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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240706
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240707
DTSTAMP:20260403T141220
CREATED:20240629T173716Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240629T173716Z
UID:12252-1720224000-1720310399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:MARY\, THE MOTHER OF THE LORD \nBy Fr Karl Rahner7 \n◊◊◊ \nAll that the faith says about the realization of redemption\, about salvation \nand grace and the fullness of grace\, is realized in Mary. This human person \nwhom we call Mary is as it were the very point in the whole history of our \nredemption at which the saving grace of the living God descends from him into \nthis history\, and from which it is diffused over the whole of humankind. For her \nSon\, whom she accepted in the strength of her heart\, whom she conceived in \nfaith and love\, is the Redeemer of the world. And since\, as Scripture testifies\, \nthe consent she gave in faith and obedience belongs not only to her private life- \nstory\, but to the public history of redemption\, it must correspond\, in harmony \nof person and function\, to the purpose for which it was given; in short it must \nbe perfect. \nIt follows too that Mary is one of us. We honor her\, praise her\, love and \nrevere her unique dignity. But if\, in view of the mystery of her son\, we ask\, where \ndoes Mary stand? We must reply\, she belongs entirely with us. She must receive \nGod’s mercy just as we must\, for she lives and typifies to perfection what we \nourselves are to be in Christ’s sight. We too are to become what she is. She comes \nbefore God with us – like us and as one of our company – in the innumerable \nhost of humanity. In our midst\, within the history of humankind as a whole\, as \na part of it\, she accomplishes her own life-story\, which takes on a unique \nimportance for our salvation\, and which\, once lived through with this \nsignificance\, endures eternally in God’s sight. \n  \nPrecisely because Mary\, in this position as intermediary\, is entirely one of \nus\, and only occupies that position because she belongs with us\, as a mere \ncreature\, to the one human family\, is she so near and dear to us. That is why we \nlove her. And have an almost too merely human trust in her. And feel her \nintercession\, protection and love to be so near and human\, although\, or rather \nbecause this dear and familiar humanity has been taken up\, unimpaired and \ntransfigured\, into the eternal life of God himself. \n  \n7 Mary\, the Mother of the Lord\, Herder & Herder NY 1963\, pp.38-40.15 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-6/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240707
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240708
DTSTAMP:20260403T141220
CREATED:20240706T212403Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240706T212403Z
UID:12262-1720310400-1720396799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n14th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nJuly 7 – 13\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n7\nMon\n8\nTue\n9\nWed\n10\nThu\n11\nFri\n12\nSat\n13\n\n\nOffice\n14th Sunday\nBl Eugene III\nWeekday\nWeekday\nSt Benedict\nOffice for Vocations\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nRuth 3:1-18\nRuth 4:1-22\n1 Sam 1:1-19\n1 Sam 1:20-2:11\nTobit 4:14-19\, 21\n1 Sam 2:12-36\n1 Sam 3:1-21\n\n\nLauds\nMic 3:5-8\nMic 3:9-12\nMic 4:1-5\nMic 4:6-8\nSir 45:1-5\nMic 4:9-14\nMic 5:1-8\n\n\nMass\n101\n383\n384\n385\n597\, 477\, 810\n387\n388\n\n\n1st\nEzek 2:2-5\nHos 2:16\, 17c-18\, 21-22\nHos 8:4-7\, 11-13\nHos 10:1-3\, 7-8\, 12\nProv 2:1-9\nHos 14:2-10\nIsa 6:1-8\n\n\n2nd\n2 Cor 12:7-10\n\n\n\nEph 4:1-6\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 6:1-6\nMatt 9:18-26\nMatt 9:32-38\nMatt 10:1-7\nLuke 22:24-27\nMatt 10:16-23\nMatt 10:24-33\n\n\nVespers\n2 Thess 3:11-18\n1 Tim 1:1-11\n1 Tim 1:12-20\nEph 5:14-20\nPhil 2:12-18\n1 Tim 2:1-8\n1 Tim 3:1-7
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-76/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240707
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240708
DTSTAMP:20260403T141220
CREATED:20240706T212552Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240706T212552Z
UID:12264-1720310400-1720396799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 13th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:THE CHRIST WHO SPEAKS NOW \nFrom a commentary by St Symeon the New Theologian1 \n◊◊◊ \nMany people never stop saying – I have heard them myself – “If only we \nhad lived in the days of the apostles\, and been counted worthy to gaze upon \nChrist as they did\, we should have become holy like them.” Such people do not \nrealize that the Christ who spoke then and the Christ who speaks now \nthroughout the whole world is one and the same. If he were not the same then \nand now\, God in every respect\, in his operations as in the sacraments\, how \nwould it be seen that the Father is always in the Son and the Son in the Father\, \naccording to the words Christ spoke through the Spirit: My Father is still \nworking and so am I? \nBut no doubt someone will say that merely to hear his words now and to \nbe taught about him and his kingdom is not the same thing as to have seen him \nthen in the body. And I answer that indeed the position now is not the same as \nit was then\, but our situation now\, in the present day\, is very much better. It \nleads us more easily to a deeper faith and conviction than seeing and hearing \nhim in the flesh would have done. \nThen he appeared to the uncomprehending…as a man of lowly station; \nnow he is proclaimed to us as true God. Then in his body he associated with tax \ncollectors and sinners and ate with them; now he is seated at the right hand of \nGod the Father\, and is never in any way separated from him. We are firmly \npersuaded that it is he who feeds the entire world\, and we declare – at least if \nwe are believers – that without him nothing came into being. Then even those \nof lowliest condition held him in contempt. They said: Is this not the son of \nMary\, and of Joseph the carpenter? Now kings and rulers worship him as Son \nof the true God\, and himself true God\, and he has glorified and continues to \nglorify those who worship him in spirit and in truth\, although he often punishes \nthem when they sin. He transforms them\, more than all the nations under \nheaven\, from clay into iron. Then he was thought to be mortal and corruptible \nlike the rest of humankind. He was no different in appearance from other men. \nThe formless and invisible God\, without change or alteration\, assumed a human \nform and showed himself to be a normal human being. He ate\, he drank\, he \nslept\, he sweated\, and he grew weary. He did everything other people do\, except \nhe did not sin. For anyone to recognize him in that human body\, and to believe \nthat he was the God who made heaven and earth and everything in them was \nvery exceptional. \nThis is why when Peter said: You are the Son of the living God\, the master \ncalled him blessed\, saying: Blessed are you\, Simon Bar-Jonah\, for flesh and \nblood has not revealed this to you — you do not speak of something your eyes \nhave seen – but my Father who is in heaven. \nIt is certain therefore that anyone who now hears Christ cry out daily \nthrough the holy Gospels\, and proclaim the will of his heavenly Father\, but does \nnot obey him with fear and trembling and keep his commandments – it is \ncertain that such a person would have refused to believe in him then\, if he had \nbeen present\, and seen him\, and heard him teach. Indeed there is reason to fear \nthat in his total incredulity he would have blasphemed by regarding Christ not \nas true God\, but as an enemy of God. \n  \n1 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1993 – pg 96-97.3 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-13th-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240708
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240709
DTSTAMP:20260403T141220
CREATED:20240706T212718Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240706T212718Z
UID:12266-1720396800-1720483199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Bl Eugene III
DESCRIPTION:FROM THE TREATISE “ON CONSIDERATION” \nBy St Bernard of Clairvaux for Pope Eugenius III2 \n◊◊◊ \nIt has occurred to me to write something which might edify\, delight or \nconsole you\, Blessed Father Eugene. But I do not know the rules for writing a \nformal yet intimate treatise. Two opposites\, your majesty and my love\, vie to \ndictate my style. Love draws me on; majesty holds me back. But you graciously \nintervene and request rather than command this treatise\, although it would be \nmore fitting for you to command it. Since your majesty so admirably \ncondescends\, why does my hesitancy persist? What if you have ascended the \nthrone? Even if you were to walk on the wings of the wind\, you would not escape \nmy affection. Love knows no master. It recognizes a son even though he wear \nthe tiara. It is the nature of a lover to be suitably humble\, willingly submissive\, \nfreely compliant\, respectful without duress. \nThis is not the way with others however; they are driven either by fear or \nby greed. Such men bless openly\, but harbor evil in their hearts. They flatter you \nwhen you are present\, yet fail you in time of need. But charity never fails. It is \ntrue that I have been freed of maternal obligation toward you\, but I am not \nstripped of affection for you. You were once in my womb; you will not be drawn \nfrom my heart so easily. Ascend to the heavens\, descend to the depths\, you will \nnot escape me. I will follow you wherever you go. I loved you when you were \npoor in spirit; I shall love you still as father of the poor and the rich. If I know \nyou\, you did not cease being poor in spirit when you became the father of the \npoor. I am confident that this change has been thrust on you and was not of \nyour doing\, that this promotion has not replaced your former state\, but rather \nhas enhanced it. Therefore I will instruct you not as a teacher\, but as a mother\, \nindeed as a lover. I may seem more the fool\, but only to one who does not love\, \nto one who does not feel the force of love. \n  \n2 The Five Books On Consideration – St Bernard of Clairvaux – CF Series #37 – Cistercain \nPublications – Kalamazoo\, MI – 1976 – pg 23.5 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-bl-eugene-iii/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240709
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240710
DTSTAMP:20260403T141220
CREATED:20240706T212809Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240706T212809Z
UID:12268-1720483200-1720569599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE HIGHEST PROOF OF LOVE \nAn excerpt from Lumen Gentium3 \n◊◊◊ \n‘God is love\, and he who abides in love abides in God and God abides in \nhim’. God has poured out his love in our hearts through the Holy spirit who has \nbeen given to us; therefore the first and most necessary gift is charity\, by which \nwe love God above all things and our neighbor because of him. But if charity is \nto grow and fructify in the soul like a good seed\, each of the faithful must \nwillingly bear the word of God and carry out his will with deeds\, with the help \nof his grace; he must frequently partake of the sacraments\, chiefly the \nEucharist\, and take part in the liturgy; he must constantly apply himself to \nprayer\, self-denial\, active brotherly service and the practice of all the virtues. \nThis is because love\, as the bond of perfection and fullness of the law\, governs\, \ngives meaning to\, and perfects all the means of sanctification. Hence the true \ndisciple of Christ is marked by love both of God and of neighbor. \nSince Jesus\, the Son of God\, showed his love by laying down his life for \nus\, no one has greater love than he who lays down his life for him and his \nbrothers. Some Christians have been called from the beginning\, and will always \nbe called\, to give this greatest testimony of love to all\, especially to persecutors. \nMartyrdom makes the disciple like his master\, who willingly accepted death for \nthe salvation of the world\, and through it he is conformed to him by the \nshedding of blood. Therefore the Church considers it the highest gift and \nsupreme test of love. And while it is given to few\, all however must be prepared \nto confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the cross amidst \npersecutions which the Church never lacks. \n3 Vatican Council II. ed Austin Flannery\,OP. Costello Publishing Co.\, NY\, 1981\, pp. 400-401.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-205/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240710
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240711
DTSTAMP:20260403T141220
CREATED:20240706T213003Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240706T213003Z
UID:12270-1720569600-1720655999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE BOOK OF PROVERBS \nFrom a commentary by Dom Damasus Winzen4 \n◊◊◊ \nTo fear God\, in the Old Testament\, does not mean to be afraid of Him\, but \nto be devoted to Him. “In the fear of the Lord a person has great confidence… \nThe fear of the Lord is a fountain of life”. The wisdom which grows out of this \nfear of the Lord is\, therefore\, a progressive transformation of the heart… \nThe Book of Proverbs is a guide to establish peace in the minds of the \nfaithful by bringing them into contact with the light of that Divine Wisdom \nwhich rules the world gently and peacefully. The fear of the Lord\, the keeping \nof the commandments\, the right way of life\, is the object… Wisdom and folly are \nopposed to each other as life and death. It is the Way\, the Truth and the Life \nWho speaks in these proverbs. His charity is foreshadowed in the love of the \npoor…Wisdom was with Her Father when He established the heavens\, and \nwhen He set a circle upon the face of the deep\, and when He appointed the \nfoundations of the earth. Therefore Wisdom opens to the eyes of mortals the \ndivine meaning of this visible creation. \nThe teaching…would not be complete\, however\, without the revelation of \ntwo other great mysteries\, which represent\, in someway\, the beginning and the \nend of God’s ways: the mystery of the Divine Personality of the Word of God\, \nand that of the eternal life of the just. Wisdom is not only a mental image or an \nabstract thought or a guiding principle. It is a Divine Person. It is the inner \nnature of Wisdom to be the true\, substantial image of the Father’s glory. If \nWisdom were only a personification of the Law she would be dead. Only as a \nDivine Person can she become a source of life. As this is shown in the beginning \nof creation\, so still more gloriously at the end. The last triumph of Wisdom is \nthe Last Judgment\, which will bring eternal life to the just. In the earlier periods \nof the Old Testament revelation\, the immortality of the soul was shrouded in \nmystery. Now it enters into the full light of faith. \nFrom the beginning to the end\, the universal rule of Wisdom has been \nestablished. Nevertheless those whose eyes have been opened in Baptism to the \nlight of Christ will realize that the teaching of Solomon lacks one thing: the \n“foolishness of God”\, Christ crucified. Wisdom was going to be more than a \nguide to the wise\, more than eternal life for the just\, more\, even\, than the \nbeginning of creation. She was to become the Lamb who would not only expose \nbut take away the sin of the world. The wisdom of Solomon preached reward to \nthe virtuous and death to those who hate her. But more than Solomon is here\, \nwhere Christ Jesus becomes unto us sinners “wisdom and justice and \nand redemption” through the foolishness of the Cross. \n  \n4 Pathways of Scripture\, Dom Damasus Winzen\, pg. 93 Unpublished MS.8 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-206/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240711
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240712
DTSTAMP:20260403T141220
CREATED:20240706T213118Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240706T213118Z
UID:12272-1720656000-1720742399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Benedict
DESCRIPTION:A SOUL THAT SEES ITS CREATOR \nFrom the Dialogues of St Gregory the Great5 \n◊◊◊ \nLong before the night office began\, Benedict was standing at his window\, \nwhere he watched and prayed while the rest were still asleep. In the dead of night \nhe suddenly beheld a flood of light shining down from above more brilliant than \nthe sun\, and with it every trace of darkness cleared away. Another remarkable \nsight followed. According to his own description\, the whole world was gathered \nup before his eyes in what appeared to be a single ray of light. As he gazed at all \nthis dazzling display\, he saw the soul of Germanus\, the Bishop of Capua\, being \ncarried by angels up to heaven in a ball of fire. \nWishing to have someone else witness this great marvel\, he called out for \nServandus\, repeating his name two or three times in a loud voice. As soon as he \nheard the Saint’s call\, Servandus rushed to the upper room and was just in time \nto catch a final glimpse of the miraculous light. He remained speechless with \nwonder as Benedict described everything that had taken place. Then without any \ndelay the man of God instructed the devout Theoprobus to go to Cassino and have \na messenger sent to Capua that same night to find out what had happened to \nGermanus. In carrying out these instructions the messenger discovered that the \nrevered bishop was already dead. When he asked for further details\, he learned \nthat his death had occurred at the very time blessed Benedict saw him carried \ninto heaven. \nTo understand this miracle\, let us keep in mind that all creation is bound \nto appear small to a soul that sees the Creator. Once it beholds a little of His light\, \nit finds all creatures small indeed. The light of holy contemplation enlarges and \nexpands the mind in God until it stands above the world. In fact\, the soul that \nsees Him rises even above itself\, and as it is drawn upward in His light all its inner \npowers unfold. Then\, when it looks down from above\, it sees how small \neverything is that was beyond its grasp before. \nHow else was it possible for this man to behold the ball of fire and watch \nthe angels on their return to heaven except with light from God? Why should it \nsurprise us\, then\, that he could see the whole world gathered up before him after \nthis inner light had lifted him so far above the world? Of course\, in saying that \nthe world was gathered up before his eyes I do not mean that heaven and earth \ngrew small\, but that his spirit was enlarged. Absorbed as he was in God\, it was \nnow easy for him to see all that lay beneath God. In the light outside that was \nshining before his eyes\, there was a brightness which reached into his mind and \nlifted his spirit heavenward\, showing him the insignificance of all that lies below. \n  \n5 Dialogues\, Bk II\, ch 35.10 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-benedict-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240712
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240713
DTSTAMP:20260403T141220
CREATED:20240706T213226Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240706T213226Z
UID:12274-1720742400-1720828799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:THE MEANING OF VOCATION \nFrom the writing of St John Paul II6 \n◊◊◊ \nFaith and love are not just words or vague feelings. Believing and loving \nGod means a consistent life\, lived wholly in the light of the Gospel. This is not \neasy. It often calls for great courage in going against the trends of fashion and \nthe opinions of our world. But this is the one requirement for a truly successful \nand happy life. \nIf\, in spite of your personal effort to follow Christ you are sometimes weak \nand do not live in conformity to the law of love\, to the commandments\, do not \nbe discouraged. Christ continues to wait for you. He\, Jesus\, is the Good \nShepherd who searches for the lost sheep and who tenderly bears it on his \nshoulder. Christ is the friend who never lets you down. \nIn the gospel story we see that the young man\, having affirmed that he \nhas kept the commandments\, adds: “What do I still lack?” The young heart\, \nmoved by God’s grace\, felt a desire for greater generosity\, more commitment\, \ngreater love. This desire for more is characteristic of youth; a heart that is in \nlove does not calculate\, does not begrudge\, it wants to give of itself without \nmeasure. “Jesus\, looking at him\, loved him and said to him\, come\, follow me.” \nTo those who entered the path of life by observing the commandments\, \nthe Lord proposes new horizons; the Lord proposes to the means that are loftier \nand calls them to commit themselves to his love without reserve. To discover \nthis call\, this vocation\, is to realize that Christ is looking on you and inviting you \nby his glance to give yourself totally in love. Before this glance\, before his love\, \nthe heart opens its doors gradually and is capable of saying yes. \nIf some of you hear the call to follow Christ more closely\, to dedicate your \nentire heart to him\, like the apostles John and Paul\, be generous\, do not be \nafraid\, because you have nothing to fear when the prize that you await is God \nHimself\, for whom\, sometimes without ever knowing it\, all young people are \nsearching. \nYoung people who are hastening to me\, young people who more than \nanything else want to know what you must do to gain eternal life\, always say yes \nto God and he will fill you with his happiness. \n“There is one thing you lack\, come\, follow me”. Is Jesus perhaps repeating \nto some of you today: “There is one thing you lack?” Is he perhaps asking for \neven more love\, more generosity\, more sacrifice? Yes\, the love of Christ involves \ngenerosity and sacrifice. To follow Christ and to serve the world in his name \nrequires courage and strength. There is no place for selfishness – and no place \nfor fear! Do not be afraid\, then\, when love makes demands. Do not be afraid \nwhen love requires sacrifice. \nTo each one of you I say\, therefore: Heed the call of Christ when you hear \nhim saying to you: “Follow me!” Walk in my path! Stand by my side! Remain in \nmy love! There is a choice to be made: a choice for Christ and the way of life\, \nand his commandment of love. \n  \n6 The Meaning of Vocation – St John Paul II – Scepter Publishers – Princeton\, NJ – 1997 – pg 18.12 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-14/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240713
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240714
DTSTAMP:20260403T141220
CREATED:20240706T213340Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240706T213340Z
UID:12276-1720828800-1720915199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:SHE OBEYED THE WORD \nBy Han Urs von Balthasar7 \n◊◊◊ \nMary is a prototype of the Church\, and this for two reasons: she is the \nplace of the real and bodily in-dwelling of the Word in the most intimate union \nof Mother and Child sharing the same flesh; and\, in the spiritual sphere\, she is \na servant\, in her entire person\, body and soul\, one who knows no law of her \nown\, but only conformity to the Word of God. Because she was a virgin\, which \nmeans a pure\, exclusive hearer of the word\, she became mother\, the place of the \nincarnation of the Word. Her womb was blessed\, only because she “heard the \nWord of God and kept it”\, because she “kept all these words and pondered them \nin her heart”. She is the model which should govern contemplation\, if it is to \nkeep clear of two dangers: one\, that of seeing the word only as something \nexternal\, instead of the profoundest mystery within our own being\, that in \nwhich we live\, move and are: the other\, that of regarding the word as so interior \nto us that we confuse it with our own being\, with a natural wisdom given us once \nand for all\, and ours to use as we will… \nThe hearer par excellence is the virgin who became pregnant with the \nWord\, and bore him as her own and the Father’s Son. She herself\, even when \nMother\, remained a servant; the Father alone is the Master\, together with the \nSon\, who is her life and who molds her life. She lives wholly for the fruit of her \nwomb. Even after she has given him birth\, she continues to carry him within \nher; she only needs to look into her heart\, to find him. But she does not omit\, \non that account\, to turn her gaze uninterruptedly upon the child growing up by \nher side\, upon the youth and the man\, whose ideas and actions seem to her ever \nmore unpredictable and astonishing. More and more\, she “understood not” \nwhat he meant when he stayed behind in the temple without telling her\, when \nhe failed to receive her\, when\, in his public life\, he concealed his power and \nspent himself in vain and\, in the end\, detached himself from her as she stood at \nthe foot of the cross\, substituting for himself a stranger\, John\, to be her son. \nWith all the force of her body\, she obeys the word that resounds ever more \nstrongly and divinely but seems more and more alien and almost tears her \nasunder\, although\, in spite of all\, she has given herself to it wholly and radically \nin advance. She lets herself be led where she “knows not”; the word she follows \nis far from being her own wisdom. Yet she is wholly in accord with its leading\, \nso surely is the word she loves “engrafted” in her heart. \n  \n7 London: Geoffrey Chapman\, 1963\, pp. 22-24.14 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-7/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240714
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240715
DTSTAMP:20260403T141220
CREATED:20240714T011633Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240714T011633Z
UID:12282-1720915200-1721001599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema: 15th Week in Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n15th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nJuly 14 – 20\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n14\nMon\n15\nTue\n16\nWed\n17\nThu\n18\nFri\n19\nSat\n20\n\n\nOffice\n15th Sunday\nSt Bonaventure\nBl Virgin Martyrs of Orange\nWeekday\nSt Camillus de Lillus\nWeekday\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\n1 Sam 4:1-22\n1 Sam 5:1-12\n1 Sam 6:1-7:1\n1 Sam 7:2-17\n1 Sam 8:1-22\n1 Sam 9:1-24\n1 Sam 9:25-10:16\n\n\nLauds\nMic 5:9-14\nMic 6:1-8\nMic 6:9-16\nMic 7:1-7\nMic 7:8-10\nMic 7:14-20\nNahum 1:1-8\n\n\nMass\n104\n389\n390\n391\n392\n393\n394\n\n\n1st\nAmos 7:12-15\nIsa 1:10-17\nIsa 7:1-9\nIsa 10:5-7\, 13b-16\nIsa 26:7-9\, 12\, 16-19\nIsa 38:1-6\, 21-22\, 7-8\nMic 2:1-5\n\n\n2nd\nEph 1:3-14\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 6:7-13\nMatt 10:34-11:1\nMatt 11:20-24\nMatt 11:25-27\nMatt 11:28-30\nMatt 12:1-8\nMatt 12:14-21\n\n\nVespers\n1 Tim 3:8-13\n1 Tim 3:14-4:5\n1 Tim 4:6-10\n1 Tim 4:11-16\n1 Tim 5:1-8\n1 Tim 5:17-25\n1 Tim 6:3-10
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-15th-week-in-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12284-1720915200-1721001599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:THEY SET OUT TO PREACH REPENTANCE\nFrom a commentary by Theophylact of Ohrid 1\n◊◊◊\nBesides teaching himself the Lord also sent out the Twelve in pairs. The\nreason for sending them in pairs was so that they would go more readily\, for\nthey might not have been willing to set out all alone and\, on the other hand\, if\nhe had sent more than two together\, there would not have been enough apostles\nto cover all the villages. So he sent them two by two: two are better than one\, as\nEcclesiastes says. \nHe commanded them to take nothing with them\, neither bag\, nor money\,\nnor bread\, so as to teach them to despise riches\, and to make people ashamed\nwhen they saw them preaching poverty by their own lack of possessions. For\nwho would not blush for shame\, strip himself of his possessions\, and embrace\na life of poverty when he saw an apostle carrying neither bag\, nor even bread\nwhich is so essential? \nThe Lord instructed them to stay in the same house so as not to give the\nappearance of restlessness\, as though they moved from one family to another in\norder to satisfy their stomachs. On the other hand\, he told them to shake the\ndust off their feet when people refuse to receive them\, to show that they had\nmade a long journey for their sakes and they owed them nothing; they had\nreceived nothing from them\, not even their dust\, which they shook off as a\ntestimony against them – a testimony of reproach. Be sure of this\, I tell you:\nSodom and Gomorrah will fare better on the Day of Judgment than those who\nwill not receive you. The Sodomites were punished in this world\, so they will be\npunished less severely in the next. What is more\, no apostles were sent to them.\nFor those who refused to receive the apostles\, greater sufferings are in store. \nSo they set out to preach repentance. They cast out many demons\, and\nanointed many sick people with oil and cured them. The fact that the apostles\nanointed the sick with oil is mentioned only by Mark\, but the practice is also\nreferred to in his general letter by James\, the brother of the Lord\, who says: Are\nthere any sick people among you? Let them send for the elders of the Church\nand let these pray over them\, anointing them with oil. Oil is beneficial for the\nrelief of suffering\, and it also produces light and makes for cheerfulness. It\nsymbolizes the mercy of God and the grace of the Spirit\, through which we are\nfreed from suffering and receive light\, gladness\, and spiritual joy. \n1\nJourney with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1993 – pg 98-99.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-15th-sunday-in-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12286-1721001600-1721087999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils: St. Bonaventure
DESCRIPTION:THE LIFE OF ST BONAVENTURE\nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints 2\n◊◊◊\nOf the youth of this greatest successor of St Francis of Assisi nothing is\nknown beyond the facts that he was born at Bagnoregio\, near Viterbo\, in the\nyear 1221\, the son of John Fidanza and Mary Ritella. He was clothed in the order\nof Friars Minor and studies at the University of Paris under an Englishman\,\nAlexander of Hales\, ‘the Unanswerable Doctor’; Bonaventure\, who was to\nbecome known as the Seraphic Doctor\, himself taught theology and Holy\nScripture there from 1248 to 1257. \nBonaventure was called by his priestly obligation to labor for the salvation\nof his neighbor\, and to this he devoted himself with enthusiasm. He preached\nto the people with an energy which kindled a flame in the hearts of those that\nheard him. While at the University of Paris he produced one of the best-known\nof his written works\, the “Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard”\,\nwhich covers the whole field of scholastic theology. The years of his public\nlecturing at Paris were greatly disturbed\, however\, by the attack made on the\nmendicant friars by the other professors at the university. Jealousy of their\npastoral and academic success and the standing reproof to worldliness and ease\nof the friars’ lives were in part behind this attempt to get them excluded from\nthe schools. The leader of the secular party was William of Saint-Amour\, who\nmade a bitter onslaught on the mendicants in a book called “The Perils of the\nLast Times”\, and other writings. \nBonaventure\, who had to suspend lecturing for a time\, replied in a treatise\non evangelical poverty\, named “Concerning the Poverty of Christ”. The pope\,\nAlexander IV\, appointed a commission of cardinals to go into the matter at\nAnagni\, and on their findings ordered Saint-Amour’s book to be burnt\,\nvindicated and reinstated the friars\, and ordered the offenders to withdraw\ntheir attack. A year later\, in 1257\, St Bonaventure and St Thomas Aquinas\nreceived the degree of doctor of theology together. \nIn 1257 Bonaventure was chosen minister general of the Friars Minor. He\nwas not yet thirty-six years old\, and the order was torn by dissensions\, some of\nthe friars being for an inflexible severity\, others demanding certain mitigation\nof the rule; between the two extremes were a number of other interpretations.\nSome of the extreme rigorists\, called Spirituals\, had even fallen into error and\ndisobedience\, and thus given a handle to the friars’ opponents in the Paris\ndispute. The new minister general wrote a letter to his provincials in which he\nmade it clear that he required a disciplined observance of the rule\, involving a\nreformation of the relaxed\, but giving no countenance to the excesses of the\nSpirituals. \nAt Narbonne in 1260\, the first of the five general chapters which he held\,\nhe produced a set of constitutions on the rule\, which were adopted and had a\npermanent effect on Franciscan life\, but they failed to pacify the excessive\nrigorists. At the request of the friars assembled in this chapter\, he undertook to\nwrite the life of St Francis\, which he compiled with a spirit which shows him to\nhave been filled with the virtues of the founder whose life he wrote. He governed\nhis order for seventeen years and has been justly called its second founder. \n2 BUTLER’S LIVES OF THE SAINTS\, Concise Edition edited by M. Walsh (Harper San Francisco\, 1991) pp. 216-\n217.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-st-bonaventure/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12288-1721088000-1721174399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils: Bl. Virgin Martyrs of Orange
DESCRIPTION:THE MARTYRS OF ORANGE\n◊◊◊\nThe Martyrs of Orange were a group of 32 beatified religious women\nmartyred at Orange\, France\, during the French Revolution between July 5 and\n26\, 1794. Two were Cistercian nuns from Avignon\, the others were from\nBollene\, near Avignon. The others…included 16 Ursulines\, 13 Sacramentine\nnuns and one Benedictine nun. For refusing to take the oath of Liberty of the\nnew regime\, the nuns were expelled from their convents\, arrested and held in\nLa Cure prison in Orange. These and other nuns formed a kind of religious\ncommunity and spent hours in prayer and religious exercises daily until\ncondemned for fanaticism and superstition… \nThe martyrs of the prison ships of Rochefort died in 1794\, the same year\nas the nuns of Orange\, and were declared martyrs in 1925. On October 1\, 1995\,\nPope John Paul II beatified three other Cistercians at the same time as 61 other\npriests and religious of various Congregations. They were not the only\nCistercians who died of starvation or illness in the slave ships or on the islands\noff the shore of La Rochelle. Our Menology mentions several others. Yet for the\ncause of beatification\, only 64 among the 547 who died\, were retained as\nmartyrs\, namely\, those who were explicitly mentioned in the list of the\ndeported. \nThe three Cistercians were: Br Elias Desgardin\, Dom Paul Charles\, and\nDom Gervais Brunel. Br. Elias Desgardin was a lay Brother from Sept Fons. He\ncared for his sick companions. A martyr of charity\, he died of typhoid fever at\nthe age of forty-four. He was buried on the island of Aix… Dom Paul Charles\nwas the Prior of Sept Fons. Detained on the ship Les Deux Associes\, he died at\nthe age of fifty-one\, esteemed and loved by his companions in captivity. He was\nburied on the island called Madame. The third beatified martyr was Dom\nGervais Brunel\, Superior of La Trappe\, who died at the age of fifty in a\nprovisional hospital on the island Madame. Stricken with typhoid fever\, he\narrived there on the point of dying\, dying on the very day of the disembarkment. \nOne of them made a statement that can be applied to all these beatified\nreligious and to many others condemned to die on the prison ships: “If we are\nthe most unhappy of men\, we are also the happiest of Christians”. \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-bl-virgin-martyrs-of-orange/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12290-1721174400-1721260799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils: Weekday
DESCRIPTION:RELIGION IN A FREE SOCIETY\nBy Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel 3\n◊◊◊\nLittle does contemporary religion ask of man. It is ready to offer comfort;\nit has no courage to challenge. It is ready to offer edification; it has no courage\nto break the idols\, to shatter callousness. The trouble is that religion has\nbecome…institution\, dogma\, ritual. It is no longer an event. Its acceptance\ninvolves neither risk nor strain. There is no substitute for faith\, no alternative\nfor revelation\, no surrogate for commitment. We define self-reliance and call it\nfaith\, shrewdness and call it wisdom\, anthropology and call it ethics\, literature\nand call it Bible\, inner security and call it religion\, conscience and call it God.\nHowever\, nothing counterfeit can endure forever… \nIt is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for\nthe eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame\nreligion for its own defeats. Religion declined not because it was refuted\, but\nbecause it became irrelevant\, dull\, oppressive\, insipid. When faith is completely\nreplaced by creed\, worship by discipline\, love by habit; when the crisis of today\nis ignored because of the splendor of the past; when faith becomes an heirloom\nrather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority\nrather than with the voice of compassion\, its message becomes meaningless.\nThe primary task of religious thinking is to rediscover the questions to which\nreligion is an answer\, to develop a degree of sensitivity to the ultimate questions\nwhich its ideas and acts are trying to answer… \nThe most serious obstacle which modern men encounter in entering\ndiscussion about the ideas of the Bible\, is the absence from man’s consciousness\nof the problems to which the Bible refers. The Bible is an answer to the\nquestion\, “What does God require of man?” But to modern man\, this question\nis suppressed by another one\, namely\, “What does man demand of God?”\nModern man continues to ponder: “What will I get out of life?” What escapes\nhis attention is the fundamental\, yet often forgotten question\, “What will life\nget out of me?” \nAbsorbed in the struggle for the emancipation of the individual we have\nconcentrated our attention upon the idea of human rights and overlooked the\nimportance of human obligations… Oblivious to the fact of his receiving\ninfinitely more than he is able to return\, man began to consider his self as the\nonly end… We can ill afford to set up needs\, an unknown\, variable\, vacillating\,\nand eventually degrading factor\, as a universal standard\, as a supreme\, abiding\nrule or pattern for living. This\, indeed\, is the purpose of our religious traditions:\nto keep alive the higher Yes as well as the power of man to say\, “Here I am”; to\nteach our minds to understand the true demand and to teach our conscience to\nbe present… \nIt is an inherent weakness of religion not to take offense at the segregation\nof God\, to forget that the true sanctuary has no walls. Religion has suffered from\nthe tendency to become an end in itself\, to seclude the holy\, to become\nparochial\, self-indulgent\, self-seeking; as if the task were not to ennoble human\nnature but to enhance the power and beauty of its institutions or to enlarge the\nbody of doctrines. It has often done more to canonize prejudices than to wrestle\nfor truth; to petrify the sacred than to sanctify the secular. Yet the task of\nreligion is to challenge the stabilization of values. Religion is not for religion’s\nsake but for God’s sake. \n3 Excerpted and quoted from The Insecurity of Freedom (New York: Schocken Books\, 1959\, 1960\,\n1963\, 1964\,1966)\, pp.1-23. Accessed online\, July 5\, 2023.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-weekday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12292-1721260800-1721347199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils: St. Camillus de Lillus
DESCRIPTION:ST CAMILLUS DE LELLIS\nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints 4\n◊◊◊\nCamillus de Lellis was born in 1550 at Bucchianico…. When he was\nseventeen he went off with his father to fight with the Venetians against the\nTurks. But soon he contracted a painful and repulsive disease in his leg that\nwas to afflict him for the rest of his life. In 1571 he was admitted to the San\nGiacomo hospital for incurables at Rome\, as a patient and servant. After nine\nmonths he was dismissed\, for his quarrelsomeness among other things. He\nreturned to active service in the Turkish war. Though Camillus habitually\nreferred to himself as a great sinner\, his worst disorder was an addiction to\ngambling that continually reduced him to want and shame. In the autumn of\n1574 he gambled away his savings\, his arms\, everything down to his shirt\, which\nwas stripped off his back in the streets of Naples. \nThe indigence to which he had reduced himself\, and the memory of a vow\nhe had made in a fit of remorse to join the Franciscans\, caused him to accept\nwork as a laborer in the new Capuchin buildings at Manfredonia\, and there a\nmoving exhortation which the guardian of the friars gave him one day\,\ncompleted his conversion. He… fell on his knees\, and with tears deplored his\npast life\, and cried to Heaven for mercy. This happened on Candlemas day in\n1575\, the 25th of his age. From that time he never departed from his penitential\ncourse. He entered the novitiate of the Capuchins\, but could not make\nprofession because of the disease in his leg. He therefore returned to the\nhospital of San Giacomo and devoted himself to the service of the sick. The\nadministrators of the hospital witnessed his charity and later appointed him\nsuperintendent of the hospital. \nTo make himself more useful in spiritually assisting the sick\, he\nproceeded\, with the approval of his confessor\, St. Philip Neri\, to receive Holy\nOrders… With two companions he laid the foundations of his congregation.\nThey went every day to the hospital of the Holy Ghost\, where they served the\nsick with such affection and diligence that it was obvious to all who saw them\nthat they considered Christ Himself as lying sick or wounded in His members… \nCamillus was afflicted by many illnesses himself: the disease in his leg for\nforty-six years\, a rupture for thirty-eight years\, two sores in the sole of his foot\,\nwhich gave him great pain. Yet under these infirmities\, he would not allow\nanyone to wait on him\, but sent all his brethren to serve others. When he was\nnot able to stand\, he would creep out of his bed\, even at night\, and crawl from\none patient to another to see if they wanted anything. \nCamillus saw the foundation of fifteen houses of his brothers and eight\nhospitals… He expired on July 14\, 1614\, being sixty-four years old. St Camillus\nde Lellis was canonized in 1746\, and was\, with St. John of God\, declared patron\nof the sick by Pope Leo XIII\, and of nurses and nursing associations by Pope\nPius XI. \n4 Butler’s Lives of Saints\, vol. 3\, pg. 134\, P.J. Kennedy & Sons\, New York\, 1956.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-st-camillus-de-lillus/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T141220
CREATED:20240714T014629Z
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UID:12294-1721347200-1721433599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils: Weekday
DESCRIPTION:DIRECT YOUR THOUGHTS UTTERLY TO GOD\nFrom “The Form of Living” by Richard Rolle 5\n◊◊◊\nBecause you have abandoned the comforts and the pleasures of this world\nand devoted yourself to the solitary life for the love of God\, in order to endure\ndistress and hardship in this life and subsequently to come to [rest and joy in\nheaven]\, I believe most sincerely that the consolation of Jesus Christ\, and the\nsweetness of his love\, with the fire of the Holy Spirit who cleanses all sin\, shall\nbe in you and with you\, leading you and instructing you how you are to meditate\,\nhow you are to pray\, and what you are to do\, so that after a few years you shall\ncertainly have more delight in being yourself and speaking with your beloved\nand your spouse\, Jesus Christ… \nPeople suppose that we live in suffering and in a life of” privation\, but we\nhave more pleasure and more real delight in one day than they have in worldly\nthings throughout their entire lives. They see our bodies\, but they do not see\nour hearts\, where all our comfort lies. If they could see the heart\, many of them\nwould abandon all they have in order to follow us. So be heartened and\nemboldened and do not fear any discomfort or hardship\, rather fix your whole\ndesire on Jesus\, so that your life may be good and quiet… It is the special\ngoodness of God that he should encourage miraculously those who have no\nencouragement from the world. If they give their hearts entirely to him and\ndesire nothing\, and look for nothing except himself\, then he gives himself in\nsweetness and delight\, in the ardor of love… No man can arrive at such\nrevelation and grace on the first day\, but through long labor and diligence in\nloving Jesus Christ… \nDirect your thoughts utterly to God\, as you have by your outward\nappearance directed your body. For I don’t want you to think that all those who\nbear the outward appearance of holiness are holy and not preoccupied by the\nworld; nor that all who concern themselves with worldly affairs are sinful. But\nthose alone are holy\, whatever condition or rank they are in\, who despise all\nworldly things\, that is to say\, who do not cherish the things of the world\, but\nburn in the love of Jesus Christ\, whose every desire is directed toward the joy of\nheaven\, and who hate all sin\, and never give up doing good\, and feel in their\nheart a sweet savor of the love that never ends. \nAnd all the same\, they reckon themselves to be the most despicable of all\nmen\, and consider themselves the most contemptible\, most insignificant and\nmost abject. This is the lifestyle of the holy: follow it\, and be holy… For those\nwho follow Jesus Christ in voluntary poverty\, and in humility\, in love and in\npatience\, give up exactly the same amount as those want to acquire who do not\nfollow him. And consider how great and how good is the state of mind within\nyou\, with which you present your vows before him\, because that is what he is\nlooking for\, and also whether you are offering your prayers with great yearning\nlove\, and strive eagerly\, with great fervor\, to see him\, seeking no earthly\nconsolation except for the taste of heaven\, and take your delight in the\ncontemplation of it. \nI want you to be constantly climbing toward Jesus\, and intensifying your\nlove and your attendance on him… If you apply all your thoughts on how you\nmay love your Jesus Christ more than you have been doing\, then I venture to\nsay that your worth is increasing and not diminishing. \n5 Richard Rolle. The English Writings. Trans. Rosamund S. Allen. New York: Paulist Press\, 1988.\n157-158\, 160-161\, 163
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-weekday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12296-1721433600-1721519999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils: Memorial of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:MARY AND THE RETURN OF THE LORD\nFrom a book by René Laurentin 6\n◊◊◊\nIt is of the essence of the Christian message that we shall turn our gaze to\nthe future\, to the completion and consummation of all things which the Lord’s\nreturn will bring about. \nAt that time (already present in the eternity of God)\, the frontiers between\nthe earthly and the heavenly are abolished. The corporal world is transfigured\,\nGod is all in all. Time\, too\, is abolished for the Church. This fragmentary\nduration of time\, linked up with humanity’s advance along the road to their\nsalvation\, gives place to the infinitely simple rhythm of eternity: the rhythm of\nGod which gathers together every duration of time and heaps up every hope.\nHere the task of Mary\, as mother\, comes to an end\, but her love remains. For\nher\, at the heart of things\, nothing changes. It is the Church which changes\,\nand only for the reason that its situation is modified. \nFrom the outset Mary had preceded the Church at every stage of its life\,\nand here we see the Church joining her once more. Between them there is no\nlonger any difference in the realm of place and time. The tension of nature over\nagainst heaven\, of time over against eternity\, has been abolished. At the end of\nthe journey\, there they are\, perfectly reunited in the place and at the time of\nwhich God is the measure… \nMary was the first personal realization of what awaits the redeemed. She\nis that still\, but the distances have been done away with. \nThe Church continues to look at Mary in Christ\, but in a different way: no\nlonger as its future and as a token of its hope\, but only as the summit of its\ncommunion in Christ. The Church used to look at Mary [in the same way] as a\nfleet in the storm looks at the first ship which has crossed the bar and reached\nport. Now\, the Church has re-joined her at the end of the voyage. There is no\nlonger either separation or distance\, but common joy in reunion in Christ\, and\nthis dialogue between them is nothing but the overflowing abundance of their\nthanksgiving. \nIn this communion\, of which Christ is the beginning and the completion\,\nwe see again the situation of Pentecost: Mary in the Church\, but beyond this\nworld. In the city that is all light\, the grandeur of Mary is no longer veiled by\nany kind of shadow. The hierarchy\, which was the visible summit of the Church\nhere below\, no longer has any purpose. The world of the signs and means of\ngrace which it administered in this lower world has passed away\, and only the\nrealities remain. The grandeurs of hierarchy are effaced\, and the grandeurs of\nholiness\, at last unveiled\, shine forth in all their glory. In the crowd of the\nredeemed\, ranged henceforth according to their union with Christ and no\nlonger according to their function\, the Mother of Christ occupies the first place\,\nwithout common measure with the others. She is seen in the pure truth of the\nsituation in which God has placed her\, at a higher level of grace and glory than\nthat of the others: between the Redeemer who reigns over her from the\ninfinitude of his Godhead and the remainder of the redeemed whom she enfolds\nin her maternal love. \n6 Court traité sur la Vierge Marie\, Lethielleux\, Paris\, 1967\, pp. 156-157; reprinted in ALectures chrétiennes pour notre\ntemps@ (M 82): 8 1971\, Abbaye d’Orval\, Belgium.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-memorial-of-the-bvm/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12311-1721520000-1721606399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n16th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nJuly 21 – 27\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n21\nMon\n22\nTue\n23\nWed\n24\nThu\n25\nFri\n26\nSat\n27\n\n\nOffice\n16th Sunday\nSt Mary Magdalen\nWeekday\nWeekday\nSt James\nSS Joachm & Ann\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\n1 Sam 10:17-11:15\nExodus 15:1-21\n1 Sam 12:1-25\n1 Sam 13:2-22\nJerm 26:1-15\n1 Sam 13:23-14:23a\n1 Sam 14:23b-48\n\n\nLauds\nNahum 1:9-2:1\nIsa 12:1-6\nNahum 2:2-8\nNahum 2:9-14\nWis 3:1-9\nNahum 3:1-7\nNahum 3:8-13\n\n\nMass\n107\n603\n396\n397\n605\n399\n400\n\n\n1st\nJer 23:1-6\nSong 3:1-4b\nMic 7:14-15\, 18-20\nJer 1:1\, 4-10\n2 Cor 4:7-15\nJer 3:14-17\nJer 7:1-11\n\n\n2nd\nEph 2:13-18\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 6:30-34\nJohn 20:1-2\, 11-18\nMatt 12:46-50\nMatt 13:1-9\nMatt 20:20-28\nMatt 13:18-23\nMatt 13:24-30\n\n\nVespers\n1 Tim 6:11-16\nActs 13:26-31\n1 Tim 6:17-21\n2 Tim 1:1-8\nActs 11:27-12:5\n2 Tim 1:9-14\n2 Tim 2:1-7
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-77/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12313-1721520000-1721606399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 16th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A KINDLY SAVIOR AND PHYSICIAN \nFrom a commentary by Bede the Venerable1 \n◊◊◊ \nThe apostles returned to Jesus and reported to him everything they had \ndone and taught. As well as reporting to him…they told him what had befallen \nJohn the Baptist while they were teaching. And he said to them: Come away to \nsome place where you can be alone by yourselves and rest awhile. \nThe following words show what real need there was to give the disciples \nsome rest: For many were coming and going and they had no time even to eat. \nThe great happiness of those days can be seen from the hard work of those who \ntaught and the enthusiasm of those who learned. If only in our time such a \nconcourse of faithful listeners would again press round the ministers of the \nword\, not allowing them time to attend to their physical needs! For those denied \nthe time needed to look after their bodies will have still less opportunity to heed \nthe soul’s or the body’s temptations. Rather\, people of whom the word of faith \nand the saving ministry is demanded in season and out of season have an \nincentive to meditate upon heavenly things so as not to contradict what they \nteach by what they do. \nAnd they got into the boat and went away by themselves to a deserted \nspot. The disciples did not get into the boat alone\, but took the Lord with them\, \nas the evangelist Matthew makes clear. \nMany people saw them set out and recognized them\, and from all the \ntowns they hastened to the place on foot and reached it before them. The fact \nthat people on foot are said to have reached the place first shows that the \ndisciples did not go with the Lord to the opposite bank of the Jordan\, but \ncrossed some stream or inlet to reach a nearby spot in the same region\, within \nwalking distance for the local people. \nThus when Jesus landed he saw a large crowd. He took pity on them \nbecause they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them \nmany things. \nMatthew relates more fully how he took pity on them. He says: And he \ntook pity on them and cured their sick. This is what it means really to take pity \non the poor\, and on those who have no one to guide them: to open the way of \ntruth to them by teaching\, to heal their physical infirmities\, and to make them \nwant to praise the divine generosity by feeding them when they are hungry as \nJesus did… \nJesus tested the crowd’s faith\, and having done so he gave it a fitting \nreward. He sought out a lonely place to see if they would take the trouble to \nfollow him. For their part\, they showed how concerned they were for their \nsalvation by the effort they made in going along the deserted road not on \ndonkeys or in carts of various kinds\, but on foot. In return Jesus welcomed those \nweary\, ignorant\, sick and hungry people\, instructing\, healing\, and feeding them \nas a kindly savior and physician\, and so letting them know how pleased he is by \nbelievers’ devotion to him. \n  \n1 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1999 – pg 100.3 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-16th-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12315-1721606400-1721692799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Mary Magdalen
DESCRIPTION:KEEP WATCH AT THE DOORS OF WISDOM \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny2 \n◊◊◊ \nAbraham exulted that he might see the day of Christ and by this token he \nsaw and rejoiced. You too\, if you keep watch daily at the doors of wisdom\, \nsteadfast at its threshold\, if you stay awake through the night with Magdalen at \nthe entrance of his tomb\, if I am not mistaken you will experience with Mary \nhow true are the words we read of the Wisdom which is Christ: “She is easily \nseen by those who love her and she is found by those who seek her. She \nanticipates those who desire her and shows herself to them first. He who\, as \nsoon as it is light\, keeps watch for her will not have to toil\, for he will find her \nseated at his doors.” So did Christ\, Wisdom himself\, promise in the words: “I \nlove those who love me\, and they who from early morning keep watch for me \nwill find me.” \nMary found Jesus in the flesh. For this she was keeping watch… You\, who \nno longer ought to know Jesus according to the flesh but according to the spirit\, \nwill be able to find him spiritually if you seek him with a [similar] desire\, if he \nfinds you likewise vigilant in prayer. Say then to the Lord Jesus with the desire \nand the affection of Mary: “My soul has longed for you during the night\, my \nspirit too\, deep within me; from early morning I will keep watch for you”. Say \nwith the voice and the mind of the Psalmist: “God\, my God\, for you as soon as \nit is light I keep watch\, my soul is athirst for you”. And see if it is not your lot \nto sing with him: “We have been filled early in the morning with your mercy\, \nwe have exulted and been delighted”. \nKeep watch then\, brethren\, intent in prayer; keep watch and carefully \nguard your actions; especially since the morning of that day which has no sunset \nhas already shone upon us. For already eternal light has come back to us from \nthe nether regions\, more serene and more pleasing\, and the morning has given \nits welcome to the newly restored Sun. Indeed it is time now for us to arise from \nsleep; the night has passed away\, while the day has drawn near. Keep watch\, I \nsay\, that the morning light may rise for you\, that is Christ\, whose coming forth \nhas been made ready like the dawn\, ready to renew often the mystery of the \nmorning of his resurrection in those who keep watch for him. Then you will sing \nwith jubilant heart: “God the Lord has shone upon us… For then he will give you \na glimpse of the light which he has hidden in his hands\, telling his friend that it \nis his possession and he can attain to it. \n  \n2 “Sermon 35: the Third Sermon for Easter” \n\, Liturgical Sermons\, vol. 2 (CF 32)\, Spencer\, MA: Cistercian Publications\, \n1971\, pp. 93f.5 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-mary-magdalen/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12317-1721692800-1721779199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A JOYFUL AND GENUINE HUMILITY \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux3 \n◊◊◊ \nDo you see that humility makes us righteous? I say humility and not \nhumiliation. How many are humiliated who are not humble! There are some \nwho meet humiliation with rancor\, some with patience\, some again with \ncheerfulness. The first kind are culpable\, the second are innocent\, the last just. \nInnocence is indeed a part of justice\, but only the humble possess it perfectly. \nHe who can say: “It was good for me that you humiliated me\,” is truly humble. \nThe person who endures it unwillingly cannot say this; still less the one who \nmurmurs. To neither of these do I promise grace on the grounds of being \nhumiliated\, although the two are vastly different from each other\, since the one \npossesses his own soul in his patience\, while the other perishes in his \nmurmuring. For even if only one of them does merit anger\, neither of them \nmerits grace\, because it is not to the humiliated but to the humble that God gives \ngrace. \nBut he is humble who turns humiliation into humility\, and he is the one \nwho says to God: “It was good for me that you humiliated me.” What is merely \nendured with patience is good for nobody\, it is an obvious embarrassment. On \nthe other hand we know that “God loves a cheerful giver.” Hence even when we \nfast we are told to anoint our head with oil and wash our face\, that our good \nwork might be seasoned with spiritual joy and our holocaust made fat. For it is \nthe possession of a joyful and genuine humility that alone enables us to receive \ngrace. But the humility that is due to necessity or constraint\, that we find in the \npatient person who keeps his self-possession\, cannot win God’s favor because \nof the accompanying sadness\, although it will preserve his life because of \npatience. Since he does not accept humiliation spontaneously or willingly\, one \ncannot apply to such a person the scriptural commendation that the humble \nman may glory in his exaltation. \nIf you wish for an example of a humble person glorying with all due \npropriety\, and truly worthy of glory\, take Paul when he says that gladly will he \nglory in his weaknesses that the power of Christ may dwell within him. He does \nnot say that he will bear his weaknesses patiently\, but he will even glory in them\, \nand that willingly\, thus proving that to him it is good that he is humiliated\, and \nthat it is not sufficient that one keep his self-possession by patience when he is \nhumbled; to receive grace one must embrace humiliation willingly. \nYou may take as a general rule that everyone who humbles himself will \nbe exalted. It is significant that not every kind of humility is to be exalted\, but \nthat which the will embraces; it must be free of compulsion or sadness. Nor on \nthe contrary must everyone who is exalted be humiliated\, but only he who exalts \nhimself\, who pursues a course of vain display. Therefore it is not the one who is \nhumiliated who will be exalted\, but he who voluntarily humiliates himself; it is \nmerited by this attitude of will. Even suppose that the occasion of humiliation \nis supplied by another\, by means of insults\, damages or sufferings\, the victim \nwho determines to accept all these for God’s sake with a quiet\, joyful conscience\, \ncannot properly be said to be humiliated by anyone but himself. \n  \n3 (CF 7:162-163).7 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-207/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12319-1721779200-1721865599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE SHIELD OF FAITH \nBy William of St Thierry4 \n◊◊◊ \nTo the devil who was tempting him to blasphemy and saying: All this I \nwill give you if you will fall down and adore me\, the Doctor of truth [Jesus] \nopposed only the shield of truth and authority\, saying: It is written: you will \nworship the Lord your God\, and him only will you serve. But in the Book of \nKings\, when the minions of the Assyrian king blasphemed the Lord\, Hezekiah \nordered his own\, saying: Give them no answer! \nFor we must not answer the spirit of blasphemy in any way or converse \nwith it\, but only oppose to it the shield of faith. Its virulent malice tries to pollute \nwhatever you bring against it. It does not do this to get a satisfying answer\, but \nis only putting on pressure to sadden the conscience of the believer or somehow \nto corrupt the purity of his faith. \nThese are twin evils; one is the sting of the flesh\, the other that of the soul. \nAmong lazy persons they are both like a natural reminder which takes its origin\, \nas I have said\, from [Adam\,] the one who yearned to be like God because of the \nincantation of the old serpent. Immediately given over to the yearnings of the \nflesh\, he blushed at himself and covered those parts of the body which He\, who \nhad created them\, created without any need for covering. Each vice must have \nits own antidote. The same remedy does not apply to all members. What heals \nthe head does not heal the foot\, nor can what heals the weakness of the soul heal \nthe weakness of the flesh. Temptation of the flesh needs afflictions of the flesh \nand physical labors\, but temptation of the soul cries out for the help of prayer\, \nreading and meditation and any other spiritual study there may be. \n  \nIn particular one never acquires purity of faith except by true and \nprofound humility of heart\, dutiful devotion and unflagging perseverance in \nprayer. We must pray frequently\, therefore\, and must say: Lord\, increase in us \nour faith! Often those who are advancing in it\, if they do not have the grace that \nhelps them\, suffer a natural uneasiness. \nRationality\, in itself restless and impudent\, often assaults faith there\, \nwhere it possesses the faculty of reasoning\, although with no intention of \ncontradicting it; not so that it can run against faith but so that it can run with \nfaith. As human reason is accustomed to act in human realities through\, as it \nwere\, the unavoidable medium of believing\, so it tries to break through into the \nrecognition of divine realities. But since it mounts from a different direction\, it \nslips\, it stumbles\, it sinks until it turns back to the door of faith\, to him who \nsaid: I am the door. And once humbled beneath the yoke of divine authority\, as \nit is more humble\, so more securely does it enter in. \n  \n4 (CF 15:37-38).9 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-208/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12321-1721865600-1721951999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St James
DESCRIPTION:CAN YOU DRINK THE CHALICE? \nFrom a homily by St John Chrysostom5 \n◊◊◊ \nLet no one take scandal if we say now that the apostles were not perfect\, \nfor the mystery of the cross had as yet not been consummated; the grace of the \nHoly Spirit had not yet been infused into their hearts. If you are desirous of \nknowing their virtue\, consider what kind of men they were after the grace of the \nSpirit had been given\, and you will see that they overcame every perverse \ninclination in them. For this very purpose their imperfection is now revealed \nthat you might clearly see what they suddenly became through the operation of \ngrace. \nThat they once sought nothing spiritual\, nor thought about the Kingdom \nof Heaven\, is very clear. But still let us consider how they approached our Lord \nand what they said. “We desire\,” they said\, “that whatsoever we ask of thee\, \nthou wilt grant us.” To which Christ replied\, “What do you desire?” – certainly \nnot because He did not know\, but that He might compel them to answer and \nthereby might lay open the wound and thus apply the remedy. But they\, \nblushing and held back by shame because they had come to Him motivated by \nhuman aspirations\, took Christ apart from the rest and questioned Him. They \nmoved aside lest perhaps they be heard by the rest. And so at last they said what \nthey wished. I conjecture that they had heard that the disciples were to be \nseated on twelve thrones and they wished to ask for the place of honor in this \nassembly; they knew that at other times they were given precedence over the \nrest\, but fearing that Peter might be put before them\, they were bold enough to \nrequest\, “Say that one may sit on thy right hand\, the other on they left.” And \nthey pressed Him saying\, “Speak thus.” \nAnd what did He say? That He might show that they sought nothing \nspiritual\, and did not even realize what they were asking – for had they known \nthey would not have asked it – Jesus said to them\, “You know not what you ask; \nyou know not how great\, how admirable a thing this is\, far surpassing even the \nhigher Powers.” \nAnd He added further: “Can you drink the chalice which I shall drink\, and \nbe baptized with the baptism wherewith I am baptized?” Notice how He moves \nthem from their present state of mind by bringing to their attention things \nentirely contrary. “For\,” He says\, “you ask me for crowns and honors\, but I \nspeak to you of struggle and perspiration. This is not a time for rewards\, nor \nwill my glory appear at this time\, but the present is the time of death and \ndangers.” But observe how by His very manner of questioning He exhorts and \nconsoles. He did not say\, “Can you undergo suffering? Can you shed your \nblood?” But He said\, “Can you drink the chalice?” Then by way of consolation \nHe adds\, “which I am to drink.” So that by their very union with Him they might \nbecome more eager for hardships. \n  \n5 The Liturgical Readings. St. Meinrad’s Abbey Press\, 1943\, pp. 422-423.11 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-james-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12323-1721952000-1722038399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Joachim & Ann
DESCRIPTION:JOACHIM AND ANN \nFrom a sermon by St John Damascene6 \n◊◊◊ \nAnn was to be the mother of the Virgin Mother of God\, and hence nature \ndid not dare to anticipate the flowering of grace. Thus nature remained sterile\, \nuntil grace produced its fruit. For she who was to be born had to be a first-born \ndaughter\, since she would be the mother of the first-born of all creation\, in \nwhom all things are held together. \nJoachim and Ann\, how blessed a couple! All creation is indebted to you. \nFor your hands the Creator was offered a gift exceeding all other gifts: a chaste \nmother\, who alone was worthy of him. \nAnd so rejoice\, Ann\, that you were sterile and have not borne children; \nbreak forth into shouts\, you who have not given birth. Rejoice\, Joachim\, \nbecause from your daughter a child is born for us\, a son is given us\, whose \nname is Messenger of great counsel and universal salvation\, mighty God. For \nthis child is God. \nJoachim and Ann\, how blessed and spotless a couple! You will be known \nby the fruit you have borne\, as the Lord says: “by their fruits you will know \nthem”. The conduct of your life pleased God and was worthy of your daughter. \nFor by the chaste and holy life you led together\, you have fashioned a jewel of \nvirginity; she who remained a virgin before\, during and after giving birth. She \nalone for all time would maintain her virginity in mind and soul as well as in \nbody. Joachim and Ann\, how chaste a couple! While safeguarding the chastity \nprescribed by the law of nature\, you achieved with God’s help something which \ntranscends nature in giving the world the Virgin Mother of God as your \ndaughter. While leading a devout and holy life in your human nature\, you gave \nbirth to a daughter nobler than the angels\, whose queen she now is. \nGirl of utter beauty and delight\, daughter of Adam and mother of God\, \nblessed the loins and blessed the womb from which you come! Blessed the arms \nthat carried you\, and blessed your parent’s lips\, which you were allowed to cover \nwith chaste kisses\, ever maintaining your virginity. Rejoice in God\, all the earth. \nSing\, exult and sing hymns. Raise your voice\, raise it and be not afraid. \n  \n6 The Liturgy of the Hours – vol. III – Catholic Publishing Co – New York – 1975 – pg 1556.13 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-joachim-ann/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12325-1722038400-1722124799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial BVM
DESCRIPTION:THE BLESSING GIVEN TO MARY \nBy Paschasius Radbertus7 \n◊◊◊ \nThe nature and the greatness of the blessed and glorious ever-virgin Mary \nis divinely declared by the Angel\, when he says\, “Hail\, full of grace\, the Lord is \nwith you. Blessed are you among women”. For surely it was fitting that the \nVirgin should be enriched by gifts so great as to make her full of grace\, who in \nher turn was to give such gifts! For Mary has given glory to heaven\, and to the \nearth she has given the Lord. She has poured out peace upon the world\, brought \nfaith to nations\, put an end to vice\, given law to life\, and discipline to conduct. \nTruly she is “full of grace\,” because grace comes to others by measure\, but \non Mary it poured itself out all at once in all its fullness. Truly\, “full of grace”\, \nfor even though\, as we believe\, grace was in the holy patriarchs and prophets\, it \nwas not yet in its fullness. But\, in Mary? Hers was the whole fullness of that \ngrace which is in Christ\, though in a different manner than it was in him. And \nthis is why the angel says\, “Blessed are you among women\,” that is to say\, more \nblessed than all other women. Thus\, whatever curse had been incurred through \nEve was wholly taken away through the blessing given to Mary. \nIt was in praise of Mary\, as it were\, that Solomon says in the Song of \nSongs\, “Come\, my dove\, my immaculate one! For see\, the winter is past\, the \nrains are over and gone”. And then he says\, “Come from Lebanon\, come and \nbe crowned!”. Not without reason is Mary bidden to come from Lebanon\, for \n“Lebanon” means “shining whiteness.” Mary was dazzling white with her many \nvirtues and merits\, and\, by the gifts of the Holy Spirit\, she became whiter than \nsnow itself\, showing in all things the simplicity of the dove. For everything about \nMary is wholly the work of purity and simplicity\, wholly grace and truth\, wholly \nmercy and that justice which has looked down from heaven. She is\, then\, \nimmaculate\, because corruption has had no part in her. She has encompassed \na man in her womb\, as the holy Jeremiah testifies\, and received him from no \nother person. “The Lord\,” he says\, “has made a new thing upon the earth\, and \na woman shall encompass a man”. \nTruly this was a new thing\, an act of power new in a surpassing degree\, \nwhen God\, whom the world cannot contain nor man see and live\, entered the \nguest chamber of Mary’s womb in such a way as not to know confinement within \nher body\, was so borne that the whole God was within her\, came forth in such a \nway that\, as Ezekiel prophesied\, the door remained closed. \nThis is why the same Song of Songs sings of her\, “An enclosed garden\, a \nfountain sealed\, your plants are a paradise”. Truly a garden of delights\, \nplanted with all kinds of flowers and filled with the perfumes of all virtues; so \nenclosed as to have known no violation\, no corruption by deceit or wile; a \nfountain sealed\, therefore\, with the seal of the whole Trinity. \n  \n7 Ps.-Jerome\, Ep. 9.5\, 9 (PL 30.126-127\, 131-132). Translation by the Cistercian Lectionary Project (1968)\, 10*-ll*.15 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-bvm/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12330-1722124800-1722211199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n17th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nJuly 28 – August 3\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n28\nMon\n29\nTue\n30\nWed\n31\nThu\n1\nFri\n2\nSat\n3\n\n\nOffice\n17th Sunday\nSS Martha\, Mary & Lazarus\nOffice for the Dead\nSt Ignatius of Loyola\nSt Alphonsus Ligouri\nWeekday\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\n1 Sam 15:1-23\n1 Sam 15:24-16:13\n1 Sam 16:14-17:11\n1 Sam 17:12-37\n1 Sam 17:38-18:5\n1 Sam 18:6-30\n1 Sam 19:1-24\n\n\nLauds\nNahum 3:14-19\nHabakkuk 1:1-4\nHab 1:5-11\nHab 1:12-17\nHab 2:1-4\nHab 2:5-8\nHab 2:9-14\n\n\nMass\n110\n401\, 607\n402\n403\n404\n405\n406\n\n\n1st\n2 Kgs 4:42-44\nJer 13:1-11\nJer 14:17-22\nJer 15:10\, 16-21\nJer 18:1-6\nJer 26:1-9\nJer 26:11-16\, 24\n\n\n2nd\nEph 4:1-6\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 6:1-15\nJohn 11:19-27\nMatt 13:36-43\nMatt 13:44-46\nMatt 13:47-53\nMatt 13:54-58\nMatt 14:1-12\n\n\nVespers\n2 Tim 2:8-13\n2 Tim 2:14-19\n2 Tim 2:20-26\n2 Tim 3:1-9\n2 Tim 3:10-17\n2 Tim 4:1-8\n2 Tim 4:9-22
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-78/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12332-1722124800-1722211199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 17th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:THE WORD OF GOD \nFrom a commentary by St Augustine1 \n◊◊◊ \nThe miracles wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ are truly divine works\, \nwhich lead the human mind through visible things to a perception of the \nGodhead. God is not the kind of being that can be seen with the eyes\, and small \naccount is taken of the miracles by which he rules the entire universe and \ngoverns all creation because they recur so regularly. Scarcely anyone bothers to \nconsider God’s marvelous deeds\, his amazing artistry in every tiny seed. And so \ncertain works are excluded from the ordinary course of nature\, works which \nGod in his mercy has reserved for himself\, so as to perform them at appropriate \ntimes. People who hold cheap what they see every day are dumbfounded at the \nsight of extraordinary works even though they are no more wonderful than the \nothers. \nGoverning the entire universe is a greater miracle than feeding five \nthousand people with five loaves of bread\, yet no one marvels at it. People \nmarvel at the feeding of five thousand not because this miracle is greater\, but \nbecause it is out of the ordinary. \nWho is even now providing nourishment for the whole world if not the \nGod who creates a field of wheat from a few seeds? Christ did what God does. \nJust as God multiplies a few seeds into a whole field of wheat\, so Christ \nmultiplied the five loaves in his hands. For there was power in the hands of \nChrist. Those five loaves were like seeds\, not because they were cast upon the \nearth but because they were multiplied by the one who made the earth. \n  \nThis miracle was presented to our senses in order to stimulate our minds; \nit was put before our eyes in order to engage our understanding\, and so make \nus marvel at the God we do not see because of his works which we do see. For \nthen\, when we have been raised to the level of faith and purified by faith\, we \nshall long to behold\, though not with our eyes\, the invisible God whom we \nrecognize through what is visible. \nThis miracle was performed for the multitude to see; it was recorded for \nus to hear. Faith does for us what sight did for them. We behold with the mind \nwhat our eyes cannot see; and we are preferred to them. Because of us it was \nsaid: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. \nWhen the people saw the sign Jesus had performed\, they said: Surely \nthis must be a prophet. He was in fact the Lord of the prophets\, the fulfiller of \nthe prophets\, the sanctifier of the prophets; yet he was still a prophet\, for Moses \nhad been told: I will raise up for them a prophet like yourself. The Lord is a \nprophet\, and the Lord is the Word of God\, and without the Word of God no \nprophet can prophesy. \nThe Word of God is with the prophets\, and the Word of God is a prophet. \nPeople of former times were deemed worthy to have prophets inspired and filled \nby the Word of God; we have been deemed worthy to have as our prophet the \nWord of God Himself. \n  \n1 A Commentary on the Gospel of Mark According to St Augustine.3 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-17th-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12334-1722211200-1722297599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Martha\, Mary\, & Lazarus
DESCRIPTION:THE HAPPINESS OF \nMARTHA AND MARY \nFrom a sermon by St Aelred of Rievaulx2 \n◊◊◊ \nJesus entered a certain fortress\, and a certain woman named Martha \nreceived him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary. You have heard \nin the Gospel about the great happiness of the two women. Truly\, brothers\, great \nwas the happiness of Martha\, who welcomed such a guest\, who waited upon \nhim\, who was completely engaged with serving him. Great was the happiness of \nMary\, who recognized the excellence of her guest\, who listened to his wisdom \nand tasted his sweetness. For in this way the evangelist recounts the fact that \nour Lord Jesus Christ entered a fortress\, where a certain woman who was called \nMartha welcomed him into her house and waited upon him. She had a certain \nsister\, who was called Mary\, who\, as soon as Jesus entered\, immediately \nhastened to his feet and sat there and listened to his sweet words. She was \nattentive upon the words of the Lord to such an extent\, that she cared nothing \nabout what might be done in the house\, what anyone was saying\, or indeed even \nhow hard her sister was working.” \n… \nIf therefore\, brothers\, our soul according to what we have said\, becomes \na fortress\, it is fitting that two women live in it: one who sits at the feet of Jesus \nand listens to his words\, the other who waits upon Jesus and feeds him. \nConsider this\, brothers: if Mary were alone in this house\, there would be no one \nto feed the Lord; if Martha were alone\, there would be no one to take delight in \nthe discourses and presence of the Lord. Therefore…Martha signifies that \naction by which a person labors for Christ\, and Mary signifies that rest by which \na person ceases from bodily activities and takes delight in the sweetness of God\, \neither through reading\, prayer\, or contemplation. Therefore\, brothers\, as long \nas Christ is poor and goes about afoot on earth\, and is hungry and thirsty\, and \nis tempted\, it is necessary that both of these women dwell in one house\, that \nboth of their actions be in one soul. \nAs long as you or I or anyone else is on earth\, he himself is present in the \nworld\, if we are his members. Whenever those who are his members are hungry\, \nthirsty\, and tempted\, then Christ will be hungry\, thirsty\, and tempted. For this \nreason\, Christ himself will say on the day of judgment: “Whenever you\, did it to \none of the least of my brothers or sisters\, you did it to me”. Therefore\, brothers\, \nin this miserable and burdensome life\, it is necessary that Martha be in our \nhouse\, that is\, that our soul be busy with bodily activities. As long as we must \neat and drink\, then we have to labor. As long as we are tempted by carnal \npleasures\, it is necessary for us to tame the flesh by vigils\, fasts\, and bodily labor. \nThis part is Martha’s. \nMary also should be in our soul\, for she represents activity of spirit. We \nshould not always give ourselves to bodily exercises but occasionally should rest \nand see how delightful\, how sweet\, is the Lord; we should sit at the feet of Jesus \nand listen to his word. In no way ought you to neglect Mary because of Martha\, \nnor again Martha because of Mary. If you neglect Martha who will feed Jesus? \nIf you neglect Mary\, what will it benefit you that Jesus entered your house\, since \nyou taste nothing of his sweetness? \n  \n2 CSQ 32 : 45\, 48.5 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-martha-mary-lazarus-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12336-1722297600-1722383999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD TO COME \nFrom “Sacraments and Orthodoxy” by Fr Alexander Schmemann3 \n◊◊◊ \nThe liturgy of Christian death does not begin when one comes to the \ninescapable end and their corpse lies in church for the last rites while we stand \naround\, the sad yet resigned witnesses of the dignified removal of one from the \nworld of the living. It begins every day as the Church ascending into heaven\, \n“puts aside all earthly care”; it begins every feast day; it begins especially in the \njoy of Easter. The whole life of the Church is in a way the sacrament of our death\, \nbecause all of it is the proclamation of the Lord’s death\, the confession of his \nresurrection. \nThe Church is the entrance into the risen life of Christ\, communion in life \neternal\, “joy and peace in the Holy Spirit.” And it is the expectation of the “day \nwithout evening” of the Kingdom; not of any “other world\,” but of the fulfillment \nof all things and all life in Christ. In him death itself has become an act of life\, \nfor he has filled it with himself\, with his love and light. In him “all things are \nyours; whether the world\, or life\, or death\, or things present\, or things to come; \nall are yours; and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” \nAnd if I make this new life mine\, mine this hunger and thirst of the \nKingdom\, mine this expectation of Christ\, mine the certitude that Christ is Life\, \nmy very death will be an act of communion with Life. For neither life nor death \ncan separate us from the love of Christ. I do not know when and how the \nfulfillment will come. I do not know when all things will be consummated in \nChrist. I know nothing about the “when’s” and “how’s.” But I know that in Christ \nthis great Passage\, the Pascha of the world has begun\, that the light of the “world \nto come” comes to us in the joy and peace of the Holy Spirit\, for Christ is risen \nand Life reigns. \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-13/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12338-1722384000-1722470399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Ignatius of Loyola
DESCRIPTION:THE INTERIOR GRACE OF PRAYER \nFrom “The Spiritual Journal” of St Ignatius of Loyola4 \n◊◊◊ \nIn the usual prayer\, from beginning to end\, I had the help of a very interior \nand gentle grace\, full of warm devotion and very sweet. While preparing the \naltar and vesting\, I saw a representation of the name of Jesus with much love\, \nconfirmation and increased desire to follow him\, accompanied by tears and \nsobs. \nAll through the Mass very great devotion\, on the whole\, with many tears\, \nand several times loss of speech\, all devotion and feeling being directed to Jesus. \nI could not apply myself to the other Persons\, except to the First Person as \nFather of such a Son\, with spiritual answers\, how he is Father\, how he is Son! \nHaving finished Mass\, I had during the prayer that same feeling towards the \nSon\, and how I would have desired the confirmation of the Most Holy Trinity\, \nand felt that it was given to me through Jesus\, when he showed himself to me \nand gave me such interior strength and certainty of the confirmation\, without \nany fear of the future. The thought suggested itself to me to beg Jesus to obtain \npardon for me from the most Holy Trinity. I felt an increased devotion\, tears \nand sobs\, and the hope of obtaining the grace\, when I found myself so vigorous \nand strengthened concerning the future. \nLater…there was a fresh representation of Jesus with great devotion and \nmovement to tears. Later\, as I walked through the street\, I had a vivid \nrepresentation of Jesus with interior movements and tears. After I had spoken \nwith [Cardinal] Carpi\, and was on the way home\, I felt great devotion. After \ndinner\, especially when I passed through the door of the Vicar\, in the house of \nthe Cardinal of Trani\, I felt or saw Jesus\, had many interior movements and \nmany tears\, begging and praying Jesus to obtain pardon for me from the Most \nHoly Trinity\, while I felt remaining in me a great confidence of being heard. \nAt these times\, when I sensed or saw Jesus\, I felt so great a love within \nme that I thought that nothing could happen in the future that would separate \nme from Him\, or cause me to doubt about the graces or confirmation I had \nreceived. \n  \n4 reprinted in Light from Light\, ed. by L. Dupre and J. Wiseman\, OSB\, New York: Paulist Press\, 1988\, pp. 266-267.9 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-ignatius-of-loyola/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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