Adam of Perseigne \n◊◊◊ \nYou\, Lady\, are my all. In your hands has been stored for me the fullness of \nall good. With you have been hidden the unfailing treasures of truth and grace\, \nof peace and pity\, of salvation and wisdom\, of glory and of honor. You are my \nanchor amid the billows\, port in shipwreck\, support in tribulation\, comfort in \ngrief. You are\, for those who are yours\, aid in oppression\, help in time of crisis\, \ntemperance in prosperity\, joy in time of waiting\, refreshment in toil… \nWhen you conceive the sun of righteousness\, you like the moon are \nillumined by the good office of the blazing sun… Therefore whatever beauty it \npossesses it has through the gift of its borrowed splendor. When you bring forth \nthe sun of righteousness\, you are compared to the sun because of the close \nlikeness. Just as the body of the sun is not injured or diminished when it puts \nforth its rays\, so the bringing forth of the holy birth does not violate the mother. \nAnd what\, you who are glorious as the sun\, what is your offspring but the eternal \nsplendor of a certain sun?… \nTherefore\, dear friend\, all our confidence lies in the childbearing of our \nVirgin and though I may be unworthy I shall not cease to dwell upon her praises. \nIf you stand in need of mercy\, it is found in full measure in the heart of the \nVirgin. If you reverence the truth\, give thanks to the Virgin\, since from the \nground of her virgin flesh the truth which you worship has arisen. No less give \nthanks to the Virgin if you follow after peace\, since from her is born for you the \npeace which passes all understanding. If you pursue justice\, see that you are not \nungrateful to the Virgin\, for at the opening of her womb justice looked forth \nfrom heaven. \nIf your faith is shaken by some assault from an enemy\, turn your eyes \nupon the Virgin and that in which was wavering will be firmly fixed. If the lust of \nthe flesh delights you\, turn your gaze upon the Virgin\, and the danger to your \nchastity is removed. If pride disturbs your spirit\, turn your gaze upon the \nVirgin\, and by the merit of her unsullied humility your swelling spirit will \nsubside. If you are set on fire by anger’s torches\, lift your eyes to the Virgin and \nyou will grow gentle through her calm. If ignorance or error have led you astray \nfrom the way of life\, look to Mary\, star of the sea\, and in her light you will be led \nback to the path of truth… In every peril the goodness of the Virgin comes to our \naid. Give thanks for her childbearing… For us the Virgin brought forth\, ours is \nthe birth\, for us the child was born and to us the son was given.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-mary-mother-of-god-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T161606
CREATED:20241229T120213Z
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UID:12975-1735776000-1735862399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Basil & Gregory
DESCRIPTION:THE QUALITIES OF THE MONK \nFrom a discourse by St Basil the Great \n◊◊◊ \nFirst and foremost\, the monk should own nothing in this world\, but he \nshould have as his possessions solitude of the body\, modesty of bearing\, a \nmodulated tone of voice\, and a well-ordered manner of speech. He should be \nwithout anxiety as to his food and drink\, and should eat in silence. In the \npresence of his superiors\, he should hold his tongue; before those wiser than he\, \nhe should hearken to their words. He should have love for his equals\, give \ncharitable counsel to his inferiors\, and keep aloof from the wicked\, the carnal\, \nand the officious. He ought to think much but speak little\, be not forward in \nspeech nor given to useless discoursing\, not easily moved to laughter\, respectful \nin bearing\, keeping his eyes cast down and his spirit uplifted\, not answering \ncontradiction with contradiction\, docile. He should work with his hands\, be ever \nmindful of his last end\, joyful in hope\, patient in adversity\, unceasingly \nprayerful\, giving thanks in all things\, humble toward everyone\, hating pride\, \nsober and watchful to keep his heart from evil thoughts. \nHe ought to heap up treasures in heaven by observing the \ncommandments\, examining himself as to his daily thoughts and actions\, not \nentangling himself in the occupations and superfluities of the world. It ill befits \nhim to concern himself about those who lead careless lives; he should emulate \nthe life of the holy fathers\, rejoicing with those who are successful in the practice \nof virtue and not envying them. He must sympathize with the suffering and \nweep with them\, sorrowing deeply for these\, but not on any account should he \ncondemn them\, nor upbraid him who has renounced his sin\, nor ever justify \nhimself. He should\, above all\, confess before God and men that he is a sinner. It \nis his duty\, moreover\, to admonish the undisciplined\, encourage the faint- \nhearted\, minister to the sick\, wash the feet of the saints\, and be mindful of the \nduties of hospitality and fraternal charity. He must preserve peace with the \nmembers of the household of the faith\, shun the heretic\, read the canonical \nScriptures. He should spend his time in good words and deeds. He should \nconverse without deceit\, speak no word against anyone\, and neither gossip nor \ntake pleasure in listening to gossip. He should not be quick to trust evil report of \nanyone\, nor be mastered by ill temper nor overcome by despondency. He ought \nnot to become angry with his neighbor without cause\, nor nurse wrath against \nanyone\, nor return evil for evil. It behooves him to be reviled rather than to \nrevile\, to be struck rather than to strike\, to be wronged rather than to do wrong\, \nto be despoiled rather than to despoil. \nHe must not grow weary in observing the precepts of the Lord to the best \nof his ability\, but he should await reward and praise from Him\, continuing in his \ndesire for the enjoyment of everlasting life. Moreover he should love God as a \nson\, with his whole heart and strength and mind and with all the power that is in \nhim; but as a servant he should reverence\, fear\, and obey Him and work out his \nsalvation in fear and trembling\, fervent in spirit\, girt about with the full armor of \nthe Holy Spirit. \nBut\, over and above all this\, he must be mindful of the words of the \nApostle: “For the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with \nthe glory to come that will be revealed in us”.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-basil-gregory-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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