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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240723
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240724
DTSTAMP:20260403T154945
CREATED:20240720T215557Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240720T215557Z
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240724
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240725
DTSTAMP:20260403T154945
CREATED:20240720T215706Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240720T215706Z
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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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240725
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240726
DTSTAMP:20260403T154945
CREATED:20240720T215820Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240720T215820Z
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240726
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240727
DTSTAMP:20260403T154945
CREATED:20240720T215947Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240720T215947Z
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240727
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240728
DTSTAMP:20260403T154945
CREATED:20240720T220056Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240720T220056Z
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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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240728
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240729
DTSTAMP:20260403T154945
CREATED:20240727T235437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240727T235437Z
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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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240728
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240729
DTSTAMP:20260403T154945
CREATED:20240727T235640Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240727T235640Z
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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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240729
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240730
DTSTAMP:20260403T154945
CREATED:20240727T235831Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240727T235831Z
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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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240730
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240731
DTSTAMP:20260403T154945
CREATED:20240727T235947Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240727T235947Z
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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UID:12340-1722470400-1722556799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Alphonsus Ligouri
DESCRIPTION:THE FULLNESS OF HIMSELF \nFrom a sermon by St Alphonsus Ligouri5 \n◊◊◊ \nAll holiness and perfection of soul lies in our love for Jesus Christ our \nGod\, who is our Redeemer and our supreme good. It is part of the love of God \nto acquire and to nurture all the virtues that make one perfect. \nHas not God in fact won for himself a claim on all our love? From all \neternity he has loved us. And it is in this vein that he speaks to us: “O consider \ncarefully that I first loved you. You had not yet appeared in the light of day\, nor \ndid the world yet exist\, but already I loved you. From all eternity I have loved \nyou.” \nSince God knew that we are enticed by favors\, he wished to bind us to his \nlove by means of his gifts: “I want to catch mortals with these snares\, these \nchains of love in which they allow themselves to be entrapped\, so that they will \nlove me.” And all the gifts which he bestowed on us were given to this end. He \ngave us a soul\, made in his likeness\, and endowed with memory\, intellect and \nwill; he gave us a body equipped with the senses; it was for us that he created \nheaven and earth and such an abundance of things. He made all things out of \nlove for us\, so that all creation might serve us\, and we in turn might love God \nout of gratitude for so many gifts. \nBut God did not wish to give us only beautiful creatures; the truth is that \nto win for himself our love\, he went so far as to bestow upon us the fullness of \nhimself. The eternal Father went so far as to give us his only Son. When he saw \nthat we were all dead through sin and deprived of his grace\, what did he do? \nCompelled\, as the Apostle says\, by the superabundance of his love for us\, he \nsent his beloved Son to make reparation for us and to call us back to a sinless \nlife. \nBy giving us his Son\, whom he did not spare precisely so that he might \nspare us\, he bestowed on us every good: grace\, love and heaven; for all these \ngoods are certainly inferior to the Son: He who did not spare his own Son\, but \nhanded him over for all of us; how could he fail to give us along with his Son \nall good things? \n  \n5 The Liturgy of the Hours – vol. III – pg 1568 – Catholic Book Publishing Co – New York – 1975.11 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-alphonsus-ligouri-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12342-1722556800-1722643199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:CONSOLATION AND DESOLATION \nFrom “The Spiritual Exercises” of St Ignatius of Loyola6 \n◊◊◊ \nI call it consolation when an interior movement is aroused in the soul\, by \nwhich it is inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord\, and as a consequence\, can \nlove no creature on the face of the earth for its own sake\, but only in the Creator \nof them all. It is likewise consolation when one sheds tears that move to the \nlove of God\, whether it be because of sorrow for sins\, or because of the sufferings \nof Christ our Lord\, or for any other reason that is immediately directed to the \npraise and service of God. Finally\, I call consolation every increase of faith\, \nhope\, and love\, and all interior joy that invites and attracts to what is heavenly \nand to the salvation of one’s soul by filling it with peace and quiet in its Creator \nand Lord. \nI call it desolation what is entirely the opposite of what is described above\, \nas darkness of soul\, turmoil of spirit\, inclination to what is low and earthly\, \nrestlessness rising from many disturbances and temptations which lead to want \nof faith\, want of hope\, want of love. The soul is wholly slothful\, tepid\, sad\, and \nseparated\, as it were\, from its Creator and Lord. For just as consolation is the \nopposite of desolation\, so the thoughts that spring from consolation are the \nopposite of those that spring from desolation. \nIn time of desolation we should never make any change\, but remain firm \nand constant in the resolution and decision which guided us the day before the \ndesolation\, or in the decision to which we adhered in the preceding consolation. \nFor just as in consolation the good spirit guides and counsels us\, so in desolation \nthe evil spirit guides and counsels. Following his counsels we can never find the \nway to a right decision. \nThough in desolation we must never change our former resolutions\, it will \nbe very advantageous to intensify our activity against the desolation. We can \ninsist more upon prayer\, upon meditation\, and on much examination of \nourselves. We can make an effort in a suitable way to do some penance. \nWhen we are in desolation\, we should be mindful that God has left us to \nour natural powers to resist the different agitations and temptations of the \nenemy in order to try us. We can resist with the help of God\, which always \nremains\, though we may not clearly perceive it. For though God has taken from \nus the abundance of fervor and overflowing love and the intensity of His favors\, \nnevertheless\, we have sufficient grace for eternal salvation. \nWhen one is in desolation\, he should strive to persevere in patience. This \nreacts against the vexations that have overtaken him. Let him consider\, too\, \nthat consolation will soon return\, and in the meantime\, he must diligently use \nthe means against desolation which have been given above. \n  \n6 Trans.\, Louis J Puhl SJ\, Loyola Chicago\, 316. 3. pp 142-143.13 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-209/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12344-1722643200-1722729599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:MARY AND GOD’S REDEMPTIVE PLAN \nFrom “Seasons of Celebration” by Thomas Merton7 \n◊◊◊ \nIn Mary is perfectly realized God’s whole creative and redemptive plan. \nThat is why she is said to be for us a light of truth and a pattern of life. That is \nwhy her spiritual beauty includes in itself all the beauty which we see here and \nthere\, in partial and incomplete form\, in the universe. In her is all the beauty of \nthe world\, transfigured and elevated to a level beyond our comprehension: and \nyet since that perfection was reached by the fulfillment of the obediential \npotency in her nature\, which is also our nature\, there is a certain connaturality \nin us which makes us respond to her transcendent radiance even though it \nremains obscure to us. We cannot help but see that she is\, like ourselves\, a \nhuman creature whose littleness has been glorified in the light of Christ and \nwho has been saved from the power of darkness and evil by the grace of His \ncross. \nIt remains then for us to celebrate her immaculate beauty\, to open our \nhearts to the same light of truth which sanctified her\, the same grace which \nmade her pleasing to the Most High\, Who is her creator as He is ours\, and who \nwishes to see realized in us the same ineffable mystery of light. More than that\, \nHe wishes to see the whole world saved and transfigured in that light\, by reason \nof our perfect acceptance of His gift\, His love\, and His grace\, and our \ntransmission of the power of His love to all people and to all other beings by our \nwork\, our prayers and our love. \n  \n7 New York\, 1965\, pp. 169-170.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-8/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12353-1722729600-1722815999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n18th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nAugust 4 – 10\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n4\nMon\n5\nTue\n6\nWed\n7\nThu\n8\nFri\n9\nSat\n10\n\n\nOffice\n18th Sunday\nWeekday\nTransfiguration of the Lord\nSt Cajetan\nSt Dominic\nSt Teresa Benedicta\nSt Lawrence\n\n\nVigils\n1 Sam 20:1-24a\n1 Sam 20:24b-21:1\n2 Cor 3:7-4:6\n1 Sam 21:2-22:5\n1 Sam 22:6-23\n1 Sam 23:1-28\nExodus 18:13-26\n\n\nLauds\nHab 2:15-20\nHab 3:1-7\nSir 48:1-11\nHab 3:8-15\nHab 3:16-19\nZephaniah 1:1-6\nTobit 4:5-11\n\n\nMass\n113\n407\n614\n409\n410\n411\n618\n\n\n1st\nExod 16:2-4\, 12-15\nJer 28:1-17\n2 Peter 1:16-19\nJer 31:1-7\nJer 31:31-34\nNah 2:1\, 3; 3:1-3\, 6-7\n2 Cor 9:6-10\n\n\n2nd\nEph 4:17\, 20-24\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 6:24-35\nMatt 14:13-21\nMark 9:2-10\nMatt 15:21-28\nMatt 16:13-23\nMatt 16:24-28\nJohn 12:24-26\n\n\nVespers\nTitus 1:1-9\nTitus 1:10-16\n1 Jn 5:9-12\nTitus 2:11-15\nTitus 3:1-8a\nTitus 3:8b-15\nJas 1:1-11
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-79/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12355-1722729600-1722815999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 18th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:THE BREAD OF LIFE \nFrom a commentary by Theophylact of Ohrid1 \n◊◊◊ \nOur ancestors ate manna in the desert\, as it is written\, “He gave them \nbread from heaven to eat.” Wishing to persuade Christ to perform the kind of \nmiracle that would provide them with bodily nourishment\, the people in their \ninsatiable greed called to mind the manna. What was the reply of Our Lord \nJesus\, the infinite wisdom of God? It was not Moses who gave you bread. In \nother words\, “Moses did not give you the true bread. On the contrary everything \nthat happened at that time was a prefiguring of what is happening now…” \nOur Lord refers to himself as the true bread not because the manna was \nsomething illusory\, but because it was only a type and a shadow\, and not the \nreality it signified. \nThis bread\, being the Son of the living Father\, is life by its very nature\, \nand accordingly gives life to all. Just as earthly bread sustains the frail substance \nof the flesh and prevents it from falling into decay\, so Christ quickens the soul \nthrough the power of the Spirit\, and also preserves the body for immortality. \nThrough Christ\, resurrection from the dead and bodily immortality have been \ngraciously bestowed upon the human race. \nJesus said to the people: “I am the Bread of Life. Whoever come to me \nshall never hunger\, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” He did not \nsay the bread of bodily nourishment\, but the bread of life. For when everything \nhas been reduced to a condition of spiritual death\, the Lord gave us life through \nhimself\, who is bread because\, as we believe\, the leaven in the dough of our \nhumanity was baked through and through by the fire of his divinity. He is the \nbread not of this ordinary life\, but of a very different kind of life which death3 \nwill never cut short. \nWhoever believes in this bread\, will never hunger\, will never be famished \nfor want of hearing the Word of God\, nor will such a person be parched by \nspiritual thirst through lack of the waters of baptism and the consecration \nimparted by the Spirit. The unbaptized\, deprived of the refreshment afforded \nby the sacred water\, suffer thirst and great aridity. The baptized on the other \nhand\, being possessed of the Spirit\, enjoy its continual consolation.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-18th-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12357-1722816000-1722902399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:AN INDESTRUCIBLE TEMPLE \nFrom a homily delivered at the Council of Ephesus \nby St Cyril of Alexandria1 \n◊◊◊ \nI see here a joyful company of Christians met together in ready response \nto the call of Mary\, the holy and ever virgin Mother of God. Now the joyful \nsaying of David the psalmist: How good and pleasant it is for brothers to live \ntogether in unity has come true for us. Therefore\, holy and incomprehensible \nTrinity\, we salute you at whose summons we have come together to this church \nof Mary\, the Mother of God. \nMary\, Mother of God\, we salute you. Precious vessel\, worthy of the whole \nworld’s reverence\, you are an ever-shining light\, the crown of virginity\, the \nsymbol of orthodoxy\, an indestructible temple\, the place that held him whom \nno place can contain\, mother and virgin. Because of you\, the holy Gospels could \nsay: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. \nWe salute you\, for in your holy womb he\, who is beyond all limitation\, \nwas confined. Because of you\, the holy Trinity is glorified and adored; the cross \nis called precious and is venerated throughout the world; the heavens exult; the \nangels and archangels make merry; demons are put to flight; the devil\, that \ntempter\, is thrust down from heaven; the fallen race of humans is taken up on \nhigh; all creatures possessed by the madness of idolatry have attained \nknowledge of the truth believers receive holy baptism; the oil of gladness is \npoured out\, the Church is established throughout the world; pagans are brought \nto repentance. \nWhat more is there to say? Because of you\, the light of the only-begotten \nSon of God has shone upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of5 \ndeath; prophets pronounced the word of God; the apostles preached salvation \nto the Gentiles\, the dead are raised to life\, and kings rule by the power of the \nholy Trinity. \nWho can put Mary’s high honor into words? She is both mother and \nvirgin. I am overwhelmed by the wonder of this miracle. Of course\, no one could \nbe prevented from living in the house he had built for himself\, yet who would \ninvite mockery by asking his own servant to become his mother? \nBehold then the joy of the whole universe. Let the union of God and man \nin the Son of the Virgin Mary fill us with awe and adoration. Let us fear and \nworship the undivided Trinity as we sing the praise of the ever-virgin Mary\, the \nholy temple of God himself\, her Son and spotless Bridegroom. To him be glory \nfor ever and ever.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-210/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12359-1722902400-1722988799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Transfiguration of the Lord
DESCRIPTION:THE TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS \nBy Han Urs von Balthasar1 \n◊◊◊ \nThe Gospel of the Transfiguration is preceded by the first reading telling \nthe story of Abraham’s sacrifice. And for good reason\, for the Transfiguration \nof the Lord was to be the Father’s demonstration of what his “beloved Son” truly \nis\, the One whom he will permit to be ‘slaughtered’ for and by mankind. For the \nJews\, Abraham’s sacrifice is … the climax of their relationship with God\, and \nthey emphasize that it was a double sacrifice: the sacrifice of a father\, who draws \nhis knife\, and the sacrifice of a son\, who agreed to his own slaughter …. [The \nevent represents] the extreme form of what God can require … from a man who \nis in a covenant relationship with him. The horror of it consists not in the \ncommand to kill the son of one’s own body …; rather\, the horror lies in the fact \nthat this son was miraculously given by God and destined to imitate and \naccomplish the divine promises. In his command God contradicts himself. Yet \nthough the command may be incomprehensibly contradictory to man\, he must \nobey because God is God. \nThe second reading resolves the apparent paradox by showing that God \nreveals himself as love in essence\, a love that does not contradict itself if it sends \nthe Son of God into real death and thereby fulfills the promise to “give \neverything”\, namely\, to bestow eternal life. Here the extreme is not the one- \nsided obedience of man in the face of an incomprehensible command of God; \nrather it is the way the Son’s obedient willingness to enter death for the sake of \neveryone is united with the Father’s willingness to sacrifice … [everything\, even \nto the point of not holding back his Son]. In this\, God is not only “with us”\, as \nin the Old Testament’s “Emmanuel”\, but is ultimately “for us”\, his chosen ones. \nIn this he has not merely given us something great\, but has given us everything \nhe is and has …. \nIn this perspective the true meaning of the light… radiating from the Son \non the mountain in the Gospel can be understood. In no way is this light \nproduced through absorption in oneself; rather it is the radiant … light of \nperfect surrender: it shows what the Father has really given up to “slaughter” \nfor the world\, what the new Isaac permits to be done to himself out of obedient \nlove toward the Father\, what the “overshadowing” luminous cloud veils [in the] \ndivine mystery. Fear and chatter on the part of the men necessarily follow\, but \nthey are commanded to avoid abusing by empty talk what they have witnessed. \nIt will interpret itself in the death and Resurrection of the Lord.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-transfiguration-of-the-lord-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12361-1722988800-1723075199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Cajetan
DESCRIPTION:ST CAJETAN \nFrom the writing of Alban Butler1 \n◊◊◊ \nSt Cajetan was son of Caspar\, Count of Thiene\, of the nobility of Vicenza\, \nwhere he was born in 1480. Two years later his father was killed\, fighting for \nthe Venetians against King Ferdinand of Naples. Cajetan went for four years to \nPadua University\, where he distinguished himself in theology\, and took the \ndegree of doctor in civil and canon law in 1504. He then returned to his native \ntown\, of which he was made senator. In pursuance of his resolve to serve God \nas a priest he received the tonsure. In 1506 he went to Rome. Soon after his \narrival Pope Julius II conferred on him the office of protonotary… On the death \nof Julius Cajetan refused his successor’s request to continue in that office\, and \ndevoted three years to preparing himself for the priesthood. He was ordained \nin 1516\, being thirty-three years old\, and returned to Vicenza in 1518. \nCajetan had re-founded a confraternity in Rome called “The Oratory of \nthe Divine Love”\, which was an association of zealous and devout clerics who \ndevoted themselves to labor with all their power to promote God’s honor and \nthe welfare of souls… but consisted only of men in the lowest station of life. This \ncircumstance gave great offence to his friends\, who thought it a reflection on \nthe honor of his family. He persisted\, however\, and sought out the sick and the \npoor throughout the whole town\, served them and cared for those who suffered \nfrom the most loathsome diseases in the hospital of the incurables. He founded \na similar oratory at Verona and then went in 1520 to Venice where he took up \nhis lodgings in the new hospital of that city… He introduced exposition of the \nBlessed Sacrament in that city\, as well as continuing the promotion of frequent \ncommunion. \nThe state of Christendom at this time shocked and distressed Cajetan\, and \nin 1523 he went back to Rome to confer with his friends of the Oratory of Divine \nLove. They agreed that little could be done other than by reviving in the clergy \nthe spirit and zeal of those holy pastors who first planted the faith\, and a plan \nwas formed for instituting an order of regular clergy upon the model of the lives \nof the Apostles. The first associates of Cajetan were John Peter Caraffa\, who \nlater became pope under the name of Paul IV. The institute was approved by \nClement VII\, and Caraffa was chosen as the first provost general. From the \nname of his episcopal see of Theatensis these clerks regular came to be \ndistinguished from others as Theatines. \nThe success of the new congregation was not immediate\, and in 1527\, \nwhen it still numbered only a dozen members\, the army of Emperor Charles V \nsacked Rome. The Theatines house was demolished and the members had to \nescape to Venice. Cajetan was sent to Verona\, where both the clergy and the \nlaity were opposing the reformation of discipline\, which their bishop was \nendeavoring to introduce among them. A general improvement was the fruit of \nhis example\, preaching and labors. \nWorn out with trying to appease civil strife in Naples\, and disappointed \nat the suspension of the Council of Trent\, from which he hoped so much for the \nChurch’s good\, Cajetan had to take to his bed in the summer of 1547. The end \ncame on Sunday\, August 7. Many miracles wrought by his intercession were \napproved at Rome after rigorous scrutiny\, and he was canonized in 1671.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-cajetan-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:12363-1723075200-1723161599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Dominic
DESCRIPTION:THE PRAYER OF ST DOMINIC1 \n◊◊◊ \nThe holy father Dominic also had another beautiful way of praying\, full of \ndevotion and grace. After the canonical Hours and the grace which is said in \ncommon after meals\, the father would go off quickly on his own to a cell or \nsomewhere\, sober and alert and anointed with a spirit of devotion which he had \ndrawn from the divine words which had been sung in choir or during the meal; \nthere he would sit down to read or pray\, recollecting himself in himself and \nfixing himself in the presence of God. Sitting there quietly he would open some \nbook before him\, arming himself first with the sign of the cross\, and then he \nwould read. And he would be moved in his mind as delightfully as if he heard \nthe Lord speaking to him. \nAs the Psalm says\, “I will hear what the Lord God is saying in me.” It was \nas if he were arguing with a friend; at one moment he would appear to be feeling \nimpatient\, nodding his head energetically\, then he would seem to be listening \nquietly\, then you would see him disputing and struggling\, and laughing and \nweeping all at once\, fixing his gaze\, submitting\, then again speaking quietly and \nbeating his breast. If anyone was inquisitive enough to want to spy on him \nsecretly\, he would find that the holy father Dominic was like Moses\, who went \ninto the innermost desert and saw the burning bush and the Lord speaking and \ncalling to him to humble himself. The man of God had a prophetic way of \npassing quickly from reading to prayer and from meditation to contemplation. \nWhen he was reading like this on his own\, he used to venerate the book \nand bow to it and sometimes kiss it\, particularly if it was a book of the gospels \nor if he was reading the words which Christ had spoken with his own lips. And \nsometimes he used to hide his face and turn it aside\, or he would bury his face \nin his hands and hide it a little in his scapular. And then he would also become11 \nanxious and full of yearning\, and he would also rise a little\, respectfully\, and \nbow as if he were thanking some very special person for favours he has \nbestowed. Then\, quite refreshed and at peace in himself\, he would continue \nreading his book.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-dominic-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240809
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240810
DTSTAMP:20260403T154945
CREATED:20240804T131400Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240804T131400Z
UID:12365-1723161600-1723247999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Teresa Benedict
DESCRIPTION:THE EUCHARIST \nAS A MEANS OF SALVATION \nFrom an essay by St Edith Stein1 \n◊◊◊ \nChrist’s suffering and death are continued in His mystical Body and in \neach of His members. Everyone must suffer and die. But if that person is a \nliving member of the Body of Christ\, their suffering and death will receive \nredemptive power from the divinity of the Head. This is the objective reason \nwhy all the saints have desired to suffer. This is not a pathological pleasure in \nsuffering. It is true\, to natural reason it appears as a perversion. But in the light \nof the mystery of salvation it shows itself to be highly reasonable. And thus\, the \none who is united to Christ will remain unmoved even in the dark night of \nfeeling estranged from\, and abandoned by God. Perhaps divine providence is \nusing his agony to deliver another\, who is truly a prisoner cut off from God. \nTherefore\, we will say: “Thy will be done” even\, and particularly so\, in the \ndarkest night… For God has come to redeem us\, to unite us to Himself and to \neach other\, to conform our will to His. He knows our nature. He reckons with \nit\, and has therefore given us every help necessary to reach our goal… \nThe Savior\, knowing that we are and remainA men who have daily to \nstruggle with our weaknesses\, aids our humanity in a manner truly divine. Just \nas our earthly body needs its daily bread\, so the divine life in us must be \nconstantly fed. “This is the living bread that came down from heaven”. If we \nmake it truly our daily bread\, the mystery of Christmas\, the Incarnation of the \nWord\, will daily be re-enacted in us. And this\, it seems\, is the surest way to \nremain in constant union with God\, and to grow every day more securely and \nmore deeply into the mystical Body of Christ…13 \nIs it really demanding too much to make room in our life for the \nEucharistic Savior\, so that He may transform our life into His own? We have \ntime for so many useless things: we read senseless rubbish in books\, periodicals \nand newspapers… All these are distractions by which one wastes time and \nstrength… \nThus\, being a child of God means to become small and at the same time \nto become great. Living eucharistically means quite naturally to leave the \nnarrowness of one’s own life and to grow into the breadth of the Christ life… \nWho could assist at the Holy Sacrifice with a receptive mind and heart and not \nbe filled with the sacrificial spirit\, burning with the desire that his own small \npersonal life should be merged into the great work of the Savior?
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-teresa-benedict/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240810
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240811
DTSTAMP:20260403T154945
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:20260403T154945
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:20260403T154945
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:20260403T154945
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:20260403T154945
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:20260403T154945
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:20260403T154945
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:20260403T154945
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:20260403T154945
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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240818
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240819
DTSTAMP:20260403T154945
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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END:VCALENDAR