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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240810
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240811
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240804T131456Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240804T131456Z
UID:12367-1723248000-1723334399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Lawrence
DESCRIPTION:ST LAWRENCE \nBy St Augustine1 \n◊◊◊ \nThe Roman Church commends to us today the anniversary of the triumph \nof St. Lawrence. For on this day he trod the furious pagan world underfoot and \nflung aside its allurements\, and so gained victory over Satan’s attack on his \nfaith. As you have often heard\, Lawrence was a deacon of the Church at Rome. \nThere he ministered the sacred blood of Christ; there for the sake of Christ’s \nname he poured out his own blood. St John the Apostle was evidently teaching \nus about the mystery of the Lord’s supper when he wrote: Just as Christ laid \ndown his life for us\, so we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. My \nbrethren\, Lawrence understood this and\, understanding\, he acted on it. Just as \nhe had partaken of a gift of self at the table of the Lord\, so he prepared to offer \nsuch a gift. In his life he loved Christ; in his death he followed in his footsteps. \nBrethren\, we too must imitate Christ if we truly love him. We shall not be \nable to render better return on that love than by modeling our lives on his. \nChrist suffered for us\, leaving us an example\, that we should follow in his steps. \nIn saying this\, the Apostle Peter seems to have understood that Christ suffered \nonly for those who follow in his steps\, in the sense that Christ’s passion is of no \navail to those who do not. The holy martyrs followed Christ even to the shedding \nof their life’s blood\, even to reproducing the very likeness of his passion. They \nfollowed him\, but not they alone. It is not true that the bridge was broken after \nthe martyrs crossed; nor is it true that after they had drunk from it\, the fountain \nof eternal life dried up. \nI tell you again and again\, my brethren\, that in the Lord’s garden are to \nbe found not only the roses of his martyrs. In it there are also the lilies of the \nvirgins\, the ivy of wedded couples\, and the violets of widows. On no account15 \nmay any class of people despair\, thinking that Christ has not called them. Christ \nsuffered for all. What the Scriptures say of him is true: He desires all to be saved \nand to come to knowledge of the truth. \nLet us understand\, then\, how a Christian must follow Christ even though \nhe does not shed his blood for him\, and his faith is not called upon to undergo \nthe great test of the martyr’s sufferings. The apostle Paul says of Christ our Lord: \nThough he was in the form of God he did not consider equality with God a prize \nto be clung to. How unrivaled his majesty! But he emptied himself\, taking on \nthe form of a slave\, made in human likeness\, and presenting himself in human \nform. How deep his humility! \nChrist humbled himself. Christian\, that is what you must make your own. \nChrist became obedient. How is it that you are proud? When this humbling \nexperience was completed and death itself lay conquered\, Christ ascended into \nheaven. Let us follow him there\, for we hear Paul saying: If you have been raised \nwith Christ\, you must lift your thoughts on high\, where Christ now sits at the \nright hand of God.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-lawrence-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240811
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240812
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240811T102418Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240811T102418Z
UID:12373-1723334400-1723420799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n19th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nAugust 11 – 17\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n11\nMon\n12\nTue\n13\nWed\n14\nThu\n15\nFri\n16\nSat\n17\n\n\nOffice\n19th Sunday\nOffice for Vocations\nWeekday\nSt Maximilian Kolbe\nAssumption of the BVM\nWeekday\nWeekday\n\n\nVigils\n1 Sam 24:1-25:1\n1 Sam 25:2-22\n1 Sam 25:23-43\n1 Sam 26:1-25\nSir 24:1-16\n1 Sam 27:1-12\n1 Sam 28:1-25\n\n\nLauds\nZeph 1:7-13\nZeph 1:14-18\nZeph 2:1-7\nZeph 2:8-15\nJosh 4:4-10\nZeph 3:1-7\nZeph 3:8-13\n\n\nMass\n116\n413\n414\n415\n622\n417\n418\n\n\n1st\n1 Kgs 19:4-8\nEzek 1:2-5\, 24-28c\nEzek 2:8-3:4\nEzek 9:1-7; 10:18-22\nRev 11:19a; 12:1-6a; 10ab\nEzek 16:1-15\, 60\, 63\nEzek 18:1-10\, 13b\, 30-32\n\n\n2nd\nEph 4:30-5:2\n\n\n\n1 Cor 15:20-27\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 6:41-51\nMatt 17:22-27\nMatt 18:1-5\, 10\, 12-14\nMatt 18:15-20\nLuke 1:39-56\nMatt 19:3-12\nMatt 19:13-15\n\n\nVespers\nJas 1:12-18\nJas 1:19-27\nJas 2:1-13\nEph 2:1-10\nRom 8:28-39\nJas 2:14-17\nJas 2:18-26
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-80/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240811
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240812
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240811T102555Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240811T102555Z
UID:12375-1723334400-1723420799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 19th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:HIS MOST DIVINE LIFE \nFrom a commentary by Denis the Areopagite1 \n◊◊◊ \nIn his goodness and love for humankind\, Jesus\, the most divine Word\, \none\, simple\, and hidden\, assumed our nature\, appearing though unchanged in \nhis own nature as a being both composite and visible. Graciously he received us \ninto unifying communion with himself\, joining our lowliness to his sublime \ndivinity\, under the sole condition that we in our turn should adhere to him as \nmembers of his body by living a pure and godly life like his\, and not giving reign \nto ruinous\, death-dealing passions\, which would make us incapable of union \nwith those completely healthy and divine members. \nIf we aspire to communion with Jesus\, we must fix our eyes upon the most \nholy life he lives in the flesh and follow the example of his divine innocence so \nas to become pure and godlike. Then\, in a manner befitting us\, he will give us a \nresemblance to himself. \nThe bishop manifests these truths in the sacred rites he performs when \nhe publicly unveils the hidden gifts\, divides them into many parts\, and by the \nperfect union of the sacrament he distributes with those who receive it\, admits \nthe recipients to communion with it. For by thus presenting Jesus Christ to our \neyes he shows us the very life of our spirit and understanding in a way \nperceptible to our senses\, as it were pictorially. He shows us how Christ came \nforth from his divine concealment to assume for love of humanity our human \nform\, becoming completely human without loss of his own identity\, how while \nremaining unchanged he descended from his natural unity to the level of our \ndivisibility\, and how through the beneficent deeds inspired by his love for us\, \nHe calls the human race to communion with himself and to share in his \nblessings. He asks only that we unite ourselves to his most divine life by3 \nimitating it to the best of our ability\, so as to enter into a real communion with \nGod and his divine mysteries.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-19th-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240812
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240813
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240811T102721Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240811T102721Z
UID:12377-1723420800-1723507199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:THE DIVINE CALL \nFrom the writing of Hans Urs von Balthasar1 \n◊◊◊ \nChristian revelation is primarily a revelation of hearing\, not of seeing. \nAlthough the image of seeing is not excluded – for “we see now through a \nmirror in an obscure manner”; wisdom\, when it appears\, is the “mirror … and \nimage” of the divine goodness; and Christ is “the image of the invisible God” \nso that\, in seeing him\, we also see the Father – nevertheless the comparison \nwith hearing is the dominant one in revelation: the Second Person is heard \nprimarily as “Word” and faith in him comes by hearing. The hearing of the Word \nis by no means a temporary substitute for the seeing that is wanting to us here \nbelow. On the contrary\, it is the lasting proof that God never is and never will \nbe a mere “object” of knowledge to us\, but is rather the infinitely sovereign \nmajesty of a Trinity of Persons that makes itself known in whatever way and to \nwhomever it wills. \nThat God speaks to us in his personal word is a greater grace than that we \nare allowed to see him: That we are deemed worthy of his word is the grace of \ngraces that makes us partners in a divine\, even Trinitarian\, conversation. That \nthe word of God is spoken to us is the highest revelation and honor the personal \nGod can bestow upon us\, for it presumes that God considers us capable of \nunderstanding his word through the gift of his grace and of possessing the Spirit \nwho “searches all things\, even the deep things of God\, that we may know all \nthings that have been given us by God”. So tremendous is this grace that the \ncreature thus addressed by God must forget its own wishes and desires\, even its \nlonging for “eternal happiness” and for the “vision of God” so that\, trembling \nin the depths of its being\, it may fall to the ground and hear his voice only to \nask: “What shall I do\, Lord?”5 \nBut one who has been thrown to the ground by the impact of this \ncompelling voice is also “set upon his feet” by it. When God speaks\, He wants a \npartner. He wants one who is erect\, who\, hearing his voice\, is yet able to stand \nupon his feet and answer: “…I fell upon my face\, and I heard the voice of the \none that spoke. And he said to me: Son of man\, stand upon your feet\, and I will \nspeak to you. And the Spirit entered into me after he spoke to me\, and he set \nme upon my feet; and I heard him speaking to me…”. \nWhen God speaks personally\, he wants to be understood personally; \nwhen he utters his personal word into the world\, he wants that word to be \nreturned to him\, not as a dead echo\, but as a personal response from his \ncreature in an exchange that is genuinely a dialogue even though it can be \nconducted only in the unity of the divine Word that mediates between the \nFather and us. But just as that divine Word proceeds from the Father\, yet is not \nthe Father\, but only declares the Father\, so the creature can give back to the \nFather this word it has received by uttering itself in it – or better\, by letting itself \nbe uttered by it.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-15/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240813
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240814
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240811T102844Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240811T102844Z
UID:12379-1723507200-1723593599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE CENOBITIC LIFE \nFrom the writing of Baldwin of Ford.1 \n◊◊◊ \nThe common life of the angels is a sort of copy of that common life which \nis in God\, of God\, and is God. It is united in perfect peace by the Holy Spirit\, \nwho is its love\, its bond\, and its communion. ‘By the word of the Lord the \nheavens were established\, and all their virtue by the spirit of his mouth.’ The \nheavens are the angels in whom God dwells as their common life and common \nblessedness\, and in his love they live in concord and happiness. Each of them \nloves all the others\, and all of them love each; they all want the same things and \nall are averse to the same things; what pleases one is displeasing to none\, and \nwhat one wants\, they all want. There is one purpose and one will for all; all feel \nthe same thing\, and all sense the same thing. \nThere is no one here puffed up with pride\, no one consumed with envy\, \nno outbursts of anger\, no quarrels or discord\, no murmurs of impatience\, and \nno one is defamed by treacherous tongues. Here all is at peace\, all is calm\, all is \ntranquil. There is nothing disordered\, nothing undisciplined\, nothing contrary \nto order or obedience\, nothing secretly put away with the intention of keeping \nit for oneself. Everything is open and aboveboard\, everything is plain\, and \nthings which are proper to each individual are common to all through the \nsharing of love and the love of sharing. They are all [assembled] in one temple \nand raise their shouts of joy to God in common; all at the same time read and \nmeditate and contemplate in the book of life; and they all refresh themselves \ncommunally at one and the same table. They take their rest together in the place \nof eternal repose\, and there is no one who does anything on his own which can \ndisturb or damage their common peace\, obedience\, or order. \nSuch is the fellowship— the happiest and most joyous [of fellowships] — \nof the citizens of the realms above who live the common life\, and we who are \nstill upon earth should follow their way of life by [living] the common life after \ntheir example. Thus\, we might deserve to be joined with them in intimate \ncompanionship\, a companionship which will be the more intimate the more it \nis granted us from above to imitate their life\, through the grace of our Lord \nJesus Christ\, the charity of God\, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-211/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240814
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240815
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240811T103056Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240811T103056Z
UID:12381-1723593600-1723679999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Maximilian
DESCRIPTION:A TESTIMONY FROM \nTHE BEATIFICATION PROCESS \nOF ST MAXIMILIAN KOLBE1 \n◊◊◊ \nFr Kolbe and I worked together in May or June 1941. We were bringing \nsand up from the Sola River. This was some of Auschwitz’s heaviest work\, so \nour squad had a very hard time indeed. The work itself was very painful; we \nwere lightly and very insufficiently dressed\, and yet we had to wade into the cold \nwater to dig the sand. In addition\, the guards beat us cruelly or sometimes \nkilled prisoners outright. From the first time I saw Father Maximilian I was \nstruck by his dignity and calm\, so different from others. In spite of the terrible \nconditions and bad treatment\, he never complained nor did he curse. Instead\, \nhe tried to comfort the other prisoners and lift our spirits. During the three \nweeks we worked together\, I sometimes saw the kapo beat Father Kolbe with a \nbig stick. Each time\, Father Kolbe took it without a murmur. \nThe news of his death was an enormous shock to the whole camp. We \nbecame aware someone among us in this spiritual dark night of the soul was \nraising the standard of love on high. Someone unknown\, like everyone else\, \ntortured and bereft of name and social standing\, went to a horrible death for the \nsake of someone not even related to him. Therefore it is not true\, we cried\, that \nhumanity is cast down and trampled in the mud\, overcome by oppressors\, and \noverwhelmed by hopelessness. Thousands of prisoners were convinced the true \nworld continued to exist and that our torturers would not be able to destroy it. \nMore than one individual began to look within himself for this real world\, found \nit\, and shared it with his camp companion\, strengthening both in this encounter \nwith evil. To say that Father Kolbe died for one of us or for that person’s family \nis too great a simplification. \nHis death was the salvation of thousands. And on this\, I would say\, rests \nthe greatness of that death. That’s how we felt about it. And as long as we live\, \nwe who were at Auschwitz will bow our heads in memory of it as at that time we \nbowed our head before the bunker of death by starvation. That was a shock full \nof optimism\, regenerating and giving strength; we were stunned by his act\, \nwhich became for us a mighty explosion of light in the dark camp night.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-maximilian/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240815
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240816
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240811T103204Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240811T103204Z
UID:12383-1723680000-1723766399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Assumption of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:TODAY SHE HAS FOUND HIM \nFrom a sermon by St Aelred of Rievaulx1 \n◊◊◊ \nAmong all those who are Christ’s\, she who tastes his goodness more \nintimately and more delicately is of greater excellence\, more blessed\, and more \nattractive. She is to him not only a creature\, a handmaid\, a friend\, and a \ndaughter\, but also a mother. So\, then it is only right that we welcome her feast \nwith greater delight and gladness. But today even more we should rejoice with \nher because today her joy was completely fulfilled. Great was her joy when the \nangel greeted her. Great was her joy when she felt the coming of the Holy Spirit\, \nwhen that marvelous fusion of the Son of God with her flesh took place in her \nwomb\, so that he\, one and the same\, was the Son of God and her Son. Great was \nher joy when she held such a Son in her arms\, when she listened to his words\, \nwhen she saw his miracles. And because her sorrow was so great at the Passion\, \nshe took wondrous joy again in his resurrection and greater still at his \nascension. But all these joys were surpassed by the joy which she receives today. \nUp to this day…Mary\, the blessed Mother of God\, knew her dearest Son \nin the flesh. Although she fastened all her desires and all her love there\, where \nhe was\, after her dearest Son and Lord ascended into heaven\, so long as she \nremained in this corruptible flesh\, what she had seen of him in the flesh could \nnot fade from her memory. For his deeds and words were always coming to her \nmind and above all there lingered in her heart the features of his exquisite face. \nToday\, however\, she passed from this world and went up to the heavenly \nkingdom. There she began to contemplate his brightness\, power\, and divinity\, \nand her joy and her longing were fulfilled. So with good reason could she say: “I \nhave found him whom my soul loves”. She holds him and she does not let him \ngo… Today she has found him whom her soul loves\, she has found him in spirit\,11 \nshe loves him in spirit\, she holds him in spirit and therefore she will never again \nlose him… \nShe loved him more than anyone else did\, so she yearned for him more \nthan anyone else did\, and therefore sought him more persistently. But him \nwhom until now her flesh loved\, now her soul loves. And now she says: “I will \nrise and go the rounds of the city”. Today the Blessed Virgin went up into heaven \nand went round the whole of that heavenly city in the full natural vigor of her \nmind. Today she entered that heavenly court. She saw the white robes of the \nvirgins\, the ruddy crowns of the martyrs\, the thrones of the apostles\, and in the \nmidst of them she found her Son reigning. Ascending higher than the very \nhighest of the saints\, she has arrived at such knowledge of the divinity that she \nthen glories in having found him for the first time… She holds him in the \nembraces of an utterly perfect love and she can never lose him because she can \nnever love him any less. \nLet us lift up our hearts therefore\, brothers\, to Our Lady\, our Advocate. \nLet us reflect on how much hope we have in her. Just as she surpasses every \ncreature in excellence\, so also she is more merciful and kinder than any \ncreature. Let us then confidently entreat her who can by her excellence assist us \nand by her mercy chooses to do so\, that she may implore her Son for us so that \nas he deigned to be born of her for us\, he may through her deign to have mercy \non us.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-assumption-of-the-bvm/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240816
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240817
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240811T103312Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240811T103312Z
UID:12385-1723766400-1723852799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:IN PRAISE OF \nTHE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY1 \nFrom a sermon by Amadeus of Lausanne1 \n◊◊◊ \nSince we have\, at the bidding of God\, embarked upon the praises of the \nBlessed Virgin\, it remains for us to complete her praise from the bottom of our \nheart and with dutiful voice. Let us gaze upon her glory and\, entering the depth \nof so great a light\, let us with swelling heart and unspeakable joy hasten through \nthe vivid brightness of the paths\, saying with Solomon\, ‘Her paths are lovely and \nall her ways are peaceful’. What if\, as the same prophet says\, ‘the path of the \njust\, as a shining light\, goes forth and grows into the perfect day’? Who will be \nable to express the light and brightness of her paths? Yet we shall try to explain \nin part the progress and additions of her paths so that she may be perceived as \nglorious in her steps and be proclaimed in each of them. \nFor she possessed progress clearly marked and distinct growth\, so that \nshe advanced according to the fairest order of Charity and\, going forward from \nvirtue to virtue\, she saw the God of gods in Sion\, being changed from glory to \nglory as by the Spirit of the Lord. \nFirstly\, therefore\, she was deemed worthy to be adorned with the beauty \nof all the virtues. Secondly\, she was united to the Holy Spirit in a bond of \nwedlock. Thirdly\, she was found the Mother of the Savior. Fourthly\, a sword \npierced her soul and by the flesh taken of her flesh the ruin of the lost world is \nrestored. Fifthly\, she rejoices in her Son arising and ascending above the heaven \nof heavens to the right hand of the Father. Sixthly\, she is caught up from this \nworld and as the Lord hastens to meet her she is places above the denizens of \nheaven. Seventh\, she will be completed when the fullness of the Gentiles shall \nhave entered and all Israel shall be saved. For beyond what it is right to be said13 \nor believed\, she rejoices in the general salvation of the elect\, knowing that it was \nfor them that the Son of God took flesh from her. Therefore\, she will then be \nfulfilled\, God providing a better thing\, lest without us she should not be made \nperfect.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-212/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240817
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240818
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240811T103425Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240811T103425Z
UID:12387-1723852800-1723939199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A SONG OF INNOCENCE AND \nEXPERIENCE \nBy Gerald Vann1 \n◊◊◊ \nIn the Church’s devotion to Mary great emphasis is laid on the fact that in \nher motherhood she yet remained a maiden as well; and we shall miss all the \nrichness of the mystery if we think of this insistence as being purely or even \nprimarily concerned with physical conditions. Motherhood produces \nfundamental psychological changes in a woman: it means the loss of some \nqualities and the acquisition of others\, a different mentality\, a different outlook. \nThe mother has known the deep experience of love and joy\, of pain and danger \nand sorrow: we think of her as the symbol of wisdom because she has known in \nher own body the mysteries of good and evil. \nThe girl on the other hand is the symbol of opposite qualities: of a \nfreshness and spontaneity and purity of heart which comes precisely from \ninexperience\, knowing that reality can be ugly\, not yet made wise through \nlessons of sorrow: her courage\, her strength\, her wisdom\, her joy\, are from other \nsources. In Mary alone\, the Maiden-Mother\, these opposite sets of qualities co- \nexist; it is this that gives her personality a richness which is unique; and it is \nbecause of this richness that she can teach us so much. \nMary’s life then is a song at once of innocence and of experience; and as \nthis double richness means a double fear so it means also a double love; and the \nlove in its turn produces a double wisdom\, a double trust\, and therefore a double \ncourage. Mary pondered all these things in her heart: it is her song of \nexperience\, and the source of her…wisdom. She knew how He-that-is-mighty \nhad done great things in her; she knew the overshadowing power of the Most \nHigh; she knew the gradually unfolding self-revelation of her Son; and knowing15 \nthese things she could sense of the resurrection through the cross\, the joy \nthrough the pain\, the triumph through failure; and so she could find the courage \nto meet the sword. \nBehold the handmaid of the Lord: there\, on the other hand\, is her song of \ninnocence: whatever may come it will be well because it is his will\, because he \nis Love: hers are eyes too that can look out untroubled on a future which is \nveiled\, simply because she has implicit trust in the God she loves\, even before \nthe trust has been justified by experience; and as the mother can say\, I can do \nall things in him who has strengthened me\, so the girl can say\, I can do all things \nin him who will strengthen me.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-213/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240818
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240819
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240818T001307Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240818T001307Z
UID:12399-1723939200-1724025599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n20th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nAugust 18 – 24\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n18\nMon\n19\nTue\n20\nWed\n21\nThu\n22\nFri\n23\nSat\n24\n\n\nOffice\n20th Sunday\nBl Guerric\nSt Bernard\nSt Pus X\nQueenship of Mary\nSt Rose of Lima\nSt Bartholomew\n\n\nVigils\n1 Sam 29:1-11\n1 Sam 30:1-25\nSir 50:5-20\n1 Sam 31:1-13\nNehemiah 1:1-11\nNeh 2:1-20\nGen 28:10-22\n\n\nLauds\nZeph 3:14-20\nHaggai 1:1-8\nWis 8:2-13\nHag 1:9-15\nHag 2:1-9\nHag 2:10-14\nDeut 18:15-19\n\n\nMass\n119\n419\n641\, 660\, 574\n421\n422\, 627\n423\n629\n\n\n1st\nProv 9:1-6\nEzek 24:15-23\nWis 7:7-10\, 15-16\nEzek 34:1-11\nEzek 36:23-28\nEzek 37:1-14\nRev 21:9b-14\n\n\n2nd\nEph 5:15-20\n\nPhil 3:17-4:1\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 6:51-58\nMatt 19:16-22\nMatt 5:13-19\nMatt 20:1-16\nLuke 1:26-38\nMatt 22:34-40\nJn 1:45-51\n\n\nVespers\nJas 3:1-5a\n1 Jn 3:19-24\n1 Jn 4:7-16\nJas 3:5b-12\nJas 3:13-18\nJas 4:1-4\nJas 4:5-12
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-81/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12401-1723939200-1724025599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 20th Sunday ORD
DESCRIPTION:REAL FOOD \nAND REAL DRINK \nFrom a commentary by Theophylact of Ohrid1 \n◊◊◊ \nWe have heard that unless we eat the flesh of the Son we shall not have \nlife. We must have unwavering faith\, then\, when we partake of the sacred \nmysteries\, and not inquire “How?” Unspiritual people\, that is\, those led by a \nnatural way of thinking\, are not open to spiritual realities surpassing the natural \norder\, and so lack understanding of the spiritual nourishment the Lord’s flesh \naffords. \nThose who do not share this flesh do not share in eternal life because they \nreject Jesus the true life. What is consumed is the flesh not merely of a man but \nof God\, and being one with the Godhead\, it has power to deify. This is real \nnourishment: its sustaining power does not last only for a time; it does not \ndecompose like perishable food. But helps us to attain everlasting life. \nLikewise\, the cup of the Lord’s blood is real drink\, for it does not quench our \nthirst only for a time\, but keeps those who drink it free from thirst forever\, as \nthe Lord said to the Samaritan woman: Whoever drinks the water that I shall \ngive will never thirst again. Whoever receives the grace of the Holy Spirit by \nsharing in the mysteries will never suffer from spiritual hunger and thirst the \nway unbelievers do. \nThose who eat my flesh and drink my blood\, live in me and I in them. As \nI draw life from the living Father who sent me\, so whoever eats me will draw \nlife from me. From these words we can begin to understand the mystery of \ncommunion. Those who eat and drink the Lord’s flesh and blood lives in the \nLord and the Lord lives in them. A marvelous and inexplicable union occurs by \nwhich God is in us\, and we are in God. Does this not fill you with awe as you \nlisten? \nIt is not God alone that we eat\, for he is intangible and incorporeal; he can \nbe apprehended neither by our eyes nor by our teeth; nor\, on the other hand\, is \nit simply the flesh of a man\, which would avail us nothing. Rather\, in a union \ndefying explanation\, God has made flesh one with himself\, so that the flesh now \nhas life-giving power. This not because its nature is changed into the nature of \nGod. Of course not! A comparison may be made with iron put into fire. It \nremains iron but displays the energy of fire. So also\, the Lord’s flesh remains \nflesh\, but it has the life-giving power because it is the flesh of the Word of God. \nAnd so\, Christ says\, As I draw life from the Father\, or in other words\, as \nI was born of the Father who is life\, so those who eat me will draw life from me\, \nbecause they will be united to me and\, as it were\, transformed into me\, who am \npossessed of life-giving power.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-20th-sunday-ord/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
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UID:12403-1724025600-1724111999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Bl Guerric
DESCRIPTION:THE LIFE OF \nBLESSED GUERRIC OF IGNY \nBy Fr Hilary Costello\, OCSO1 \n◊◊◊ \nGuerric of Igny was born around 1075 at Tournai and was educated in the \nhumanities\, dialectic and theology at the cathedral school. Guerric was first \nattracted to the eremitical life. He went to Clairvaux without any idea of staying \nthere. He only wanted to derive spiritual advantage from a meeting with the \nAbbot Bernard. Bernard saw the makings of a good monk in Guerric and urged \nhim to stay. \nLike so many of the Clairvaux community\, Guerric was considerably older \nthan his abbot. By human standards he was more mature and experienced. \nGuerric remained at Clairvaux for thirteen years. Igny was founded as the fourth \nfoundation of Clairvaux in 1127. \nIn 1138 the first abbot of Igny\, Humbert\, resigned and returned to \nClairvaux. Guerric was chosen as its second abbot. There is a passage in the Vita \nHugonis which suggests that Bernard influenced the choice considerably. “It \nwas Bernard who brought Guerric to the monastic life and Bernard favored \nhis election as abbot. He knew of no man living more holy than Guerric and so \ndeclared him the one candidate for the office.” But this does not indicate that \nGuerric was imposed on the community. The monks of twelve years standing \nwould have known him at Clairvaux. Guerric himself says that the community \nchose him: ‘I am no physician and\, in my house\, there is no bread’. That is what \nI said from the start: ‘Do not make me your leader.’ It is not right for one to \nrule who cannot be of service. And how can he be of service who is not a \nphysician and in whose house there is no bread? He has neither the art of \nhealing souls nor learning to feed them with? I told you this\, but you would5 \nnot listen. You made me your superior.” Guerric may indeed have been about \nsixty years old\, but then his long experience both before and after his entrance \ninto Clairvaux must have been thought a valuable asset. \nIgny flourished under Guerric. Vocations were plentiful and so were \nbenefactors. Much land and money was given to the monastery during his \ntenure. It was none of this that was to make the abbot’s name known to \nposterity\, but the spiritual teaching committed to writing in his sermons. He \nseems to have died on August 19\, 1157. More than six hundred years later his \nremains were taken into a new church. \nAlong with Bernard\, Aelred of Rievaulx and William of St Thierry\, Guerric \nhas been called the four evangelists of Citeaux.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-bl-guerric-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
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UID:12405-1724112000-1724198399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Bernard
DESCRIPTION:THE MELLIFLOUS DOCTOR \nBy Pope Pius XII1 \n◊◊◊ \n“The last of the Fathers\, but certainly not unequal to the earlier ones“\, \nwas remarkable for such qualities of nature and mind\, which were enriched by \nGod with heavenly gifts\, that amid the varied and sometimes stormy events of \nhis age\, he seemed to dominate by his sanctity\, wisdom and most prudent \ncounsel. It is a source of gratification so to meditate on his merits and to set \nthem forth in writing that\, not only the members of his own Order\, but also all \nthose who find their delights principally in whatever is true\, beautiful or holy \nmay feel themselves spurred on to imitate the brilliant example of his virtues. \nHis doctrine was drawn almost exclusively from the pages of Sacred \nScripture and from the Holy Fathers\, which he had at hand day and night in his \nprofound meditations; and not from the subtle reasonings of dialecticians and \nphilosophers\, which on more than one occasion he appeared to hold in low \nesteem. But it should be remarked that he does not reject that human \nphilosophy which is genuine philosophy\, namely\, that which leads to God\, to \ncorrect living and to Christian wisdom. \nIt is clear that in his study and his contemplation under the influence of \nlove rather than the subtlety of human reasoning\, Bernard’s sole aim was to \ndirect toward the Supreme Truth all the rays of truth which he had assembled \nfrom many different sources; drawing from them light for the mind\, the fire of \ncharity for the soul\, and correct norms for the guidance of conduct. This is \nindeed true wisdom\, which transcends all things human\, and brings everything \nback to its source\, that is\, to God\, in order to convert all to Him. The Mellifluous \nDoctor makes his way with deliberate care through the uncertain and \nprecarious circuits of reasoning\, not trusting in the keenness of his own mind7 \nnor depending upon the labored and artful syllogisms which many of the \ndialecticians of his time frequently abused\, but\, like an eagle\, attempting to fix \nhis eyes on the sun\, he pushes on with swift flight to the summit of truth. \nThe charity which activated him makes light of obstacles and\, so to speak\, \ngives wings to the mind. For him\, learning is not the final goal\, but rather a path \nleading to God; it is not the cold object of empty speculation\, an intellectual \ndiversion\, fascinating the mind with its play of light and glory\, but it is moved\, \nimpelled and governed by love. Wherefore\, borne up by this wisdom and by \nmeans of meditation\, contemplation and love\, Bernard ascends the peak of the \nmystical life and is united with God Himself\, tasting at times almost infinite \nhappiness even in this mortal life.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-bernard-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
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UID:12407-1724198400-1724284799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Pius X
DESCRIPTION:A READING ON ST PIUS X \nBy Leonard von Matt1 \n◊◊◊ \nPius X\, the canonized Pope\, holds a special place in the hearts of the \nfaithful. But this devotion of the faithful did not begin only at his canonization\, \nwhen the Church publicly proclaimed the holiness of his life: it began from the \nmoment when he ascended the papal throne. At once there grew up an \nunderstanding between the Shepherd and his flock. The first to understand him \nwere the simple\, humble people\, who recognized him for what he was. \nThe obvious quality which led to his canonization was his outstanding \nholiness. With Pius X\, sanctity seemed to be the most natural thing in the \nworld. It quietly enlivened all that he said or did. Yet it would seem that \nGiuseppe Sarto’s natural temperament inclined to a certain violence\, easily \ninflamed\, and no one will ever know how much struggle it cost him to achieve \nthat gentleness and unruffled goodness for which he was so renowned. We can \nfollow him on the narrow path which he set himself as church-student\, curate\, \nparish-priest\, bishop\, cardinal and Pope; but the moment of his vocation to the \npriesthood and the beginning of his heroic sanctity are secrets known to God \nalone. \nA certain holiness seems to have been his from the beginning: his striving \nafter a virtuous life seems never to have been interrupted\, his charity never \ndiminished. But it was when he began what he called the Ascent of Mount \nCalvary\, when he became Pope\, that his great sanctity became evident. It was \nhis conscientiousness that turned the enormous responsibility of the office into \na crucifixion: he gave himself unstintingly to the service of the Church\, and \nspent himself without reserve for the love of God and everyone. His sanctity lay \nin this total dedication: it was thus an inner and in a great measure a hidden9 \nsanctity: there were no spectacular penances\, no remarkable practices beyond \nthose of a normal\, good Christian. It might almost be said that Pius X became \na saint in spite of himself by sanctifying himself and his nature and by not \nresisting God’s grace that drew him on.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-pius-x-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
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UID:12409-1724284800-1724371199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Queenship of Mary
DESCRIPTION:WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE SPEAK \nOF THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY? \nFrom the writing of Thomas Merton1 \n◊◊◊ \nMary alone\, of all the saints\, is\, in everything\, incomparable. She has the \nsanctity of them all and yet resembles none of them. And still\, we can talk of \nbeing like her. This likeness to her is not only something to desire — it is one \nhuman quality most worthy of our desire: but the reason for that is that she\, of \nall creatures\, most perfectly recovered the likeness to God that God willed to \nfind\, in varying degrees\, in us all. \nIt is necessary\, no doubt\, to talk about her privileges as if they were \nsomething that could be made comprehensible in human language and could \nbe measured by some human standard. It is most fitting to talk about her as a \nQueen and to act as if you knew what it meant to say she has a throne above all \nthe angels. But this should not make anyone forget that her highest privilege is \nher poverty and her greatest glory is that she is most hidden\, and the source of \nall her power is that she is as nothing in the presence of Christ\, of God. \nThis is often forgotten by Catholics themselves\, and therefore it is not \nsurprising that those who are not Catholic often have a completely wrong \nconception of Catholic devotion to the Mother of God. They imagine\, and \nsometimes we can understand their reasons for doing so\, that Catholics treat \nthe Blessed Virgin as an almost divine being in her own right\, as if she had some \nglory\, some power\, some majesty of her own that placed her on a level with \nChrist himself. They regard the Assumption of Mary into heaven as a kind of \napotheosis and her Queenship as a strict divinization.11 \nHence her place in the Redemption would seem to be equal to that of her \nSon. But this is all completely contrary to the true mind of the Catholic Church. \nIt forgets that Mary’s chief glory is her nothingness\, in the fact of being the \n“Handmaid of the Lord\,” as one who in becoming the Mother of God acted \nsimply in loving submission to his command\, in the pure obedience of faith. She \nis blessed not because of some mythical pseudo-divine prerogative\, but in all \nher human and womanly limitations as one who has believed. It is the faith and \nthe fidelity of this humble handmaid\, “full of grace” that enables her to be the \nperfect instrument of God\, and nothing else but his instrument. The work that \nwas done in her was purely the work of God. “He that is mighty has done great \nthings in me.” The glory of Mary is purely and simply the glory of God in her\, \nand she\, like anyone else\, can say that she has nothing that she has not received \nfrom him through Christ. \nAs a matter of fact\, this is precisely her greatest glory: that having nothing \nof her own\, retaining nothing of a “self” that could glory in anything for her own \nsake\, she placed no obstacle to the mercy of God and in no way resisted his love \nand his will. Hence\, she received more from him than any other saint. He was \nable to accomplish his will perfectly in her\, and his liberty was in no way \nhindered or turned from its purpose by the presence of an egotistical self in \nMary. She was and is in the highest sense a person precisely because\, being \n“immaculate\,” she was free from every taint of selfishness that might obscure \nGod’s light in her being. She was then a freedom that obeyed him perfectly and\, \nin this obedience\, found the fulfillment of perfect love.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-queenship-of-mary/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
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UID:12411-1724371200-1724457599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Rose of Lima
DESCRIPTION:THE BEAUTY OF DIVINE GRACE \nFrom the writing of St Rose of Lima1 \n◊◊◊ \nOur Lord and Savior lifted up his voice and said with incomparable \nmajesty: Let all know that grace comes after tribulation. Let them know that \nwithout the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. Let \nthem know that the gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase. Let them \ntake care not to stray or be deceived. This is the only true stairway to paradise\, \nand without the cross they can find no road to climb to heaven. \nWhen I heard these words\, a strong force came upon me and seemed to \nplace me in the middle of a street\, so that I might say in a loud voice to people \nof every age\, sex and status: Hear\, O people; hear\, O nations. I am warning you \nabout the commandment of Christ by using words that came from his own lips: \nWe cannot obtain grace unless we suffer afflictions. We must heap trouble upon \ntrouble to attain a deep participation in the divine nature\, the glory of the \nchildren of God and perfect happiness of soul. \nThat same force strongly urged me to proclaim the beauty of divine grace. \nIt pressed me so that my breath came slow and forced me to sweat and pant. I \nfelt as if my soul could no longer be kept in the prison of the body\, but that it \nhad burst its chains and was free and alone and was going very swiftly through \nthe whole world saying: If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess \ndivine grace\, how beautiful\, how noble\, how precious. How many riches it hides \nwithin itself\, how many joys and delights! Without doubt they would devote all \ntheir care and concern to winning for themselves pains and afflictions. All \npeople throughout the world would seek trouble\, infirmities and torments\, \ninstead of good fortune\, in order to attain the unfathomable treasure of grace. \nThis is the reward and the final gain of patience. No one would complain about13 \nhis cross or about troubles that may happen to him\, if he would come to know \nthe scales on which they are weighed when they are distributed to souls.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-rose-of-lima-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
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UID:12413-1724457600-1724543999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Bartholomew
DESCRIPTION:THE VIRTUE OF INNOCENCE \nFrom a sermon by St John Henry Newman1 \n◊◊◊ \nIt is not only among the poor and lowly that the blessed character \nof guilelessness is found to exist. Secular learning and dignity have \ndoubtless in their respective ways a powerful tendency to rob the heart of \nits brightness and purity; yet even in kings’ courts\, and the schools of \nphilosophy\, Bartholomew may be discovered. Nay\, like the Apostles\, they \nhave been subjected to the world’s buffets\, they have been thwarted in \ntheir day\, lived in anxiety\, and seemingly lost by their honesty\, yet without \nbeing foiled either of its present comfort or its ultimate fruit. \nI have in these remarks spoken of guileless persons as members of \nsociety\, because I wished to show that\, even in that respect in which they \nseem deficient\, they possess a hidden strength\, and unconscious wisdom\, \nwhich makes them live above the world\, and sooner or later triumph over \nit. The weapons of their warfare are not carnal; and they are fitted to be \nApostles\, though they seem to be ordinary people. Such is the blessedness \nof the innocent\, that is\, of those who have never given way to evil\, or \nformed themselves to habits of sin; who in consequence literally do not \nknow its power of its misery who have thoughts of truth and peace ever \nbefore them\, and are able to discern at once the right and wrong in \nconduct\, as by some delicate instrument which tells truly because it has \nnever been ill-treated. \nNay\, such may be the portion (through God’s mercy) even of those \nwho have at one time departed from Him\, and then repented; in \nproportion as they have learned to love God\, and have purified \nthemselves\, not only from sin\, but from the recollections of it.15 \nLastly\, more is requisite for the Christian\, even than guilelessness \nsuch as Bartholomew’s. When Christ sent forth him and his brethren into \nthe world\, He said\, “Behold\, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of \nwolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” \nInnocence must be joined to prudence\, discretion\, self-command\, gravity\, \npatience\, perseverance in well-doing\, as Bartholomew doubtless learned \nin due season under his Lord’s teaching; but innocence is the beginning. \nLet us then pray God to fulfill in us “all the good pleasure of His \ngoodness\, and the work of faith with power;” that if it should please Him \nsuddenly to bring us forward to great trials\, as He did His Apostles\, we \nmay not be taken by surprise\, but be found to have made a private or \ndomestic life a preparation for the achievements of Confessor and \nMartyrs.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-bartholomew-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240825
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240826
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240825T112649Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240825T112649Z
UID:12437-1724544000-1724630399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n21st Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nAugust 25 – 31\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n25\nMon\n26\nTue\n27\nWed\n28\nThu\n29\nFri\n30\nSat\n31\n\n\nOffice\n21st Sunday\nOffice for the Dead\nSt Monica\nSt Augustine\nMartyrdom of St John Baptist\nSS Warren & Amadeus\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nNeh 3:33-4:17\nNeh 5:1-19\nNeh 6:1-19\nNeh 8:1-4a; 5-6; 8-18\nJerm 37:12-38:6\nNeh 9:1-11\nNeh 9:12-20\n\n\nLauds\nHag 2:15-19\nHag 2:20-23\nZechariah 1:1-6\nZech 1:7-13\nWis 3:1-9\nZech 1:14-17\nZech 2:10-17\n\n\nMass\n122\n425\n426\n427\n634\n429\n430\n\n\n1st\nJosh 24:1-2a\, 15-17\, 18b\n2 Thess 1:1-5\, 11-12\n2 Thess 2:1-3a\, 14-17\n2 Thess 3:6-10\, 16-18\nJerm 1:17-19\n1 Cor 1:17-25\n1 Cor 1:26-31\n\n\n2nd\nEph 5:21-32\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 6:60-69\nMatt 23:13-22\nMatt 23:23-26\nMatt 23:27-32\nMark 6:17-29\nMatt 25:1-13\nMatt 25:14-30\n\n\nVespers\nJas 4:13-17\nJas 5:1-6\nJas 5:7-12\nJas 5:13-20\nActs 13:16-26\n1 Pet 1:1-7\n1 Pet 1:8-12
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-82/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240825
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240826
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240825T112801Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240825T112801Z
UID:12439-1724544000-1724630399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 21st Sunday
DESCRIPTION:OUR ONE AND ONLY TEACHER \nFrom a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria1 \n◊◊◊ \nTo whom shall we go? In other words\, “Who else will instruct us the way \nyou do?” or\, “To whom shall we go to find anything better?” You have the words \nof eternal life; not hard words\, as those other disciples say\, but words that will \nbring us to the loftiest goal\, unceasing\, endless life removed from all corruption. \nThese words surely make quite obvious to us the necessity for sitting at the feet \nof Christ\, taking him as our one and only teacher\, and giving him our constant \nand undivided attention. He must be our guide who knows well how to lead us \nto eternal life. Thus\, shall we ascend to the divine court of heaven\, and entering \nthe church of the firstborn\, delight in blessings passing all human \nunderstanding. \nThat the desire to follow Christ alone and to be with him always is a good \nthing leading to our salvation is entirely self-evident\, yet we may learn this from \nthe Old Testament as well. When the Israelites had shaken off Egyptian tyranny \nand were hastening toward the promised land\, God did not allow them to make \ndisorderly marches\, nor did the lawgiver let each one go where he would\, for \nwithout a guide they would undoubtedly lose the way completely. They were \nordered to follow: to set out with the cloud\, to come to a halt again with it\, and \nto rest with it. Keeping with their guide was the Israelites’ salvation then\, just \nas not leaving Christ is ours now. For he was with those people of old under the \nform of the tabernacle\, the cloud and the fire. \nThey were commanded to follow\, and not to undertake the journey on \ntheir own initiative. They were to halt with the cloud and to abide with it\, that \nby this symbol you might understand Christ’s words: Whoever serves me must \nfollow me\, so as to be with me wherever I am. For being always in his company\,3 \nmeans being steadfast in following him and constant in cleaving to him. But \naccompanying the Savior Christ and f0llowing him is by no means to be thought \nof something done by the body. It is accomplished rather by deeds springing \nfrom virtue. \nUpon such virtue the wisest disciples firmly fixed their minds and refused \nto depart with the unbelievers\, which they saw would be fatal. With good reason \nthey cried out: “Where shall we go?” It was as though they said: “We will stay \nwith you always and hold fast to your commandments. We will receive your \nwords without finding fault or thinking your teaching hard as the ignorant do\, \nbut thinking rather\, How sweet are your words to my throat! Sweeter to my \nmouth are they than honey or the honeycomb.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-21st-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240825T112949Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240825T112949Z
UID:12441-1724630400-1724716799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:DEATH AND THE MONK \nFrom “The Meaning of Monastic Life” by Louis Bouyer1 \n◊◊◊ \nIt is not purely and simply by dying that we shall live\, but by dying such a \ndeath that it kills death itself and it is only the death of Christ that can do that. For \nit is not the life of the mortal body which has injured the life of the soul. It is\, on \nthe contrary\, the death of the soul which has injured the body and made it mortal. \nLife will be won back by the resurrection\, not of the soul alone\, but of the human \nbeing in its unity\, inseparably body and soul. And if the passage through death can \nlead to the resurrection\, it is only in as much as the soul\, which has become alive \nagain in Christ\, has been made capable of burning away the death of the body as \nwith a red-hot iron and of causing it to evaporate in its own flame. \nThe monk goes forward to meet death because he believes that this miracle\, \nthe greatest of all\, has been accomplished in the death of Christ: because he \nbelieves that Christ was Life\, the very Life of God\, and that in making physical \ndeath his own\, he has robbed the evil one of all his power and all his empire which \nare annihilated by this very act. Again\, he goes forward to meet death because he \nbelieves that Christ now and for the future lives in him: and finally\, because he \nbelieves that what has taken place in Christ will be reproduced in himself\, in the \nsame manner. \nThe death of the monk\, so desired and sought after day after day\, is then only \nthe supreme evidence of his faith\, his faith in Christ vanquishing death in himself\, \nhis faith in Christ present in his followers to vanquish it in them. The monk’s \nmortification is ultimately nothing more than his witness given to Christ\, the \nwitness of his faith\, which makes it clear that it is not only an intellectual thing but \nan engagement of the whole being.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-14/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240825T113047Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240825T113047Z
UID:12443-1724716800-1724803199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Monica
DESCRIPTION:RECOLLECTIONS OF HIS MOTHER \nBy St Augustine1 \n◊◊◊ \nWhen I was still a boy\, I had heard about eternal life promised to us \nthrough the humility of our Lord God\, coming down to our pride\, and I was \nalready signed with the sign of the cross and seasoned with salt from the time I \ncame from my mother’s womb. She greatly put her trust in you. You say\, Lord\, \nhow one day\, when I was still a small boy\, pressure on the chest suddenly made \nme hot with fever and almost at death’s door. You say\, my God\, because you \nwere already my guardian\, with what fervour of mind and with what faith I than \nbegged for the baptism of your Christ\, my God and Lord\, urging it on the \ndevotion of my mother and of the mother of us all\, your Church. \nMy physical mother was distraught. With a pure heart and faith in you \nshe even more lovingly travailed in labour for my eternal salvation. She hastily \nmade arrangements for me to be initiated and washed in the sacraments of \nsalvation\, confessing you\, Lord Jesus\, for the remission of sins. But suddenly I \nrecovered. My cleansing was deferred on the assumption that\, if I lived\, I would \nbe sure to soil myself; and that after that solemn washing the guilt would be \ngreater and more dangerous if I then defiled myself with sins. \nSo\, I was already a believer\, as were my mother and the entire household \nexcept for my father alone. Though he had not yet come to faith\, he did not \nobstruct my right to follow my mother’s devotion. so as to prevent me believing \nin Christ. She anxiously laboured to convince me that you\, my God\, were my \nfather rather than he\, and in this endeavour you helped her to gain victory over \nher husband. His moral superior\, she rendered obedient service to him\, for in \nthis matter she was being obedient to your authority….6 \nAt the end when her husband had reached the end of his life in time\, she \nsucceeded in gaining him for you. After he was a baptized believer\, she had no \ncause to complain of behaviour which she had tolerated in one not yet a believer. \nShe was also a servant of your servants: any of them who knew her found much \nto praise in her\, held her in honour and loved her; for they felt your presence in \nher heart\, witnessed by the fruits of her holy way of life. She had been the wife \nof one husband. She repaid the mutual debt to her parents; she had governed \nher house in a spirit of devotion. She had testimony to her good works. she had \nbrought up her children\, enduring travail as often as she saw them wandering \naway from you. \nLastly\, Lord — by your gift you allow me to speak for your servants\, for \nbefore her falling asleep we were bound together in community in you after \nreceiving the grace of baptism — she exercised care for everybody as if they were \nall her own children. She served us as if she was a daughter to all of us.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-monica-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240829
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240825T113153Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240825T113153Z
UID:12445-1724803200-1724889599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Augustine
DESCRIPTION:THE TRINITY OF THE MIND \nFrom a treatise by St Augustine1 \n◊◊◊ \nNow this trinity of the mind is the image of God\, not because the mind \nremembers\, understands\, and loves itself\, but because it also has the power to \nremember\, understand\, and love its Maker. And in doing this it attains wisdom. \nIf it does not do this\, the memory\, understanding and love of itself is no more \nthan an act of folly. Therefore\, let the mind remember its God\, to whose image \nit was made\, let it understand and love Him. \nIn brief\, let it worship the uncreated God who created it with the capacity \nfor himself\, and in whom it can be made partaker. Hence it is written: “Behold\, \nthe worship of God is wisdom“. By participating in that supreme Light\, wisdom \nwill belong to the mind not by its own light\, and it will reign in bliss only where \nthe eternal Light is. The wisdom is so called human wisdom as to be also that of \nGod. If wisdom were only human\, it would be vain\, for only God’s wisdom is \ntrue wisdom. Yet when we call it God’s wisdom\, we do not mean the wisdom by \nwhich God is wise: He is not wise by partaking in himself as the mind is wise by \npartaking in God. It is more like speaking of the justice of God not only to mean \nthat God is just but to mean the justice he gives to us when he “justifies the \nungodly“: to which the Apostle alludes when speaking to those who “being \nignorant of God’s justice\, and wanting to establish their own justice\, were not \nsubject to the justice of God”. In this way we might speak of those who\, ignorant \nof the wisdom of God and wanting to establish their own\, were not subject to \nthe wisdom of God. \nThere is an uncreated Being who has made all other beings great and \nsmall\, certainly more excellent than everything he made\, and thus also more \nexcellent than the rational and intellectual being which we have been8 \ndiscussing\, namely\, the human mind\, made to the image of its Creator. And the \nBeing more excellent than all others is God. Indeed\, he is “not far from any one \nof us\,” as the Apostle says\, adding\, “for in him we live and move and have our \nbeing“. Were this said in a material sense we could understand it of our material \nworld: for in it also\, in respect to our body\, we live and move and are. The text \nshould be taken\, however\, in a more excellent and also invisible and intelligible \nway\, namely\, with respect to the mind that has been made to his image. \nIn fact\, what is there that is not in him of whom Holy Scripture says: “For \nfrom him and through him and in him are all things“? If all things are in Him\, in \nwhom except in him in whom they are can the living live or the moving more? Yet \nall are not with him in the sense in which he says “I am always with you”. Nor is \nhe with all things in the sense in which we say\, “The Lord be with you.” Our great \nmisery\, therefore\, is not to be with him without whom we cannot exist. \nUnquestionably\, we are never without him in whom we are; but if one does not \nremember him\, does not understand him or love him\, he is not with him.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-augustine-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240825T113256Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240825T113256Z
UID:12447-1724889600-1724975999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Martyrdom of St John Baptist
DESCRIPTION:THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST \nBy Cardinal Jean Daniélou1 \n◊◊◊ \nJohn’s death appears as the supreme expression of sin. It revealed the sin \nof the world. Herodias’ action in obtaining the head of John the Baptist was a \nclear manifestation of the human desire to be self-sufficient and to set oneself \nup apart from God. It was a victory for the inhabitants of the earth who\, as \nRevelation says\, rejoiced over the death of the prophets\, “because they had been \na torment to those who dwell on the earth“. It was an expression of a \ntriumphant world\, a world which had done away with God. No longer could \nanything disturb its pretension that it was giving itself its own law. In that \nrespect John’s death set a pattern: in a decisive moment of history\, it summed \nup the whole world of sin. \nJohn’s death was also the expression of the supreme condemnation of the \nworld. His blood “fell upon this generation“\, together with all the innocent \nblood that has been shed. Thus\, did it call for the supreme condemnation. It was \nthe judgment on the world\, bringing down on it the cup of wrath spoken of by \nRevelation. It showed forth the mystery of iniquity; it revealed clearly that \nmankind is the slave of sin. Just as John the Baptist marked the last stage in the \npreparation for the parousia in the long line of the prophets\, so his death \nmarked the last stage in the preparation for the parousia in the order of the \nmystery of sin… \nBut John’s death also marked the end of this history of condemnation for\, \nafter John’s blood\, another blood was going to be shed. It would not fall as a \ncondemnation upon those who shed it\, but it would be poured out as \nredemption for many. John’s death prefigured the death of Jesus. Jesus wished \nto say first of all that his death resembled John’s: ‘”I tell you that Elijah has10 \nalready come\, and they did not know him\, but did to him whatever they \npleased. So also the Son of man will suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples \nunderstood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.’ The rejection and \ndeath of John the Baptist prefigured the rejection and death of Jesus. This latter \ndeath was really the high point of evil. Jesus fulfilled completely the figure of \nthe servant of Yahweh rejected by the sinful world. \nBut John only prefigured Jesus\, for with Jesus the shedding of blood \ntakes on a different meaning. Blood was not shed for condemnation but for \nredemption. The unresolved conflict between prophets and sinners came to an \nend with the prophet who took the sins of the world upon himself. John had \npointed out Jesus as that lamb. He knew that he himself still belonged to the \nworld of denunciation of sin\, not that of liberation from sin. The Spirit had been \ngiven to the prophets; blood had been poured out by sinners. The Spirit had \nbeen poured out as a blessing\, but blood had been poured out as a curse. John’s \nblood was the last to belong to this order. Henceforth the blood which would \ngush forth from the side of Jesus would be spirit and life.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-martyrdom-of-st-john-baptist-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240825T113433Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240825T113433Z
UID:12449-1724976000-1725062399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Warren & Amadeus
DESCRIPTION:ST AMADEUS OF LAUSANNE1 \n◊◊◊ \nAmadeus’ religious formation began\, in fact\, well before the days of his \nyouth. He was only a few years past the days of his babyhood when his father\, Lord \nAmadeus d’Hauterives of the ancient and noble house of Clermont\, turned apostle \nof monastic life and\, sometime around 1119\, brought to the newly founded \nCistercian abbey of Bonnevaux\, near Vienne\, not only himself but his ten-year old \nboy\, Amadeus junior\, and seventeen knight-companions as well. \nWhatever else the senior Amadeus had given up in coming to the poor\, \nstruggling community of Bonnevaux\, he had not given up the idea that his son \nshould receive a solid education. At Bonnevaux the lad did begin receiving an \neducation\, but hardly of the sort deemed suitable by his concerned father. The \nphilosophy of education held by the saintly Abbot John was that the anointing of \nthe Paraclete could teach the lad more in a second than the teachings of an apostate \ngrammarian like Priscian in a stretch of many years. The force of the argument \nwas lost on Amadeus senior. In a moment of depression\, he apostatized; and one \nday\, probably in the year 1122\, he took his son and rode off with him to the great \nabbey of Cluny\, with its tradition of enlightened humanism. \nThe account of Amadeus senior’s brief\, unhappy life as a monk of Cluny\, his \nanguished repentance\, and his return to Bonnevaux\, belongs to another story. But \nif Bonnevaux could not provide Amadeus junior with a suitable education\, neither \ncould Cluny; for almost immediately the lad was sent for further studies to the \ncourt of his kinsman\, Conrad of Hohenstaufen\, the future Emperor Conrad. The \nthree years Amadeus spent in Germany could hardly have sufficed to complete the \neducation of the adolescent\, but we nevertheless find him in 1125\, shortly after \nhaving fulfilled the minimum age-requirement for acceptance as a Cistercian \nnovice\, knocking at the gate of Clairvaux…12 \nFor fourteen years young Amadeus had the joy of living under the tutelage \nof Saint Bernard himself; and it was in this setting of Clairvaux\, with all its \ncontagious enthusiasm\, devotio iocunda\, and seriousness of purpose\, that the \nstripling Amadeus grew to full manhood. The attainments of the mature Amadeus \nmust have impressed even Saint Bernard\, who\, in 1139\, deemed him ready to \nbecome abbot of the Savoyard abbey of Hautecombe. This monastery had been \nfounded much earlier in the century\, but had become affiliated with the Cistercian \nOrder only in 1135. Amadeus’ abbacy coincided with the change of location of the \noriginal abbey and the construction of the monastic buildings; and it was also \nunder Amadeus that the consolidation of the Cistercian ideals in the recently \naffiliated community took place. \nThe young abbot’s gifts as administrator and spiritual father were \nconsiderable enough to draw attention to him well outside the immediate sphere \nof the Cistercian family. For when the deplorable Guy de Maligny finally resigned \nhis episcopal dignity in 1144\, it was the thirty-four-year-old Abbot Amadeus of \nHautecombe whom the clergy and faithful of Lausanne chose to succeed Bishop \nGuy. Accepting the burden of the episcopal office only at the insistence of Pope \nLucius II\, Bishop Amadeus remained very much Amadeus the monk. At no time \nduring the troubled fourteen years of his episcopacy did the faithful of Lausanne \nfind reason to regret their choice of pastor; and when Amadeus died on 27 August \n1159\, those who were with him were well aware that they were attending the \ndeathbed of a saint.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-warren-amadeus/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240831
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240901
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240825T113534Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240825T113534Z
UID:12451-1725062400-1725148799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:THE SILENCE OF MARY \nBy Adrienne von Speyr1 \n◊◊◊ \nA life of faith is a life of silence. Mary’s existence as Mother is hidden in \na great silence. All around and about her is silence. People knew nothing of her \nreal life\, of the mysteries of her virginity. Not even Joseph understood her. An \nangel had to enlighten him about her mystery. The silence that surrounds her \nis simply a reflection of her own silence. She did not become a subject of \nconversation\, because she did not talk about herself. And in that way she \nsafeguarded her secret. Later\, too\, when the Son appeared in public\, she \nremained silent because it was not her task or mission to speak. But in her \nsilence she participates in the dialogue between Father and Son which is the \nvery substance of prayer. She remained silent out of respect\, and in order not \nto drown the word of God with her own words. \nHer silence also manifests her activity and her passivity\, her strength and \nher weakness. Her activity and strength consist in her self-control\, her \nweakness and passivity in allowing herself to be led. She is simply and solely \nthe instrument of God. Strength and weakness\, doing and suffering\, all the \ntensions and stresses of life meet and join in her without occasioning the \npredominance of any one in particular. The priority is always decreed by the \nneed of her mission. She did not cultivate\, tend or encourage her good qualities \nfor their goodness’ sake (in the way that people do when they are conscious of \ntheir own gentleness and are disposed to go further in the same direction). She \ndid not practice her virtues with a definite end in view; on the contrary\, she \nquite simply allowed God to decide everything\, to decree everything in \naccordance with her mission — and this is where her silence is so profound– \nwithout losing or giving up any of her complementary qualities. In her\, silence \nis both complete self-renunciation and complete indifference.14 \nAll this co-exists in her with a perseverance that knows no limits\, because \nher mission flows on accompanied by a parallel discretion that disturbs nothing. \nAll her qualities participate to some extent in the glory of her conversation with \nthe Angel: each decision is taken in the solitude and isolation imposed by the \nrelation of her soul to God. Discretion\, in this instance\, is but another name for \nhumility that asks no questions and never raises the dust. She asked the Angel \nof God one simple factual question\, and with that she became the answer to all \nthat God expected. Her life is therefore community in the Lord\, solitude in God\, \nand this communal solitude is called prayer.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-9/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240901
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240902
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240901T085322Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240901T085322Z
UID:12463-1725148800-1725235199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n22nd Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nSeptember 1 – 7\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n1\nMon\n2\nTue\n3\nWed\n4\nThu\n5\nFri\n6\nSat\n7\n\n\nOffice\n22nd Sunday\nWeekday \nLabor Day\nSt Gregory the Great\nWeekday\nSt Teresa of Calcutta\nWeekday\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nNeh 9:21-28\nNeh 9:29-37\nNeh 10:1-2; 29-40\nEzra 1:1-10; 2:68-70\nEzra 3:1-13\nEzra 4:1-24\nEzra 5:1-17\n\n\nLauds\nZech 3:1-10\nZech 6:9-15\nZech 8:1-8\nZech 8:11-17\nZech 8:18-23\nZech 9:11-17\nZech 10:6-12\n\n\nMass\n125\n431\, 559\n432\n433\n434\n435\n436\n\n\n1st\nDeut 4:1-2\, 6-8\n1 Thess 4:13-18\n1 Cor 2:10b-16\n1 Cor 3:1-9\n1 Cor 3:18-23\n1 Cor 4:1-5\n1 Cor 4:6b-15\n\n\n2nd\nJas 1:17-18\, 21b-22\, 27\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 7:1-8\, 14-15\, 21-23\nMatt 13:54-58\nLuke 4:31-37\nLuke 4:38-44\nLuke 5:1-11\nLuke 5:33-39\nLuke 6:1-5\n\n\nVespers\n1 Pet 1:13-16\n\n1 Pet 1:17-21\n1 Pet 1:22-25\n1 Pet 2:1-10\n1 Pet 2:11-17\n1 Pet 2:18-25
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-83/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240901
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240902
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240901T085420Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240901T085420Z
UID:12465-1725148800-1725235199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 22nd Sunday
DESCRIPTION:THE ESSENCE OF THE LAW \nFrom a commentary by St Irenaeus1 \n◊◊◊ \nThe Pharisees claimed that the traditions of their elders safeguarded the \nLaw\, but in fact it contravened the Law that Moses had given. By saying: Your \nmerchants mix water with wine Isaiah shows that the elders mixed their watery \ntradition with God’s strict commandment. In other words\, they enjoined an \nadulterated law which went against the Law\, as the Lord also made clear when \nhe asked them: Why do you transgress God’s commandment for the sake of your \ntradition? \nBy their transgression they not only falsified God’s Law\, called to this day \nthe Pharisaic law. In this their rabbis suppress some of the commandments\, add \nnew ones\, and give others their own interpretation\, thus making the law serve \ntheir own purposes. \nTheir desire to justify these traditions kept them from submitting to God’s \nLaw that taught them about the coming of Christ. Instead\, they even found fault \nwith the Lord for healing on the Sabbath\, which was not forbidden by the Law\, \nfor in a sense the Law itself healed by causing circumcision to be performed on \nthe Sabbath. On the other hand\, they found no fault with themselves for \nbreaking God’s commandment by their tradition and the Pharisaic law just \nmentioned\, or by lacking the essence of the Law\, which is love for God. \nThat this is the first and greatest commandment\, the second being love of \nour neighbor\, the Lord taught by saying that the whole of the Law and the \nprophets depend on these two commandments. He himself taught no greater \ncommandment than this\, but he renewed this same commandment by bidding \nhis disciples love God with their whole heart\, and their neighbor as themselves.3 \nPaul also says that love is the fulfillment of the Law. When all other \ncharisms fail\, faith\, hope and love remain\, but the greatest of all is love. \nKnowledge is of no avail without the love of God\, nor is understanding of \nmysteries\, faith or prophecy. Without love all are vain and pointless. Love on \nthe other hand perfects a person\, and one who loves God is perfect both in this \nworld and in the next\, for we shall never stop loving God – the longer we gaze \nupon Him the more our love for Him will grow.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-22nd-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240902
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240903
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240901T085549Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240901T085549Z
UID:12467-1725235200-1725321599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT \nBy Karl Rahner1 \n◊◊◊ \nAre there not people today who\, if they are true to their character as willed \nby God\, are a people of small means\, of hard work\, of only a few words\, of loyalty \nof heart and simple sincerity? Certainly\, every Christian and every Christian \nnation is charged with the entire fullness of Christian perfection as a duty that \nis never completed. But every nation and every person has\, so to speak\, his own \ndoor\, his own approach\, through which he alone can come nearer to the fullness \nof Christianity. Not all of us will find access to the boundless vistas of God’s \nworld through the great gate of surging rapture and burning ardor. Some must \ngo through the small gate of quiet loyalty and the ordinary\, exact performance \nof duty. And it is this fact\, I am inclined to think\, that can help us to discover a \nrapport between earth and heaven\, between Christians today and their heavenly \nintercessor… \n[Joseph] received into his family the One who came to redeem his nation \nfrom their sin\, One to whom he himself gave the name of Jesus\, a name which \nmeans “Yahweh is Salvation.” Silent and loyal\, he served the eternal Word of \nthe Father\, the Word who had become a child of this world. And they called \ntheir Redeemer the son of a carpenter. When the eternal Word was audible in \nthe world in the message of the gospels\, Joseph\, having quietly done his duty\, \nwent away without any notice on the part of this world. \nBut the life of this insignificant man did have significance; it had one \nmeaning that\, in the long run\, counts in each one’s life: God and his incarnate \ngrace. To him it could be said: “Good and faithful servant\, enter into the joy of \nyour Lord.” Who can doubt that this man is a good patron for us? This man of \nhumble\, everyday routine\, this man of silent performance of duty\, of honest5 \nrighteousness and of manly piety\, this man who was charged with protecting \nthe grace of God in its embodied life. \nChristians of today might find their way back to what is best in them if the \nindividuality of this man\, their patron\, were again producing more stature in \nthem. Granted\, a nation must have greatness of spirit and pioneers who will \nlead her towards new goals. Just as much\, if not more so\, however\, a nation \nneeds men and women of life-long performance of duty\, of clear-headed loyalty\, \nof discipline of heart and body. \nA nation needs those who know that true greatness is achieved only in \nselfless service to the greater and holy duty that is imposed upon each life; those \nof genuine reverence\, conquerors of themselves\, who hear the word of God and \ncarry out the inflexible decrees of conscience. It needs those who through their \nlives bear the childlike\, defenseless grace of God past all those who\, like Herod\, \nattempt to kill this grace. A nation needs those who do not lose confidence in \nGod’s grace\, even when they have to seek it as lost\, as Joseph once sought the \ndivine child. Such as these are urgently needed in every situation and in every \nclass. We have a good patron\, who is suitable for everyone. For he is a patron of \nthe poor\, a patron of working men and women\, a patron of exiles\, a model for \nworshipers\, an exemplar of the pure discipline of the heart\, a prototype of \nfathers who protect in their children the Son of the Father.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-214/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240901T085702Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240901T085702Z
UID:12469-1725321600-1725407999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Gregory the Great
DESCRIPTION:THE UNENCOMPASSED LIGHT \nBy St Gregory the Great1 \n◊◊◊ \nThere is in contemplation a great effort of the mind\, when it raises itself \nup to heavenly things\, when it fixes its attention on spiritual things\, when it tries \nto pass over all that is outwardly seen\, when it narrows itself that it may be \nenlarged. And sometimes indeed it prevails and soars above the resisting \ndarkness of its blindness\, so that it attains to somewhat of the unencompassed \nLight by stealth and scantily; but for all that\, to itself straightaway beaten back \nit returns\, and out of that light into which panting it had passed\, into the \ndarkness of its blindness sighing it returns. \nIn the wrestling of Jacob with the Angel\, the Angel symbolizes the Lord\, \nand Jacob\, who contends with the Angel\, represents the soul of each perfect \none\, who exercises contemplation. Such a soul\, when it strives to contemplate \nGod\, as if placed in a wrestle\, now comes uppermost\, because by understanding \nand feeling it tastes somewhat of the unencompassed Light; and now falls \nunderneath\, because in the very tasting it faints away. Therefore\, so to say\, the \nAngel is worsted when by the innermost intellect God is apprehended. \nAlmighty God\, when He is now known through desire and intellect\, dries \nup in us every fleshly pleasure; and whereas before we seemed to be both \nseeking God and cleaving to the world\, after the perception of the sweetness of \nGod\, the love of the world grows feeble in us\, and the love of God alone waxes \nstrong; and while there increases in us the strength of inmost love\, without \ndoubt the strength of the flesh is weakened. \nThe sweetness of contemplation is worthy of love exceedingly\, for it \ncarries away the soul above itself\, it opens out things heavenly\, and shows that7 \nthings earthly are to be despised; it reveals things spiritual to the eyes of the \nmind\, and hides things bodily. \nBut we must know that so long as we live in this mortal flesh no one so \nadvances in power of contemplation as to fix the mind’s eyes as yet on the \nunencompassed ray itself of Light. For the Almighty God is not yet seen in this \nbrightness\, but the soul beholds something beneath it\, by which refreshed it \nmay progress\, and hereafter attain to the glory of the sight of Him. When the \nmind has made progress in contemplation it does not yet contemplate that \nwhich God\, but that which is under Him. But in that contemplation already the \ntaste of interior quiet is experienced.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-gregory-the-great-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240904
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240905
DTSTAMP:20260403T190538
CREATED:20240901T085833Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240901T085833Z
UID:12471-1725408000-1725494399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:PREPARING OURSELVES \nTO MEET THE LORD \nBy Blessed Guerric of Igny1 \n◊◊◊ \n“BE PREPARED now Israel to meet the Lord\, for he is coming”. And you \ntoo my dear brethren be prepared as well; for the Son of Man will come when \nyou least expect him. He is coming\, nothing is more certain than that; but when \nhe will arrive—nothing is less certain. Right up to the last moment we will not \nknow the actual time the Father in his almighty power has appointed. Even the \nangels who stand before him have not been given the privilege of knowing that \nday or hour. Our last day most certainly must come to us; but it is very uncertain \nwhen it will come\, where we will be or whence it will come. All we can say is that \nit is knocking at the door for the old\, and lies in wait for the young. \nO that they would keep careful guard over themselves who see death so \nready to enter\, nay rather who see it already entering. For has it not already \nentered\, at least to some extent\, a body grown senile and decrepit Yet in many \nwho are already half-dead one can see worldly desires still alive. The limbs are \ngrowing cold and the fire of avarice still burns within; life is coming to its end \nand ambition still strains ahead. Because our youth or health perhaps appear to \npromise some more years ahead of us death is not often before our eyes\, but this \nis just the very reason why\, if we are wise\, it should be in our thoughts\, lest that \nday come like a thief in the night and find us unprepared and unready. It is lying \nin wait for us and we should fear it all the more for its being hidden\, for we can \nneither see it nor get warning of it. \nThere is therefore only one thing that makes us safe: never to think that \nwe are safe. For fear makes a careful man always prepared until at length fear \ncan give way to security and not security to fear. The wise man says: “I shall9 \nkeep myself from my iniquity\, seeing that I am powerless in respect to my \ndeath.” He knows that the just man\, if he is surprised by death\, will be at rest? \nIn fact that man triumphs over death who was not overcome by iniquity during \nhis life.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-215/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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