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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250311
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250312
DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250312
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250313
DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250313
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250314
DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250314
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250315
DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250315
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250316
DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
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:20260403T172446
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250316
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250317
DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
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:20260403T172446
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:20260403T172446
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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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
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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UID:13240-1742428800-1742515199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE BEATING HEART \nOF THE UNIVERSE \nFrom a homily by Pope Benedict XVI \n◊◊◊ \nIt is not God’s presence that alienates man\, but His absence: without the \ntrue God\, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ\, illusory hopes become an invitation \nto escape from reality. Speaking with God\, dwelling in His presence\, letting \noneself be illuminated and purified by His Word introduces us\, instead\, into the \nheart of reality\, into the very motor of becoming cosmic; it introduces us\, so to \nspeak\, to the beating heart of the universe. \nIn a harmonious connection with prayer\, fasting and almsgiving can also \nbe considered occasions for learning and practicing Christian hope. The ancient \nwriters liked to emphasize that these three dimensions of Gospel life are \ninseparable\, reciprocally enrich each other and bear more fruit the more they \ncollaborate with each other. Lent as a whole\, thanks to the joint action of prayer\, \nfasting and almsgiving\, forms Christians to be men and women of hope after the \nexample of the Saints… \nThe true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to \nsuffering and the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for \nsociety. Easter\, to which Lent is oriented\, is the mystery which gives meaning to \nhuman suffering\, based on the superabundant compassion of God\, brought \nabout in Jesus Christ. The Lenten journey therefore\, since it is wholly steeped in \nthe Easter light\, makes us relive what happened in Christ’s divine and human \nheart while he was going up to Jerusalem for the last time to offer himself in \nexpiation. \nSuffering and death fell like darkness as he gradually came nearer to the \nCross\, but the flame of love shone brighter. Indeed Christ’s suffering was \npenetrated by the light of love. It was the Father’s love that permitted the son to \nconfidently face his last “baptism”\, which he himself defines as the apex of his \nmission. \nJesus received that baptism of sorrow and love for us\, for all of humanity. \nHe has suffered for truth and justice\, bringing the gospel of suffering to human \nhistory\, which is the other aspect of the Gospel of love. God cannot suffer\, but \nHe can and wants to be compassionate. Through Christ’s passion he can bring \nhis <consolation> to every human suffering\, “the consolation of God’s \ncompassionate love – and so the star of hope rises.” \nAs for prayer\, so for suffering: the history of the Church is very rich in \nwitnesses who spent themselves for others without reserve\, at the cost of harsh \nsuffering. The greater the hope that enlivens us\, the greater is the ability within \nus to suffer for the love of truth and good\, joyfully offering up the minor and \nmajor daily hardships and inserting them into Christ’s great compassion.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-279/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250316T110952Z
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UID:13242-1742515200-1742601599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:CHRIST’S PATIENT ENDURANCE \nOF SUFFERING \nFrom the spiritual writings of John Ruusbroec \n◊◊◊ \nHe began to suffer at the time of his birth\, for he was born in poverty and in \ncold. He was circumcised and so shed his blood. He was forced to flee to a strange \nland… He suffered hunger and thirst\, disgrace and contempt\, and…slanderous \nwords and deeds… He fasted\, kept vigils\, and was tempted by the devil. He was \nsubject to everyone. He went from country to country and from city to city with \nmuch labor and zeal in order to preach the Good News. \nFinally he was arrested by…enemies even though he was a friend to them. \nHe was betrayed\, mocked\, and insulted; scourged and beaten; and condemned on \nthe basis of false testimony. In great pain he carried his cross to the highest place \non earth and was there stripped naked. No man or woman has ever seen so \nbeautiful a body so cruelly treated. He suffered disgrace\, pain\, and cold before all \nthe world\, for he was naked and it was cold\, with a sharp wind cutting into his \nwounds. He was nailed to the wood of the cross with blunt nails and was so \nstretched out that his veins were ruptured. He was raised up on the cross\, which \nwas then dropped down into its hole with such force that his wounds began \nbleeding. His head was crowned with thorns. His ears heard the…shouting\, \n“Crucify him! Crucify him!” and many other abusive words. \nHis eyes saw…obstinacy and malice…and the misery of his mother\, and his \neyes lost their power of sight in the bitterness of pain and death. His nose smelled \nthe foulness which those standing by spat out of their mouths into his face. His \nmouth and his sense of taste were drenched with vinegar and gall. Every sensitive \npart of his body was pervaded with the pain of the scourging. Thus was Christ our \nBridegroom wounded unto death\, abandoned by God and all creatures; he hung \ndying on the cross like a piece of wood for which no one cared except Mary his \nmother\, who could do nothing to help him. \nChrist also suffered spiritually\, in his soul\, because of the obdurate \nwillfulness of…those who put him to death\, for however many signs and wonders \nthey saw\, they persisted in their evil ways… He also suffered because of the distress \nand misery of his mother and his disciples\, who were sorely afflicted. He suffered \nbecause his death would be of no avail for so many persons and because many \nwould be ungrateful and even swear false oaths in order to ridicule and revile him \nwho had died out of love for us. His human nature and his lower reason suffered \nbecause God withdrew from them the influx of his gifts and consolation and left \nthem to themselves in such distress. For this reason\, Christ said in complaint\, “My \nGod\, my God\, why have you forsaken me?” But our Lover was silent about all his \nsufferings and cried out to his Father\, “Father\, forgive them\, for they do not know \nwhat they are doing”. Christ was heard by his Father because of his reverence… \nThese\, then\, were interior virtues of Christ: humility\, charity\, and the patient \nendurance of suffering. Christ practiced them throughout his life\, died with them\, \nand so redeemed us through his righteousness…
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-280/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250316T111053Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250316T111053Z
UID:13244-1742601600-1742687999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE SEASON OF PURIFICATION \nBy Pope St Leo the Great \n◊◊◊ \nThis sacred season is dedicated to the purification of the soul\, let us \ntherefore be careful to fulfill the Apostolic command that we cleanse ourselves \nfrom all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit\, so that restraining the conflict \nthat exists between the one and the other substance\, the soul\, which in the \nProvidence of God is meant to be the ruler of the body\, may regain the dignity of \nits rightful authority\, so that\, giving offense to no one\, we may not incur the \ncontumely of evil mongers. With just contempt shall we be tormented by those \nwho have no faith\, and from our wickedness evil tongues will draw weapons to \nwound religion\, if the way of life of those who fast be not in accord with what is \nneeded in true self-denial. For the sum total of our fasting does not consist in \nmerely abstaining from food. In vain do we deny our body food if we do not \nwithhold our heart from iniquity\, and restrain our lips that they speak no evil. \nWe must then so moderate our rightful use of food that our other desires \nmay be subject to the same rule. For this is also a time for gentleness and \npatience\, a time of peace and serenity\, in which having put away all stains of evil \ndoing we strive after steadfastness in what is good. Now is the time when \ngenerous Christian souls forgive offenses\, pay no heed to insults\, and wipe out \nthe memory of past injuries. Now let the Christian soul exercise itself in the \namour of justice\, on the right hand and on the left\, so that amid honor and \ndishonor\, evil report and good\, the praise of all will not make proud the virtue \nthat is well rooted\, the conscience that has peace\, nor dishonor cast it down. \nThe moderation of those who worship God is not melancholy\, but blameless. \nTherefore\, you Dearly Beloved\, the holy offspring of the Catholic Mother\, \nWhom the Spirit of God has taught in the School of Truth\, use your freedom of \naction with right reason\, knowing that it is good to abstain\, even from what is \nlawful; and when you must practice self-denial\, so abstain from food as merely \nputting aside its use\, not as condemning its nature. And so you will not allow \nyourselves in any way to be infected by the error of those who are completely \ndefiled by their own observance of it; serving the creature rather than the \nCreator; and dedicating their own stupid observance to the lights of heaven.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-281/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250323T114307Z
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UID:13247-1742688000-1742774399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n3rd Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nMarch 23 – 29\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n23\nMon\n24\nTue\n25\nWed\n26\nThu\n27\nFri\n28\nSat\n29\n\n\nOffice\n3rd Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nAnnunciation of the Lord\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nHeb 13:1-25\nLev 1:1-17\n1 Chron 17:1-15\nLev 3:1-17\nLev 5:14-26\nLev 8:1-21\nLev 8:22-36; 9:22-24\n\n\nLauds\nExod 10:7-11\nExod 10:21-29\nWis 9:1-12\nExod 12:21-28\nExod 12:29-36\nExod 13:11-16\nExod 13:17-22\n\n\nMass\n30\n236\n545\n239\n240\n241\n242\n\n\n1st\nExod 3:1-8a\, 13-15\nExod 17:1-7\nIsa 7:10-14; 8:10\nDeut 4:1\, 5-9\nJer 7:23-28\nHos 14:2-10\nHos 6:1-6\n\n\n2nd\n1 Cor 10:1-6\, \n10-12\n\nHeb 10:4-10\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 13:1-9\nJohn 4:5-42\nLuke 1:26-38\nMatt 5:17-19\nLuke 11:14-23\nMark 12:28b-34\nLuke 18:9-14\n\n\nVespers\nDeut 8:7-14\n1 Jn 1:1-4\nHeb 2:5-10\nDeut 9:15-21\nDeut 9:22-29\nDeut 10:12-22\nDeut 11:1-7
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-108/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250323T114556Z
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UID:13249-1742688000-1742774399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 3rd Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:ABIDE IN GOD’S LOVE \nFrom a commentary by St Augustine of Hippo \n◊◊◊ \nIt is My Father’s glory\, Christ said\, that you should bear abundant fruit \nand become my disciples. But even when we have glorified the Father by \nbearing much fruit and becoming Christ’s disciples\, we still have no right to \nclaim credit for it as though the work were ours alone. The grace to carry out the \nwork had first to come to us from God\, and so the glory is his\, not ours. That is \nwhy Christ is recorded in another place as saying: Let your light so shine before \nothers that they may see your good works – and here\, lest they be tempted to \nattribute these good works to themselves\, he immediately added: and may give \nthe glory for them to your heavenly Father. \nThis\, then\, is the Father’s glory\, that we should bear abundant fruit and \nbecome Christ’s disciples\, since it is only through God’s mercy in the first place \nthat we can become the disciples of Christ. We are God’s handiwork\, created in \nChrist Jesus for the performance of good works. \nAs the Father has loved me\, Jesus says\, so I have loved you. Abide in my \nlove. There we have the source of every good work of ours. How did they come to \nbe ours? Only because faith is alive in love. And how could we ever love\, unless \nwe ourselves were loved first? In his first letter\, John the evangelist made this \nquite clear. Let us love God\, he wrote\, because he first loved us. The Father does \nindeed love us\, but he does so in his Son; we glorify the Father by bearing fruit as \nbranches of the vine which is His Son and becoming his disciples. \nAbide in my love\, he says to us. How may we do that? In the words that \nfollow you have your answer. If you observe what I command you. then you \nwill truly abide in my love. But is it love that makes us keep the Lord’s \ncommandments\, or is it the keeping of them that makes us love him? There can \nbe no doubt that love comes first. Anyone devoid of love will lack all motive to \nkeep the commandments. \nWhen\, therefore\, Christ says to us: If you keep my commandments\, you \nwill abide in my love\, he is telling us that the observance of the commandments \nis not the source but rather the gauge and touchstone of our love. It is as though \nhe said to us: Do not suppose that you are abiding in my love if you are not \nkeeping my commandments\, for it is by observing them that you will abide in \nmy love. That is to say\, your observance of my commandments is the proof\, the \noutward manifestation\, of the fact that you abide in my love. \nLet no one\, then\, who neglects to keep the commandments deceive \nhimself by protesting his love for God. It is only to the extent that we keep the \nLord’s commandments that we abide in his love; insofar as we fail to keep them \nwe fail in love. Yet even when we do keep God’s commandments\, it is not \nsomething we do in order to make God love us\, for unless he loved us first we \nshould not be able to keep them. It is the gift of his grace\, a grace which is \naccessible to the humble of heart\, but beyond the reach of the proud.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-3rd-sunday-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250323T114744Z
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UID:13251-1742774400-1742860799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A SEASON OF HEALING \nBy Thomas Merton2 \n◊◊◊ \nThe Paschal Mystery is above all the mystery of life\, in which the Church\, \nby celebrating the death and resurrection of Christ\, enters into the Kingdom of \nLife which He has established once for all by His definitive victory over sin and \ndeath… Lent is then not a season of punishment so much as one of healing. \nThere is joy in the salutary fasting and abstinence of the Christian who \neats and drinks less in order that his mind may be more clear and receptive to \nreceive the sacred nourishment of God’s word\, which the whole Church \nannounces and meditates upon in each day’s liturgy throughout Lent. The \nwhole life and teaching of Christ pass before us\, and Lent is a season of special \nreflection and prayer\, a forty-day retreat in which each Christian\, to the extent \nhe is able\, tries to follow Christ into the desert by prayer and fasting… \nIn this way\, for the whole Church\, Lent will not be merely a season simply \nof a few formalized penitential practices\, half understood and undertaken \nwithout interest\, but a time of metanoia\, the turning of all minds and hearts to \nGod in preparation for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery… \nIt is a time in which joy and grief go together hand in hand: for that is the \nmeaning of compunction – a sorrow which pierces\, which liberates\, which gives \nhope and therefore joy. Such sorrow brings joy because it is at once a mature \nacknowledgment of guilt and the acceptance of its full consequences: hence it \nimplies a religious and moral adjustment to reality\, the acceptance of one’s \nactual condition\, and the acceptance of reality is always a liberation from the \nburden of illusion which we strive to justify by our errors and sins. Compunction \nis a necessary sorrow\, but it is followed by joy and relief because it wins for us \none of the greatest blessings: the light of truth and the grace of humility. \nOnly the inner rending\, the tearing of the heart\, brings this joy. It lets out \nour sins\, and lets in the clean air of God’s spring\, the sunlight of the days that \nadvance toward Easter. Rending of the garments lets in nothing but the cold. \nThe rending of the heart which is spoken of in Joel is that “tearing away” from \nourselves and our <oldness> – the “oldness” of the old man\, wearied with the \nboredom and drudgery of an indifferent existence\, that we may turn to God and \ntaste His mercy\, in the liberty of His sons and daughters. \nWhen we turn to Him\, what do we find? That “He is gracious and \nmerciful\, patient and rich of mercy”…The purpose of Lent is…above all a \npreparation to rejoice in His love. And this preparation consists in receiving the \ngift of His mercy – a gift which we receive in so far as we open our hearts to it\, \ncasting out what cannot remain in the same room with mercy. \nNow one of the things we must cast out first of all is fear. Fear narrows the \nlittle entrance of our heart. It shrinks up our capacity to love. It freezes up our \npower to give ourselves. If we were terrified of God as an inexorable judge\, we \nwould not confidently await His mercy\, or approach Him trustfully in prayer. \nOur peace\, our joy in Lent are a guarantee of grace. \n2 Seasons of Celebration – Farrar\, Straus & Giroux – NY – 1965 – pg. 113f.5
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-282/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250323T114858Z
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UID:13253-1742860800-1742947199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Annunciation of the Lord
DESCRIPTION:A KIND WORD \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny \n◊◊◊ \nThe solemnity of the Lord’s Annunciation providentially interrupts the \ndays of our Lenten observance\, so that we are able to refresh ourselves with \nspiritual joy in the midst of the physical austerities which weigh so heavily on us. \nHaving been humbled by penitential sorrow\, we are now encouraged by the \nannouncement of the one who takes away the sins of the world. This is just what \nScripture says: Grief makes the heart heavy\, but a kind word makes it glad. \nIt is indeed a kind word\, a reliable word in which you can believe\, this \ngospel of our salvation which the angel sent by God announced to Mary on this \nday. It is a joyful word which day utters unto day\, the angel to the virgin\, \nconcerning the incarnation of the Word. It promises a son to the Virgin\, and at \nthe same time pardon to sinners\, redemption to captives\, release to the \nimprisoned\, life to those in the grave. In foretelling the Son’s kingdom and \nannouncing the glory of the righteous\, it makes hell fearful and gives joy to \nheaven. By the revelation of these mysteries and by the new joys it brings them\, \nit seems to have increased the perfection of the angels. \nIs there an afflicted person who would not be cheered by this kind word\, \nor anyone whose lowliness it would not console? Remember your word to your \nservant by which you gave me hope\, sang David. It was this which consoled me \nwhen I was brought low. He received only a promise\, a word which did not \nshow any sign of coming true. The delay in the fulfillment of his desire \ndistressed him\, but he took comfort by hoping firmly in the good faith of the one \nwho had made the promise. If David could sustain his spirit with just the hope of \n3 A Word in Season – vol/ IV – Augustinian Press p 1991 – pg 52.7 \nthe salvation which was being kept for us\, with what joy and delight ought we \nnot to greet its realization? \nBlessed are the mourners because they will be comforted\, blessed those \nwhose hearts are afflicted by a holy grief because they shall be gladdened by a \nkind word. Clearly the kind word which consoles is your all-powerful Word\, O \nLord\, which came today from the heavenly throne into the womb of a virgin. \nThere\, too\, he made a royal throne\, and from there he consoles those who \nmourn on earth even while he sits as king surrounded by the hosts of angels in \nheaven.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-annunciation-of-the-lord-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250323T115020Z
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UID:13255-1742947200-1743033599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:MORALITY AND PSYCHOANALYSIS \nFrom “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis \n◊◊◊ \nHuman beings judge one another by their external actions. God judges them \nby their moral choices… When a man who has been perverted from his youth and \ntaught that cruelty is the right thing\, does some tiny little kindness\, or refrains from \nsome cruelty he might have committed\, and thereby\, perhaps\, risks being sneered \nat by his companions\, he may\, in God’s eyes\, be doing more than you and I would \ndo if we gave up life itself for a friend… \nSome of us who seem quite nice people may\, in fact\, have made so little use of \na good heredity and a good upbringing that we are really worse than those whom \nwe regard as fiends. Can we be quite certain how we should have behaved if we had \nbeen saddled with the psychological outfit\, and then with the bad upbringing\, and \nthen with the power\, say\, of Himmler? That is why Christians are told not to judge. \nWe see only the results which a man’s choices make out of his raw material. But \nGod does not judge him on the raw material at all\, but on what he has done with it. \nMost of the man’s psychological make-up is probably due to his body: when his \nbody dies all that will fall off him\, and the real central man\, the thing that chose\, \nthat made the best or the worst out of this material\, will stand naked. All sorts of \nnice things which we thought our own\, but which were really due to a good \ndigestion\, will fall off some of us: all sorts of nasty things which were due to \ncomplexes or bad health will fall off others. We shall then\, for the first time\, see \nevery one as he really was. There will be surprises… \nPeople often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God \nsays\, “If you keep a lot of rules I’ll reward you\, and if you don’t I’ll do the other \nthing.”… I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are \nturning the central part of you\, the part of you that chooses\, into something a little \ndifferent from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole\, with all your \ninnumerable choices\, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing \neither into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that \nis in harmony with God\, and with other creatures\, and with itself\, or else into one \nthat is in a state of war and hatred with God\, and with its fellow-creatures\, and with \nitself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is it is joy and peace and \nknowledge and power. To be the other means madness\, horror\, idiocy\, rage\, \nimpotence\, and eternal loneliness… \nOne man may be so placed that his anger sheds the blood of thousands\, and \nanother so placed that however angry he gets he will only be laughed at. But the \nlittle mark on the soul may be much the same in both. Each has done something to \nhimself which\, unless he repents\, will make it harder for him to keep out of the rage \nnext time he is tempted\, and will make the rage worse when he does fall into it. \nEach of them\, if he seriously turns to God\, can have that twist in the central man \nstraightened out again: each is\, in the long run\, doomed if he will not. The bigness \nor smallness of the thing\, seen from the outside\, is not what really matters… \nWhen a man is getting better\, he understands more and more clearly the evil \nthat is still left in him. When a man is getting worse\, he understands his own \nbadness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a \nthoroughly bad man thinks he is all right… Good people know about both good and \nevil: bad people do not know about either.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-283/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250323T115135Z
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UID:13257-1743033600-1743119999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE SPIRIT OF LENT \nFrom a meditation by Dom Alban Boultwood \n◊◊◊ \nIn Chapter 49 of the Holy Rule\, “On the Observance of Lent\,” St Benedict \nbegins by saying that the spiritual man ought really to be living at all times in the \nspirit of Lent\, that is\, in wholehearted conversion to God. Our frailty causes us \nto fail often in this\, but if we do not try to live in this spirit during the holy season \nof Lent\, when shall we ever do so? \nSt Benedict sees the spirit of Lent not as one of unhappiness\, but rather as \na spirit of free and joyful oblation: “so that everyone of his own will may offer to \nGod\, with joy and the Holy Spirit\, something beyond the measure appointed to \nhim”. The Church herself has been preparing us for this\, first by drawing us and \ninspiring us by the sublime glimpse of divine love unveiled at Christmas\, and \nthen by summoning us to hear the Savior’s call as he manifests his divine \nmission and power after the Epiphany. And now we are called to follow him\, in \nthe work of his oblation and redemptive sacrifice which he now so lovingly takes \nup. Our Lord calls us to unite ourselves with him in his oblation to his Father’s \nwill\, for this is his mission. \nOur response to this divine invitation has led us to the “oblation” by which \nas [monks] we offer ourselves wholly to God\, and it seems specially fitting for us \nduring Lent\, to renew\, solemnly\, sincerely\, reflectively\, our formal [offering] of \nourselves to God through the Rule of St Benedict. It is true that our [offering] is \nreally made once and for all but the point lies in the renewal of the spirit of our \n[offering]. It is not enough to set up a religious program in our life\, Even in the \nmonastery itself\, where the vows and the whole rule of life establish a wonderful \nreligious machinery to guide and speed us towards God\, yet these things still \n5 Alive to God [Benedictine Studies VII]\, Baltimore-Dublin\, 1964\, pp. 72-75.11 \nremain in themselves just the machinery of our life; and we soon find\, here too\, \nprecisely that tendency for things to become mechanical in the bad sense. And \nso we are always having to renew our spirit\, deepening\, clarifying\, purifying\, \nreaffirming\, our interior [offering]\, as the years bring us the daily opportunities \nof fulfillment. \nWe must go forward in faith and in hope and in love\, one step at a time\, \ntrying to be ready to recognize God’s will as it comes to us day by day\, and trying \nto give ourselves to it with all our heart. As occasion arises\, the “instruments of \ngood works” [which St Benedict mentions] will be offered to us; so many \nspiritual tools\, yet all but a part of the first great one to love the Lord with your \nwhole heart.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-284/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13259-1743120000-1743206399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:ROOTED AND GROUNDED \nIN LOVE \nFrom “Meditations and Prayers” by Evelyn Underhill \n◊◊◊ \nAdoration\, as it more deeply possesses us\, inevitably leads on to self- \noffering: for every advance in prayer is really an advance in love. “I ask not for \nthy gifts but for thyself\,” says the Divine Voice to Thomas à Kempis… That\, of \ncourse\, is real intercession; which is gravely misunderstood by us\, if we think of \nit mainly in terms of asking God to grant particular needs and desires. Such \nsecret intercessory prayer ought to penetrate and accompany all our active \nwork\, if it is really to be turned to the purpose of God. It is the supreme \nexpression of the spiritual life on earth: moving from God to man\, through us\, \nbecause we have ceased to be self-centered units\, but are woven into the great \nfabric of praying souls\, the “mystical body” through which the work of Christ on \nearth goes on being done. \nThose who deal much with souls soon come to know something about the \nstrange spiritual currents which are at work under the surface of life\, and the \nextent in which charity can work on supernatural levels for supernatural ends. \nBut if you are to do that\, the one thing that matters is that you should care \nsupremely about it; care in fact\, so much that you do not mind how much you \nsuffer for it. We cannot help anyone until we do care\, for it is only by love that \nspirit penetrates spirit. \nReal saints do feel and bear the weight of the sins and pains of the world. \nIt is the human soul’s greatest privilege that we can thus accept redemptive \nsuffering for one another – and they do. St Theresa says that if anyone claiming \nto be united to God is always in a state of peaceful beatitude\, she simply does not \nbelieve in their union with God. Such a union\, to her mind\, involves great \nsorrow for the sin and pain of the world; a sense of identity not only with God \nbut also with all other souls\, and a great longing to redeem and heal. That is real \nsupernatural charity. \nIt is a call to love and save not the nice but the nasty; not the lovable but \nthe unlovely\, the hard\, the narrow\, and the embittered\, and the tiresome\, who \nare so much worse. To love irrespective of merit or opinion or personal \npreference; to love even those who offend our taste. If you are to love your \npeople thus\, translating your love\, as you must\, into unremitting intercessory \nwork\, and avoid being swamped by the great ocean of suffering\, sin and need to \nwhich you are sent\, once again this will only be done by maintaining and feeding \nthe temper of adoration and trustful adherence. This is the heart of the life of \nprayer; and only in so far as we work from this center can we safely dare to touch \nother souls and seek to affect them. For such intercession is a sacrificial job; and \nsacrificial jobs need the support of a stronger inner life if they are to be carried \nthrough. They are rooted and grounded in love.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-285/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250323T115402Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250323T115402Z
UID:13261-1743206400-1743292799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE DIVINE REMEDIES \nA sermon by St Leo the Great \n◊◊◊ \nApostolic teaching\, beloved\, exhorts us that we “put off the old man with \nhis deeds” and renew ourselves from day to day by a holy manner of life. For if \nwe are the temple of God\, and if the Holy Spirit is a Dweller in our souls\, as the \nApostle says: “You are the temple of the living God”\, we must then strive with all \nvigilance that the dwelling of our heart be not unworthy of so great a Guest. And \njust as in houses made with hands\, we see to it with praiseworthy diligence that \nwhatever may be damaged\, either through the rain coming in\, or by the wind in \nstorms\, or by age itself\, is promptly and carefully repaired\, so must we with \nunceasing concern take care that nothing disordered be found in our souls\, that \nnothing unclean be found there. \nFor though this dwelling of ours does not endure without the support of \nits Maker\, nor would the structure be safe without the watchful care of the \nBuilder\, nevertheless since we are rational stones\, and living material\, the Hand \nof our Maker has so fashioned us that even he who is being repaired may \ncooperate with His Maker. \nLet human obedience then not withdraw itself from the grace of God\, nor \nturn away from that Good without which it cannot be good. And should it find in \nthe fulfillment of His commands something that is difficult to accomplish or \nbeyond its powers\, let it not remain apart\, but rather turn to Him who \ncommands us\, and who has laid on us this precept that He may both help us and \nawaken in us the desire of Him\, as the prophet tells us: “Cast your care upon the \nLord\, and he shall sustain you”. \nOr perhaps there is someone who prides himself beyond due measure\, \nand who imagines himself to be so untouched\, so unblemished\, that he has now \nno need to renew himself. Such a belief is wholly deceiving\, and he will grow old \nin unceasing folly who believes that amid the temptations of this life he is safe \nfrom all injury to his soul. All things are filled with dangers\, filled with snares. \nDesires inflame us\, allurements lie in wait for us\, the love of gain beguiles us\, \nlosses frighten us\, bitter are the tongues of detractors\, and not always true the \nlips of those who praise us. There hate rages against us; here the false friend \ncheats us; so that it is easier to avoid discord than to shun deceit. \nAnd since there are few so steadfast that no trial disturbs them\, and since \nnot merely bad fortune but good also\, corrupts many among the faithful\, we \nmust use earnest care in treating the wounds by which our human mortality has \nbeen injured… Since the Scripture says: “Who can say: my heart is clean\, I am \npure from sin?”…let each one think within himself of the forgiveness he has \nneed of for his sins\, and of the medicine he needs for the restoration of his soul. \nWhen…should we more fittingly have recourse to the divine remedies \nthan when we are once again reminded of the mysteries of our redemption? And \nthat we may more worthily commemorate them\, let us earnestly prepare \nourselves by these forty days of abstinence.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-286/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13271-1743292800-1743379199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n4th Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nMarch 30 – April 5\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n30\nMon\n31\nTue\n1\nWed\n2\nThu\n3\nFri\n4\nSat\n5\n\n\nOffice\n4th Sunday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nLev 16:1-19\nLev 16:20-34\nLev 17:1-16\nLev 19:1-18\, 31-37\nLev 20:1-8\, 22-26\nLev 23:1-14\, 26-32\nLev 25:1-22\n\n\nLauds\nExod 14:10-14\nExod 14:19-22\nExod 14-26-31\nExod 15:19-21\nExod 16:1-3\nExod 16:9-15\nExod 19:1-8\n\n\nMass\n33\n243\n245\n246\n247\n248\n249\n\n\n1st\nJosh 5:9a\, 10-12\nMic 7:7-9\nEzek 47:1-9\, 12\nIsa 49:8-15\nExod 32:7-14\nWis 2:1a\, 12-22\nJer 11:18-20\n\n\n2nd\n2 Cor 5:17-21\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 15:1-3\, 11-32\nJohn 9:1-41\nJohn 5:1-3a\, 5-16\nJohn 5:17-30\nJohn 5:31-47\nJohn 7:1-2\, 10\, 25-30\nJohn 7:40-53\n\n\nVespers\nDeut 11:8-12\nDeut 11:13-17\nDeut 11:18-25\nDeut 11:26-32\nDeut 26:16-19\nDeut 27:1-10\nDeut 29:1-8
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-109/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13273-1743292800-1743379199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 4th Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:A FATHER \nAND NOT A JUDGE \nFrom a commentary by St John Chrysostom \n◊◊◊ \nAll that God looks for from us is the slightest opening\, and he forgives a \nmultitude of sins. Let me tell you a parable that will confirm this. \nThere were two brothers: they divided their father’s goods between them\, \nand one stayed home\, while the other went away to a foreign country\, wasted all \nhe had been given\, and then could not bear the shame of his poverty. Now the \nreason I have told you this parable is so that you will understand that even sins \ncommitted after baptism can be forgiven if we face up to them. I do not say this \nto encourage indolence but to save you from despair\, which harms us worse \nthan indolence. \nThe son who went away represents those who fall after baptism. This is \nclear from the fact that he is called a son\, since no one is called a son unless he is \nbaptized. Also\, he lived in his father’s house and took a share of all his father’s \ngoods. Before baptism no one receives the father’s goods or enters upon the \ninheritance. We can therefore take all this as signifying the state of believers. \nFurthermore\, the wastrel was a brother of the good man\, and no one is a brother \nunless he has been born again through the Spirit. \nWhat does he say after falling into the depths of evil? I will return to my \nfather. The reason the father let him go and did not prevent his departure for a \nforeign land was so that he might learn well by experience what good things are \nenjoyed by the one who remains at home. But when words would not convince \nus God often leaves us to learn from the things that happen to us. \nWhen the profligate returned after going to a foreign country and finding \nout by experience what a great sin it is to leave the father’s house\, the father did \nnot remember past injuries but welcomed him with open arms. Why? Because \nhe was a father and not a judge. And there were dances and festivities and \nbanquets and the whole house was full of joy and gladness. \nAre you asking: “Is this what he gets for his wickedness?” Not for his \nwickedness\, but for his return home; not for his sin but for repentance’ not for \nevil\, but for being converted. What is more\, when the elder son was angry at this\, \nthe father gently won him over\, saying You were always with me\, but he was \nlost and has been found; he was dead and has come back to life. When someone \nwho was lost has to be saved”\, says the father\, “it is not the time for passing \njudgment or making minute inquiries\, but only for mercy and forgiveness.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-4th-sunday-of-lent-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20250330T104555Z
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UID:13275-1743379200-1743465599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:EVERYWHERE MERCY PRECEDES \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny \n◊◊◊ \nO happy the humility of those who repent; O blessed the hope of those \nwho confess. How mighty you are with the Almighty; how easily you conquer the \nunconquerable; how quickly you turn the dreadful judge into a devoted father. \nWe have heard to our great edification of the prodigal son’s sorrowful journey\, \ntearful repentance and glorious reception. He was so gravely guilty and had not \nyet confessed but only planned to; had not yet made satisfaction but only bent \nhis mind to it. Yet by merely intending to humble himself he immediately \nobtained a pardon\, which others seek for so long a time with such great desire\, \nbeg for with such tears\, strive for with such diligence. The thief on the cross was \nabsolved by a simple confession\, the prodigal by only the will to confess. \n“I said\,” Scripture says\, “I will confess my transgression to the Lord; and \nyou did forgive the guilt of my sin.” Everywhere mercy precedes. It had preceded \nthe will to confess by inspiring it; it preceded also the words of confession by \nforgiving what was to be confessed. “When he was still far off\,” we read\, “his \nfather saw him and was moved with compassion\, and running to meet him fell \nupon his neck and kissed him.” These words seem to suggest that the father was \neven more anxious o pardon his son than the son was to be pardoned. He \nhastened to absolve the guilty one from what was tormenting his conscience\, as \nif the merciful father suffered more in his compassion for his miserable son than \nthe son did in his own miseries. We do not mean to attribute human feelings to \nthe unchangeable nature of God; we intend rather that our affection should be \nsoftened and moved to love that supreme goodness by learning from \ncomparison with human feelings that he loves us more than we love him. \nSee how where sin abounded grace abounds still more. The guilty one \ncould scarcely hope for pardon; the judge\, or rather not now the judge but the \nadvocate\, heaps us grace… What a wealth of graciousness and sweetness\, what \nan abundance of most blessed joy\, what torrents of most holy delight do they not \ncontain? “He fell upon his neck and kissed him.” When he thus showed his \naffection for him\, what did he do by his embrace and his kiss but take him to his \nbosom and cast himself into his son’s bosom\, breathe himself into him\, in order \nthat by clinging to his father he might become one spirit with him\, just as by \nclinging to harlots he had been made one body with them? It was not enough for \nthat supreme mercy not to close the bowels of his compassion to the wretched. \nHe draws them into his very bowels and makes them his members. He could not \nbind us to himself more closely\, could not make us more intimate to himself \nthan by incorporating us into himself. \nBoth by charity and by ineffable power he unites us not only with the body \nhe has assumed but also with his very spirit. If such is the grace accorded to the \nrepentant what will be the glory of those who reign? If such are the consolations \nof the wretched\, what will be the joys of the blessed? And since he gives us so \nmuch in advance while we are still on the way\, what treasures is he not keeping \nstored up for us when we arrive in our fatherland? Indeed\, what has not entered \ninto the heart of man: that we should be like him and that God should be all in \nall.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-287/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250330T104824Z
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UID:13279-1743552000-1743638399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A DELUGE OF MERCY \nFrom a sermon by St Maximus the Confessor \n◊◊◊ \nWe must accept with all reverence\, brethren\, the sacred days of Lent\, and \nnot recoil because of the length of the season; for the longer the days of our \nfasting\, the greater the grounds of our forgiveness; the longer the time of our \nself-denial\, the grater the price paid for our soul’s salvation; the severer the \ntreatment of our wounds\, the more sure the healing of our offenses. For God \nwho is the Physician of our souls has instituted an appropriate time; sufficient \nfor the just to make reparation and for sinners to ask for mercy; the one praying \nfor peace\, the other imploring pardon. \nFor the days of Lent are suited to our purposes; not short\, so that we may \nplead in prayer; not long\, for our need to gain merit. For in this fast of forty days \nany offense may be wiped out\, and the severity of any judge softened. The time \nmay be long and tedious for the one who neither pleads for his sins\, nor hopes \nfor forgiveness. For he who despairs will neither confess his sins\, nor hope in the \nmercy of the Judge. \nHoly and salutary therefore is the time of Lent\, in which the Judge is \nmoved to mercy\, the sinner to repentance\, and the just to peace. For in these \ndays the Divinity is inclined to be more merciful\, the sinner to repent\, and grace \nto be obtained. All things are now prepared: the heavens to pardon\, the sinner to \nconfess\, the tongue to plead. \nMystical and salutary is this number forty. For when in the beginning the \niniquity of mortals covered the earth\, God\, dissolving the clouds of heaven for \nthe space of this number of days\, covered the whole earth with a flood. You see \nthen already that in this time the Mystery is put before us in Figure. For as it \nthen rained for forty days\, to cleanse the world\, so now it also happens. Yet the \ndeluge of those days must be called a mercy; in that through it iniquity was \ncrushed\, and justice upheld. For it took place out of mercy\, to deliver the just\, \nand that the wicked might no longer sin. We see clearly it was through mercy it \ncame\, as a sort of baptism\, in which the face of the earth was renewed; that is\, so \nthat mortals who wallowed in the dreadful sin of those abandoned might come \nto grace in the dwelling of Noah\, and so that he who was then an abode of \niniquity\, might become a dwelling of holiness. \nHoly and dedicated is this time of forty days\, which immediately from the \nbeginning began to divide the just from the unjust; and by a kind of judgment \nseparate the good from the bad. And this takes place even in our time of forty \ndays. For in these forty days the good are divided from the bad\, that is\, the \nchaste from the unchaste\, the temperate from the intemperate\, the Christian \nfrom the heathen. The wicked…are separated from the good\, that is\, the sinner \nfrom the just\, the devil from the saint\, the heretic from the faithful. For those \nothers are lost\, as in the Flood\, in the disaster of this world\, while the Church \nalone\, with all its virtues\, is like the Ark sustained above the deep.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-289/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250330T104924Z
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UID:13281-1743638400-1743724799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE EXPERIENCE OF ETERNITY \nFrom “Christian at the Crossroads” by Fr Karl Rahner \n◊◊◊ \nIn every human life not confined to the visible and tangible or totally \nabsorbed in the needs of the moment\, but lived in the Spirit\, there are moments \nand events in which our whole existence comes into play\, in which we are \nbrought up against our life in its entirety\, in which the meaning and fulfillment \nor failure of that life is weighed in the balance: perhaps when we make a \ncommitment to selfless love\, or reach out in yearning and hope for the fulfill- \nment of our life\, or are threatened in the depths of our existence. At those \nmoments attitudes are formed and decisions taken not wholly or rationally \nexplicable in purely inner-worldly terms and without an ultimate grounding in \nthe solely here and now; the presence and efficacy of the Spirit is sought – and \nperhaps also discovered – in a more reflexive way. \nHave we ever been silent although we wished to defend ourselves\, \nalthough we were treated with less than justice? Did we ever forgive although we \ngot no thanks for it and our silent pardon was taken for granted? Did we once \nobey not because we had to or would otherwise have suffered unpleasant \nconsequences\, but merely because of that mysterious\, speechless\, \nincomprehensible force we call God and God’s will? Have we ever made a \nsacrifice without thanks\, acknowledgment or even sentiments of inner peace? \nHave we ever been thoroughly lonely? Have we had to take a decision purely on \nthe verdict of our conscience\, when we cannot tell anybody or explain to \nanybody\, when we are quite alone and know we are making a decision no one \ncan make for us and for which we shall be responsible to eternity? Have we ever \ntried to love God when no wave of heartfelt enthusiasm sustains us\, when we \ncannot exchange ourselves and life’s pressures with God\, when we think we are \ndying of such love\, when it feels like death and absolute negation\, when we seem \nto be summoned into the void and wholly unheard-of\, when everything is \napparently becoming incomprehensible and seemingly meaningless?… And so \non. \nWe can all perhaps see ourselves in such life experiences\, or think of our \nown similar ones. If we can\, then we have had the spiritual experience referred \nto here: the experience of eternity\, the experience that spirit is more than a piece \nof this temporal world\, the experience that the meaning of being human is not \nexhausted in the meaning and happiness of this world\, the experience of risk \nand venturesome trust which has no provable justification deducible from mere \nworldly success\, in short and finally: the experience of God\, the experience of \nthe descent of the Holy Spirit which became a reality in Christ through his \nincarnation and his sacrifice on the cross.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-290/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250330T105016Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250330T105016Z
UID:13283-1743724800-1743811199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE SOJOURN \nOF OUR PEACE \nFrom the writing of Dom Columba Marmion \n◊◊◊ \nWhen we thus submit ourselves entirely to Christ Jesus\, when we abandon \nourselves to Him\, when our soul only responds\, like His own\, with a perpetual \nAmen to all that He asks of us in the name of His Father…then Christ Jesus \nestablishes His peace in us: His peace\, not that which the world promises\, but the \ntrue peace which can only come from Himself… \nDoubtless\, here below\, peace is not always sensible; upon earth we are in a \ncondition of trial and\, most often\, peace is won by conflict… We may be slighted\, \nopposed\, persecuted\, be unjustly treated\, our intentions and deeds may be \nmisunderstood; temptation may shake us\, suffering may come suddenly upon us; \nbut there is an inner sanctuary which none can reach; here is the sojourn of our \npeace\, because in this innermost secret of the soul dwell adoration\, submission and \nabandonment to God. “I love my God\,” said St. Augustine\, “no one takes Him from \nme: no one takes from me what I ought to give Him\, for that is enclosed within my \nheart… \nDeath cannot trouble the soul that has sought only God. Has it not confided \nitself to the One Who says: “He that believes in Me\, although he be dead\, shall \nlive”… \nIn one of her “Exercises\,” St Gertrude allows her assurance\, which the \ninfinite merits of Jesus give her\, to overflow. “Woe\, woe unto me\, if\, when I come \nbefore You\, I had no advocate to plead my cause!… Come with me to judgment… \nthere let us stand together. Judge me\, for the right is Yours; but remember You are \nalso my Advocate. In order that I be fully acquitted\, You have but to recount what \nYou did become for love of me\, the price with which You have purchased me…” \nFor souls moved by such sentiments\, death is but a transition; Christ comes \nHimself to open to them the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem… There will be no \nmore darkness\, trouble\, tears\, or sighs; but peace\, infinite and perfect peace. \n“Peace first becomes ours with the longing and seeking for the Creator; it is in the \nfull vision and eternal possession of Him that peace is made perfect.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-291/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250405
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250406
DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250330T105114Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250330T105114Z
UID:13285-1743811200-1743897599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:FORGIVE US\, \nAS WE FORGIVE \nFrom a sermon by Caesarius of Arles \n◊◊◊ \nIf any one of us is in conflict with another\, let us end the quarrel lest we \nourselves end badly. Do not consider this unimportant\, my beloved. Let us call \nto mind that our life here is mortal and frail\, that it is endangered by many and \ngreat temptations\, and this makes us pray that we may not be overcome. And so\, \nwe realize that even the just are not without some sins. But there is one remedy \nwhich enables us to keep alive. For God\, our Master\, told us to say in our \nprayers: “Forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive those who wrong us.” \nWe have made a contract with God and taken a resolution that the wrong must \nbe forgiven. This makes us ask with complete confidence to be forgiven \nprovided we too forgive. \nIf\, on the contrary\, we do not forgive\, how can we in good conscience hope \nthat our sins will be forgiven? Let us not deceive ourselves: God deceived no \none. It is human to be angry\, but I wish it were impossible. It is human to \nbecome angry but let us not water the small plant born of anger with various \nsuspicions. Let us not permit it to develop into a tree of hatred. It happens also \nfrequently that a father is angry with his son\, but he does not hate the son. He is \nangry because he wishes to correct the son. If this is his purpose\, his anger is \nanimated by love. \nWe read in Scripture: “Why look at the speck in your brother’s eye when \nyou miss the plank in your own?” You find fault with another person for being \nangry\, and you keep hatred in yourself. Anger in comparison with hatred is only \na speck\, but if the speck is fostered\, it becomes a plank. If\, on the contrary\, you \npluck out the speck and cast it away\, it will amount to nothing. \nOur Master says in another place: “Anyone who hates his brother is a \nmurderer.” Those who hate their brother\, walk around\, go out\, come in\, march \non\, are not burdened by any chains and are not shut up in any prison\, but they \nare bound by their guilt. Do not think of them as not being imprisoned. Their \nheart is in prison. When you hear: “He who hates his brother is in darkness all \nthe while\,” lest you might despise that darkness\, the evangelist adds: “Anyone \nwho hates his brother is a murderer.” \nYou hate your brothers and sisters and walk safely around and refuse to \nbe reconciled with them\, and God has given you time and opportunity. Yet you \nare a murderer and are still alive. If you felt God’s wrath you would be suddenly \nsnatched away with your hatred toward others. God spares you; spare others \nlikewise; make up and seek reconciliation with them. But suppose you want \nreconciliation and another does not want it. That is enough for you; you have \nsomething to grieve for\, you have freed yourself. If you want agreement and the \nother refuses\, say confidently: “Forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive \nthose who wrong us.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-292/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250406
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250407
DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250406T123439Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250406T123439Z
UID:13298-1743897600-1743983999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n5th Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nMarch 6 – 12\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n6\nMon\n7\nTue\n8\nWed\n9\nThu\n10\nFri\n11\nSat\n12\n\n\nOffice\n5th Sunday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nLev 26:1-17\, 40-46\nNum 9:15-23; 10:33-36\nNum 11:1-6\, 10-30\nNum 12:1-15\nNum 13:1-3\, 17-33\nNum 14:1-25\nNum 20:1-13; 21:4-9\n\n\nLauds\nExod 19:16-19\nExod 20:1-7\nExod 20:8-17\nExod 20:18-21\nExod 24:12-18\nExod 32:7-14\nExod 32:30-35\n\n\nMass\n36\n250\n252\n253\n254\n255\n256\n\n\n1st\nIsa 43:16-21\n2 Kgs 4:18b-21\, 32-37\nNum 21:4-9\nDan 3:14-20\, 91-92\, 95\nGen 17:3-9\nJer 20:10-13\nEzek 37:21-28\n\n\n2nd\nPhil 3:8-14\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 8:1-11\nJohn 11:1-45\nJohn 8:21-30\nJohn 8:31-42\nJohn 8:51-59\nJohn 10:31-42\nJohn 11:45-56\n\n\nVespers\nDeut 30:1-6\nDeut 30:9-14\nDeut 30:15-20\nDeut 31:1-6\nDeut 31:9-13\nDeut 32:45-47\n1 Tim 6:11-16
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-110/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250406
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250407
DTSTAMP:20260403T172446
CREATED:20250406T123606Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250406T123606Z
UID:13300-1743897600-1743983999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 5th Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:IT IS SIN HE CONDEMNS\, \nNOT PEOPLE \nFrom a commentary by St Augustine \n◊◊◊ \nThe scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman who had been \ncaught committing adultery. Now the penalty of the law for adultery was \nstoning. It was\, of course\, unthinkable that any of the prescriptions of the law \ncould be unjust\, so it followed that anyone whose teachings contravened what \nthe law required would lay himself open to the charge of advocating injustice. \nThe Lord’s enemies accordingly said to themselves: “He has a reputation \nfor truth and is regarded as a man of great kindness and forbearance\, so we \nmust find a pretext for accusing him on the grounds of injustice. Let us confront \nhim with a woman caught committing adultery\, and quote the ruling of the law \nin her regard. If he orders her to be stoned\, he will lose his name for clemency; if \nhe tells us to release her\, he will not be upholding justice. There is little doubt \nthat he will sway she must be freed\, in order not to lose the reputation which has \nmade him so popular. That will be our chance to incriminate him and find him \nguilty of an offense against the law. We shall be able to say: ‘You are an enemy \nof the law! Your answer is not merely an attack on Moses but on God who gave \nthe law to Moses. You have made yourself liable to the death penalty. You and \nthe woman should both be stoned.’” By voicing such opinions the Lord’s \nenemies might be able to enflame popular feelings against him; they might \nincite the crowds to denounce him and demand his condemnation. \nBut look at the way our Lord’s answer upheld justice without forgoing \nclemency. He was not caught in the snare his enemies had laid for him; it was \nthey themselves who were caught in it. He did not say the woman should not be \nstoned\, for then it would look as though he were opposing the law. But he had no \nintention of saying: “Let her be stoned\,” because he came not to destroy those he \nfound but to seek those who were lost. Mark his reply. It contains justice\, \nclemency and truth in full measure. Let the one among you who has never \nsinned be the first to throw a stone at her. Let the sinner be punished\, yes – but \nnot be sinners. Let the law be carried out\, but not by lawbreakers. \nThis\, unquestionably\, is the voice of justice\, justice that pierced those men \nlike a javelin. Looking into themselves\, they realized their guilt\, and one by one \nthey all went out. Two remained behind: the miserable woman\, and Mercy. The \nLord raised his eyes\, and with a gentle look he asked her: Has no one \ncondemned you? She replied: No one\, sir. And he said: Neither will I condemn \nyou. What is this\, Lord? Are you giving approval to immorality? Not at all. Take \nnote of what follows: Go and sin no more. \nYou see then that the Lord does indeed pass sentence\, but it is sin he \ncondemns\, not people. One who approved of immorality would have said: \n“Neither will I condemn you. Go and live as you please; you can be sure that I \nwill acquit you. However much you sin\, I will release you from all penalty\, and \nfrom the tortures of hell and the underworld.” He did not say that. He said: \n“Neither will I condemn you; you need have no fear of the past\, but beware of \nwhat you do in the future. Neither will I condemn you: I have blotted out what \nyou have done; now observe what I have commanded\, in order to obtain what I \nhave promised.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-5th-sunday-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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