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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250819
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250820
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250817T122331Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T122331Z
UID:13811-1755561600-1755647999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Bl Guerric
DESCRIPTION:THE POOR OF CHRIST \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny \n◊◊◊ \nWhat then shall we bring to the Lord\, my brothers? Bring to the Lord \nglory of gold and honor of incense; bring to the Lord glory for his name\, myrrh \nfor his burial. But Christ’s disciple\, Peter’s son\, tells me: “Silver and gold I have \nnone\, nor bags of those foreign wares\, myrrh and incense.” Will you then appear \nempty-handed in the Lord’s sight… O rich poverty\, O wealthy nakedness – \nprovided it is Christian and freely willed. With what riches do you not abound\, \nnot only gold but the very best gold\, gold that has been fired\, not only myrrh and \nincense but also all the fragrant powders of the merchant. Indeed who else can \nabound in riches of this sort but the poor of Christ? \nBut I am not aware\, you will say\, that I have received anything of the sort\, \nor that anything so precious as gold\, incense and myrrh is to be found in my \npossession. For I am a man well acquainted with poverty\, finding it hard to beg \nmy daily bread\, leading an impoverished life. You think\, you say\, that you have \nnot received any such thing. Is it not rather that you have squandered in riotous \nliving the inheritance you received from your father? \nBut I pass over that. As the Sage says\, “One who turns away from sin to \nbecome wise is not to be reproved.” Rather I would wish that you had the energy \nto examine if there be not some slight remnant of your paternal inheritance in \nyour hands with which you could begin to recover the whole. I would wish you to \ndig within yourself\, for valuable treasures are wont to lie hidden in the recesses \nof the earth. That treasure\, the desire of which drove a man to sell all he had\, was \nhidden in a field. The ten Israelites who escaped the murderer’s sword did no by \ndeclaring that they had treasure hidden in a field. \nO what treasures of good works\, what riches of devotion lie hidden in the \nfield of one’s body; and how many more in the depths of the heart\, if only we will \ntake the trouble to dig… Our reason and natural endowments\, with the help of \ngrace\, are a seed-bed of all the virtues. If then you will ponder in your heart and \ntrain your body\, you need not doubt that you will find worthwhile treasure – if \nnot gold or incense at the very beginning\, certainly of myrrh\, and that is not \nuseless. It is not for you to describe as useless what Christ accepts as a gift. With \nthis he willed that the burial of his body should not only be foreshadowed when \nit was offered to him but also be completed when he was embalmed with it.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-bl-guerric-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250820
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250821
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250817T122530Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T122530Z
UID:13813-1755648000-1755734399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Bernard
DESCRIPTION:THE SAME ETERNAL GOAL \nA letter from Pope St John Paul II to the Cistercian Abbots General \n◊◊◊ \nOur age is frequently called “the hour of the laity” due to the fact that it \nhighlights the efforts made to offer the laity within the Church those ministries \nwhich correspond to their state in life. No less truly\, we could also call the times \nin which St Bernard lived such because while the Church was making efforts to \nbreak her ties with feudal institutions\, a movement of the laity was born which \nundertook holy enterprises under the banner of the cross\, and moreover\, the \nlaity\, already in the 12th century began to make its voice heard as much in \npreaching the word of God as in poetry and in other disciplines. The religious \nmovement which launched the construction of magnificent churches could be \ncalled the first European labor movement. \nThe Abbot of Clairvaux…very frequently had to abandon the silence of the \nmonastery in order to involve himself with the life of the laity\, in order to have a \nguiding hand in the unfolding of the events and above all in order to bring peace \nbetween kings and princes\, and between kings and cities. As it has been stated of \nSt Bernard in the “Vita Prima”\, he taught the path of perfection and wisdom to \nspiritual persons as one who was “cultured among the cultured” and “simple \namong the simple”; he adapted himself to everyone in his desire to gain them for \nChrist”. \nTo the clerics and the laity he pleaded that they unite into one body: \n“Since the Lord has commanded us to ‘watch and pray that we may not fall \ninto temptation’\, it is evident that without the common effort of the faithful \n(laity) and the custodians (clerics)\, it is not possible to maintain the city with \nsecurity\, nor the beloved (spouse)\, nor even a single sheep. Do you want to know \nthe difference that exists among them? They are one and the same thing. \nIn his opinion it is incumbent upon the laity in collaboration with the \nclergy\, to build the Church\, a thing that they can accomplish above all by means \nof exercising obedience and the works of charity\, especially the corporal works \nof mercy. In fact\, addressing himself to the laity\, he states: “Obey your bishop \nand other authorities of the Church who counsel you on what you have to do. \nPractice hospitality for many have pleased God by it… Welcome the Lord of the \nangels in the pilgrims\, feed him in the hungry\, clothe him in the naked\, visit him \nin the sick\, set free the captives. \nConsequently\, the Abbot of Clairvaux\, although he dealt principally with \nmonastic life and considered it as a third order along with that of clerics and \nlaity\, yet being a father of souls\, he had the same esteem for the laity of the \nChurch; thus he was convinced that all of them\, whatever be the order to which \nthey belong\, tend toward the one and the same eternal goal.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-bernard-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250821
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250822
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250817T122633Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T122633Z
UID:13815-1755734400-1755820799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Pius X
DESCRIPTION:THE SANCTITY OF \nST PIUS X \nFrom the writing of Leonard von Matt \n◊◊◊ \nPius X\, the canonized Pope\, holds a special place in the hearts of the \nfaithful. But this devotion of the faithful did not begin only at his canonization\, \nwhen the Church publicly proclaimed the holiness of his life: it began from the \nmoment when he ascended the papal throne. At once there grew up an \nunderstanding between the Shepherd and his flock. The first to understand him \nwere the simple\, humble people\, who recognized him for what he was. \nThe obvious quality which led to his canonization was his outstanding \nholiness. With Pius X\, sanctity seemed to be the most natural thing in the \nworld. It quietly enlivened all that he said or did. Yet it would seem that \nGiuseppe Sarto’s natural temperament inclined to a certain violence\, easily \ninflamed\, and no one will ever know how much struggle it cost him to achieve \nthat gentleness and unruffled goodness for which he was so renowned. We can \nfollow him on the narrow path which he set himself as church-student\, curate\, \nparish-priest\, bishop\, cardinal and Pope; but the moment of his vocation to the \npriesthood and the beginning of his heroic sanctity are secrets known to God \nalone. \nA certain holiness seems to have been his from the beginning: his striving \nafter a virtuous life seems never to have been interrupted\, his charity never \ndiminished. But it was when he began what he called the Ascent of Mount \nCalvary\, when he became Pope\, that his great sanctity became evident. It was \nhis conscientiousness that turned the enormous responsibility of the office into \na crucifixion: he gave himself unstintingly to the service of the Church\, and \nspent himself without reserve for the love of God and everyone. His sanctity lay \nin this total dedication: it was thus an inner and in a great measure a hidden \nsanctity: there were no spectacular penances\, no remarkable practices beyond \nthose of a normal\, good Christian. It might almost be said that Pius X became a \nsaint in spite of himself by sanctifying himself and his nature and by not \nresisting God’s grace that drew him on.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-pius-x-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250822
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250823
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250817T122749Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T122749Z
UID:13817-1755820800-1755907199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Queenship of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY \nFrom the writing of Thomas Merton \n◊◊◊ \nMary alone\, of all the saints\, is\, in everything\, incomparable. She has the \nsanctity of them all and yet resembles none of them. And still\, we can talk of \nbeing like her. This likeness to her is not only something to desire – it is one \nhuman quality most worthy of our desire: but the reason for that is that she\, of \nall creatures\, most perfectly recovered the likeness to God that God willed to \nfind\, in varying degrees\, in us all… \nIt is most fitting to talk about her as a Queen… But this should not make \nanyone forget that her highest privilege is her poverty and her greatest glory is \nthat she is most hidden\, and the source of all her power is that she is as nothing \nin the presence of Christ\, of God. \nThis is often forgotten by Catholics themselves\, and therefore it is not \nsurprising that those who are not Catholic often have a completely wrong \nconception of Catholic devotion to the Mother of God. They imagine\, and \nsometimes we can understand their reasons for doing so\, that Catholics treat \nthe Blessed Virgin as an almost divine being in her own right\, as if she had some \nglory\, some power\, some majesty of her own that placed her on a level with \nChrist himself. They regard the Assumption of Mary into heaven as a kind of \napotheosis and her Queenship as a strict divination. \nHence her place in the Redemption would seem to be equal to that of her \nSon. But this is all completely contrary to the true mind of the Catholic Church. \nIt forgets that Mary’s chief glory is her nothingness\, in the fact of being the \n“Handmaid of the Lord\,” as one who in becoming the Mother of God acted \nsimply in loving submission to his command\, in the pure obedience of faith. She \nis blessed…in all her human and womanly limitations as one who has believed. \nIt is the faith and the fidelity of this humble handmaid\, “full of grace” that \nenables her to be the perfect instrument of God\, and nothing else but his \ninstrument. The work that was done in her was purely the work of God. “He that \nis mighty has done great things in me.” The glory of Mary is purely and simply \nthe glory of God in her\, and she\, like anyone else\, can say that she has nothing \nthat she has not received from him through Christ… \nThis is precisely her greatest glory: that having nothing of her own\, \nretaining nothing of a “self” that could glory in anything for her own sake\, she \nplaced no obstacle to the mercy of God and in no way resisted his love and his \nwill. Hence\, she received more from him than any other saint. He was able to \naccomplish his will perfectly in her\, and his liberty was in no way hindered or \nturned from its purpose… She was then a freedom that obeyed him perfectly \nand\, in this obedience\, found the fulfillment of perfect love.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-queenship-of-the-bvm/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250823
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250824
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250817T122841Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T122841Z
UID:13819-1755907200-1755993599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE TABERNACLE \nOF GOD’S GLORY \nBy St Gertrud the Great \n◊◊◊ \nHow wondrous is your temple\, God\, king of virtues. How glorious your \ndwelling-place\, where you\, God most high\, preside in your majesty over all \nthings. The virtue of my soul grows faint in its yearning to enter into your glory. \nGod\, my God\, love and jubilation of my heart\, refuge and virtue\, God\, my glory \nand my praise\, oh when will my soul praise you in the church of the saints? \nO when will my eyes see you\, my God\, God of gods? God of my heart\, oh \nwhen will you gladden me with the sight of your face? Oh when will you bestow \nupon me the desire of my soul by manifesting your glory? Oh when will I enter \ninto your might to see your virtue and glory? Oh when will you clothe me with \nthe mantle of your praise instead of a spirit of sorrow so that\, together with the \nangels\, all the parts of my body may render you praise? \nGod of my life\, oh when will I enter into the tabernacle of your glory in \norder that I\, too\, may proclaim to you the most splendid alleluia and that my \nsoul and my heart may confess to you in the presence of all your saints that you \nhave magnified your mercies toward me. My God\, my very bright inheritance\, \noh when\, after the snares of this death have been destroyed\, will I personally see \nyou without mediation\, and praise you? Oh when will I dwell in your tabernacle \nforever in order that I may assiduously praise your name and sing to your \nmagnificence a new hymn about your limitless mercies?
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-346/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250824
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250825
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250824T120154Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T120154Z
UID:13839-1755993600-1756079999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema - 21st Week
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n21st Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nAugust 24 – 30\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n24\nMon\n25\nTue\n26\nWed\n27\nThu\n28\nFri\n29\nSat\n30\n\n\nOffice\n21st Sunday\nWeekday\nOffice for Vocations\nSt Monica\nSt Augustine\nMartyrdom of St John the Baptist\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nEsther A:1-17\nEst 1:1-22\nEst 2:1-11\nEst 2:12-23\nEst 3:1-13\n2 Cor 4:7-5:8\nEst B:1-(3:15)\n\n\nLauds\nMic 1:10-16\nMic 2:1-7\nMic 2:8-13\nMic 3:1-4\nMic 3:5-8\nWis 3:1-9\nMic 3:9-12\n\n\nMass\n123\n425\n426\n427\n428\n634\n430\n\n\n1st\nIsa 66:18-21\n1 Thess 1:1-5\, 8b-10\n1 Thess 2:1-8\n1 Thess 2:9-13\n1 Thess 3:7-13\nJerm 1:17-19\n1 Thess 4:9-11\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 12:5-7\, 11-13\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 13:22-30\nMatt 23:13-22\nMatt 23:23-26\nMatt 23:27-32\nMatt 24:42-51\nMark 6:17-29\nMatt 25:14-30\n\n\nVespers\nCol 3:12-17\nCol 3:18-4:1\nCol 4:2-9\nCol 4:10-18\n1 Thess 1:1-10\nActs 13:16-26\n1 Thess 2:1-8
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-21st-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250824
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250825
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250824T120659Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T121632Z
UID:13841-1755993600-1756079999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 21st Sunday Ord
DESCRIPTION:THE PRICE OF HEAVEN \nFrom a commentary by St Anselm of Canterbury \n◊◊◊ \nGod cries out that the kingdom of heaven is for sale. The glorious bliss of \nthis kingdom surpasses the power of mortal eye to see\, mortal ear to hear\, \nmortal heart to conceive. If anyone asks the price that must be paid\, the answer \nis: The One who wishes to bestow a kingdom in heaven has no need of earthly \npayment. No one can give God anything he does not possess\, because everything \nbelongs to him. Yet he does not give such a precious gift gratis\, for he will not \ngive it to anyone who lacks love. After all\, people do not give away what they \nhold dear to those without appreciation. So since God has no need of your \npossessions but must not bestow such a precious gift on anyone who disdains to \nvalue it\, love is the one thing he asks for; without this he cannot give it. Give \nlove\, then\, and receive the kingdom: love and it is yours. \nTo reign in heaven simply means exercising a single power with God and \nall the holy angels and saints through being so united with them in love as to \nwant only what they want. Love God more than yourself\, then\, and already you \nwill begin to have what you desire to possess fully in heaven. Be at one with God \nand with other men and women – so long as they are not at variance with God – \nand already you will begin to reign with God and all the saints. The desires of \nGod and all the saints will be the same as yours in heaven\, if your desires now \nare the same as those of God and other people. So if you want to be a king in \nheaven\, love God and other people as you should and then you will deserve to \nbecome what you desire. \nBut you cannot have this perfect love unless you empty your heart of every \nother love. That is why those who fill their hearts with love of God and neighbor \ndesire nothing but the will of God or that of some fellow human being – \nprovided this is not contrary to God. That is why they devote themselves to \nprayer\, spiritual conversations\, and reflection\, for it is a joy to them to long for \nGod and to speak\, hear and think about him whom they dearly love. That is why \nthey rejoice with those who rejoice\, weep with those who weep\, show \ncompassion to those in distress\, and give to the needy\, since they love others as \nthemselves. Hence too their contempt for riches\, power\, pleasure\, honor\, and \npraise. Those who love these things frequently offend against God and their \nneighbor – for the whole law and the prophets depend on these two \ncommandments. So those who wish to possess the fullness of that love which is \nthe price of the kingdom of heaven should love contempt\, poverty\, toil and \nsubjection\, as do the saints.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-21st-sunday-old/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250825
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250826
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250824T120807Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T120807Z
UID:13843-1756080000-1756166399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE JUDGE’S SENTENCE \nFrom “Rule of Life for a Recluse” by St Aelred of Rievaulx \n◊◊◊ \nImagine now that you are standing before Christ’s judgment-seat \nbetween these two companies and have not yet been assigned to one or the \nother. Turn your eyes to the left of the judge and gaze upon that wretched \nmultitude. What horror is there\, what a stench\, what fear\, what grief? They \nstand there miserable and unhappy\, gnashing their teeth\, their bare flesh \nshaking with fear\, dreadful to look upon\, their faces distorted\, cast down from \nshame\, in confusion because of their body’s degradation and nakedness. They \nwant to hide and they are not allowed\, they try to flee and it is not granted them. \nIf they raise their eyes the Judge’s fury bears down upon them from above. If \nthey lower them they are filled with the horror of hell’s pit. They have no excuse \nto offer for their crimes nor is there any chance of claiming that the judgment is \nunfair\, since whatever is decided their own conscience will recognize as just. \nSee now how you should love him who has set you apart from this doomed \ncompany by his predestination\, separated you by his call\, cleansed you by his \njustification. Now turn your eyes to the right and look at those among whom he \nwill place you by glorifying you. What grace is there\, what honor\, what \nhappiness\, what security. Some take their seat on high to give judgment\, some \nare resplendent in martyrs’ crowns\, some are bearing the white flower of \nvirginity\, some display the fruit of almsgiving\, some are illustrious for their \ndoctrine and their learning\, but they are all united by the bond of charity. Jesus’ \nface shines upon them\, not terrible but lovable\, not bitter but sweet\, not \nfrightening but attractive. \nNow stand in the middle\, not knowing to which company the Judge’s \nsentence will assign you. O what a dreadful waiting. Fear and trembling have \ncome upon me and darkness has covered me. If he sends me to join those on the \nleft I cannot complain of injustice; if he sets me among those on the right it is to \nbe attributed to his grace\, not to my merits. Truly\, Lord\, life is at your disposal. \nYou see then how your spirit should be absorbed in his love. \nAlthough in all justice he could have extended to you the sentence passed \non the wicked\, he preferred to place you among those who are to be saved. \nNow imagine yourself associated with that holy company and hearing his \nvoice utter the decree: “Come\, ye blessed of my Father\, receive the kingdom \nwhich was prepared for you from the beginning of the world\,” while those other \nwretched souls hear the harsh words\, full of anger and fury: “Depart from me\, ye \naccursed\, into eternal fire.” “Then\,” we read\, “they will go to eternal \npunishment\, but the just to eternal life.” What a harsh separation\, what a \nmiserable lot.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-347/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250826
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250827
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250824T120921Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T120921Z
UID:13845-1756166400-1756252799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:THE MEANING OF VOCATION \nBy Pope St John Paul II \n◊◊◊ \nFaith and love are not just words or vague feelings. Believing and loving \nGod means a consistent life\, lived wholly in the light of the Gospel. This is not \neasy. It often calls for great courage in going against the trends of fashion and \nthe opinions of our world. But this is the one requirement for a truly successful \nand happy life. \nIf\, in spite of your personal effort to follow Christ you are sometimes weak \nand do not live in conformity to the law of love\, to the commandments\, do not be \ndiscouraged. Christ continues to wait for you. He\, Jesus\, is the Good Shepherd \nwho searches for the lost sheep and who tenderly bears it on his shoulder. Christ \nis the friend who never lets you down. \nIn the gospel story we see that the young man\, having affirmed that he has \nkept the commandments\, adds: “What do I still lack?” The young heart\, moved \nby God’s grace\, felt a desire for greater generosity\, more commitment\, greater \nlove. This desire for more is characteristic of youth; a heart that is in love does \nnot calculate\, does not begrudge\, it wants to give of itself without measure. \n“Jesus\, looking at him\, loved him and said to him\, come\, follow me.” \nTo those who entered the path of life by observing the commandments\, \nthe Lord proposes new horizons; the Lord proposes to the means that are loftier \nand calls them to commit themselves to his love without reserve. To discover \nthis call\, this vocation\, is to realize that Christ is looking on you and inviting you \nby his glance to give yourself totally in love. Before this glance\, before his love\, \nthe heart opens its doors gradually and is capable of saying yes. \nIf some of you hear the call to follow Christ more closely\, to dedicate your \nentire heart to him\, like the apostles John and Paul\, be generous\, do not be \nafraid\, because you have nothing to fear when the prize that you await is God \nHimself\, for whom\, sometimes without ever knowing it\, all young people are \nsearching. \nYoung people who are hastening to me\, young people who more than \nanything else want to know what you must do to gain eternal life\, always say yes \nto God and he will fill you with his happiness. \n“There is one thing you lack\, come\, follow me”. Is Jesus perhaps repeating \nto some of you today: “There is one thing you lack?” Is he perhaps asking for \neven more love\, more generosity\, more sacrifice? Yes\, the love of Christ involves \ngenerosity and sacrifice. To follow Christ and to serve the world in his name \nrequires courage and strength. There is no place for selfishness – and no place \nfor fear! Do not be afraid\, then\, when love makes demands. Do not be afraid \nwhen love requires sacrifice. \nTo each one of you I say\, therefore: Heed the call of Christ when you hear \nhim saying to you: “Follow me!” Walk in my path! Stand by my side! Remain in \nmy love! There is a choice to be made: a choice for Christ and the way of life\, and \nhis commandment of love.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-22/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250827
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250828
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250824T121050Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T121050Z
UID:13847-1756252800-1756339199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Monica
DESCRIPTION:MONICA AND AUGUSTINE \nFrom the “Confessions” of St Augustine \n◊◊◊ \nWe were alone\, my mother and I\, we stood leaning in a certain window \nfrom which the garden of the house we occupied at Ostia could be seen. Here in \nthis place\, removed from the crowd\, we were resting ourselves for the voyage \nafter the fatigues of a long journey. We were conversing alone\, very pleasantly \nand “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” \nWe were in the present—and in the presence of Truth\, which God is — \ndiscussing together what is the nature of the eternal life of the saints: “What no \neye has seen\, nor ear heard\, nor the heart of man conceived…” \nWhat we said went something like this: “If to anyone the tumult of the \nflesh were silenced; and the phantoms of earth and waters and air were \nsilenced; and the poles were silent as well; indeed\, if the very soul grew silent to \nherself\, and went beyond herself by not thinking of herself; if fancies and \nimaginary revelations were silenced; if every tongue and every sign and every \ntransient thing—for actually if anyone could hear them\, all these would say\, ‘We \ndid not create ourselves\, but were created by Him who abides forever’. And if\, \nhaving uttered this\, they too should be silent\, having stirred our ears to hear \nHim who created them; and if then He alone spoke\, not through them but by \nHimself\, that we might hear His word\, not in fleshly tongue or angelic voice\, nor \nsound of thunder\, nor the obscurity of a parable\, but might hear Him\, Him for \nwhose sake we love these things—if we could hear Him without these\, as we two \nnow strained ourselves to do\, we then with rapid thought might touch on that \nEternal Wisdom which abides over all. And if this could be sustained\, and other \nvisions of a far different kind be taken away\, and this one should so ravish and \nabsorb and envelop its beholder in these inward joys that his life might be \neternally like that one moment of knowledge which we now sighed after—would \nnot this be the reality of the saying\, “Enter into the joy of your Lord”? But when \nshall such a thing be? Shall it not be “when we shall all rise again\,” and shall it \nnot be that “we shall all be changed”? \nThen my mother said\, “Son\, for myself I have no longer any pleasure in \nanything in this life. Now that my hopes in this world are satisfied\, I do not know \nwhat more I want here or why I am here. There was indeed one thing for which I \nwished to tarry a little in this life\, and that was that I might see you a Catholic \nChristian before I died. My God has answered this more than abundantly\, \ninasmuch as I see you now\, having spurned earthly felicity\, become His servant. \nWhat more am I to do here?”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-monica-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250824T121216Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T121216Z
UID:13849-1756339200-1756425599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Augustine
DESCRIPTION:THE IMMORTALITY \nOF WISDOM \nFrom the “Confessions” of St Augustine \n◊◊◊ \nMy studies which were deemed respectable had the objective of leading \nme to distinction as an advocate in the law courts\, where one’s reputation is high \nin proportion to one’s success in deceiving people… I wanted to distinguish \nmyself as an orator for a damnable and conceited purpose\, namely delight in \nhuman vanity. Following the usual curriculum I had already come across a book \nby a certain Cicero\, whose language (but not his heart) almost everyone \nadmires. That book of his contains an exhortation to study philosophy and is \nentitled Hortensius. The book changed my feelings. It altered my prayers\, Lord\, \nto be towards you yourself. It gave me different values and priorities. Suddenly \nevery vain hope became empty to me\, and I longed for the immortality of \nwisdom with an incredible ardour in my heart. I began to rise up to return to \nyou. For I did not read the book for a sharpening of my style\, which was what I \nwas buying with my mother’s financial support now that I was 18 years old and \nmy father had been dead for two years. I was impressed not by the book’s \nrefining effect on my style and literary expression but by the content. \nMy God\, how I burned\, how I burned with longing to leave earthly things \nand fly back to you. I did not know what you were doing with me. For with you \nis wisdom. \n‘Love of wisdom’ is the meaning of the Greek word philosophia. This \nbook kindled my love for it. There are some people who use philosophy to lead \npeople astray. They lend color to their errors and paint over them by using a \ngreat and acceptable and honorable name. Almost all those who in the author’s \ntimes and earlier behaved in this way are noted in that book and refuted. That \ntext is a clear demonstration of the salutary admonition given by your Spirit \nthrough your good and devoted servant Paul: See that none deceives you by \nphilosophy and vain deduction following human tradition; following the \nelements of this world and not following Christ; in him dwells all the fullness of \ndivinity in bodily form. \nAt that time\, as you know\, light of my heart\, I did not yet know these \nwords of the apostle. Nevertheless\, the one thing that delighted me in Cicero’s \nexhortation was the advice ‘not to study one particular sect but to love and seek \nand pursue and hold fast and strongly embrace wisdom itself\, wherever found.’ \nOne thing alone put a brake on my intense enthusiasm – that the name of Christ \nwas not contained in the book. This name\, by your mercy Lord\, this name of my \nSaviour your Son\, my infant heart had piously drunk in with my mother’s milk\, \nand at a deep level I retained the memory. Any book which lacked this name\, \nhowever well written or polished or true\, could not entirely grip me.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-augustine-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250830
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250824T121407Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T121407Z
UID:13851-1756425600-1756511999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Martyrdom of St John the Baptist
DESCRIPTION:HOW JOHN THE BAPTIST \nREBUKED SIN \nFrom a sermon by St John Henry Newman \n◊◊◊ \nSt John the Baptist has a most difficult office to fulfill; that of rebuking a \nking… The Holy Baptist rebuked Herod without making him angry; therefore he \nmust have rebuked him with gravity\, temper\, sincerity\, and an evident good-will \ntowards him. On the other hand\, he spoke so firmly\, sharply\, and faithfully\, that \nhis rebuke cost him his life… \nNow\, if it be asked\, what rules can be given for rebuking vice? – I observe\, \nthat\, as on the one hand to perform the office of a censor requires a maturity and \nconsistency of principle seen and acknowledged\, so is it also the necessary result \nof possessing it. They who reprove with the greatest propriety\, from their weight \nof character\, are generally the very ones who are also best qualified for \nreproving. To rebuke well is a gift which grows with the need of exercising it. Not \nthat any one will gain it without an effort on his part; he must overcome false \nshame\, timidity\, and undue delicacy\, and learn to be prompt and collected in \nwithstanding evil; but after all\, his mode of doing it will depend mainly on his \ngeneral character. The more his habitual temper is formed after the law of \nChrist\, the more discreet\, unexceptionable\, and graceful will be his censures\, \nthe more difficult to escape or to resist. \nWhat I mean is this: cultivate…a cheerful\, honest\, virile temper; and you \nwill find fault well\, because you will do so in a natural way. Aim at viewing all \nthings in a plain and candid light\, and at calling them by their right names. Be \nfrank\, do not keep your notions of right and wrong to yourselves\, nor\, on some \nconceit that the world is too bad to be taught the Truth\, suffer it to sin in word or \ndeed without rebuke. Do not allow friend or stranger…to advance false \nopinions\, nor shrink from stating your own\, and do this in singleness of mind \nand love. \nPersons are to be found\, who tell their neighbors of their faults in a \nstrangely solemn way\, with a great parade\, as if they were doing something \nextraordinary; and such persons not only offend those whom they wish to set \nright\, but also foster in themselves a spirit of self-complacency. Such a mode of \nfinding fault is inseparably connected with a notion that they themselves are far \nbetter than the parties they blame; whereas the single-hearted Christian will \nfind fault\, not austerely or gloomily\, but in love; not stiffly\, but naturally\, gently\, \nand as a matter of course\, just as he would tell his friend of some obstacle in his \npath which was likely to throw him down\, but without any absurd feeling of \nsuperiority over him\, because he was able to do so. His feeling is\, “I have done a \ngood office to you\, and you must in turn serve me.” \nAnd though his advice be not always taken as he meant it\, yet he will not \ndwell on the pain occasioned to himself by such a result of his interference; \nbeing conscious\, that in truth there ever is much to correct in his mode of doing \nhis duty\, knowing that his intention was good\, and being determined any how to \nmake light of his failure\, except so far as to be more cautious in the future \nagainst even the appearance of rudeness or intemperance in his manner.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-martyrdom-of-st-john-the-baptist-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250830
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250831
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250824T121510Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T121510Z
UID:13853-1756512000-1756598399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:THE MOTHER \nOF THE REDEEMER \nFrom a homily by Amadeus of Lausanne \n◊◊◊ \nEscorted amid such praises\, she herself could not refrain from praising\, \nfor she saw the Son of God\, born of her\, sitting on the right hand of his Father’s \nmajesty\, receiving her with glory. ‘You have held she says\, ‘my right hand\, and \,̓ \nhave led me according to your will and received me with glory’. And again: ‘He is \nat my right hand lest I be moved. Therefore my heart has rejoiced and my \ntongue has exulted. Still more my flesh shall rest in hope. Since you did not \nabandon me in the world nor did you give your Mother’s body to see corruption. \nBut why do I linger over these things? To sum up much in a few words: \nthere was with the most glorious lady a word simple yet complex\, a word \nunderstandable\, containing all the words of praise with which she herself \nhonored the Lord and Son with praise unutterable. \nExalted therefore with cries of exultation and praise\, she is placed in her \nseat of glory first after God\, above all the company of heaven. There\, having \ntaken again the substance of her flesh (for it is not lawful to believe that her body \nsaw corruption) and clothed with a double robe\, she looks upon God and man in \nhis two natures with a gaze clearer than all others\, inasmuch as it is more \nburning than all\, with the eyes of her soul and body. \nThen coming down to the human race in ineffable charity and turning \nupon us those eyes of pity with which heaven is brightened\, she lifts her prayer \nalike for clergy\, for all men and women\, for the living and for the departed. Here \nfrom heaven is the glorious Virgin most powerful in prayer\, driving away every \nhurtful thing and bestowing what is good\, and she grants to all who pray to her \nfrom the heart her protection for this present life and for that to come. \nFor remembering for what purpose she was made the Mother of the \nRedeemer\, most willingly she gathers up the sinner’s prayers and pleads with \nher Son for all the guilt of those who are penitent. Surely she will gain what she \nwishes\, the dear Mother through whose chaste womb the Word of God came to \nus\, the sin offering of the world\, to wash away with his own blood the bond of \noriginal sin\, Jesus Christ Our Lord\, who lives and reigns with God the Father in \nthe unity of the Holy Spirit\, God for ever and ever.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-17/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250831
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250901
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250831T120230Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250831T120230Z
UID:13858-1756598400-1756684799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n22nd Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nAug. 31 – Sept. 6\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n31\nMon\n1\nTue\n2\nWed\n3\nThu\n4\nFri\n5\nSat\n6\n\n\nOffice\n22nd Sunday\nWeekday\nWeekday\nSt Gregory the Great\nWeekday\nSt Teresa of Calcutta\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nEst 4:1-17\nEst C:1-11\nEst C:12-30\nEst D:1-16\, 5:3-5a\nEst 5:5b-14\nEst 6:1-14\nEst 7:1-8:2\n\n\nLauds\nMic 4:1-5\nMic 4:6-8\nMic 4:9-14\nMic 5:1-5\nMic 5:6-8\nMic 5:9-14\nMic 6:1-8\n\n\nMass\n126\n431\, 559\n432\n433\n434\n435\n436\n\n\n1st\nSir 3:17-18\, 20\, 28-29\n1 Thess 4:13-18\n1 Thess 5:1-6\, 9-11\nCol 1:1-8\nCol 1:9-14\nCol 1:15-20\nCol 1:21-23\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 12:18-19\, 22-24a\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 14:1\, 7-14\nMatt 13:54-58\nLuke 4:31-37\nLuke 4:38-44\nLuke 5:1-11\nLuke 5:33-39\nLuke 6:1-5\n\n\nVespers\n1 Thess 2:9-12\n\n1 Thess 2:13-16\n1 Thess 2:17-3:5\n1 Thess 3:6-13\n1 Thess 4:1-12\n1 Thess 4:13-18
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-124/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250831
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250901
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250831T120406Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250831T204234Z
UID:13860-1756598400-1756684799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 22nd Sunday Ordinary time
DESCRIPTION:HUMILITY AND HOLINESS \nFrom a commentary by St Bruno of Segni \n◊◊◊ \nInvited to a wedding feast\, the Lord looked around and noticed how all \nwere choosing the first and most honorable places\, each person wanting to take \nprecedence over the others and to be raised above them. He told them this \nparable\, which even taken literally is most useful and appropriate for all who \nlike to be honored\, and fear being put to shame. To those of lower station it \naccords courtesy\, and to those of higher condition respect. However\, since it is \ncalled a parable\, it must have some other interpretation besides the literal one. \nLet us see then what this wedding feast is\, and who are the people invited to it. \nThis wedding feast takes place in the Church every day. Every day the \nLord makes a wedding feast\, for every day he unites faithful souls to himself\, \nsome coming to be baptized\, others leaving this world for the kingdom of \nheaven. We are all invited to this wedding feast – all of us who have received \nfaith in Christ and the seal of baptism. This table set before us is that of which it \nis said: You have prepared a table before me in the sight of those who trouble \nme. Here is the showbread\, here the fatted calf\, here the lamb who takes away \nthe sins of the world. Here is the living bread come down from heaven\, here \nplaced before us is the chalice of the New Covenant\, here are the gospels and the \nletters of the apostles\, here the books of Moses and the prophets. It is as though \na dish containing every delight was brought and set before us. What more can \nwe desire? What reason is there for choosing the first seats? There is plenty for \nall no matter where we sit. There is nothing we shall lack. \nBut whoever you may be who still desire the first place here – go and sit in \nthe last place. Do not be lifted up by pride\, inflated by knowledge\, elated by \nnobility\, but the greater you are the more you must humble yourself in every \nway\, and you will find grace with God. In his own time he will say to you: Friend\, \ngo up higher\, and then you will be honored by all who sit at table with you. \nMoses sat in the last place whenever he had the choice. When the Lord wishing \nto send him to the Israelites\, invited him to take a higher place\, his answer was: \nI beg you\, Lord\, send someone else. I am not a good speaker. It was the same as \nsaying: “I am not worthy of so great an office.” Saul\, too\, was of small account in \nhis own eyes when the Lord made him king. And Jeremiah\, similarly\, was afraid \nof rising to the first place: Ah\, Lord\, God\, he said\, look\, I cannot speak – I am \nonly a child. \nIn the church\, then\, the first seat\, or the highest place\, is to be sought not \nby ambition but by humility; not by money but by holiness.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-22nd-sunday-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250901
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250902
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250831T120727Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250831T204413Z
UID:13862-1756684800-1756771199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THROUGH GOD’S EYES \nBy Hans Urs von Balthasar \n◊◊◊ \nChristians live with their involvement in the involvement of God for the \nfreedom of the world. They know that each one has been chosen by God and \ncalled by name to assist in his work of liberation. In this work…Christians must\, \nfirst of all\, learn to see fellow human beings and all created things through the \neyes of God. This does not mean that the human being seen in this light\, ceases \nto be a profound mystery. Just the opposite. If it is true that God has made the \nhuman being in his own image and likeness\, then this ought rather to mean that \nsomething of the uniqueness and unfathomableness of God shines in the \nhuman person\, so much more clearly to the beholder when God\, in choosing \nhim and acting in and for him\, sheds upon him God’s own mysterious light. \nTo look through God’s eyes at the human world means enduring both the \nopenness and contradictions of humans..\, bringing everything under the unity \nof God’s plan. Whoever can see more truth than someone else when they look\, is \nin the right. This means first that the human being exists centrally as a person: a \nperson intended by God\, loved by God\, and for whom God dies in order to \nrescue and draw him to God. Hence all that has the status of a thing\, all that is \nnot personal in this world\, has value only in so far as it serves the purposes of the \nperson\, and is harmful when it betrays the person into the hands of the \nimpersonal\, reducing him to slavery and to the status of a thing. This \ndetermines the Christian’s attitude towards technology. Our battle with the \nuniverse will always remain something of a struggle and perhaps even a violent \nwar\, but such a war will be just and permissible only so long as its normative aim \nremains the humanization of the human being. \nAs a fellow human being\, the Christian is of course committed to taking \npart in the total effort of humanity towards the humanizing of the world\, the \nperduring problematic and indeed tragic nature of which we have already \nindicated. The Christian\, however\, has no clear-cut recipes or solutions to offer \nto this problem\, and like others must wrestle with the deciphering of the riddles \nof nature and of history. In this pursuit Christians are at one with their fellows. \nBut from their knowledge of God’s involvement for the world\, they have a wider \nhorizon which embraces the problematic and tragic\, without eliminating it\, and \nfrom which there falls on the world the only light that is truly illuminating and \nhelpful. They must bear witness to this light not just abstractly – by professions \nof faith – but concretely in their professional and human involvement.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-labor-day/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250902
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250903
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250831T204531Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250831T204531Z
UID:13870-1756771200-1756857599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:ON WORK AND PRAYER \nFrom “The Divine Milieu” by Fr Teilhard de Chardin \n◊◊◊ \nOur work appears to us\, in the main\, as a way of earning our daily bread. \nBut its essential virtue is of a higher order: through it we complete in ourselves \nthe subject of the divine union; and through it again we augment in some sense\, \nin relation to ourselves\, the divine end of that union\, Our Lord Jesus Christ. \nHence whatever our human function may be…we can\, if we are Christians\, \nspeed towards the object of our work as though towards an outlet open on the \nsupreme fulfillment of our beings. \nWe ought to accustom ourselves to this basic truth till we are steeped in it\, \nuntil it becomes as familiar to us as the perception of relief or the reading of \nwords. God…is waiting for us at every moment in our action\, in our work of the \nmoment… \nI do not think I am exaggerating when I say that nine out of ten practicing \nChristians feel that work is always at the level of a ‘spiritual encumbrance.’ In \nspite of the practice of right intentions\, and the day offered every morning to \nGod\, the general run of the faithful dimly feel that time spent at the office or the \nstudio\, in the fields or in the factory\, is time diverted from prayer and adoration. \nOn the contrary\, try\, with God’s help\, to perceive the connection even \nphysical and natural which binds your labor with the building of the Kingdom of \nHeaven; try to realize that heaven itself smiles upon you and\, through your \nworks\, draws you to itself; then…you will remain with only one feeling\, that of \ncontinuing to immerse yourself in God. If your work is dull or exhausting\, take \nrefuge in the inexhaustible and becalming interest of progressing in the divine \nlife. If your work enthralls you\, then allow the spiritual impulse which matter \ncommunicates to you to enter into your taste for God whom you know better \nand desire more under the veil of His works. Never\, at any time\, “whether eating \nor drinking\,” consent to do anything without first of all realizing its significance \nand constructive value in Christ Jesus\, and pursuing it with all your might… For \nwhat is sanctity in a creature if not to cleave to God with the maximum of his \nstrength?… \nMay the time come when men\, having been awakened to a sense of the \nclose bond linking all the movements of this world in the unique work of the \nIncarnation\, shall be unable to give themselves to a single one of their tasks \nwithout illuminating it with the clear vision that their work – however \nelementary it may be – is received and made use of by a Center of the universe.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-348/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250903
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250904
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250831T204916Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250831T204916Z
UID:13872-1756857600-1756943999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Gregory the Great
DESCRIPTION:TELL THE BRETHREN \nFrom the treatise “Pastoral Care” by St Gregory the Great \n◊◊◊ \nThere are those who are gifted with virtues in a high degree and who are \nexalted by great endowments for the training of others; men who are unspotted \nin their zeal for chastity\, strong in the vigor of their abstinence\, replete with \nfeasts of knowledge\, humble in their long-suffering patience\, erect in the \nfortitude of authority\, gentle in the grace of loving-kindness\, strict and \nunbending in justice. Such\, indeed in declining to undertake supreme rule when \ninvited to do so\, deprive themselves\, for the most part\, of the gifts which they \nhave received not for their own sakes only\, but for the sake of others also. \nWhen these regard their own personal advantage\, not that of others\, they \nlose such advantages in wishing to retain them for themselves\, Hence it was that \nthe Truth said to the disciples: “A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid\, \nneither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel\, but upon a candlestick\, \nthat it may shine to all that are in the house”. \n[For this reason] He said to Peter\, “Simon\, son of John\, do you love me?” \nAnd when Simon replied at once that he loved Him\, he was told: “If you love \nme\, feed my sheep”. If\, then\, the care of feeding is a testimony of love\, he who\, \nabounding in virtues\, refuses to feed the flock of God\, is convicted of having no \nlove for the Supreme Shepherd. [It is because of this that] Paul says: “If Christ \ndied for all\, then all were dead. And if He died for all\, it remains that they also \nwho live\, may not now live only for themselves\, but for Him who died for them \nand rose again”. Thus\, Moses says that the surviving brother must take the wife \nof his brother who died without children\, and raise up children for his brother’s \nname; and should he refuse to take her\, she shall spit in his face…9 \nNow\, the deceased brother is [the Lord] who\, appearing after the glory of \nthe Resurrection\, said: “Go\, tell my brethren;” for He died\, as it were\, without \nsons\, because He had not yet filled up the number of the elect. The surviving \nbrother is ordered to take the wife\, because it is fitting that the care of Holy \n[Mother] Church should be assigned to him who is best fitted to rule it well. If he \nproves unwilling\, the woman spits in his face\, because\, whosoever does not care \nto assist others by the favors which he has received\, is reprobated by Holy \nChurch also for the good he has\, and as it were\, she casts spittle in his face…. \nSo\, there are those who\, endowed\, as we have said\, with great gifts\, in \ntheir eagerness for the pursuit of contemplation only\, decline to be of service to \nthe neighbor by preaching; they love to withdraw in quietude and desire to be \nalone for meditation. Now\, if they are judged strictly on their conduct\, they are \ncertainly guilty in proportion to the public service which they were able to \nafford. Indeed\, what disposition of mind is revealed in him\, who could perform \nconspicuous public benefit on coming to his task\, but prefers his own privacy to \nthe benefit of others\, seeing that the Only-Begotten of the Supreme Father came \nforth from the bosom of His Father into our midst\, that He might benefit many?
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-gregory-the-great-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250904
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250905
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250831T205017Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250831T205017Z
UID:13874-1756944000-1757030399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE BODY OF CHRIST \nFrom the writing of St John Henry Newman \n◊◊◊ \nThat all Christians are\, in some sense or other\, one\, in our Lord’s eyes is \nplain\, from various parts of the New Testament. In his mediatorial prayer for \nthem to the Almighty Father\, before His Passion\, He expressed His purpose that \nthey should be one. St Paul\, in like manner\, writing to the Corinthians\, says\, “As \nthe body is one\, and has many members\, and all the members of that one body\, \nbeing many\, are one body\, so also is Christ… Now you are the Body of Christ\, \nand members in particular.” To the Ephesians\, he says\, “There is one Body\, and \none Spirit\, even as you are called in one hope of your calling: one Lord\, one faith\, \none baptism\, one God and Father of all.” \nAnd\, further\, it is to this one Body\, regarded as one\, that the special \nprivileges of the Gospel are given. It is not that this person receives the blessing\, \nand that one\, but one and all\, the whole body\, as one being\, one new spiritual \nreality\, with one accord\, seeks and gains it. The Holy Church throughout the \nworld\, “the Bride\, the Lamb’s wife\,” is one\, not many\, and the elect souls are all \nelected in her\, not in isolation. For instance: “He is our peace who has made \nboth (Jews and Gentiles) one\,… to make in himself one new humanity.” In the \nsame epistle\, it is said\, that all nations are “fellow-heirs\, and of the same body \nand fellow-partakers of His promise in Christ;” and that we must “one and all \ncome\,” or converge\, “in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of \nGod\, unto a perfect creation\, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of \nChrist;” that as “the husband is the head of the wife\,” so “Christ is the Head of \nthe Church\,” having “loved her and given Himself for her\, that He might \nsanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word.” \nThese are a few out of many passages which connect Gospel privileges \nwith the circumstance or condition of unity in those who receive them; the \nimage of Christ and token of their acceptance being stamped upon them then\, at \nthat moment\, when they are considered as one; so that henceforth the whole \nmultitude\, no longer viewed as mere individuals\, become portions or members \nof the indivisible Body of Christ Mystical\, so knit together in Him by Divine \nGrace\, that all have what He has\, and each has what all have. \nThe same great truth is taught us in such texts as speak of all Christians \nforming one spiritual building\, of which the Jewish Temple was the type. They \nare temples one by one\, simply as being portions of that one Temple which is the \nChurch. “You are built up\,” says St Peter\, “a spiritual house\, a holy priesthood\, \nto offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” Hence the word \n“edification”\, which properly means this building up of all Christians in one\, has \ncome to stand for individual improvement; for it is by being incorporated into \nthe one Body\, that we have the promise of life; by becoming members of Christ\, \nwe have the gift of His Spirit.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-349/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250831T120958Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250831T120958Z
UID:13864-1757030400-1757116799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Theresa of Calcutta
DESCRIPTION:GENEROSITY \nFrom the book “In My Own Words” by St Mother Teresa \n◊◊◊ \nWithout a spirit of sacrifice\, without a life of prayer\, without an intimate \nattitude of penance\, we would not be capable of carrying our work. We feed \nourselves\, not to please our senses\, but to show our Lord that we want to work for \nhim and with him\, to live a life of sacrifice and reparation… \nOne night\, a man came to our house to tell me that a Hindu family\, a family \nof eight children\, had not eaten anything for days. They had nothing to eat. I took \nenough rice for a meal and went to their house. I could see the hungry faces\, the \nchildren with their bulging eyes. The sight could not have been more dramatic! \nThe mother took the rice from my hands\, divided it in half and went out. When \nshe came back a little later\, I asked her: “Where did you go? What did you do?” \nShe answered\, “They also are hungry.” “They” were the people next door\, a Muslim \nfamily with the same number of children to feed and who did not have any food \neither. That mother was aware of the situation. She had the courage and the love \nto share her meager portion of rice with others. In spite of her circumstances\, I \nthink she felt very happy to share with her neighbors the little I had taken her. In \norder not to take away her happiness\, I did not take her anymore rice that night. I \ntook her some more the following day. \n“What is a Christian?” someone asked a Hindu man. He responded\, “The \nChristian is someone who gives.” I ask you one thing: do not tire of giving\, but do \nnot give your leftovers. Give until it hurts\, until you feel the pain. Open your hearts \nto the love God instills in them. God loves you tenderly. What he gives you is not \nto be kept under lock and key\, but to be shared. The more you save\, the less you \nwill be able to give. The less you have\, the more you will know how to share. Let \nus ask God\, when it comes time to ask him for something\, to help us to be generous. \nIt was late in the day (around ten at night) when the doorbell rang. I opened \nthe door and found a man shivering from the cold. “Mother Teresa\, I heard that \nyou just received an important prize. When I heard this I decided to offer you \nsomething too. Here you have it: this is what I collected today.” It was little\, but \nin his case it was everything. I was moved more than by the Nobel prize. \nOne day a young couple came to our house and asked for me. They gave me \na large amount of money. I asked them\, “Where did you get so much money?” \nThey answered\, “We got married two days ago. Before we got married we had \ndecided not to celebrate the wedding\, not to buy wedding clothes\, not to have a \nreception or a honeymoon. We wanted to give you the money I saved.” I know \nwhat such a decision meant\, especially for a Hindu family. That is why I asked \nthem\, “But how did you think of such a thing?” “We love each other so much\,” they \nanswered\, “that we wanted to share the joy of our love with those you serve.” \nTo share: what a beautiful thing! We should learn how to give. If we worry \ntoo much about ourselves\, we won’t have time for others.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-theresa-of-calcutta/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250906
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250907
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250831T205347Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250831T205347Z
UID:13878-1757116800-1757203199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:A COMMUNITY IN \nNATURE AND IN GRACE \nBy Fr Karl Rahner \n◊◊◊ \nMariology is not merely a piece of the private life-story of Jesus of \nNazareth\, of no real ultimate significance for our salvation\, but an affirmation of \nfaith itself concerning a reality of the faith\, without which there is no salvation. \nWe human beings are important for one another. We mean something to \none another\, not only in the everyday things of life\, not only because (since we \nexist) we have parents\, not only because\, in the biological sphere\, in the external \nlife of the civil community\, of art and learning\, we are always dependent on a \ngreat human community. That is not the only reason for our importance for one \nanother. Even in our salvation we are also similarly dependent on other human \nbeings. That goes without saying\, as a matter of course\, yet it is difficult to \ngrasp. One might think we were only important to one another for this life\, for \nexternal things\, or at most in the domain of the spirit here on earth. \nOr one might think that when it is a question of how God stands to me and \nI to God\, of the ultimate decision about my eternity\, of how I shall fare one day\, \nwhen through the inexorable loneliness of my death\, I stand utterly alone before \nthe face of God\, that then\, in all that\, I am absolutely alone and isolated. Then\, \nsurely\, there is only the one God\, and myself\, his love and mercy\, and my \nirreplaceable freedom in guilt and grace. Yet it is not so\, for all that. All that has \nbeen said is true\, but it is not the whole truth. For we still belong to one another\, \neven then. \n6 The Practice of Faith\, Cp.32\, Devotion to Mary. Crossroads 1983. p.161-215 \nEach has their own\, inalienable\, unique freedom\, from which they cannot \nescape\, which they cannot shuffle off on to someone else. But for all that\, it is \nnot a lonely isolated freedom\, not even when it is deciding the eternal destiny of \na human being\, or making the fundamental choice of a human life. For the \neternal Son\, the eternal Word of the Father\, was made flesh\, born of the Virgin \nMary. In our family\, out of our race that stretches from the first human being\, \nAdam\, to the last\, the Word of the Father was made flesh. \nThere is\, therefore\, a community in nature and in grace which takes effect \nin a community of sin and guilt\, of the mercy of God and his grace\, a community \nof origin and goal. But guilt and grace\, origin and end\, are God’s concerns. \nConsequently the community of humanity extends into the domain of our \neternal salvation with God. It is a community in eternal welfare or loss\, a vast \ncommunity which acts out as a whole\, and not only in individual human beings\, \nthe great drama of history before the eyes of God\, and which brings to light what \nGod’s thought about humanity was.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-18/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250907
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250908
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250907T123013Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250907T123013Z
UID:13894-1757203200-1757289599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n23rd Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nSeptember 7 – 13\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n7\nMon\n8\nTue\n9\nWed\n10\nThu\n11\nFri\n12\nSat\n13\n\n\nOffice\n23rd Sunday\nNativity of the BVM\nSt Peter Claver\nBl Ogler\nOffice for the Dead\nWeekday\nSt John Chrysostom\n\n\nVigils\nEst 8:3-12\nGen 3:8-20\nEst E:1-16\nEst E:17-(8:17)\nEst 9:1-17\nEst 9:18-32\nEst 10:1-F:10\n\n\nLauds\nMic 6:9-16\nZech 8:1-8\nMic 7:1-6\nMic 7:7-13\nMic 7:14-20\nNahum 1:1-8\nNahum 1:9-2:1\n\n\nMass\n129\n636\n438\n439\n440\n441\n442\n\n\n1st\nWis 9:13-18b\nMicah 5:1-4a\nCol 2:6-15\nCol 3:1-11\nCol 3:12-17\n1 Tim 1:1-2\, 12-14\n1 Tim 1:15-17\n\n\n2nd\nPhlm 9-10\, 12-17\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 14:25-33\nMatt 1:18-23\nLuke 6:12-19\nLuke 6:20-26\nLuke 6:27-38\nLuke 6:39-42\nLuke 6:43-49\n\n\nVespers\n1 Thess 5:1-11\nRom 8:28-39\n1 Thess 5:12-28\n2 Thess 1:1-7\, 11-12\n2 Thess 2:1-10\n2 Thess 2:11-17\n1 Cor 1:18-25
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-125/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250907
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250908
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250907T123208Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250907T123208Z
UID:13896-1757203200-1757289599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 23rd Sunday
DESCRIPTION:THE THREE RENUNCIATIONS \nBy John Cassian \n◊◊◊ \nThe tradition of the Fathers and the authority of holy scriptures both \naffirm that there are three renunciations which every one of us must strive to \npractice. To these let us turn our attention. \nFirst\, on the material level\, we have to despise all worldly wealth and \npossessions; secondly\, we must reject our former way of life with its vices and \nattachments\, both physical and spiritual; and thirdly\, we should withdraw our \nmind from all that is transitory and visible to contemplate solely what lies in the \nfuture and to desire what is unseen. \nWe read that the Lord commended Abraham to make all three \nrenunciations at once when he said to him: Leave your country and your \nkindred and your father’s house. First he said your country\, meaning worldly \nwealth and possessions; secondly your kindred\, that is our former way of living\, \nwith its habits and vices which have grown up with us and are as familiar to us as \nkith and kin; thirdly your father’s house\, in other words every secular memory \naroused by what you see. \nThis forgetfulness will be achieved when\, dead with Christ to the \nelemental spirits of this world\, we contemplate as the apostle says not the things \nthat are seen\, for what is seen is temporal but what is unseen is eternal. It will \nbe achieved when in our hearts we leave this temporal and visible house and \nturn the eyes of our mind toward that in which we shall live for ever; when\, \nthough living in the world\, we cease to follow the spirit of the world in order to \nfight for the Lord\, proclaiming by our holy way of life that\, as the apostle says\, \nour homeland is in heaven. \nIt avails little to undertake the first of these renunciations\, even with \nwholehearted devotion inspired by faith\, unless we carry out the second with the \nsame zeal and fervor. Then having accomplished this as well we shall be able to \ngo on to the third\, whereby we leave the house of our former father\, of him who \nfathered us as members of a fallen race\, children of wrath like everyone else\, \nand turn our inward gaze solely toward heavenly things. \nWe shall attain to the perfection of this third renunciation when our \nmind\, no longer dulled by contact with a pampered body\, has been cleansed by \nthe most searching refinement from every worldly sentiment and attitude\, and \nraised by constant meditation on divine things and spiritual contemplation to \nthe realm of the invisible. It will then lose all awareness of the frail body \nenclosing it or the place it occupies\, so absorbed will it be by things divine and \nspiritual.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-23rd-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250908
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250909
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250907T123317Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250907T123317Z
UID:13898-1757289600-1757375999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Nativity of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:THE NEW MOTHER \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny \n◊◊◊ \nAs the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odor. Today we celebrate the \nbirthday of the blessed Virgin Mother from whom the Life of all things took his \nbirth. Today is the birthday of that Virgin from whom the Savior of all men \nwilled to be born in order that he might give to all who were born to death the \npower to be reborn to life. Today is the birthday of that new Mother who has \ndestroyed the curse brought by the first mother\, so that all those who through \nthe fault of the first had been born under the yoke of eternal condemnation \nmight instead\, through her\, inherit a blessing. \nShe is indeed the new Mother\, for she has brought new life to her children \nalready hardening with age and has healed the defect of both inborn and \nacquired senility… She is the new Mother\, who by an unheard of miracle has \ngiven birth in such a way that\, becoming a mother\, she has not ceased to be a \nVirgin. And she has given birth to the Child who created all things\, even the \nMother herself. \nIt is indeed a wonderful new thing\, this fruitful virginity\, but far more \nwonderful is the novelty of the Child born of it. No one who admits that the \nChild was God\, finds any difficulty in believing his Mother remained a Virgin. \nHis birth in no way could injure the physical integrity of his Mother\, this Child \nwho went about making even the diseased whole. Nor could the reality of the \nbody he assumed be thought to limit the power of the Creator as if he could not \nretain for himself what he gives to many of his creatures. For you find not a few \ncreatures that are born without any harm to the integrity of the parents. In their \nown way all these bear witness to their Creator’s own immaculate birth. \nBut the Mother herself\, who was quite aware of the mystery surrounding \nher\, has spoken and taught us how and what she brought forth. She speaks \nhowever not in contemporary or recent arguments but in the ancient oracles of \nprophecy\, because\, as the Apostle Peter tells us\, the word of prophecy is a \nstronger witness than miracles. Indeed what is less open to deceit or suspect of \nfalsity than the testimony from heaven about one not yet born? \nLong before her birth therefore the Spirit\, who would later make his \nabode in her\, borrowed Mary’s voice to defend both the divinity of the Child and \nthe integrity of the Mother – all his own handiwork – against the blasphemies of \nunbelievers. In her person…he uttered the words: As the vine\, I have brought \nforth a pleasant odor.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-nativity-of-the-bvm-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250910
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250907T123428Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250907T123428Z
UID:13900-1757376000-1757462399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Peter Claver
DESCRIPTION:ST PETER CLAVER \nTHE SLAVE OF THE NEGROES \nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints \n◊◊◊ \nHe was born in Catalonia\, about 1581… He graduated with distinction \n[and entered] the Society of Jesus. He left Spain forever in April 1610\, and was \nordained priest at Cartagena\, in what is now the republic of Colombia. By the \ntime of his ordination the slave trade had been established in the Americas for \nnearly a hundred years\, and the port of Cartagena was one of its principal \ncenters… \nAt this time the leader of the work among the Negroes was Father Alfonso \nde Sandoval\, a great Jesuit missionary who spent forty years in the service of the \nslaves\, and after working under him Peter Claver declared himself “the slave of \nthe Negroes forever”. Although by nature shy and without self-confidence he \nthrew himself into the work with method and organization. He enlisted bands \nof assistants\, and as soon as a slave-ship entered the port… St. Peter Claver \nplunged\, with medicines and food\, bread\, brandy\, lemons\, tobacco to distribute \namong the Negroes\, some of whom were too frightened\, others too ill\, to accept \nthem. “We must speak to them with our hands\, before we try to speak to them \nwith our lips”\, Claver would say. \nWhen he came upon any who were dying\, he baptized them\, and then \nsought out all babies born on the voyage that he might baptize them. He had a \nband of seven interpreters\, one of whom spoke four Negro dialects\, and with \ntheir help he taught the slaves and prepared them for baptism\, not only in \ngroups but individually. He made use of pictures\, showing our Lord suffering \non the cross; above all he tried to instill in them… some idea that as redeemed \nhuman beings they had dignity and worth\, even if as slaves… \nIt is estimated that in forty years St Peter Claver instructed and baptized \nover 300\,000 slaves… He took the same trouble to teach them how properly to \nuse the sacrament of penance\, and in one year is said to have heard the \nconfessions of more than five thousand. Many of the stories both of the heroism \nand of the miraculous powers of St Peter Claver concern his nursing of sick and \ndiseased Negroes\, in circumstances often that no one else\, black or white\, could \nface. \nIn 1650… sickness attacked his emaciated and weakened body\, and he \nwas recalled to the Jesuit residence at Cartagena. But here a virulent epidemic \nhad begun to show itself\, and one of the first to be attacked among the Jesuits \nwas the debilitated missionary… After receiving the last sacraments\, he \nrecovered\, but he was a broken man… \nOn September 6\, 1654 he was taken very ill and became comatose. The rumor of \nhis approaching end spread round the city\, everyone suddenly remembered the \nsaint again\, and numbers came to kiss his hands before it was too late. His cell \nwas stripped of everything that could be carried off as a relic. St Peter Claver \nnever fully recovered consciousness\, and died two days later on the birthday of \nour Lady. The civil authorities who had looked askance at his solicitude for mere \nNegro slaves\, and the clergy\, who had called his zeal indiscreet and his energy \nwasted\, now vied with one another to honor his memory… He was canonized in \n1888 and was declared by Pope Leo XIII patron of all missionary enterprises \namong Negroes.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-peter-claver-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250910
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250911
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250907T123542Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250907T123542Z
UID:13902-1757462400-1757548799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Bl Ogier of Locedio
DESCRIPTION:THE CONTAINER \nOF ALL VIRTUES \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Ogier of Locedio \n◊◊◊ \nFor a long time I have been impelled by a work of love: it was the desire to \ncreate a work on the Word of God. I realize that I am thoroughly unworthy of \nthis\, and yet I find that I am filled with the sweetness of the heavenly honey \nwhich the heavens dropped down from the face of God on Sinai. And behold in \norder to be able to fulfill my desires\, I am presented with this exquisite vase\, this \ncontainer of all virtues\, this vessel of election\, wherein the fullness of the \ndivinity came to dwell. Yes\, this is the golden vessel\, the solid vessel\, adorned \nwith all precious jewels\, charged with life\, with eternal blessedness\, filled with \nmyrrh\, aloes and balm and every possible scent; a vessel adorned with ivory and \ngems of sapphire\, containing Him Who is both the Alpha and the Omega\, the \nBeginning and the End. \nI wish to speak of that beautiful Virgin who gave to the world its Creator. \nShe is worthy of being praised by every mouth even though they are not worthy \nto praise her. But I must acknowledge to all who may take up my writings that I \nam not worthy to praise her\, and even unworthy to pronounce her name. \nNevertheless even this realization does not stop me\, for the ardor of heart \nsprings forth to compensate and it neither can nor should restrain from praising \nher whom the angels and archangels and all the heavenly choirs praise as being \nthe one who gave to the world its Creator\, the author of all things\, by becoming \nHis mother. \nFor charity draws me to this\, love finds satiety\, and the benefit which will \ncome to myself impels me. Let my tongue cleave to my pallet if I do not \nremember her; if I do not place her immediately after her Son as the source of \nmy joy; in order that she may be mindful of me on the day of Jerusalem\, that she \nmay become my repose in the time of tribulation\, and that I may be borne to the \npeople in those arms which held her own Son. For this reason with praise I am \ngoing to praise her all the days of my life; I am going to sing her praises as long \nas I live. May my words be pleasing to her and in her I will take my delight. \nMay He enable me to accomplish this which He has inspired in me\, Jesus \nChrist her Son\, our Lord\, Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy \nSpirit through all ages.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-bl-ogier-of-locedio/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250911
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250912
DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250907T123644Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250907T123644Z
UID:13904-1757548800-1757635199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:IN THE SLEEP \nOF FINAL REST \nBy St Ephrem the Syrian \n◊◊◊ \nIn that night when all sound\, all human activity shall be silent\, when the \nvoices of all peoples and nations are still\, may my soul through its good works \nshine out in You\, O Jesus\, Light of the Just. In that hour when darkness like a \ncloak shall be spread over all things may your grace\, O Lord\, shine on us in place \nof the earthy sun. In that night which brings to an end the course of this world \nand all its activities\, may our souls behold your wonders in that quiet which is \nmore than silence. In that hour\, refreshing the weary through the sleep that lies \nover all\, may our minds be inebriated with your delights\, O Delight of all the \nSaints! In that time of dark night\, may a New Sun arise for us. Then let us take \nwing in that hope which was laid up for us in your Resurrection. \nGrant us O Lord\, to imitate the watchfulness of those who waited for your \nResurrection\, so that day and night O Lord\, we may be turned towards you. In \nthat hour when we shall be separated from others and from the business of the \nworld\, be to us O Lord\, a Giver of good things\, bringing joy to our sadness. When \nconfiding in your grace we have gone forth from this world\, so that we are alone\, \nmay we behold O Lord\, clearly and in deed the power of your help. Pour your \npeace into our hearts\, and give your rest to all our striving that the darkness of \nthat night may be to us as the day. \nIn that hour when we shall have been deprived of life\, and night has \nhidden us in its darkness and we have been separated from others\, may our \nconsolation in you O Lord\, increase. In that place that is empty of all things\, \nwhere the voice of comfort is no more heard\, awaken in our souls O Lord\, a \nwatchfulness free of all distraction. In that time when we lie in the sleep of final \nrest\, may our minds not be sunk in the sleep of evil desires. \nGrant us by your graces O Lord\, that like the wise virgins who were ready \nby their good works\, our way of life shall also be watchful\, that we shall not sit in \ndarkness with darkened souls\, in darkness of mind\, but that through prayer we \nmay look for ever on the shining splendor of your grace. Expel\, O Lord\, by the \ndaily light of your knowledge the nocturnal darkness of our mind\, that being \nenlightened it may serve you in the purity of its regeneration. \nGrant us with the just to watch by night in prayer\, that in your revelations \nour lamps may burn brightly before your sun. In that time of night give \nconsolation to our need\, for the gloom of the night darkens us; through you may \nwe be comforted in our sadness. Grant that our minds may labor in the \nremembrance of your revelations\, while our souls burn in the fire of your love. \nIn that hour when the Saints were wont to give themselves to prayer; grant us\, O \nLord\, to share in their watchfulness.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-22/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T190544
CREATED:20250907T123754Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250907T123754Z
UID:13906-1757635200-1757721599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:PERFECTION IN WEAKNESS \nBy Fr Hugh Rahner \n◊◊◊ \nThe Catholic Church is a house full of glory extending far and wide into \nevery land of this our terrestrial world. We sing her praises because we love her. \nFor she is the hidden queen of human history.… \nAll this would be\, however\, only “boasting according to the flesh” and not \n“glory in the cross of Christ” – all would be counterfeit\, falsified\, and therefore \nfilled with that furtive disappointment that we so often experience after \necclesiastical ceremonies\, if we did not also speak of the incomprehensible \nmystery of Christian existence which Paul describes with the words: “If I must \nboast\, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness.” The Apostle is \nspeaking here of his own wretchedness. \nHowever\, one of the principle truths of the revelation of the New \nTestament\, as sketched by Paul\, is that the strength of God reveals itself in \nhuman weakness. The salvific work of the Father\, which was contained in love \nbefore the very foundation of the universe\, reveals itself to us in the Word which \nbecame flesh\, and will be completed through the instrument of the Church in \nthe power of grace victorious up to its blessed conclusion in weakness. For as \nScripture tells us: “The power of God reaches its perfection in weakness”. Let us \nleave these words as they stand. Indeed let us keep the expression in the \nshocking bluntness of the Greek words: “The dynamis of God reaches perfec- \ntion in asthenia.” \nThe force of these words can be vaguely perceived from what technology \nhas to say today about dynamics\, and from what medicine has to say about \nasthenia. So\, let us read: the power of God reaches its goal in asthenia\, in \nstunted asthenic growth\, in frailty\, therefore in all that is in contrast to what is \nbig\, strong\, healthy\, well formed\, humane\, rational. So\, and only so\, does the \nexplosive power of the Father’s salvific love reveal itself\, passionately driving \nonward to victory in the mystical Christ. “For the foolishness of God is wiser \nthan men\, and the weakness of God is stronger than men…and the base things \nof the world and the despised has God chosen…lest any flesh should pride itself \nbefore him. So that\, just as it is written: ‘Let him who takes pride\, take pride in \nthe Lord’”.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-350/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13908-1757721600-1757807999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St John Chrysostom
DESCRIPTION:ST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM \nFrom “The Fathers of the Church” by Pope Benedict XVI \n◊◊◊ \nSt John Chrysostom was born in Antioch\, Syria\, in 344. His father died \nwhen he was an infant and his mother raised him. He studied with the most \nfamous rhetorician of the day\, Libanus. Baptized as a young adult in 368\, John \nundertook an ascetic life for four years\, living alone on the neighboring Mount \nSilpius. He extended his stay for a further two years\, living alone in a cave under \nthe guidance of an old hermit. \nHaving fallen ill\, he found it impossible to care for himself and returned to \nthe city and was ordained a deacon and then a priest. From 386 to 397 he \npreached in the cathedral at Antioch\, perhaps the most satisfying and happiest \nyears of his life. There he delivered courses of sermons on books of the Bible. \nJohn was nicknamed “Chrysostom”\, that is\, “golden mouthed”\, because of his \neloquence. \nIn 397 he was taken\, almost by force\, to Constantinople\, ordained bishop\, \nand made patriarch of the capitol city. He lived ascetically and showed deep \nconcern for the poor and the sick. But his style of life offended some powerful \npeople\, including the Empress Eudoxia. Theophilus\, the patriarch of \nAlexandria\, was also among his enemies\, and in 403 Theophilus presided at a \nsynod near Constantinople that deposed John. \nJohn was banished twice\, the first time for only a short while. But during \nthe second exile he died on September 14\, 407 while being forced to travel in \nharsh weather. \nJohn is known for a large corpus of homilies\, most of them on Scripture. \nAmong his best known and most read books are the six books On the \nPriesthood.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-john-chrysostom-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:13936-1757808000-1757894399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n24th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nSeptember 14 – 20\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n14\nMon\n15\nTue\n16\nWed\n17\nThu\n18\nFri\n19\nSat\n20\n\n\nOffice\nExaltation of the Holy Cross\nOur Lady of Sorrows\nSS Cornelius & Cyprian\nSt Martin of Finojosa\nWeekday\nWeekday\nSt Andrew Kim & Companions\n\n\nVigils\nIsa 52:13-53:12\n2 Macc 7:20-41\nSong 1:1-17\nSong 2:1-17\nSong 3:1-11\nSong 4:1-5:1\nSong 5:2-6:3\n\n\nLauds\nIsa 45:21-25\nBaruch 4:9b-20\nNahum 2:2-8\nNahum 2:9-14\nNahum 3:1-7\nNahum 3:8-13\nNahum 3:14-19\n\n\nMass\n638\n639\n444\n445\n446\n447\n448\n\n\n1st\nNum 21:4b-9\nHeb 5:7-9\n1 Tim 3:1-13\n1 Tim 3:14-16\n1 Tim 4:12-16\n1 Tim 6:2c-12\n1 Tim 6:13-16\n\n\n2nd\nPhil 2:6-11\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 3:13-17\nJohn 19:25-27\nLuke 7:11-17\nLuke 7:31-35\nLuke 7:36-50\nLuke 8:1-3\nLuke 8:4-15\n\n\nVespers\nGal 6:14-18\n1 Pet 4:12-16\n2 Thess 3:1-10\n2 Thess 3:11-18\n1 Tim 1:1-11\n1 Tim 1:12-20\n1 Tim 2:1-8
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-126/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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