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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250718
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250719
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250713T120116Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250713T120116Z
UID:13698-1752796800-1752883199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:WHEN ALL WILL BE ONE \nFrom the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration “Nostra Aetate” \n◊◊◊ \nThe Church of Christ acknowledges that\, according to the mystery of \nGod’s saving design\, the beginnings of her faith and her election are already \nfound among the patriarchs\, Moses\, and the prophets. She professes that all \nwho believe in Christ\, Abraham’s sons according to faith are included in the \nsame patriarch’s call\, and likewise that the salvation of the Church was \nmystically foreshadowed by the chosen people’s exodus from the land of \nbondage. \nThe Church\, therefore\, cannot forget that she received the revelation of \nthe Old Testament through the people with whom in God’s inexpressible mercy \ndeigned to establish the Ancient Covenant. Nor can she forget that she draws \nsustenance from the root of that good olive tree onto which have been grafted \nthe wild olive branches of the Gentiles. Indeed\, the Church believes that by His \ncross Christ\, our Peace\, reconciled Jew and Gentile\, making them both one in \nHimself. \nAlso\, the Church ever keeps in mind the words of the Apostle about his \nkinsmen\, “who have the adoption as sons\, and the glory and the covenant and \nthe legislation and the worship and the promises; who have the fathers\, and \nfrom whom is Christ according to the flesh“\, the son of the Virgin Mary. The \nChurch recalls too that from the Jewish people sprang the apostles\, her \nfoundation stones and pillars\, as well as most of the early disciples who \nproclaimed Christ to the world. \nAs holy Scripture testifies\, Jerusalem did not recognize the time of her \nvisitation\, nor did the Jews in large number accept the gospel; indeed\, not a few \nopposed the spreading of it. Nevertheless\, according to the Apostle\, the Jews \nstill remain most dear to God because of their fathers\, for He does not repent of \nthe gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues. In company with the prophets and \nthe same Apostle\, the Church awaits that day\, known to God alone\, on which all \npeoples will address the Lord in a single voice and “serve him with one accord“.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-336/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250719
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250720
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250713T120223Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250713T120223Z
UID:13700-1752883200-1752969599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE DEPTH OF \nREPENTANCE \nBy St Ambrose \n◊◊◊ \nHow many sins each of us commits every hour\, yet people feel no need to \nconfess their sins! By contrast\, the great and mighty King David could not abide \nthe awareness of his sin even for a moment\, but immediately confessed it and \nwith immense sorrow laid it before the Lord. Can you show me nowadays any \nwealthy and distinguished person who will not take it amiss if he or she is \naccused of some sin? Yet that renowned King\, approved by so many divine \noracles\, was not displeased and angered at being charged by a private person \nwith grave sin\, but admitted it and sorrowfully lamented his guilt. The result \nwas that his deep sorrow moved the Lord\, so that Nathan could say: Because \nyou have repented the Lord has taken away your sin. The King’s prompt \npardon was proof of the depth of his repentance\, since it could remove even an \noffense as heinous as his was. \nOthers\, when reproached by priests\, make their sin worse by trying to \ndeny or defend it\, so that when one might have expected a change of heart their \nguilt is actually increased. By contrast\, when the Lord’s saints\, who long to fight \nthe holy combat to the finish and to run the race of salvation\, happen to fall \nthrough the frailty of human nature rather than from any inclination to sin\, \ntheir sense of shame brings them to their feet again\, more eager than ever to run \nthe race; their energy is renewed for even harder struggles\, so that their fall\, far \nfrom being a hindrance\, becomes the motive for an even speedier advance. \nWe can see another way in which sin can benefit us\, and how it is \nprovidential that it surprised the saints. They are set before us as models\, and \ntherefore the Lord has seen to it that they too should sometimes fall; for if they \nhad run their course untouched by faults despite the many hazards of this \nworld\, they would have made us who are weaker think of them as possessed of a \nhigher and even superhuman nature that prevented them from sinning and \nsharing the experience of guilt. Such a view would deter those lacking this \nnature from imitating them\, for they would regard it as impossible. The grace of \nGod therefore passed them by momentarily\, so that their lives might be models \nfor us to follow\, and we might learn from their actions not only to be blameless\, \nbut also to repent.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-337/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250720
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250721
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250719T235321Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250719T235321Z
UID:13711-1752969600-1753055999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n16th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nJuly 20 – 26\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n20\nMon\n21\nTue\n22\nWed\n23\nThu\n24\nFri\n25\nSat\n26\n\n\nOffice\n16th Sunday\nWeekday\nSt Mary Magdalen\nOffice for Vocations\n`Weekday\nSt James\nSS Joachim & Ann\n\n\nVigils\nGen 27:1-29\nGen 27:30-46\nExodus 15:1-21\nGen 28:1-22\nGen 29:1-30\nJerm 26:1-15\nGen 29:31-30:24\n\n\nLauds\nHos 2:7-12\nHos 2:13-17\nIsa 30:18-21\nHos 2:18-25\nHos 3:1-5\nJerm 16:14-21\nHos 4:1-6\n\n\nMass\n108\n395\n603\n397\n398\n605\n400\n\n\n1st\nGen 18:1-10a\nExod 14:5-18\nSong 3:1-4b\nExod 16:1-5\, 9-15\nExod 19:1-2\, 9-11\, 16-20b\n2 Cor 4:7-15\nExod 24:3-8\n\n\n2nd\nCol 1:24-28\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 10:38-42\nMatt 12:38-42\nJohn 20:1-2\, 11-18\nMatt 13:1-9\nMatt 13:10-17\nMatt 20:20-28\nMatt 13:24-30\n\n\nVespers\nEph 4:17-24\nEph 4:25-32\nActs 13:26-31\nEph 5:1-5\nEph 5:6-14\nActs 11:27-12:5\nEph 5:15-20
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-119/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250720
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250721
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250719T235424Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250719T235424Z
UID:13713-1752969600-1753055999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 16th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:MARTHA AND MARY \nFrom a commentary by St Bruno of Segni \n◊◊◊ \nEverything our Savior did was full of sacred teaching. In every situation \nhis actions were meant to point beyond themselves. For example\, his outward \nactions in the hillside village of Bethany are repeated every day in his holy \nchurch. Daily the Lord Jesus enters in\, not thinking frequent visits beneath his \ndignity. There he is welcomed by Martha who takes him into her home. \nLet us see then what Martha stands for\, and what Mary symbolizes. Each \nof them denotes something important\, for these two make up the entire church. \nOne of them\, namely Martha\, symbolizes the active life; the other\, Mary\, \nthe contemplative. That is why Scripture says it was Martha\, not Mary\, who \nreceived Christ into her house. Mary\, of course\, does not own a house\, since the \ncontemplative life entails the renunciation of all worldly possessions. All that \ncontemplatives want to do is sit at the feet of the Lord – to read\, pray\, and give \nthemselves up to contemplating God is their whole desire. It is enough for them \nto be always listening to the word of God and feeding their minds rather than \ntheir stomachs. Such as these were the apostles and prophets\, such are many \nothers who leave everything\, flee from the world and cling to the Lord. They \nseem to possess nothing\, yet they have everything… \nNow the reason the active life is so called is because it consists of constant \nactivity\, weariness and toil\, so that scarcely a moment’s quiet can be found in it. \nWe are not referring here though to that kind of active life that occupies thieves\, \nimpels tyrants\, tempts misers\, stirs up adulterers\, and incites all wicked people \nto commit evil deeds. For just as we speak only of one Martha who was Mary’s \nsister\, so we are referring only to that type of active life which is most closely \nrelated to the contemplative life\, that is\, an active life that is pure and blameless. \nWhen the apostle preached and baptized\, worked with his hands to gain a \nlivelihood\, journeyed from city to city\, and showed solicitude for all the \nchurches\, was he not living the active life? In the same way then our text says of \nMartha that she was busy with much serving. In fact\, right down to the present \nday we see prelates in charge of the churches and the other clergy devotedly \nhurrying to and fro about their work\, hot and bothered\, sweating over the needs \nof their brothers and sisters in various ways\, so that we may rightly describe \nthem also as busy with much serving. The contemplative life then is superior to \nthe active because it is free from anxiety and will never end. Nevertheless the \nactive life is so indispensable that in this life the contemplative life itself cannot \nexist without it.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-16th-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250721
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250722
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250719T235545Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250719T235545Z
UID:13715-1753056000-1753142399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:MAKING THE MOST OF \nUNFAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES \nBy Alessandro Pronzato \n◊◊◊ \nI have always been impressed by this detail: “the night in which he was \nbetrayed“. In an atmosphere of betrayal\, in a climate of tiredness and sleep\, in a \ndifficult situation\, while the shadows of suspicion\, evil\, vileness and fear are \nthickening\, Christ offers us his supreme gift. The Eucharist is instituted \nprecisely in the midst of unfavorable circumstances. On that night\, men and \nwomen put together a whole collection of damaged goods: opportunism\, \nsleepiness\, dirty business\, suspicious alliances\, malice\, stupidity and \nfanaticism. And it is precisely in this gloomy situation\, which is the opposite of \nencouraging\, that Christ gives us the gift of himself as our food. \nAt the moment – certainly not ideal – when man presents his most hateful \nface\, Christ “invents” the way to remain always at man’s disposal. At the \nmoment when man sells him off and abandons him\, Christ assures his own \npresence at man’s table. \nReflecting on this paradox\, it is all too easy to discover a new occupation \nfor our ordinary days: to take advantage of unfavorable circumstances. We \nshould not wait to do something or to give our best when certain situations that \nwe consider “ideal” occur. Instead\, look for the less favorable circumstances. \nTake advantage of the less opportune moments. Yes\, precisely in this paltry \nenvironment\, in this impossible climate\, in the midst of the most shameless \nfalsehood and hypocrisy with these unbearable individuals\, you are called to do \nsomething good. \nIf you wait for the ideal superior\, the understanding brothers\, the work of \nyour liking\, the perfect community\, to do something\, to fulfill yourself\, to \nprovide your contribution to the common life\, you will probably have to remain \nunemployed all your life. Take advantage\, then\, of unfavorable circumstances… \nWhen it seems that everything is going smoothly… a chain of disasters \nrains down on you. Precisely then is the “right” moment to sing. When you are \nthe victim of suspicions\, of unfair accusations. You find yourself involved in a \ntangle of envy. You are the target of slander. Then it is the “favorable” moment \nto build your inner peace. When you taste the bitter taste of disappointment \nand ingratitude. You hit a wall of indifference. Then it is the “apt” moment to \noffer others something else\, something beautiful. When you don’t feel like \npraying. You feel distrustful and dry. You have nothing to say to the Lord. You \nhave so many other things to think about. Then it is the “ideal” time to pray. \nDo not miss…these unfavorable occasions. You would find yourself \nempty-handed. And others will never receive anything from you. So\, do not wait \nfor extraordinary\, exceptional occasions. Tenaciously build your greatness with \nthe ordinary materials you find at hand… True greatness passes through the \nseasons of your ordinary days. If you wait for it at the rendezvous of the \nexceptional\, you will never see its face. \nWork patiently with what you have\, with what you are\, if you don’t want to \naccumulate delays and disappointments. It is the heart you put inside that \nmakes even the most trivial things great… The choice is\, then\, between \nexclusively ideal situations and situations that are less than ideal at the starting \npoint\, but which open the possibility of encountering\, along the way\, the \ntransforming action of God.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-338/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250722
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250723
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250719T235705Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250719T235705Z
UID:13717-1753142400-1753228799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Mary Magdalene
DESCRIPTION:KEEP WATCH \nAT THE DOORS OF WISDOM \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny \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 it \nis light I keep watch\, my soul is athirst for you”. And see if it is not your lot to \nsing with him: “We have been filled early in the morning with your mercy\, we \nhave 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.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-mary-magdalene-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250723
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250724
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250719T235809Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250719T235809Z
UID:13719-1753228800-1753315199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:FOR GOD ALONE \nFrom the decree “Perfectae Caritatis” by Pope St Paul VI \n◊◊◊ \nFrom the beginning of the Church there have been men and women who \nhave sought to follow Christ with greater freedom\, and to imitate him with \ncloser fidelity through the practice of the evangelical counsels. They have led \nlives dedicated to God\, each in his or her own way. Many of them\, under the \ninspiration of the Holy Spirit\, have lived in solitude or have founded religious \ncommunities\, which the Church willingly recognized and approved. \nAs a result\, in accordance with God’s plan\, there has grown up a \nwonderful variety of religious families. These have been of great service to the \nChurch in equipping it “for every good work” and preparing it “for the work of \nthe ministry for the building up of the Body of Christ“\, and also in adorning it \nwith the different gifts of its children\, so that the Church may appear in beauty “ \nas a bride adorned for her husband\, and show forth the many-faceted wisdom \nof God.“ \nSurrounded by this rich profusion of gifts\, all who are called by God to the \npractice of the evangelical counsels and profess them with fidelity\, dedicate \nthemselves to the Lord in a special way. They follow Christ\, who in virginity and \npoverty redeemed and sanctified humankind through obedience\, “even to \ndeath upon a cross.“ \nDriven thus by the love that the Holy Spirit pours into their hearts\, they \nlive more and more for Christ and for “his Body which is the Church.” The more \nfervent their union with Christ through this gift of self throughout their lives\, \nthe richer is the life of the Church\, and the more vigorous and fruitful its \napostolate. \nThe members of each institute should remember above all that in \nprofessing the evangelical counsels they have given their response to the call of \nGod in such a way that they are to live for God alone\, not only by dying to sin but \nalso by renouncing the world. They have surrendered to his service the whole of \ntheir lives: this constitutes a special consecration\, deeply rooted in the \nconsecration of baptism\, to which it gives fuller expression. \nThose who profess the evangelical counsels should seek and love above all \nthings the God who has first loved us. In every circumstance of life they should \nstrive to foster a life hidden with Christ in God; such a life is a source of\, and \nstimulus to\, the love of one’s neighbor for the salvation of the world and the \nbuilding up of the Church. This love is the animating and guiding principle for \nthe practice of the evangelical counsels.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-21/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250724
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250725
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250719T235928Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250719T235928Z
UID:13721-1753315200-1753401599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:VIRTUES AND OBSERVANCES \nFrom “The Mirror of Charity” by St Aelred of Rievaulx \n◊◊◊ \nIt remains for us to inquire what conversion of life according to the Rule \nof Saint Benedict is. If we resort to virtues here\, so that\, for example\, a once \nproud person is hereafter humble and a once hot-tempered person meek\, surely \nwe can say that this conversion of life is enjoined not so much on monks by the \nRule of Saint Benedict as on all Christians by the Gospel. Hence for some \ndiversity to be found among the diverse types of conversion of life which are \nprofessed according to the diverse rules\, there is nothing to which we may have \nrecourse except those traits which constitute the diversity among the diverse \nrules… \nHow then can anyone who does not keep these things keep to his \nprofession? Someone will say: if someone is proud\, stubborn\, impatient\, and yet \nobserves all the things mentioned above\, must we say that he keeps the Rule of \nSaint Benedict? I maintain that if a monk has committed any of these faults \nagainst God’s law\, he will not be guilty of transgressing his profession if he \nmakes amends for them according to the means prescribed by the Rule. \nBut what if someone looks at the Rule of Saint Benedict as a tool for \npruning away vices more easily and fulfilling the gospel precepts more carefully\, \nand yet\, as could happen\, abusing this excellent tool\, he neither prunes away his \nvices nor acquires virtues by it. Does he not keep the Rule to his peril then\, and \nstill not fulfill Christ’s precepts? Does blessed Benedict not allude to this? We \nare going to establish\, he says\, a school of the Lord’s service\, in which we hope \nnot to institute anything harsh or burdensome\, “but if reason and fairness \ndictate being a little stricter to correct faults or to persevere love\, do not then \nand there become daunted by fear and run from the way of salvation”. \nNow…what is this strictness which he encourages beginners not to fear? \nHe certainly confirms that what he has established is situated in this strictness. \nIf patience\, humility\, and the other virtues were meant\, would he say he was \ngoing to establish them\, as though they were something new? Assuredly\, there is \nnothing to which we have recourse – except to the new practices he institutes. \nNeither the law nor the prophets nor Christ himself gave these precepts. \nTo beginners\, of course\, this strictness seems not inconsiderable when \nthey think about the meager\, paltry quantity of food and drink\, the roughness of \nthe clothing\, the discomforts of fasts and vigils\, the wearing grind of daily work\, \nand all the other things we find he instituted in the Rule. If anyone does not \nagree that the Rule consists of these alone\, at least let him admit what cannot be \ndenied except by stubborn obstinacy: that our profession and Rule consist of \nboth\, that is\, of virtues and observances\, and let him therefore not refuse to \nadmit – that we necessarily practice both.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-339/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250725
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250726
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250720T000042Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250720T000042Z
UID:13723-1753401600-1753487999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St James
DESCRIPTION:CAN YOU DRINK THE CHALICE? \nFrom a homily by St John Chrysostom \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. \nAnd so at last they said what they wished. I conjecture that they had heard \nthat the disciples were to be seated on twelve thrones and they wished to ask for \nthe place of honor in this assembly; they knew that at other times they were \ngiven precedence over the rest\, but fearing that Peter might be put before them\, \nthey were bold enough to request\, “Say that one may sit on thy right hand\, the \nother on they left.” And they 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 \nthe higher Powers.“ \nAnd He added further: “Can you drink the chalice which I shall drink\, \nand be baptized with the baptism wherewith I am baptized?” Notice how He \nmoves them from their present state of mind by bringing to their attention \nthings entirely contrary. “For\,” He says\, “you ask me for crowns and honors\, \nbut I speak to you of struggle and perspiration. This is not a time for rewards\, \nnor will 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 \nmight become more eager for hardships.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-james-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250726
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250727
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250720T000146Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250720T000146Z
UID:13725-1753488000-1753574399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Joachim & Ann
DESCRIPTION:JOACHIM AND ANN \nFrom a sermon by St John Damascene \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.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-joachim-ann-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250727
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250728
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250727T111714Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250727T111714Z
UID:13732-1753574400-1753660799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n17th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nJuly 27 – Aug.2\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n27\nMon\n28\nTue\n29\nWed\n30\nThu\n31\nFri\n1\nSat\n2\n\n\nOffice\n17th Sunday\nWeekday\nSS Martha\, Mary & Lazarus\nWeekday\nSt Ignatius Loyola\nSt Alphonsus Ligouri\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nGen 30:25-43\nGen 31:1-24\nGen 31:25-54\nGen 32:1-22\nGen 32:23-33:20\nGen 34:1-31\nGen 35:1-29\n\n\nLauds\nHos 4:7-12\nHos 4:13-19\nHos 5:1-7\nHos 5:8-15\nHos 6:1-6\nHos 6:7-7:2\nHos 7:3-10\n\n\nMass\n111\n401\n402\, 607\n403\n404\n405\n406\n\n\n1st\nGen 18:20-32\nExod 32:15-24\, 30-34\nExod 33:7-11; 34:5b-9\, 28\nExod 34:29-35\nExod 40:16-21\, 34-38\nLev 23:1\, 4-11\, 15-16\, 27\, 34b-37\nLev 25:1\, 8-17\n\n\n2nd\nCol 2:12-14\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 11:1-13\nMatt 13:31-35\nJohn 11:19-27\nMatt 13:44-46\nMatt 13:47-53\nMatt 13:54-58\nMatt 14:1-12\n\n\nVespers\nEph 6:1-9\nEph 6:10-17\nEph 6:18-24\nPhil 1:1-11\nPhil 1:12-18a\nPhil 1:18b-26\nPhil 1:27-30
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-120/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250727
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250728
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250727T112006Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250727T112006Z
UID:13734-1753574400-1753660799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 17th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:ASK\, SEEK\, AND KNOCK \nFrom a commentary by The Venerable Bede \n◊◊◊ \nOur Lord and Savior wishes us to attain the joy of the heavenly kingdom\, \nand so he taught us to pray for it\, promising to give it to us if we did so. Ask\, he \nsaid\, and you will receive\, seek and you will find\, knock and the door will be \nopened to you. \nWe should consider most seriously and attentively what these words of \nthe Lord may mean for us\, for they warn that not the idle and lazy but those who \nask\, seek\, and knock will receive\, find and have the door opened to them. We \nmust therefore ask for entry into the kingdom by prayer\, seek it by upright \nliving\, and knock at its door by perseverance. Merely to ask verbally is not \nenough; we must also diligently seek to discover how to live so as to be worthy of \nobtaining what we ask for. We know this from our Savior’s words: Not everyone \nwho says to me\, “Lord\, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven\, but only those \nwho do the will of my heavenly Father. \nThere is a need\, then\, for constant and unflagging prayer. Let us fall upon \nour knees with tears before our God and Maker; and that we may deserve a \nhearing\, let us consider carefully how he who made us wishes us to live\, and \nwhat he has commanded us to do… \nSeek first the kingdom of God and its justice\, and these other things will \nbe given you as well. To seek the kingdom of God and its justice is to long for the \ngraces of our heavenly homeland\, and to give constant thought to the kind of \nupright living that will deserve to obtain them; for should we chance to stray \nfrom the path that leads there we shall never be able to reach our goal. \nTo ask God for the justice of his kingdom is to ask principally for faith\, \nhope and love. These virtues above all we should strive to obtain\, for Scripture \nsays: Mercy surrounds those who hope in the Lord; and To love is to fulfill the \nlaw\, for the whole law is summed up in one word: You shall love your neighbor \nas yourself. And so the Lord graciously promises that the Father will give the \ngood Spirit to those who ask him\, in order to show that those who of themselves \nare evil can become good only by receiving the grace of the Spirit… \nAs we do our best\, then\, to follow in our Lord’s footsteps\, let us ask God \nthe Father for the grace of his Spirit to lead us along the path of that true faith \nwhich works through love… Then\, if we keep the almighty Father’s \ncommandments\, he will certainly reward us with the eternal blessing which \nfrom the beginning he prepared as our heritage through Jesus Christ our Lord\, \nwho with the Holy Spirit lives and reigns with him\, God for ever and ever.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-17th-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250728
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250729
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250727T112107Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250727T112107Z
UID:13736-1753660800-1753747199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE GLORY OF GOD \nFrom a commentary by Eric Peterson \n◊◊◊ \nAngels are more than poetic extras from the repertoire of folk-lore. They \nhave to do with Christ and with the Holy Spirit; but they have to do with us well. \nThey represent for us a possibility in our own nature\, an enhancement and \nintensification of our being – but never the possibility of a new and different \nfaith. They teach us about dark depths in our being wherein is movement and \nimpulse\, independent\, it may be\, of ourselves\, and which we may not even \nrecognize for what they really are\, nor attribute yet awhile to angelic influence. \nAn impulse might simply be felt as an urge towards purity of heart; or one might \nbecome conscious of an overwhelming desire for mental clarity and a true \nexistence. \nWe hurry towards the angels along many paths\, not as though we \nexpected to become an angel\, but because our own being is only a preliminary \nexistence and it does not yet appear what we shall be. And if we do not hurry \ntowards those angels who stand in God’s presence\, then we shall most certainly \nhasten towards those who have turned away from God; we shall rush towards \nthe demons. For we always live so that we transcend ourselves and thus move \ntoward either the angels or the demons. And we who transcend ourselves – for \nto do this is our being – are able to ascend higher and higher\, not in the moral \nbut in the metaphysical sense\, until we become an associate of the angels and \narrive at the frontier of that realm where stand the cherubim and seraphim. \nThis boundary line\, marked out neither by ourselves nor by any \narchangel\, arrests our progress: here we begin to join in the music of the \nspheres and in the singing of the angels. Our song is no mere imitation of the \nangelic song\, no modest joining in the cry of Holy\, holy\, holy which resounds \nfrom their lips majestically and without ceasing; but it is also something which \nerupts from our innermost being when we reach the bounds of all things – the \nbounds of ourselves as creatures. \nWhat do we learn on reaching the angelic world but the creation praises \nGod\, praises him from the last star down to the least blade of grass? What \napplies to the highest grade of creation applies equally to the lowest\, to plant- \nlife\, animals and things which stand much lower than we in the scale of being. \nWhen in the psalms let us say\, animals and mountains break froth in praise of \nGod\, this is no mere hyperbole or excess of poetic fancy\, an unwarrantable \nhuman personifying of inanimate nature. It is something based ultimately in \nthe nature of the created thing\, and which runs fight through the whole scale of \ncreation from the cherubim and seraphim down to the least thing in the world. \nAs the Gospel has told us\, the whole creation is full of the glory of God.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-340/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250729
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250730
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250727T112241Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250727T112241Z
UID:13738-1753747200-1753833599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Martha\, Mary & Lazarus
DESCRIPTION:THE HAPPINESS OF \nMARTHA AND MARY \nFrom a sermon by St Aelred of Rievaulx \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… \nIf therefore…our soul according to what we have said\, becomes a fortress\, \nit is fitting that two women live in it: one who sits at the feet of Jesus and listens \nto his words\, the other who waits upon Jesus and feeds him. Consider this: if \nMary were alone in this house\, there would be no one to feed the Lord; if Martha \nwere alone\, there would be no one to take delight in the discourses and presence \nof the Lord. Therefore…Martha signifies that action by which a person labors \nfor Christ\, and Mary signifies that rest by which a person ceases from bodily \nactivities and takes delight in the sweetness of God\, either through reading\, \nprayer\, or contemplation. Therefore…as long as Christ is poor and goes about \nafoot on earth\, and is hungry and thirsty\, and is tempted\, it is necessary that \nboth of these women dwell in one house\, that both of their actions be in one \nsoul. \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…in this \nmiserable and burdensome life\, it is necessary that Martha be in our house\, that \nis\, that our soul be busy with bodily activities. As long as we must eat and drink\, \nthen we have to labor. As long as we are tempted by carnal pleasures\, it is \nnecessary for us to tame the flesh by vigils\, fasts\, and bodily labor. This part is \nMartha’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? If \nyou neglect Mary\, what will it benefit you that Jesus entered your house\, since \nyou taste nothing of his sweetness?
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-martha-mary-lazarus-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250730
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250731
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250727T112406Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250727T112406Z
UID:13740-1753833600-1753919999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:ASCETICISM \nAS A WAY OF LOVE \nBy Paul Evdokimov \n◊◊◊ \nThe methods provided for asceticism reflect the epoch which practices it \nand adapt themselves to its way of thinking. In the conditions of modern life\, \nunder the weight of overwork and nervous exhaustion\, emotional reaction \nchanges. Medicine protects and prolongs life but at the same time diminishes \nthe resistance to suffering and to privations. Christian asceticism is never an \nend in itself; it is only a means\, a method in the service of life\, and it will seek to \nbe in harmony with new requirements. \nFormerly\, the asceticism of the desert Fathers imposed fasts of a severe \nkin\, and constraints; today the battle is shifting to other ground. Man has no \nneed to impose supplementary suffering upon himself; to use [highly artificial \nmethods] would be to risk breaking him to no purpose. \nToday ‘mortification’ means being relaxed from all necessity to ‘dope’ \noneself: through speed\, noise\, excitements\, drugs\, alcohol\, [and similar] stimuli \nof all kinds. Asceticism would be\, rather\, the repose that is imposed upon us\, the \ndiscipline of calmness and silence in which a man rediscovers the faculty to \npause for prayer and contemplation\, even at the heart of all the noises of the \nworld\, in the [train and bus stations]\, in the crowd\, at the crossroads of a town; \nbut above all it is the faculty of appreciating the presence of others\, the friends of \neach encounter. \nFasting\, contrary to the maceration which one inflicts upon oneself\, \nwould be the joyous renunciation of all that is superfluous\, sharing it with the \npoor\, and a smiling\, natural\, peaceful equilibrium. Back beyond the [bodily] and \npsychological asceticism of the Middle Ages\, we should seek the eschatological \nasceticism of the first centuries\, that act of faith which transformed the whole \nhuman being into the joyous expectation of the Second Coming\, an expectation \nwhich was not chronological\, but qualitative\, and which discerns the final and \nsole necessity\, for\, according to the Gospel\, the time is short and “the Spirit and \nthe Bride say ‘Come!’” \nAsceticism thus becomes a means of paying attention to the challenges of \nthe Gospel\, to the standard of the Beatitudes: it will seek for humility and purity \nof heart\, in order to deliver its neighbor and to restore him to God. In a world \nthat is weary\, crushed with cares\, living to an intensely accelerated rhythm\, the \ntask is to find and to live a ‘spiritual childhood’\, the freshness and the \nevangelical simplicity of the ‘little way’ which leads to sitting at the table of \nsinners\, to blessing and breaking bread together.… \nThus\, [asceticism] is never anything but a means\, a strategy… The \nevangelical asceticism of the Gospel goes to extremes\, not out of fear\, but out of \na love that overflows with tenderness towards the world. St. Dorotheus gives a \nbeautiful picture of salvation\, in the form of a circle. Its center is God\, and all the \npeople stand at the circumference. The nearer one draws to the center — God — \nthe nearer do the rays of the circle — one’s neighbor — draw to one another. \n[And so] St. Isaac can say [a similar thing] to his disciple: “Here is a \ncommandment for you: let mercy always [be the measure] your scale\, until… \nyou feel within yourself the mercy that God feels towards you and towards the \nworld.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-341/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250731
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250801
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250727T112517Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250727T112517Z
UID:13742-1753920000-1754006399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading  -St Ignatius Loyola
DESCRIPTION:THE FIRST TRIAL OF \nIGNATIUS OF LOYOLA \nFrom The Autobiography of St Ignatius \n◊◊◊ \nOn the Vigil of the Annunciation in 1522 he set out at nightfall\, as \ndiscreetly as possible\, to find a beggar. Stripping off his clothes he gave them to \nthis pauper and dressed…in the garb for which he had longed. Then he went and \nknelt before the altar of our Lady\, where\, staff in hand\, he spent the whole night\, \nnow kneeling\, now standing\, and after receiving the Blessed Sacrament left at \nday-break <for Manresa>\, in order not to be recognized. \nIt was while he was living at the hospital at Manresa that the following \nstrange event took place. Very frequently on a clear moonlight night there \nappeared in the courtyard before him an indistinct shape which he could not see \nclearly enough to tell what it was. Yet it appeared so symmetrical and beautiful \nthat his soul was filled with pleasure and joy as he gazed at it. It had something \nof the form of a serpent with glittering eyes\, and yet they were not eyes. He felt \nan indescribable joy steal over him at the sight of this object. The oftener he saw \nit\, the greater was the consolation he derived from it\, and when the vision left \nhim\, his soul was filled with sorrow and sadness. \nUp to this period he had remained in a constant state of tranquility and \nconsolation\, without any interior knowledge of the trials that beset the \nspiritual life. But during the time that the vision lasted\, sometimes for days\, \nhis soul was violently agitated by a thought that brought him no little \nuneasiness. There flashed upon his mind the idea of the difficulty that \nattended the kind of life he had begun\, and he felt as if he head some one \nwhispering to him\, “How can you keep up for seventy years of your life these \npractices which you have begun?” Knowing that this thought was a \ntemptation of the evil one\, he expelled it by this answer: “Can you\, wretched \none\, promise me one hour of life?” In this manner he overcame the temptation\, \nand his soul was restored to peace. This was his first trial.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-ignatius-loyola-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250801
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250802
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250727T112644Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250727T112644Z
UID:13744-1754006400-1754092799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Alphonsus Ligouri
DESCRIPTION:THE FULLNESS OF HIMSELF \nFrom a sermon by St Alphonsus Ligouri \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 to \nacquire 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 out \nof 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 sent \nhis beloved Son to make reparation for us and to call us back to a sinless life. \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 all \ngood things?
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-alphonsus-ligouri-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250802
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250803
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250727T112748Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250727T112748Z
UID:13746-1754092800-1754179199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:THE CHRISTIAN \nPAR EXCELLENCE \nBy Fr Émile Mersch \n◊◊◊ \nThe final step in the long preparation for Christ is His mother. We cannot \nsay anything more glorious or more beautiful about her than that\, as the mother \nof Jesus Christ\, she is inseparable from Christ and from all that is Christ… \nThe other saints have particular kinds of holiness exclusive of one \nanother. Their sanctity is that of members. The foot is not the hand\, and the ear \nis not the eye; St Benedict Labre is quite different from St Francis de Sales\, and \nSt Peter Damien is different from St Theresa of Lisieux. But Mary\, who is holy in \nher capacity as the mother of Christ\, possesses all holiness: the unblemished \nsplendor of the woman clad with the sun is in striking fashion the splendor of \nthe sun itself. \nThis holiness partakes of all the matchless perfections of Christ. Its \nexcellence\, which consists in uniting Christ to all humankind\, makes of it a \nholiness of union with all; it is a common and everyday holiness\, an imitable and \napproachable holiness\, because it is pure holiness. \nThere is nothing extraordinary in Mary’s life\, nothing to excite wonder. As \nJesus was quite simply a man who did not exalt Himself above His station and \ndid not harden Himself against pain or despise the slight value to be found in us\, \nso she was simply His mother\, the woman whose Son is Jesus. \nAll the facts at the disposal of Christian piety show her living\, in faith\, \nhope\, and charity\, the life that God appointed for her. She does not hesitate to \nask herself exactly what the future will bring\, but at the same time she always \nand in everything sees\, loves\, and carries out fully the will of God. She grasps\, as \na mother can\, with an intuition born of love\, which is adequate but may remain \nindistinct\, what her Son is and what mission He came to accomplish. She \naccepts and wishes what he wishes\, and with all her heart allows her consent to \nbe fixed and carried out in His. Because of this unique excellence of hers she is \nthe Christian par excellence; and that is exactly what she ought to be.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-the-bvm-8/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250803
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250804
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250803T132003Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250803T132003Z
UID:13760-1754179200-1754265599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n18th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nAugust 3 – 9\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n3\nMon\n4\nTue\n5\nWed\n6\nThu\n7\nFri\n8\nSat\n9\n\n\nOffice\n18th Sunday\nSt John Vianney\nWeekday\nTransfiguration of the Lord\nSt Cajetan\nSt Dominic\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nGen 37:1-20\nGen 37:21-36\nGen 38:1-30\n2 Cor 3:7-4:6\nGen 39:1-23\nGen 40:1-23\nGen 41:1-32\n\n\nLauds\nHos 7:11-16\nHos 8:1-7\nHos 8:8-14\nExod 24:12-18\nHos 9:1-9\nHos 9:10-17\nHos 10:1-8\n\n\nMass\n114\n407\n408\n614\n410\n411\n412\n\n\n1st\nEccl 1:2; 2:21-23\nNum 11:4b-15\nNum 12:1-13\nDan 7:9-10\, 13-14\nNum 20:1-13\nDeut 4:32-40\nDeut 6:4-13\n\n\n2nd\nCol 3:1-5\, 9-11\n\n\n2 Peter 1:16-19\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 12:13-21\nMatt 14:13-21\nMatt 14:22-36\nLuke 9:28b-36\nMatt 16:13-23\nMatt 16:24-28\nMatt 17:14-20\n\n\nVespers\nPhil 2:1-11\nPhil 2:12-18\nPhil 3:2-11\nHeb 12:18-29\nPhil 3:12-16\nPhil 3:17-21\nPhil 4:1-9
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-121/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250803
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250804
DTSTAMP:20260403T164152
CREATED:20250803T132134Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250803T132134Z
UID:13762-1754179200-1754265599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 18th Week
DESCRIPTION:THE GENEROUS INVITATION \nFrom a commentary by St Basil the Great \n◊◊◊ \n“The land of a rich man produced abundant harvests\, and he thought to \nhimself: What am I to do? I will pull down my barns\, and build larger ones.” \nNow why did that land bear so well\, when it belonged to a man who would \nmake no good use of its fertility? It was to show more clearly the forbearance of \nGod\, whose kindness extends even to such people as this. He sends rain on both \nthe just and unjust\, and makes the sun rise on the wicked and the good alike. \nBut what do we find in this man? A bitter disposition\, hatred of other \npeople\, unwillingness to give. This is the return he made to his Benefactor. He \nforgot that we all share the same nature; he felt no obligation to distribute his \nsurplus to the needy. His barns were full to the bursting point\, but still his \nmiserly heart was not satisfied. Year by year he increased his wealth\, always \nadding new crops to the old. The result was a hopeless impasse: greed would not \npermit him to part with anything he possessed\, and yet because he had so much \nthere was no place to store his latest harvest. And so he is incapable of making a \ndecision and could not escape from his anxiety. What am I to do? \nWho would not pity a man so oppressed? His land yields him no profit but \nonly sighs: it brings him no rich returns\, but only cares and distress and a \nterrible helplessness. He laments in the same way as the poor do. Is not his cry \nlike that of one hard pressed by poverty? What am I to do? How can I find food \nand clothing? \nYou who have wealth\, recognize who has given you the gifts you have \nreceived. Consider yourself\, who you are\, what has been committed to your \ncharge\, from whom have you received it\, why have you been preferred to most \nother people? You are the servant of the good God\, a steward on behalf of your \nfellow servants. Do not imagine that everything has been provided for your own \nstomach. Take decisions regarding your property as though it belonged to \nanother. Possessions give you pleasure for a short time\, but then they will slip \nthrough your fingers and be gone\, and you will be required to give an exact \naccount of them. \nWhat am I to do? It would have been so easy to say: “I will feed the \nhungry\, I will open my barns and call in all the poor…proclaiming good will \ntoward everyone.” I will offer the generous invitation: “Let anyone who lacks \nbread come… You shall share\, each according to need\, in the good things God \nhas given\, just as though you were drawing from a common well.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-18th-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13764-1754265600-1754351999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St John Vianney
DESCRIPTION:PRAYER IN THE LIFE \nOF THE CURÉ D’ ARS \nFrom the encyclical “Sacerdoti Nostri Primordia” by St John XXIII \n◊◊◊ \nTo the priests of this century\, apt to be sensitive to the effect of action and \neasily tempted by a dangerous activism\, how beneficial is that model of \nassiduous prayer in a life given up entirely to the care of souls\, which was the \nCuré d’Ars! O What prevents us priests from being saints\, he said. It is lack of \nreflection. We don’t search our hearts; we don’t know what we do. Reflection\, \nprayer\, union with God\, are the things we need. He himself remained\, according \nto contemporary evidence\, in a state of continual prayer from which he was not \ndistracted by the wearisome burden of confessions nor by his other pastoral \ncares. He preserved a constant union with God in the midst of an exceedingly \nbusy life. \nLet us listen to him again: he is unfailing on the subject of the joy and \nblessing of prayer. Man is a beggar who needs to be asking everything from God. \nHow many souls we can convert by our prayers! And he would repeat: prayer is \nall man’s happiness on earth. This happiness he long enjoyed himself with his \neyes\, lit by faith\, contemplating the divine mysteries and\, in adoration of the \nWord incarnate\, his pure and simple soul lifted towards the Holy Trinity\, the \nsupreme object of his love. And the pilgrims who thronged the Church of Ars \nrealized that the humble priest was confiding to them something of the secret of \nhis own inner life with the frequent exclamation dear to him: A Being loved by \nGod\, united to God\, living in the presence of God: oh\, what happiness in life and \nin death! \nWe could wish that all priests might be convinced\, by the witness of the \nholy Curé d’Ars\, of the need to be men of prayer and of the possibility of being5 \nso\, whatever the heavy and sometimes severe load of the labors of their \nministry. But we need an intense faith\, such as moved Jean-Marie Vianney and \nmade him able to work miracles. What faith! exclaimed one of his colleagues. \nEnough to spread over a whole diocese! \nWith St Pius X\, let us consider it certain and well-founded that a priest\, in \norder to occupy his station properly and fulfill his duty\, must devote himself \nbefore all else to prayer. Above all he should obey Christ’s precept: We ought \nalways to pray\, a precept earnestly recommended by St Paul: Continue \nsteadfastly in prayer\, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Pray constantly. \nThe prayer of the Curé d’Ars\, who\, so to speak\, spent the last thirty years \nof his life in his church where he was kept by his numerous penitents\, was above \nall a prayer of thanksgiving. His devotion to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament \nof the altar was indeed wonderful. He is there\, he would say\, he who loves us so \nmuch; how could we not love him? And most certainly he loved him and felt \nirresistibly drawn towards the tabernacle: We do not need many words to pray \nwell\, he explained to his parishioners. We know that God is there\, in the holy \ntabernacle; we open our hearts to him; we rejoice in his holy presence. This is \nthe best prayer of all.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-john-vianney-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T164153
CREATED:20250803T132539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250803T132539Z
UID:13766-1754352000-1754438399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE LIVING STONES \nOF THE CHURCH \nFrom a homily by Origen \n◊◊◊ \nAll of us who believe in Christ Jesus are called “living stones” in the words \nof Scripture: “You\, too\, are living stones\, built as an edifice of spirit\, into a holy \npriesthood\, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus \nChrist.” \nYou know that in the case of earthly stones the builder takes care to lay \nfirst the strongest and most massive stones as the foundation\, so that the whole \nweight of the building can then rest upon them. The next stones\, of not quite \nsuch good quality\, are laid upon the foundation stones; and so on according to \nthe strength of the stones: the weakest are laid at the top\, near the roof. The \nsame is true of living stones\, some of which are the foundation of our spiritual \nbuilding. Who are these stones that are laid at the foundation? “The apostles \nand prophets.” This is Paul’s teaching: “You form a building which rises on the \nfoundations of the apostles and prophets\, with Christ Jesus himself as the \ncapstone.” \nTo prepare yourself more zealously to construct this building\, to be one of \nthe stones near the foundation\, you must realize that Christ himself is the \nfoundation of the building which we are describing. Paul the apostle declares \nthis to be so: “No one can lay a foundation other than the one that has been laid\, \nnamely Jesus Christ.” Happy are they who have built holy\, religious buildings\, \non such a noble foundation! \nNow in this building which is the Church there must be an altar. \nMoreover\, I believe that there are among you those who as “living stones” are \nable to become an altar – those of you who have resolved to dedicate yourselves \nto prayer\, to offer God supplications day and night\, and to immolate your \nsacrifices – and that it is with you that Jesus builds his altar. \nThink of the worth to be discerned in altar stones. “Joshua built an altar to \nthe Lord\,” says Scripture\, “of unhewn stones on which no iron tool had been \nused\, in keeping with the command of Moses.” What do you think these unhewn \n(whole\, perfect) stones represent? It is for each one’s conscience to say whether \nwe have integrity\, whether we are without impurity or spot… \nTo my mind these whole\, spotless stones must be the holy apostles who \ntogether form but one stone because of their unity of heart and soul. Indeed\, it is \nsaid that “all with one accord devoted themselves to constant prayer\,” and that \nthey said: “O Lord\, you read the hearts of men.” For those who can pray with one \naccord\, with one voice and one spirit\, are indeed worthy to have been built \ntogether into a single altar on which Jesus offers sacrifices to his Father. But we\, \nfor our part\, must strive to “agree” in what we say\, “united in spirit and ideals; \nnever acting out of rivalry or conceit\,” but “be united in mind and judgment\,” so \nthat we too may try to become altar stones.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-342/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20250803T132701Z
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UID:13768-1754438400-1754524799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Readings - Transfiguration of the Lord
DESCRIPTION:THE GLORY OF GOD \nFrom the last “Angelus” message of Pope St Paul VI \n◊◊◊ \nThe Transfiguration of Our Lord\, recalled by the liturgy of today’s \nsolemnity throws a dazzling light on our daily life\, and makes us turn our mind \nto the immortal destiny which that fact foreshadows. On Mount Tabor\, Christ \nreveals for a few moments the splendor of his dignity\, and he manifests himself \nto chosen witnesses as he really is\, the Son of God\, “the glory of God and the \nvery stamp of his nature”. But it also shows the transcendent destiny of our \nhuman nature\, which he assumed in order to save us\, and which is destined – \nbecause redeemed by his sacrifice of irrevocable love – to participate in the \nfullness of life\, “in the inheritance of the saints in light”. \nThat body\, which is transfigured before the astonished eyes of the \napostles\, is the body of Christ our brother\, but it is also our body called to glory. \nThat light\, which bathes it\, is and also will be our share of inheritance and of \nsplendor. We are called to share such great glory because we are “partakers of \nthe divine nature”. And incomparable destiny awaits us if we honor our \nChristian vocation\, if we live a life that is logically consistent in word and deed \nwith the commitments that our baptism imposes on us…
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-readings-transfiguration-of-the-lord/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T164153
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UID:13770-1754524800-1754611199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Cajetan
DESCRIPTION:ST CAJETAN \nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints \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 the \nVenetians 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 as \na priest he received the tonsure. In 1506 he went to Rome. Soon after his arrival \nPope Julius II conferred on him the office of protonotary… On the death of \nJulius Cajetan refused his successor’s request to continue in that office\, and \ndevoted three years to preparing himself for the priesthood. He was ordained in \n1516\, 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 offense to his friends\, who thought it a reflection on the \nhonor of his family. He persisted\, however\, and sought out the sick and the poor \nthroughout the whole town\, served them and cared for those who suffered from \nthe most loathsome diseases in the hospital of the incurables. He founded a \nsimilar oratory at Verona and then went in 1520 to Venice where he took up his \nlodgings 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… \nIn 1527\, when it still numbered only a dozen members\, the army of \nEmperor Charles V sacked Rome. The Theatines house was demolished and the \nmembers had to escape to Venice. Cajetan was sent to Verona\, where both the \nclergy and the laity were opposing the reformation of discipline\, which their \nbishop was endeavoring to introduce among them. A general improvement was \nthe fruit of his example\, preaching and labors. \nWorn out with trying to appease civil strife in Naples\, and disappointed at \nthe 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-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13772-1754611200-1754697599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Dominic
DESCRIPTION:ST DOMINIC \nAnd the History of the Order of Preachers \n◊◊◊ \nDominic possessed such great integrity and was so strongly motivated by \ndivine love\, that without a doubt he proved to be a bearer of honor and grace. \nAnd since a joyful heart animates the face\, he displayed the peaceful composure \nof a spiritual man in the kindness he manifested outwardly and by the \ncheerfulness of his countenance. \nWherever he went he showed himself in word and deed to be a man of the \nGospel. During the day no one was more community-minded or pleasant \ntoward his brothers and associates. During the night hours no one was more \npersistent in every kind of vigil and supplication. He seldom spoke unless it was \nwith God\, that is\, in prayer\, or about God; and in this matter instructed his \nbrothers. \nFrequently he made a special personal petition that God would deign to \ngrant him genuine charity in caring for and obtaining the salvation of others. \nFor he believed that only then would he be truly a member of Christ\, when he \nhad given himself totally for the salvation of others\, just as the Lord Jesus\, the \nSavior of all\, had offered himself completely for our salvation. So\, for this work\, \nafter a lengthy period of careful and provident planning\, he founded the Order \nof Friars Preachers. \nIn his conversations and letters he often urged the brothers of the Order \nto study constantly the Old and New Testaments. He always carried with him \nthe gospels according to Matthew and the epistles of Paul\, and so well did he \nstudy them that he almost knew them from memory. \nTwo or three times he was chosen bishop\, but he always refused\, \npreferring to live with his brothers in poverty. Of him Pope Gregory IX \ndeclared: “I knew him as a steadfast follower of the apostolic way of life. There \nis no doubt that he is in heaven\, sharing in the glory of the apostles themselves.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-dominic-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T164153
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UID:13774-1754697600-1754783999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:MARY AND \nTHE VIRTUE OF HOPE \nBy Fr Romano Guardini \n◊◊◊ \nElizabeth calls the Virgin Blessed because she had faith – for everything \nwould happen as the Lord had told her; through the power of the Holy Spirit she \nwould become the Mother of the Redeemer\, and in this find the fulfillment of \nher life and salvation. To be assured of this was not always easy. When the \nGospel speaks of Mary and her son\, one perceives a great love\, but also a \nremoteness. \nThe answer of the twelve-year-old boy in the temple; the answer Jesus \ngave at the wedding feast of Cana; his words to the bystanders\, when Mary\, at \nthe door\, asks for him; what he said to the woman who exalted his Mother; and \nhis last testament in which he committed her to the care of the disciple – in each \nof these\, something is revealed that removes him from her\, and we always sense \nthe possibility that she might have become perplexed about God’s guidance. But \neach time her confidence increased and she placed all into his hands. Mary lived \ncompletely through her confidence in God’s power\, a power that is capable of \nconsummating all\, even in darkness and opposition. \nHope is confidence in God’s power to accomplish all things. He has \npromised that we shall become new persons\, and that his creation shall be a \n“new heaven and a new earth”. This is gainsaid by the impression made on us by \nworldly things; by the course our life is taking; by the opinions of people around \nus; by our own daily insufficiency and sin – by everything. Hope is the \n“nevertheless” of faith. In spite of all contradiction\, the new life is within us\, and \nGod will complete it if we trust in him despite all opposition. But that is difficult\, \nsometimes impossible. So we must ask again that the Lord “may strengthen our \nhope.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-16/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250811
DTSTAMP:20260403T164153
CREATED:20250810T105322Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250810T105322Z
UID:13785-1754784000-1754870399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n19th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nAugust 10 – 16\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n10\nMon\n11\nTue\n12\nWed\n13\nThu\n14\nFri\n15\nSat\n16\n\n\nOffice\n19th Sunday\nSt Clare\nOffice for the Dead\nWeekday\nSt Maximilian Kolbe\nAssumption of the BVM\nWeekday\n\n\nVigils\nGen 41:33-57\nGen 42:1-17\nGen 42:18-38\nGen 43:1-34\nGen 44:1-34\nEph 1:15-2:10\nGen 45:1-28\n\n\nLauds\nHos 10:9-15\nHos 11:1-7\nHos 11:8-11\nHos 12:1-7\nHos 12:8-15\nSir 24:1-11\nHos 13:1-8\n\n\nMass\n117\n413\n414\n415\n416\n622\n418\n\n\n1st\nWis 18:6-9\nDeut 10:12-22\nDeut 31:1-8\nDeut 34:1-12\nJosh 3:7-10a\, 11\, 13-17\nRev 11:19a; 12:1-6a; 10ab\nJosh 24:14-29\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 11:1-2\, 8-19\n\n\n\n\n1 Cor 15:20-27\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 12:32-48\nMatt 17:22-27\nMatt 18:1-5\, 10\, 12-14\nMatt 18:15-20\nMatt 18:21-19:1\nLuke 1:39-56\nMatt 19:13-15\n\n\nVespers\nPhil 4:10-14\nPhil 4:15-23\nCol 1:1-8\nCol 1:9-14\n1 Cor 15:50-58\nEph 2:1-10\nCol 1:15-23
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-122/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T164153
CREATED:20250810T105624Z
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UID:13787-1754784000-1754870399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 19th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:AWAITING \nTHE MASTER’S RETURN \nFrom a commentary by St Gregory of Nyssa \n◊◊◊ \nWhen the Lord says: Let your loins be girded and your lamps lit\, he is \nwarning us to stay awake\, for a light shining in one’s eyes drives away sleep\, and \na tightly fastened belt also makes sleep difficult\, as the discomfort prevents \nrelaxation. But the real meaning of the parable is perfectly clear: a person girded \nwith temperance lives in the light of a clear conscience before God. And so\, with \nthe light of truth shining\, the soul stays awake and is not deceived. It does not \ndally with illusive dreams. \nIf following the guidance of the Word we attain this goal\, our lives will in a \nway be like those of the angels\, for we are compared with them on the divine \ncommand: You must be like people waiting for their master to return from a \nwedding\, ready to open the door immediately when he comes and knocks. It \nwas the angels who were awaiting the Master’s return from the wedding. They \nsat with unsleeping eyes at the heavenly gates\, so that when he returned the \nKing of glory might pass through them once more into the heavenly bliss from \nwhich\, as the psalm says\, he had come forth like a bridegroom from his tent. \nHe took us to himself as his virgin bride\, our nature once prostituted to \nidols being restored by sacramental rebirth to virginal incorruptibility. After the \nmarriage\, when the Church had been wedded to the Word – as John says\, He \nwho has the bride is the bridegroom – and admitted to the bridal chamber of \nthe sacred mysteries\, the angels awaited the King of glory’s return to the \nblessedness which is his by nature. \nAnd so the Lord said our lives should be like theirs. Just as they\, living \nlives far removed from sin and error\, are ready to receive the Lord at his coming\, \nso we also should keep watch at the entrance of our houses\, and prepare \nourselves to obey him when he comes to our door and knocks.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-19th-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T164153
CREATED:20250810T110252Z
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UID:13789-1754870400-1754956799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Clare
DESCRIPTION:THE MIRROR \nWITHOUT CLOUD \nA letter from St Clare to Blessed Agnes of Prague \n◊◊◊ \nHappy indeed is she who is granted a place at the divine banquet\, for she \nmay cling with her inmost heart to him whose beauty eternally awes the blessed \nhosts of heaven; to him whose love inspires love\, whose contemplation \nrefreshes\, whose generosity satisfies\, whose gentleness delights\, whose memory \nshines sweetly as the dawn; to him whose fragrance revives the dead\, and whose \nglorious vision will bless all the citizens of that heavenly Jerusalem. For he is the \nsplendor of eternal glory\, the brightness of eternal light\, and the mirror \nwithout cloud. \nQueen and bride of Jesus Christ\, look into that mirror daily and study well \nyour reflection\, that you may adorn yourself\, mind and body\, with an \nenveloping garment of every virtue\, and thus find yourself attired in flowers and \ngowns befitting the daughter and most chaste bride of the king on high. In this \nmirror blessed poverty\, holy humility and ineffable love are also reflected. With \nthe grace of God the whole mirror will be your source of contemplation. \nBehold\, I say\, the birth of this mirror. Behold his poverty even as he was \nlaid in the manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. What wondrous humility\, \nwhat marvelous poverty! The King of angels\, the Lord of heaven and earth \nresting in a manger! Look more deeply into the mirror and meditate on his \nhumility\, or simply on his poverty. Behold the many labors and sufferings he \nendured to redeem the human race. Then in the depths of this very mirror\, \nponder his unspeakable love which caused him to suffer on the wood of the \ncross and to endure the most shameful kind of death. The mirror himself\, from \nhis position on the cross\, warned passersby to weigh carefully this act\, as he \nsaid: All of you who pass by this way\, behold and see if there is any sorrow like \nmine. Let us answer his cries and lamentations with one voice and one spirit: I \nwill be mindful and remember\, and my soul will be consumed within me. In \nthis way\, queen of the king of heaven\, your love will burn with an even brighter \nflame. \nConsider also his indescribable delights\, his unending riches and honors\, and \nsigh for what is beyond your love and heart’s content as you cry out: Draw me \non! We will run after you in the perfume of your ointment\, heavenly spouse. Let \nme run and not faint until you lead me into your wine cellar; your left hand rests \nunder my head\, your right arm joyfully embraces me\, and you kiss me with the \nsweet kiss of your lips. As you rest in this state of contemplation\, remember your \npoor mother and know that I have indelibly written your happy memory into my \nheart\, for you are dearer to me than all the others.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-clare-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T164153
CREATED:20250810T110408Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250810T110408Z
UID:13791-1754956800-1755043199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:THE GOD \nOF THE LIVING \nBy Maurice Zundel \n◊◊◊ \nThe dead have disappeared from our sight. They have not disappeared \nfrom the sight of God. He knows where they are\, He knows their lot\, He “who \nloved them to the end.” But\, can we meet them\, can we communicate with them? \nSome of them occupied such a large place in our life; they were the light of our \neyes\, the source of our happiness\, the soul of our soul. Is all this now finished \nforever? \nHow can it be finished\, if we are more spirit than flesh\, and if we have \ntruly been in communion with what was most intimate and spiritual in them? \nBut how shall we find them again? By what means shall we reach them? By \nentering into what is most intimate in ourselves. \nIf in truth they sleep in Christ\, as we may always hope\, they are certainly \nfreed from the divisions of space and time\, from all material constraints\, from \nall the changes of the outer world. There is\, therefore\, no means of meeting \nthem\, more certainly efficacious\, than to establish ourselves on that internal \nplane which they have reached\, and strive to live their life. Since their life is \nplunged deep in the interior of God\, since He is their home\, their food and\, as \nour prayers so touchingly express it\, their sleep\, if we identify ourselves more \nclosely with Him\, and enter more deeply into His Life\, we shall enter into their \nlife\, and the converse broken off on the visible plane will be resumed in a more \nliving fashion in the silent commerce of souls. \nIt is indeed within that we must seek\, if we would not go astray in a world \nbeyond\, constructed with shadows of the visible world\, imagining relations with \nour dear ones which would tend to hold them back on the external plane… If \nthey are withdrawn from the vicissitudes of the sensible world\, have been born \nto the Life of the Spirit\, are in God\, we cannot conceive a bond between \nourselves and them more sublime than the communion\, always closer\, of an \ninner life of which God is the source\, the center and the gift. \nIn this way our love not only safeguards its profound reality\, it is also most \nefficacious. For by the strength of our love for God we can in a sense give Him to \nour departed\, if they are still detained in the stages of purification which \nconstitute the mysterious state of Purgatory; or increase in some way their joy in \npossessing Him\, if they have already reached the beatific vision. To live so as to \nbe always worthy of God\, this surely is the most certain way to be always with \nour dead. \nThey are in God\, the very heart of Love. But we also may approach this \nDivine Love\, for it is in God “that we live\, and move and have our being”. We \nalso are in God\, though not yet so completely as they. And God is in us. Christ \nexceeded our most daring hopes by making the [unity] of the Divine Persons the \nbond of our mutual intimacy… \nThere can be no surer comfort than this active and sanctifying \ncommunion with our dear ones in an intimacy continually increasing as our \nunion with God becomes closer. God has not taken them from us: He has hidden \nthem in His heart that they may be closer to ours. “God is not a God of the dead \nbut of the living.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-21/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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