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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260218
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260219
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260215T131315Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260215T131315Z
UID:14612-1771372800-1771459199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Ash Wednesday
DESCRIPTION:WHY WE FAST \nFrom a sermon by St John Chrysostom \n◊◊◊ \nWhy do we fast for forty days? Formerly many believers approached the \nsacraments without any particular preparation\, especially at the time when \nChrist first gave them to us. But when the fathers realized the harm that could \nresult from such neglect\, they took counsel together and decreed that a period of \nforty days of fasting be set aside\, during which the people would meet to pray \nand listen to the word of God. During this Lenten season each of the faithful \nwould undergo a thorough purification by means of prayer\, almsgiving\, fasting\, \nwatching\, repentant tears\, confession\, and every other remedial measure. Then \nwhen they had done all in their power to cleanse their consciences\, they could \napproach the sacraments. \nIt is certain that the fathers did well to use such lenience in their desire to \nestablish us in the habit of fasting. As we know\, we could proclaim a fast \nthroughout the whole year\, and no one would pay any attention. But now\, with a \nset time for fasting of only forty days\, even the most sluggish need no \nexhortation to rouse themselves to undergo it; they accept it as a regular \nobservance and recurring encouragement. \nSo\, when someone asks you why you fast\, you should not answer: because \nof the Passover\, or because of the Cross. Neither of these is the reason for our \nfasting. We fast because of our sins\, since we are preparing to approach the \nsacred mysteries. Moreover\, the Christian Passover is a time for neither fasting \nnor mourning\, but for great joy\, since the Cross destroyed sin and made \nexpiation for the whole world. It reconciled ancient enmities and opened the \ngates of heaven. It made friends of those who had been filled with hatred\, \nrestoring them to the citizenship of heaven. Through the Cross our human \nnature has been set at the right hand of the throne of God\, and we have been \ngranted countless good things besides. Therefore we must not give way to \nmourning or sadness; we must rejoice greatly instead over all these blessings. \nListen to the exultant words of Saint Paul: God forbid that I should boast \nof anything but the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And elsewhere he writes: \nGod shows his own love for us because when we were still sinners Christ died for \nour sake. \nSaint John’s message is the same. God loved the world so much\, he \ndeclares\, and then\, passing over every other manifestation of God’s love\, he \ncomes at once to the crucifixion. God loved the world so much that he gave his \nonly Son\, that is\, he gave him up to be crucified\, so that those who believed in \nhim might not perish but might have eternal life. If\, then\, the Cross has its \nfoundation in love and is our glory\, we must not say we mourn because of the \nCross. Far from it. What we have to mourn over is our own sinfulness\, and that \nis why we fast.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ash-wednesday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260219
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260220
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260215T131439Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260215T131439Z
UID:14614-1771459200-1771545599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Thursday after Ash Wednesday
DESCRIPTION:WE ADORE YOUR CROSS \nBy Aemiliana Löhr \n◊◊◊ \n[Today] the veil is taken off the cross and tearful thanksgiving fills the \nChurch’s voice as she offers the cross to the people and calls out\, “Look upon the \nwood of the cross.” \nThe cross is set up now\, no longer on Mount Calvary in front of the gates \nof that Jerusalem\, but on the altar of the New Jerusalem. No longer is there a \ncrush about it of blaspheming soldiers and Pharisees\, but a reverent assembly of \nGod’s people which still\, in this moment of greatest sadness\, receives a delicate \nanticipation of the joy of resurrection to come\, a sort of consolation from the \ncross. “We adore your cross\, O Lord\, and we praise and glorify your holy \nresurrection; for behold\, through the cross joy came into the whole world.” \nThis is a characteristic of the Church’s deepest attitude\, not only in the \nliturgy\, but in her whole life as well. She goes with the incarnate Lord through \ntime\, carrying the cross with him. Again and again she sees his blood poured out \nby godless people\, and the precious life of God’s anointed done to death; for in \nher members the Lord himself dies. Good Friday goes on for her throughout the \nworld’s age\, and thickest darkness is still before her. But she does not complain \nor flinch; like Jesus\, she makes no complaint. When death comes she dies with a \ncry to God\, certain of the witness she is giving and the life she is to receive. \n[The Church’s] life is a life of carrying the cross\, a continual dying. But her \nvoice is a joyful voice; her liturgy celebrates life. In reality she suffers death but \nlives already in the resurrection. Her food is the food of immortality: the body of \nthe risen Christ. She cannot founder. Rather\, …she stands alone in the decline of \nthis world\, daily subject to death and [yet] daily awakened to life. She prays with \nupraised hands for her murderers\, and in the sign of the cross she calls for joy on \nbehalf of a tortured world. Indeed\, in the posture of her prayer and the complete \noneness she has now with the Lord\, she herself becomes the cross\, and of her\, it \nwill be said till the end of time and eternity\, “Through the cross joy came into the \nwhole world.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-thursday-after-ash-wednesday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260220
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260221
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260215T131656Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260215T131656Z
UID:14617-1771545600-1771631999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Friday after Ash Wednesday
DESCRIPTION:THE UNBOUNDED LOVE \nOF GOD \nFrom “Seasons of Celebration” by Thomas Merton \n◊◊◊ \nIf we look carefully at the famous contrast made by St Paul between the \n“law of God in his mind” and “the law of sin in his body” we will see a little more \nin it than just these two. It is true\, St Paul says he is “delighted with God’s law \naccording to the inner man\,” with his “mind he serves the law of God but with \nhis lower nature the law which allures him to sin”. Ordinarily this text is not \ninterpreted fully. Very often for instance\, we take it to mean that there is nothing \nelse for us but to accept this inevitable conflict\, to try to keep the law of God in \nspite of the bias of concupiscence that draws us toward sin. To accept the \nconflict in a spirit of Christian resignation is all that is required of us as \nChristians. \nDo we not see that this leaves us purely and simply captives of the Law? If \nthis is all there is to it\, then Christ’s victory is not complete in our lives. There is \na third possibility\, and this is the right one. It is the grace of God in Christ our \nLord or\, to be more succinct\, it is Christ himself in us. It is our new life in Christ. \nBy our life of love and hope in Christ we rise above the dilemma and thus resolve \nit. The Christian solution is not merely to continue struggling against \ntemptation in order to live according to the Law. This is nothing new. It is \nexactly what had to be done before the coming of Christ. The Christian is no \nlonger bound by the law of the flesh\, and he is no longer obliged in a spirit of fear \nto keep the Law of God considered as a formal code imposed on him from \nwithout. \nHe may still be tempted by the flesh. He resists temptation and is saved \nnot by various practices and stratagems but by the spiritual force of love itself\, \nand of the new life that is in him. He lives by the “Spirit of him who raised Christ \nJesus from the dead\,” and by that Spirit he “puts to death the deeds prompted \nby the animal instincts\, and so lives. In other words\, it is not dutiful observance \nthat keeps us from sin\, but something far greater: it is love. And this love is not \nsomething which we develop by our own powers alone. It is a sublime gift of the \ndivine mercy\, and the fact that we live in realization of this mercy and this gift is \nthe greatest source of growth for our love and for our holiness. \nThis gift\, this mercy\, this unbounded love of God for us has been lavished \nupon us as a result of Christ’s victory. To taste this love is to share in his victory. \nTo realize our freedom\, to exult in our liberation from death\, from sin and from \nthe Law\, is to sing the Alleluia which truly glorifies God in this world and in the \nworld to come.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-friday-after-ash-wednesday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260221
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260222
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260215T131953Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260215T131953Z
UID:14619-1771632000-1771718399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Saturday after Ash Wednesday
DESCRIPTION:THE MANNER OF KEEPING \nTHE LENTEN OBSERVANCE \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux \n◊◊◊ \nI beseech you\, most dearly beloved\, to enter with all possible fervor upon \nthis Lenten time\, which is commended to us not only by the law of abstinence\, \nbut also and much more by the mystery it contains. Oh\, with what devotion \nshould we observe what has been transmitted to us as an inheritance from the \nrighteous Moses who\, by a special privilege granted to no other prophet\, spoke \nto the Lord face to face. With what eagerness should we embrace a practice \ncommended to us by the example of Elias\, who was taken up to heaven in a fiery \nchariot. \nWe are encouraged to undertake this fast by the example of Moses and \nElias\, who\, illustrious though they may be\, are still our fellow-servants. But \nmuch greater encouragement should be given in the example of our Lord Jesus \nChrist Who also fasted for forty days. What kind of monk\, or even what kind of \nChristian\, would one be who would submit only with reluctance to an \nobservance given to us by Christ?… We ought to imitate His example with all the \nmore fervor knowing that He fasted not for His own sake but for ours… \nThey are clearly in error who suppose that these few days are sufficient for \nthe practice of penance\, since it is obvious that the whole period of our earthly \nlife is ordered for no other purpose. “Seek the Lord\,” says the prophet\, and not \nonly during forty days\, but “while He may be found”. “Call upon Him while He is \nnear”… Therefore since the Lord is near during all this time of mercy\, “seek \nHim\,” most dearly beloved\, “seek Him while He may be found; call upon Him \nwhile He is near.” \nNevertheless we ought to seek Him with greater ardor during these forty \ndays of Lent\, which is not only a part\, but the most sacred part of the whole \nseason of mercy. If\, then\, at other times we have allowed our zeal to grow slack\, \nit is fitting that our hearts should now be warmed with a renewal of spiritual \nfervor. If the stomach alone has sinned\, let the stomach alone fast\, and that \nsuffices. \nBut if the other members have sinned also\, why should they not be made \nto fast as well as the stomach? Therefore let the “eye which has wasted the soul” \nbe made to fast. Let the ear\, too\, be made to fast\, and the tongue\, and the hand\, \nand even the soul herself. Let the eye fast from curious looks\, so that\, \nwholesomely humbled\, it may now be kept in penitential restraint. Let the ear \nfast from news and idle tales and from all that is vain and worthless with regard \nto salvation. Let the tongue fast from detraction and murmuring\, from \nunprofitable\, vain and frivolous words\, and – because of the great importance of \nsilence – sometimes even from words that seem necessary. Let the hand fast \nfrom every work not sanctioned by obedience. \nBut above all\, let the soul fast from vice and the following of her own will. \nFor without this kind of fasting\, all the rest will have no value in the eyes of God. \nFor we read in the prophet Isaiah that when the people said to the Lord: “Why \nhave we fasted and you have not regarded?”\, they received this answer: “Behold \nin the day of your fast your own will is found.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-saturday-after-ash-wednesday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260222
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260223
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260222T102609Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260222T102609Z
UID:14631-1771718400-1771804799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n1st Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nFebruary 22 – 28\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n22\nMon\n23\nTue\n24\nWed\n25\nThu\n26\nFri\n27\nSat\n28\n\n\nOffice\n1st Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nExod 4:1-17\nExod 4:18-31\nExod 5:1-6:1\nExod 6:2-13\, 28-7:7\nExod 7:8-24\nExod 7:25-8:15\nExod 8:16-28\n\n\nLauds\nDeut 4:25-31\nDeut 4:32-40\nDeut 5:1-10\nDeut 5:11-15\nDeut 5:16-22\nDeut 5:32-6:3\nDeut 6:4-9\n\n\nMass\n22\n224\n225\n226\n227\n228\n229\n\n\n1st\nGen 2:7-9; 3:1-7\nLev 19:1-2\, 11-18\nIsa 55:10-11\nJonah 3:1-10\nEsth C:12\, 14-16\, 23-25\nEzek 18:21-28\nDeut 26:16-19\n\n\n2nd\nRom 5:12-19\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 4:1-11\nMatt 25:31-46\nMatt 6:7-15\nLuke 11:29-32\nMatt 7:7-12\nMatt 5:20-26\nMatt 5:43-48\n\n\nVespers\nHeb 2:10-18\nHeb 3:1-6\nHeb 3:7-13\nHeb 3:14-19\nHeb 4:1-11\nHeb 4:12-16\nHeb 5:1-10
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-146/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260222
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260223
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260222T102802Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260222T102802Z
UID:14633-1771718400-1771804799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 1st Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT \nFrom a commentary by St Gregory Nazianzen \n◊◊◊ \nWe must not expect baptism to free us from the temptations of our \npersecutor. The body that concealed him made even the Word of God a target \nfor the enemy; his assumption of a visible form made even the invisible light an \nobject of attack. Nevertheless\, since we have at hand the means of overcoming \nour enemy\, we must have no fear of the struggle. Flaunt in his face the water and \nthe Spirit. In them will be extinguished all the flaming darts of the evil one. \nSuppose the tempter makes us feel the pinch of poverty\, as he did even to \nChrist\, and taking advantage of our hunger\, talks of turning stones into bread: \nwe must not be taken in by him\, but let him learn what he has still not grasped. \nRefute him with the word of life\, with the word which is the bread sent down \nfrom heaven and that gives life to the world. \nHe may try to ensnare us through our vanity\, as he tried to ensnare Christ \nwhen he set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said: “Prove your divinity: \nthrow yourself down.” Let us beware of succumbing to pride\, for the tempter \nwill by no means stop at one success. He is never satisfied and is always \npursuing us. Often he beguiles us with something good and useful\, but its end is \nalways evil. That is simply his method of waging war. \nWe also know how well-versed the devil is in Scripture. When Christ \nanswered the temptation to turn stones into bread with a rebuke from Scripture \nbeginning: It is written\, the devil countered with the same words\, tempting \nChrist to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. For it is written \nhe quoted\, he will give his angels charge of you\, and on their hands they will \nbear you up. O past master of all evil\, why suppress the verse that follows? You \ndid not finish the quotation\, but I know full well what it means: that we shall \ntread on you as on an adder or a cobra; protected by the Trinity\, we shall trample \non you as on serpents or scorpions. \nIf the tempter tried to overthrow us through our greed\, showing us at one \nglance all the kingdoms of the world – as if they belonged to him – and \ndemanding that we fall down and worship him\, we should despise him\, for we \nknow him to be a penniless impostor. Strong in our baptism\, each of us can say: \n“I too am made in the image of God\, but unlike you\, I have not yet become an \noutcast from heaven through my pride. I have put on Christ; by my baptism I \nhave become one with him. It is you that should fall down before me.” At these \nwords he can only surrender and retire in shame; as he retreated before Christ\, \nthe light of the world\, so he will depart from those illumined by that light. Such \nare the gifts conferred by baptism on those who understand its power; such the \nrich banquet it lays before those who hunger for the things of the Spirit.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-1st-sunday-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260223
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260224
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260222T103220Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260222T103220Z
UID:14635-1771804800-1771891199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A COMMON SHARING OF \nCHRIST’S CROSS \nFrom a sermon by St Leo the Great \n◊◊◊ \nAmong all the Christian solemnities the Paschal Mystery holds chief \nplace\, dearly beloved; for this the practices of the whole preceding year prepare \nus to worthily and rightly celebrate it. But earnest devotion is required of us \nespecially in these days which are close to this most sublime mystery of the \ndivine mercy. So it was right that the holy Apostles\, inspired by the Holy Spirit\, \nshould ordain that during these days we are to observe severer fasts\, so that we \nalso\, by a common sharing of Christ’s Cross\, might suffer a little of what He \nendured for us\, as the Apostle says: “If we suffer with him\, we shall also be \nglorified with him”. For where there is a sharing of the passion of the Lord\, \nthere is a sure and certain expectation of our promised happiness. \nThere is no one\, dearly beloved\, to whom\, because of the state of times\, \nthis fellowship of glory is denied\, as though the tranquility of peace gave us no \nopportunity for the practice of heroic virtue! For the Apostle foretold that “all \nwho live godly lives in Christ Jesus\, shall suffer persecutions”. So where people \nlive in Christ there shall be no lack of trials or persecutions. The Lord Himself \nsays to us: “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me\, is not worthy of \nme”. Nor should we doubt that these words were directed not only to the \ndisciples of Christ\, but also to all the faithful who are all taught unto salvation. \nAnd as at all times we must live worthily\, so at all times we must bear the \nCross\, which for each one is rightly called his or her own\, for it is borne by each \none in his own way and measure. Iniquity does not dwell in peace with virtue; \ndrunkenness hates sobriety; falsehood has nothing in common with \ntruthfulness. And this division awakens such enduring conflicts that though it \nmay outwardly seem to subside\, yet never does it cease from disturbing the \ninmost soul of the just of heart\, so that it is indeed true that “all who will live \ngodly in Christ Jesus\, shall suffer persecutions”; and true as well that all this life \nis a warfare. Let each faithful soul\, learning from his own experiences\, arm \nhimself with the Cross of Christ\, that he may be found worthy of Christ. \nSo now I wish to awaken your devotion in regard to what this holy season \nrequires of us: that you beautify your holy and salutary fasting with works of \npiety. And since we are especially to labor for the pardon of our sins\, you can be \nassured of the unfailing divine mercy if you likewise in your dealings with others \nchange every offense into pardon… \nFor no matter how great the offenses between one person and another… \nwe share a common nature; so that with what mercy we judge another\, we shall \nobtain mercy from God. For “blessed are the merciful\, for they shall obtain \nmercy” from God.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-398/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260224
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260225
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260222T103340Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260222T103340Z
UID:14637-1771891200-1771977599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE RAYS SHINING \nFROM THE THORNS \nFrom a commentary by St Gregory of Nyssa \n◊◊◊ \nLet us\, like Moses\, live a solitary life\, no longer entangled with adversaries \nor mediating between them. Let us live among those of like mind who are fed by \nus\, while all the movements of our soul are led by reason like sheep by their \nshepherd. Then\, as we are living at peace\, the truth will shine upon us and its \nradiance will illuminate the eyes of our soul. \nNow this truth is God. Once in an ineffable and mysterious vision it \nmanifested itself to Moses\, and it is not without significance for us that the \nflame from which the soul of the Prophet was illuminated was kindled from a \nthorn-bush. \nIf truth is God and if it is also light – two of the sublime and sacred \nepithets by which the Gospel describes the God who manifested himself to us in \nthe flesh – it follows that a virtuous life will lead us to a knowledge of that light \nwhich descended to the level of our human nature. It is not from some luminary \nset among the stars that it sheds its radiance\, which might then be thought to \nhave a material origin\, but from a bush on the earth\, although it outshines the \nstars of heaven. \nThis also symbolizes the mystery of the Virgin\, from whom came the \ndivine light that shone upon the world without damaging the bush from which it \nemanated or allowing the virgin shoot to wither. This light teaches us what we \nmust do to stand in the rays of the true light\, and that it is impossible with our \nfeet in shackles to run toward the mountain where the light of truth appears. We \nhave first to free the feet of our soul from the covering of dead skins in which our \nnature was clad in the beginning when it disobeyed God’s will and was left \nnaked. \nTo know that which is\, we must purify our minds of assumptions \nregarding things which are not. In my opinion the definition of truth is an \nunerring comprehension of that which is. He who is immutable\, who does not \nincrease or diminish\, who is subject to no change for better or worse\, but is \nperfectly self-sufficient; he who alone is desirable\, in whom all else participates \nwithout causing in him any diminution\, he indeed is that which truly is\, and to \ncomprehend him is to know the truth. \nIt is he whom Moses approached and whom today all approach who like \nMoses free themselves from their earthly coverings and look toward the light \ncoming from the bramble bush\, at the ray shining on us from the thorns\, which \nstand for the flesh\, for as the Gospel says\, that ray is the real light and the truth. \nThen such people will also be able to help others find salvation. They will be \ncapable of destroying the forces of evil and of restoring those enslaved by them \nto liberty.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-399/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260225
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260226
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260222T103501Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260222T103501Z
UID:14639-1771977600-1772063999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A PHYSICIAN OF SOULS \nFrom the Philokalia of Origen \n◊◊◊ \nNearly all readers of the Book of Exodus\, both believers and unbelievers\, \nare disturbed at the frequently occurring words\, The Lord hardened the heart \nof Pharaoh\, and\, I will harden the heart of Pharaoh. For among many other \ncauses of men’s disbelief we must include this: that things unworthy of God are \nspoken about God; and it is unworthy of God to bring about the hardening of \nany man’s heart so that he may disobey the will of him who hardens. \nFor readers who are convinced that there is no other God but the \nCreator think that God arbitrarily has mercy on whom he will have mercy\, \nand hardens whom he will\, when there is no reason why this should be so. \nOthers\, better advised than these\, say they look upon Scripture as \ncontaining many secrets\, and do not on that account turn aside from the \nsound faith. One of the secrets they hold to be the true account of this \nportion of Scripture. Others\, alleging that there is a God other than the \nCreator\, will have him to be just but not good\, very foolishly and impiously \ngoing the length of severing righteousness from goodness. \nFor ourselves\, we are convinced\, as we study the sacred Scriptures and \ncontemplate creation with its evidence of orderly design\, that things visible and \ninvisible\, things temporal and things eternal\, come from God the Creator\, who \nis the same with the Father of our Lord and Saviour\, the good and just and wise \nGod. In handling the Scriptures we strive to keep that steadily in view\, begging \nGod our Saviour to show us all things pertaining to a good and just and wise \nGod\, for we suppose that the things we speak of cannot be regarded\, at least \nby intelligent beings\, as the result of chance\, but that we must ask ourselves \nwhether they are consistent with his goodness and justice and wisdom… \nThe Word of God is a physician of souls and uses the most diverse \nmethods of healing the sick. Some of these methods of healing give pain and \ntorment to those who are under treatment\, some act speedily and some slowly. \nThe whole of inspired Scripture abounds in proofs of each of these statements. \nThe God who designed souls knows all their different constitutions\, and\, \nbecause he is an expert in the art of healing\, it is for him alone to say what is \nbest to be done for each\, and when.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-400/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260226
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260227
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260222T103628Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260222T103628Z
UID:14641-1772064000-1772150399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE BOND OF LOVE \nFrom a sermon by St Leo the Great \n◊◊◊ \nAmong all the days which Christian devotion holds honorable in many \nways\, there is none more excellent than the Paschal Feast\, through which the \ndignity of all the solemnities in the Church of God is consecrated. Even the very \nbirth of our Lord from a human mother is credited to this mystery\, for there was \nno other reason for the Son of God to be born than that he could be fixed to a \ncross. Our mortal flesh was taken up in the womb of a Virgin\, and in this mortal \nflesh the unfolding of his Passion was accomplished. Thus the mercy of God \nfulfilled a plan too deep for words: Christ’s humanity became for us a sacrifice of \nredemption\, the destruction of sin\, and the firstfruits of resurrection to eternal \nlife. \nWhen we consider what the entire world owes to our Lord’s Cross\, we \nrealize our need to prepare for the celebration of Easter by a fast of forty days if \nwe are to take part worthily in these sacred mysteries. It is not only the highest \nbishops or the priests of the second order\, nor the ministers who administer the \nsacraments alone\, but the whole body of the Church and the entire company of \nthe faithful who must be purified\, so that in the Temple of God\, whose \nfoundation is its Founder himself\, every stone may be beautiful and all parts \nradiant. \nIf it is reasonable to embellish a king’s palace or governor’s residence with \nevery ornamental art\, so that the greater a person’s importance the more \nsplendid his dwelling\, what zeal ought to be expended in building the House of \nGod himself\, and how distinguished should be its furnishing! No doubt such a \ntask can be neither undertaken nor completed without the architect; \nnevertheless the builder of the house has given it the power to grow in stature \nthrough its own efforts. In the building of this Temple living and intelligent \nmaterials are being used\, which of their own free will assemble themselves into \na single structure at the prompting of the Spirit of grace. There was a time when \nthey neither loved God nor sought him; but he loved and sought them so that \nthey might begin to love and seek him in return. This is what the blessed apostle \nJohn speaks of when he says: Let us love God\, for he first loved us. \nSince therefore the entire company of the faithful and each believer in \nparticular form one and the same Temple of God\, there must be the same \nperfection in each individual as there is in the whole; for even if all are not \nalike in beauty nor is there equal merit in such a diversity of membership\, yet \nthe bond of love ensures communion of beauty among them all. While those \nwho are united in holy love may not all have received the same gifts of grace\, \nthey rejoice nonetheless in their mutual blessings. Nothing that they love can \nbe wanting to them\, for they become rich in their own increase when they \nrejoice in another’s progress.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-401/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260227
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260228
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260222T103732Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260222T103732Z
UID:14643-1772150400-1772236799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A FORESHADOW OF \nTHE GRACE TO COME \nFrom the treatise on the Holy Spirit by St Basil the Great \n◊◊◊ \nThe type manifests things to come by imitating them\, foreshadowing \nfuture events in order to make them understood. For example\, Adam was a \ntype of the One who was to come\, the rock was a type of Christ\, and the water \nthat flowed from the rock was a type of the life-giving power of the Word\, for the \nLord said: If anyone is thirsty\, let him come to me and drink. The manna \ntypified the living bread that came down from heaven and the serpent fixed to \nthe pole typified the saving Passion consummated upon the Cross\, which is why \nall who looked at it were saved. \nSimilarly\, the reason the story is told of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt \nis that they prefigure those who are saved by baptism. The firstborn of the \nIsraelites were saved in the same way as are the bodies of the baptized\, since \ngrace was given to those marked by the blood. For the blood of the lamb was a \nsymbol of the first man who was created and who of necessity still exists in us\, \ntransmitted through succeeding generations until the end of the world. \nThe sea and the cloud had the immediate effect of producing faith because \nof the amazement they aroused\, but in relation to the future they were types \nforeshadowing the grace to come. Who is wise enough to understand these \nthings\, to understand how the sea is a type of baptism because it separated the \nIsraelites from Pharaoh just as baptism separates us from the tyranny of the \ndevil? \nIn its waters the sea destroyed the enemy and in baptism is slain our \nenmity with God. From those waters the people emerged unharmed\, and we \nemerge from the waters of baptism as though we had died and come to life \nagain\, saved by the grace of him who called us. As for the cloud\, that \nforeshadowed the gift of the Spirit\, who cools the heat of the passions by the \nmortification of our body.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-402/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260228
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260301
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260222T103839Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260222T103839Z
UID:14645-1772236800-1772323199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:OUR PART IN THE PASSOVER \nFrom a homily by St Gregory Nazianzen \n◊◊◊ \nWe are soon going to share in the Passover\, and although we still do so \nonly in a symbolic way\, the symbolism already has more clarity than it \npossessed in former times\, because under the law\, the Passover was\, if I may \ndare to say so\, only a symbol of a symbol. Before long\, however\, when the Word \ndrinks the new wine with us in the kingdom of his Father\, we shall be keeping \nthe Passover in a yet more perfect way and with deeper understanding. He will \nthen reveal to us and make clear what he has so far only partially disclosed. For \nthis wine\, so familiar to us now\, is eternally new. It is for us to learn what this \ndrinking is\, and for him to teach us. He has to communicate this knowledge to \nhis disciples\, because teaching is food\, even for the teacher. \nSo let us take our part in the Passover prescribed by the law\, not in a literal \nway\, but according to the teaching of the Gospel; not in an imperfect way\, but \nperfectly; not only for a time\, but eternally. Let us regard as our home the \nheavenly Jerusalem\, not the earthly one\, the city glorified by angels\, not the one \nlaid waste by armies. We are not required to sacrifice young bulls or rams\, \nbeasts with horns and hoofs that are more dead than alive and devoid of feeling; \nbut instead let us join the choirs of angels in offering God upon his heavenly \naltar a sacrifice of praise. \nWe must now pass through the first veil and approach the second\, turning \nour eyes toward the Holy of Holies. I will say more: we must sacrifice ourselves \nto God each day and in everything we do\, accepting all that happens to us for the \nsake of the Word\, imitating his passion by our sufferings\, and honoring his \nblood by shedding our own. We must be ready to be crucified. \nIf you are a Simon of Cyrene\, take up your cross and follow Christ. If you \nare crucified beside him like one of the thieves\, now\, like the good thief\, \nacknowledge your God. For your sake\, and because of your sin\, Christ himself \nwas regarded as a sinner; for his sake\, therefore\, you must cease to sin. Worship \nhim who hung on the cross because of you\, even if you are hanging there \nyourself. Derive some benefit from the very shame; purchase salvation with \nyour death. Enter paradise with Jesus\, and discover how far you have fallen. \nContemplate the glories there\, and leave the other scoffing thief to die outside in \nhis blasphemy. \nIf you are a Joseph of Arimathea\, go to the one who ordered his \ncrucifixion\, and ask for Christ’s body. Make your own the expiation for the \nsins of the whole world. If you are a Nicodemus\, like the man who worshiped \nGod by night\, bring spices and prepare Christ’s body for burial. If you are one \nof the Mary’s or Salome or Joanna\, weep in the early morning. Be the first to \nsee the stone rolled back\, and even the angels perhaps\, and Jesus himself.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-403/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260301
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260302
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260301T122159Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260301T122159Z
UID:14656-1772323200-1772409599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n2nd Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 1 – 7\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n1\nMon\n2\nTue\n3\nWed\n4\nThu\n5\nFri\n6\nSat\n7\n\n\nOffice\n2nd Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nExod 9:1-12\nExod 9:13-35\nExod 10:1-20\nExod 10:21-11:10\nExod 12:1-20\nExod 12:21-36\nExod 12:37-51\n\n\nLauds\nDeut 6:10-15\nDeut 6:16-19\nDeut 6:20-25\nDeut 7:1-6\nDeut 7:7-11\nDeut 7:12-15\nDeut 7:16-21\n\n\nMass\n25\n230\n231\n232\n233\n234\n235\n\n\n1st\nGen 12:1-4a\nDan 9:4b-10\nIsa 1:10\, 16-20\nJer 18:18-20\nJer 17:5-10\nGen 37:3-4\, 12-13a\, 17b-28a\nMic 7:14-15\, 18-20\n\n\n2nd\n2 Tim 1:8b-10\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 17:1-9\nLuke 6:36-38\nMatt 23:1-12\nMatt 20:17-28\nLuke 16:19-31\nMatt 21:33-43\, 45-46\nLuke 15:1-3\, 11-32\n\n\nVespers\nHeb 6:1-8\nHeb 6:13-20\nHeb 7:17-28\nHeb 8:1-6\nHeb 8:7-13\nHeb 9:1-10\nHeb 9:11-14
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-147/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260301
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260302
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260301T122531Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260301T122531Z
UID:14658-1772323200-1772409599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 2nd Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:THE JUST SHALL SHINE \nLIKE THE SUN \nFrom a commentary by St Leo the Great \n◊◊◊ \nIn the presence of chosen witnesses\, the Lord unveils his glory\, investing \nwith such splendor that bodily appearance which he shares with the rest of the \nhuman race that his face shines like the sun and his clothes become white as \nsnow. \nThe primary purpose of this transfiguration was to remove the scandal of \nthe cross from the hearts of Christ’s disciples; the greatness of his hidden glory \nwas revealed to them to prevent their faith being shaken by the self-abasement \nof the suffering he was voluntarily to undergo. In his foresight\, however\, he was \nalso laying the foundations of the Church’s hope\, teaching the whole body of \nChrist the nature of the change it is to receive\, and schooling his members to \nlook forward to a share of the glory which had already shone forth in their head. \nThe Lord had told them of this when he spoke of his coming in majesty: \nThen shall the just shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The blessed \napostle Paul bears witness to the same thing: I consider that the sufferings of \nthis present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed \nin us. And again: You have died\, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. \nWhen Christ who is your life appears\, then you will appear with him in glory. \nStill further instruction was to come from the transfiguration to fortify the \napostles and perfect their understanding. Moses and Elijah\, representing the \nlaw and the prophets. appeared in conversation with the Lord. Thus through the \npresence of these five men the saying was fulfilled: On the evidence of two or \nthree witnesses every word shall stand. What could be more firmly established \nthan that the Word in whose proclamation the trumpets of Old and New \nTestaments sound in unison\, and the writings of ancient witnesses are in perfect \naccord with the teaching of the gospel? The pages of both covenants agree with \none another. He who had been promised beforehand by mysteriously veiled \nsigns was now revealed clearly and distinctly in the radiance of his glory\, as St \nJohn says: The Law was given by Moses\, but grace and truth have come \nthrough Jesus Christ. In Christ what was promised by prophetic figures and \nwhat was signified by legal precepts are alike fulfilled\, for by his presence he \nteaches the truth of the prophecies\, and by grace he makes it possible for us to \nobey the commandments. \nMay we all therefore be confirmed in our faith through the preaching of \nthe holy Gospel\, and let no one be ashamed of the cross by which Christ has \nredeemed the world. None of us must be afraid to suffer for the sake of justice or \ndoubt the fulfillment of the prophecies\, for it is through toil that we come to rest \nand through death that we pass to life. If we continue in the acknowledgment \nand love of Christ who took upon himself all the weakness of our lowly nature\, \nwhat he conquered we too shall conquer\, and the promise he gave us we shall \nreceive. So then\, whether it is to encourage us to obey his commands or to \nendure hardships\, let the Father’s voice always be ringing in our ears and telling \nus: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; Listen to him.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-2nd-sunday-of-lent-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260302
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260303
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260301T122643Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260301T122643Z
UID:14660-1772409600-1772495999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:FROM THE WEST TO THE EAST \nFrom the catechesis of St Cyril of Jerusalem \n◊◊◊ \nI long ago desired\, true born and dearly beloved children of the Church\, to \nspeak to you concerning these spiritual and heavenly mysteries in which you \ncame to participate. Knowing well that seeing is far more persuasive than \nhearing\, I waited until now with the hope of finding you more open to the \ninfluence of my words from the actions you experience. Thus I might take and \nlead you to the brighter and more fragrant meadow of this present paradise\, \nespecially as you have been made fit to receive the more sacred mysteries and \nhave been counted worthy of divine and life-giving baptism. \nOn that evening of your baptism you entered into the outer hall of the \nBaptistry\, and there facing toward the west you heard the command to stretch \nforth your hand\, and as in the presence of Satan\, you renounced him. This figure \nis found in ancient history. For when Pharaoh\, that most cruel and ruthless \ntyrant\, oppressed the free and royal people of the Hebrews\, God sent Moses to \nbring them out of the evil grip of the Egyptians. Then the doorposts were \nanointed with the blood of the lamb that the destroyer might flee from the \nhouses which had the sign of the blood. And the Hebrew people were \nmarvelously delivered. The enemy\, however\, after their rescue\, pursued them\, \nand saw the sea wondrously parted for them. Nevertheless he went on\, \nfollowing in their footsteps and was all at once overwhelmed and engulfed in the \nRed Sea. \nNow turn from the ancient to the recent\, from the figure to the reality. \nThere\, we have Moses sent from God to Egypt; here\, Christ sent by his Father \ninto the world. There\, that Moses might lead forth an oppressed people out of \nEgypt; here\, that Christ might rescue mankind who is overwhelmed with sins. \nThere\, the blood of a lamb was the spell against the destroyer; here\, the blood of \nthe unblemished Lamb Jesus Christ is made the charm to scare evil spirits. \nThere\, the tyrant pursued even to the sea that ancient people; and in like \nmanner this daring and shameless spirit\, the author of evil\, followed you\, even \nto the very streams of salvation. The tyrant of old was drowned in the sea; and \nthis present one disappears in the saving water. \nWhat then did each of you standing up say? ‘I renounce Satan’\, meaning ‘I \nfear your power no longer\, for Christ has overthrown it\, having partaken with \nme of flesh and blood\, that through these he might by death destroy death that I \nmight not for ever be subject to bondage. I renounce you\, you crafty and most \nsubtle serpent. I renounce you\, plotter as you are\, who under the guise of \nfriendship brought about disobedience and the apostasy of our first parents. I \nrenounce you\, Satan\, the source of all wickedness.’ \nWhen you renounced Satan\, utterly breaking all covenants with him\, that \nancient connection with hell\, there is opened to you the paradise of God\, which \nhe planted toward the east\, where for his transgression our first father was \nexiled. Symbolic of this was your turning from the west to the east\, the place of \nlight. Then you were told to say: I believe in the Father\, and in the Son\, and in \nthe Holy Spirit\, and in one baptism of repentance.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-404/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260303
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260304
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260301T122745Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260301T122745Z
UID:14662-1772496000-1772582399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE FOOD OF THE SPIRIT \nFrom a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria \n◊◊◊ \nWe shall think of the manna as a figure foreshadowing the teaching and \nthe spiritual gifts of Christ. These also are from heaven\, and have nothing \nearthly about them. They produce no physical nausea\, and are real food not only \nof men but of angels as well. \nIn his own person the Son has revealed the Father to us\, and through the \nSon we have come to believe the teaching about the holy and consubstantial \nTrinity\, and have been well and truly guided into all the paths of virtue. The \northodox and unadulterated knowledge of these things is the food of the spirit. \nTo the people of old the manna was given at dawn\, as the light began to \nshine\, because the wealth of Christ’s teaching would be distributed so to speak \nby daylight The day has dawned upon us who believe\, as Scripture says; the \nmorning star has risen in all our hearts\, and the Sun of Righteousness\, Christ\, \nthe giver of spiritual manna\, has appeared. \nFrom his own words to the Jews we can be certain that Christ himself is \nthe true manna\, and the material manna was but an image: Your ancestors ate \nmanna in the desert and they died. This is the bread that comes down from \nheaven so that anyone who eats it may never die. I am the living bread come \ndown from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. The bread I shall \ngive is my flesh which I shall give for the life of the world. \nOur Lord Jesus Christ nourishes us for eternal life both by his commands\, \nwhich teach us how to live holy lives\, and by the Eucharist. In himself\, therefore\, \nhe is truly the divine\, life-giving manna. Anyone who eats it will be exempt from \ncorruption and will escape death\, unlike those who ate the material manna. The \ntype had no power to save\, but was merely an imitation of the reality. \nGod sent down manna like rain from above\, and ordered everyone to \ngather as much as necessary\, those who shared a tent gathering together if they \nwished. Gather it\, each of you\, he said\, with those who share your tent. Let \nnone of it be left over till the morning. That is to say\, we must fill ourselves \nwith the divine teaching of the Gospel.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-405/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260304
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260305
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260301T122846Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260301T122846Z
UID:14664-1772582400-1772668799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE LIFTING UP \nOF HIS HANDS \nFrom a sermon by St Aelred of Rievaulx \n◊◊◊ \nWe read in the Old Testament that\, after the people of Israel left Egypt \nwith Moses at their head\, the Amalekites\, a savage race\, came and did battle \nagainst them. Moses sent an army against them\, while he himself went up on to \na mountain to pray for them and raised his hands to the Lord. And it came to \npass that while he kept his hands raised\, the people of Israel were triumphant \nbut whenever he lowered his hands Amalek started to win. Why was it\, do you \nthink\, that the raising of his hands possessed such grace? Without doubt God \nusually takes more account of the attachments of the mind than of the postures \nof the body. \nWhy was it then? Did his prayer have no effect before God unless he raised \nhis hands? That lifting up of his hands had such an effect that their enemies \ncould not withstand the Israelites. The reason why this lifting up of hands had \nsuch force was that it signified the raising of the hands of him who said in the \npsalm\, The lifting up of my hands is like an evening sacrifice. For\, when evening \nhad already come upon the world\, his sweetest hands were stretched out on the \nCross and there was offered up that evening sacrifice that took away the sins of \nthe whole world. \nSo that raising of Moses’ hands signified the Passion of our Lord Jesus \nChrist who went up on to a mountain to pray because he ascended into heaven \nto plead our cause with the Father. There he lifts up his hands so that Amalek – \nthat is\, the devil – will not be able to vanquish us. For there he appears in God’s \nsight on our behalf and represents to him the Passion that he underwent for us. \nAs for us\, brothers\, as long as we are in this wretched life which is a trial \nupon earth\, as long as our fight is against the principalities and powers\, \nagainst the rulers of the dark things of the world\, against the spiritual \nforces of evil in the heavens\, we need to have our Lord lifting up his hands \nwithin us – that is to say\, the remembrance of his Passion should be continually \npresent in our minds. We can be quite sure\, my brothers\, that as long as the \nmemory of his Passion is in our heart\, as long as our hope is directed to where C \nhrist is pleading our cause at the right hand of the Father\, the spiritual \nAmalek – that is\, the devil – will not be able to vanquish us. \nAnd therefore\, my brothers\, let us see that this attachment\, this \nremembrance\, does not through some negligence on our part grow lukewarm in \nus. For then we shall immediately grow faint and our enemy will gain the upper \nhand and cause us distress.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-406/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260305
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260306
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260301T123152Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260301T123152Z
UID:14666-1772668800-1772755199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:HUMILITY AND PATIENCE \nFrom “The Institutes” of John Cassian \n◊◊◊ \nWhoever seeks to be received into the discipline of the cenobium is never \nadmitted until\, by lying outside for ten days or more\, he has given an indication \nof his perseverance and desire\, as well as of his humility and patience. \nWhen a person has been admitted\, has been tested in the perseverance \nabout which we have spoken\, and has put aside his own garments and been \nclothed in the monastic habit\, he is not permitted to join the community of the \nbrothers immediately but is assigned to an elder who dwells not very far from \nthe entrance of the monastery and is responsible for being hospitable to trav- \nellers and strangers. And when he has served for a full year there and has \nwithout any complaining waited upon travellers\, having in this way been \nexposed to his first training in humility and patience\, and he is about to be \nadmitted from this to the community of the brothers\, he is given over to another \nelder who is responsible for ten younger men\, who have been entrusted to him \nby the Abba… \nThe chief concern and instruction of this man\, whereby the young man \nwho was brought to him may be able to ascend even to the loftiest heights of \nperfection\, will be\, first of all\, to teach him to conquer his desires. In order to \nexercise him assiduously and diligently in this respect\, he will purposely see to it \nthat he always demands of him things that he would consider repulsive. For\, \ntaught by numerous experiences\, they declare that a monk\, and especially the \nyounger men\, cannot restrain their yearning for pleasure unless they have first \nlearned to mortify their desires through obedience. And so they assert that \nsomeone who has not first learned to overcome his desires can never extinguish \nanger or sadness or the spirit of fornication\, nor can he maintain true humility \nof heart or unbroken unity with his brothers or a solid and enduring peace\, nor \ncan he even stay in the cenobium for any length of time. \nWith these institutes\, then\, as with the rudiments of the alphabet\, they \ninitiate those whom they strive to direct toward perfection. In this way they \ndiscern clearly whether they are grounded in a humility that is deceptive and \nimaginary or in one that is real. In order to be able to arrive easily at this\, they \nare then taught never\, through a hurtful shame\, to hide any of the wanton \nthoughts in their hearts but to reveal them to their elder as soon as they surface\, \nnor to judge them in accordance with their own discretion but to credit them \nwith badness or goodness as the elder’s examination discloses and makes clear. \nThus the clever foe is never able to get the better of a young man when he \nsees that he is protected not by his own but by his elder’s discretion. Indeed\, the \ndevil in all his slyness will not be able to deceive or cast down a young man \nunless he induces him\, either by haughtiness or by embarrassment\, to cover up \nhis thoughts. For they declare that it is an invariable and clear sign that a \nthought is from the devil if we are ashamed to disclose it to an elder.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-407/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260306
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260307
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260301T123316Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260301T123316Z
UID:14668-1772755200-1772841599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE LUMINOUS DARKNESS \nFrom “The Life of Moses” by St Gregory of Nyssa \n◊◊◊ \nMoses entered into the darkness and there he saw God. What does this \nsignify? This present account seems in a way to contradict that of the first \ntheophany. Then God appeared in light\, but now he appears in darkness. Yet we \nmust not imagine this to be at variance with our normal experience of spiritual \ncontemplation. By this statement the text teaches us that religious knowledge is \nfirst experienced as light. All that is seen to be opposed to religion is darkness\, \nand darkness vanishes when we receive the light. \nBut the more the mind advances and by ever increasing and more perfect \napplication attains an intellectual comprehension of realities and approaches \ncontemplation\, the more clearly it sees that the divine nature is invisible. \nHaving left behind all appearances\, not only those perceived by the senses but \nalso those the intellect seems to see\, it plunges ever deeper within itself\, until by \nspiritual effort it penetrates to the invisible and the unknowable\, and there it \nsees God. \nThis is the true knowledge of what is sought; this is the seeing that \nconsists in not seeing\, because that which is sought transcends all knowledge\, \nbeing separated on all sides by incomprehensibility as by a kind of darkness. \nThis is why John the contemplative\, who had penetrated this luminous \ndarkness\, said that no one had ever seen God\, declaring by this negation that the \ndivine essence is beyond the reach not only of men but of every rational nature \nas well. \nAnd so\, when Moses had advanced in knowledge he declared that he saw \nGod in the darkness\, or in other words that he recognized that the Divinity is \nessentially that which transcends all knowledge and which no mind can \napprehend. The text says: Moses entered into the darkness where God was. \nWhat God? He who has made the darkness his covering\, as David declared\, \nwho had himself been initiated into the divine mysteries in that same sanctuary. \nWhen Moses arrived there\, he was taught by word what he had formerly learned \nfrom darkness\, so that\, I think\, the doctrine on this matter may be made more \nfirm for us by the witness of the divine voice. The divine word at the beginning \nforbade that the Divine be likened to any of the things known by men\, since \nevery concept which comes from some comprehensible image constitutes an \nidol of God and does not proclaim God.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-408/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
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UID:14670-1772841600-1772927999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:LOVE GOD AND NEIGHBOUR \nFrom a sermon by St Augustine of Hippo \n◊◊◊ \nMake it up with your adversary while he is with you on the road. This life \nis called a road\, along which everybody travels. And this adversary does not go \naway. But who is this adversary? This adversary is not the devil\, for Scripture \nwould never urge you to come to an agreement with the devil. So who is this \nadversary? It is the word of God. Why is it your adversary? Because it \ncommands things against the grain which you do not do. It tells you: Your God \nis one; worship one God. \nWhat you want is to put away the one God who is like the lawful husband \nof your soul and go fornicating\, and what is much more serious\, not openly \ndeserting and repudiating him as apostates do\, but remaining in your husband’s \nhouse and letting in adulterers. That is\, as if you were a Christian you do not \nleave the Church but you consult astrologers or sorcerers. \nYou are told\, Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain and you \nare told to observe the Sabbath in a spiritual way\, in hope of the future rest \nwhich the Lord has promised you. Whoever does whatever he can for the sake of \nthat future rest\, even though what he is doing seems toilsome\, nonetheless he \nalready has the Sabbath in hope\, though he does not yet have it in fact. But as for \nyou\, the reason you want to rest is in order to work\, whereas you ought to be \nworking in order to rest. \nYou are told\, Honour your father and your mother. You heap insults on \nyour parents\, which you certainly do not want to endure from your children. \nYou are told\, You shall not kill. But you want to kill your enemy; and the only \nreason you do not do it is that you are afraid of the human judge. Do you not \nrealize that God is the witness of your thoughts? The man you want dead is alive\, \nbut God holds you to be a murderer in your heart. \nYou were singing earlier on: O God\, I will sing you a new song\, on a harp \nof ten strings I will play to you. Now I am strumming these ten strings. You see\, \nthe decalogue of the Law has ten commandments. These ten commandments \nare arranged in such a way that three refer to God and seven refer to men. \nCommandments on three strings refer to God. But to the other commandment\, \nthat is\, the love of neighbour\, seven strings refer to how people should live \ntogether. This series of seven\, like seven strings\, begins with the honouring of \nparents: Honour your father and your mother… Let us join these to those three \nthat refer to love of God\, if we wish to sing the new song to the harp of the ten \nstrings. \nThe ten commandments are reducible to those two commandments\, that \nwe should love God and our neighbour\, and these two to the one we are looking \nfor: What you do not want done to you\, do not do to another. There the ten are \ncontained\, and there also are contained the two. Sing to the harp of ten strings\, \nsing a new song\, and come to an agreement with the word of God\, while it is with \nyou on the road.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-409/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260308T030739Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T030739Z
UID:14676-1772928000-1773014399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema Third Week of Lent
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n3rd Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 8 – 14\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n8\nMon\n9\nTue\n10\nWed\n11\nThu\n12\nFri\n13\nSat\n14\n\n\nOffice\n3rd Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nExod 13:1-16\nExod 13:17-14:9\nExod 14:10-31\nExod 15:1-21\nExod 15:22-16:15\nExod 16:16-35\nExod 17:1-16\n\n\nLauds\nDeut 8:1-6\nDeut 8:7-14\nDeut 9:1-6\nDeut 9:7-13\nDeut 9:15-21\nDeut 9:22-29\nDeut 10:12-22\n\n\nMass\n28\n237\n238\n239\n240\n241\n242\n\n\n1st\nExod 17:3-7\n2 Kgs 5:1-15a\nDan 3:25\, 34-43\nDeut 4:1\, 5-9\nJer 7:23-28\nHos 14:2-10\nHos 6:1-6\n\n\n2nd\nRom 5:1-2\, 5-8\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 4:5-42\nLuke 4:24-30\nMatt 18:21-35\nMatt 5:17-19\nLuke 11:14-23\nMark 12:28b-34\nLuke 18:9-14\n\n\nVespers\nHeb 9:15-22\nHeb 9:23-28\nHeb 10:1-10\nHeb 10:11-18\nHeb 10:19-25\nHeb 10:26-31\nHeb 10:32-39
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-third-week-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260309
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
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UID:14678-1772928000-1773014399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Third Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:POWER TOGETHER\nWITH WEAKNESS\nFrom a commentary by St Augustine 1\n◊◊◊\nWearied by his journey\, Jesus sat down beside a well. It was about the sixth hour. Already divine mysteries begin. Not for nothing is Jesus wearied; nor for nothing does the Power of God suffer fatigue. Not for nothing does he who refreshes the weary endure weariness. Not for nothing is he wearied\, whose absence makes us weary\, whose presence gives us strength.\nJesus is tired\, tired out by his journey. He sits down. On the edge of a well he seats himself. It is midday\, and he sits there exhausted. All these details have meaning. They are meant to signify something. They capture our attention\, persuading us to knock and investigate further. We have Christ’s own exhortation to do so\, for he said: Knock\, and it will be opened to you. May he\, then\, open up the meaning of this text to us as well as to you. \nIt was for your sake that Jesus was wearied by his journey. In Jesus we encounter divine power together with weakness. He is strong and weak at one and the same time: strong\, because in the beginning was the Word\, and the Word was with God\, and the Word was God\, present with God from the beginning. Would you know how strong the Word of God is? All things were made through him\, and apart from him nothing came into being. The whole universe was made without effort. Could any greater power exist than the power of one who was able effortlessly to construct the entire universe? \nAnd would you know him in his weakness? The Word was made flesh\, and lived among us. The power of Christ created you; the weakness of Christ recreated you. Christ’s power caused what did not exist to come into being; Christ’s weakness saved existing things from destruction. In his might he fashioned us; in his weakness he came in search of us. \nJesus\, then\, is weak\, tired out after his journey. Now that journey of his\, undertaken for our sake\, was his incarnation. How could he otherwise journey when he is present everywhere\, and absent from nowhere? To what place or from what place could he travel? In only one way could he come to us\, and that was by assuming our visible human flesh. Since then he condescended to come to us in that way\, and to appear in the condition of a servant by taking to himself a human nature\, that assumption of our nature was his journey. \nThe fatigue caused by his journey\, therefore\, was the weariness Jesus experienced in our human nature. In his human body he was weak\, but you must not be weak. You must be strong in his weakness\, for there is more power in divine weakness than in human strength. \n1\nJourney with the Fathers – Year A – New City Press – NY – 1992 – pg 40.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/third-sunday-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260308T031848Z
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UID:14680-1773014400-1773100799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Weekday in Third Week in Lent
DESCRIPTION:THE BLOOD OF CHRIST \nFrom “A Treatise Upon the Passion” by St Thomas More 2\n◊◊◊\nIn the twenty-fourth chapter of Exodus it is related that Moses\, in confirmation of the old Law\, put half the blood of the sacrifice into a cup\, and the other half he shed upon the altar. And\, after the book of the Law had been read\, he sprinkled the blood upon the people and said unto them: This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in all these words. And so was the Old Testament ratified and confirmed with blood. \nAnd in like manner was the New Testament confirmed with blood\, saving that\, in order to declare the greater excellence of the New Testament brought by the Son of God\, above the Old Testament brought by the prophet Moses\, whereas the Old Testament was ratified with the blood of a brute beast\, the New Testament was ratified with the blood of a rational man\, and of that man who was also God\, that is to say\, with the blessed blood of our holy Saviour himself. And that self-same blood did our Lord here give unto his apostles in this blessed sacrament\, as he plainly declared himself\, saying: This is my blood of the New Testament\, or: This is the chalice of the New Testament in my blood which shall be shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.\nWhen our Lord said this\, he declared therein the efficacy of the New Testament above the old\, in that the old Law in the blood of beasts could only promise the remission of sin that was to come later. For as Saint Paul says: It was impossible that sin should be taken away by the blood of brute beasts. \nBut the new Law with the blood of Christ does perform the thing that the old Law promised\, that is\, the remission of sin And therefore our Saviour said: This is the chalice of the New Testament in my blood – that is\, to be confirmed in my blood – which shall be shed for the remission of sins. \nHis words also declared the wonderful excellence of this new blessed sacrament above the sacrifice of the paschal lamb\, in these words: For you and for many. For in these words our Saviour spoke\, says Saint Chrysostom\, as though he meant to say: The blood of the paschal Lamb was shed only for the first-born among the children of Israel\, but this blood of mine shall be shed for the remission of the sin of all the whole world. \n2\nSt Thomas More\, A Treatise upon the Passion\, 4.1; from Word in Season II\, 1st ed.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/weekday-in-third-week-in-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20260308T032318Z
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UID:14682-1773100800-1773187199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Tuesday in Third Week in Lent
DESCRIPTION:GOD MADE VISIBLE\nIN THE FLESH \nBy St John of Damascus 3\n◊◊◊\nGod\, the best physician of souls\, prohibits from making images those who are still infants and ill with a diseased inclination to idolatry\, those who are apt to venerate idols as gods. For it is impossible to make an image of God who is incorporeal\, invisible\, and with neither shape nor circumscription; how can what cannot be seen be depicted? That they did venerate idols as gods\, listen to what Scripture says in Exodus\, when Moses went up on to Mount Sinai and was there for some time\, waiting to receive the Law from God\, the senseless people rose up against the servant of God\, Aaron\, saying\, Make us gods to go before us; as for this man\, Moses\, we do not know what has become of him. \nI know what the One who cannot lie said: The Lord your God is one Lord\, and you shall not make any carved likeness\, of anything in heaven or on the earth\, and all who venerate carved images shall be put to shame. I venerate one God\, one divinity but also I worship a trinity of persons\, God the Father and God the Son incarnate and God the Holy Spirit. I do not offer three venerations\, but one\, not to each of the persons separately\, but I offer one veneration to the three persons together as one God. I do not venerate the creation instead of the creator\, but I venerate the Creator\, created for my sake\, who came down to his creation that he might glorify my nature and bring about communion with the divine nature. \nI venerate together with the King and God the purple robe of his body\, not as a garment\, nor as a fourth person (God forbid!)\, but as unchangeably equal to God and the source of anointing. For the nature of the flesh did not become divinity\, but as the Word became flesh immutably\, remaining what it was\, so also the flesh became the Word without losing what it was… Therefore I am emboldened to depict the invisible God\, not as invisible\, but as he became visible for our sake\, by participation in flesh and blood. I do not depict the invisible divinity\, I depict God made visible in the flesh… \nWe\, who\, passing beyond childhood to reach maturity\, are no longer under a custodian\, have received the habit of discrimination from God and know what can be depicted and what cannot be delineated in an image. For it is now clear that you cannot depict the invisible God. When you see the bodiless become human for your sake\, then you may accomplish the figure of a human form; then you may depict him on a board and set up to view the One who has accepted to be seen. \nDepict his ineffable descent\, his birth from the Virgin\, his being baptized in the Jordan\, his transfiguration on Tabor\, what he endured to secure our freedom from passion\, the miracles which are symbols of his divine nature and activity accomplished through the activity of the flesh\, the saving tomb of the Saviour\, the resurrection\, the ascent into heaven. Depict all these in words and in colors\, in books and on tablets. \n3\nSt John of Damascus\, On the Divine Images III. 4\, 6\, 8; (1996) tr. Andrew Louth.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/tuesday-in-third-week-in-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260308T033155Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T034938Z
UID:14685-1773187200-1773273599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Wednesday in Third Week in Lent
DESCRIPTION:THE LIGHT OF CHRIST\nFrom a commentary by St Ambrose 4\n◊◊◊\nLet your face shine on your servant\, and teach me your precepts. The Lord enlightens his saints and makes his light shine in the hearts of the just. This means that when you see wisdom in anyone you can be sure that the glory of God has come down and flooded that person’s mind with the light of understanding and knowledge of divine truth. With Moses\, however\, it was different: God’s glory affected his body also\, causing his face to shine. Indeed\, his countenance was so transfigured that the <children of Israel> were afraid to look at him\, and he was obliged to cover his face with a veil so that <they> should not be alarmed at the sight of it. \nNow the face of Moses represents the splendor of the Law; yet this splendor is not to be found in the written letter but in the Law’s spiritual interpretation. As long as Moses lived\, he wore a veil over his face whenever he spoke… But after his death Jesus\, or Joshua\, the son of Nun\, spoke to the elders and the people without a veil. When he did so no one was afraid\, even though God had spoken to Joshua as well as to Moses\, assuring him that he would be with him just as he had been with Moses and would make him resplendent also. \nJoshua’s glory\, however\, would be seen in his deeds rather than in his face. By this the Holy Spirit signified that when Jesus\, the true Joshua\, came\, he would lift the veil from the heart of anyone who turned to him in willingness to listen\, and that person would then see his true Saviour with unveiled face. \nSo it was that\, through the coming of his Son\, God the almighty Father made his light shine into the hearts of the Gentiles\, bringing them to see his glory in the face of Christ Jesus. This is clearly stated in the Apostle’s letter\, where we find the following written: The God who commanded light to shine out of darkness has made his light shine in our hearts\, to enlighten us with the knowledge of God’s glory shining in the face of Christ Jesus. \nAnd so when David says to the Lord Jesus: Let your face shine upon your servant\, he is expressing his longing to see the face of Christ\, so that his mind may be capable of enlightenment. These words can be taken as referring to the incarnation\, for as the Lord himself declared: Many prophets and righteous men have desired to have this vision. David was not asking for what had been denied to Moses\, namely that he might see the face of the incorporeal God with his bodily eyes… There was nothing wrong\, therefore\, in David’s desire to see the face of the Virgin’s Son who was to come; he desired it in order that God’s light might shine in his heart\, as it shone in the hearts of the disciples who said: Were not our hearts burning within us when he opened up the Scriptures to us? \n4\nSt Ambrose\, On Psalm 118 17:26-29 (CSEL 62:390-392); from Word in Season II\, 1st ed.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/wednesday-in-third-week-in-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260313
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260308T033636Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T033636Z
UID:14687-1773273600-1773359999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Thursday in Third Week in Lent
DESCRIPTION:THE POWER OF\nCHRISTIAN PRAYER\nFrom the treatise “On Prayer” by Tertullian 5\n◊◊◊\nPrayer is the spiritual offering that has replaced the ancient sacrifices. What good do I receive from the multiplicity of your sacrifices?\, asks God. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams\, and I do not want the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats. Who has asked for these from your hands? What God has asked for\, we learn from the Gospel: The hour will come\, it says\, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. God is spirit\, and so he looks for worshipers who are like himself. \nWe are the true worshipers and the true priests. Praying in spirit we offer prayer to God as a sacrifice. Prayer is an appropriate and an acceptable sacrifice to God. It is the offering he has asked for and the offering he expects. We must make this offering with our whole heart. We must fatten it on faith\, prepare it by truth\, keep it unblemished by innocence\, spotless by chastity\, and we must crown it with love. We must escort it to the altar of God in a procession of good works to the sound of psalms and hymns. Then it will gain for us all that we ask of God. What can God refuse to prayer offered in spirit and in truth\, when he himself asks for such prayer? How many proofs of its efficacy we read about\, hear of\, and believe! \nOf old prayer brought deliverance from fire and beasts and hunger even before it received its pattern from Christ. How much greater then is the power of Christian prayer! It does not bring an angel of comfort to the heart of a fiery furnace\, or shut the mouths of lions\, or transport to the hungry food from the fields. The grace it wins does not remove all sense of pain\, but it does endow those who suffer with the capacity to endure and the faith to know what the Lord will give those who suffer for the name of God. \nIn the past prayer caused plagues\, routed armies\, withheld the blessing of rain. Now the prayer of good people turns aside the anger of God\, keeps vigil for their enemies\, pleads for their persecutors. If prayer once had the power to call down fire from heaven\, is it any wonder that it can call down from heaven the waters of grace? Prayer is the one thing that can conquer God. But Christ has willed that it should work no evil: all the power he has given it is for good. \nAll the angels pray. Every creature prays. Cattle and wild beasts pray and bend the knee. As they come from their barns and caves they look up to heaven and call out\, lifting up their spirit in their own fashion. The birds too rise and lift themselves up to heaven: they open out their wings\, instead of hands\, in the form of a cross\, and give voice to what seems to be a prayer. \nWhat more need be said about the duty of prayer? Even the Lord himself prayed. To him be honour and power for ever and ever. Amen. \n5 \nTertullian\, De oratione 28-29 (CCL 1:273-274); from Word in Season II\, 1st ed.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/thursday-in-third-week-in-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260314
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260308T034237Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T034237Z
UID:14689-1773360000-1773446399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Friday in Third Week in Lent
DESCRIPTION:THE MYSTERY OF\nTHE TABERNACLE\nFrom “The Life of Moses” by St Gregory of Nyssa 6\n◊◊◊\nWhat then is that tabernacle not made with hands which was shown to Moses on the mountain and to which he was commanded to look as to an archetype so that he might reproduce it in a handmade structure? God said\, See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. Of what things not made with hands are these an imitation? And what benefit does the material imitation of those things Moses saw there convey to those who look at it? \nTaking a hint from what has been said by Paul\, who partially uncovered the mystery of these things\, we say that Moses was earlier instructed by a type in the mystery of the tabernacle which encompasses the universe. This tabernacle would be Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God\, who in his own nature was not made with hands\, yet capable of being made when it became necessary for this tabernacle to be erected among us. Thus\, the same tabernacle is in a way both unfashioned and fashioned\, uncreated in pre-existence but created in having received this material composition. This one is the Only Begotten God\, who encompasses everything in himself but who also pitched his own tabernacle among us. \nWhenever the prophet looks to the tabernacle above\, he sees the heavenly realities through these symbols. But if one should look at the tabernacle below\, since in many places the Church also is called Christ by Paul\, he would see the Church. In this tabernacle both the sacrifice of praise and the incense of prayer are seen offered continually at morning and evening. The great David allows us to perceive these things when he directs the incense of his prayer in an odor of sweetness to God\, performing his sacrifice through the lifting up of his hands… \nIf the interior\, which is called the Holy of Holies\, is not accessible to the multitude\, let us not think that this is at variance with the sequence of what has been perceived. For the truth of reality is truly a holy thing\, a holy of holies\, and is incomprehensible and inaccessible to the multitude. Since it is set in the secret and ineffable areas of the tabernacle of mystery\, the apprehension of the realities above comprehension should not be meddled with; one should rather believe that they do exist and that they remain in the secret and ineffable areas of the Intelligence. \n6 St Gregory of Nyssa\, The Life of Moses 170\, 173-175\, 184-188; CWS (1978) tr.Malherbe & F erguson.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/friday-in-third-week-in-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260315
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260308T034856Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T035032Z
UID:14691-1773446400-1773532799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Saturday in the Third Week in Lent
DESCRIPTION:HIDDEN BY HIS HOLY FLESH\nFrom a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria 7\n◊◊◊\nEmmanuel\, God-with-us\, is presented in figure and image when Scripture says: And you will place the ark of the testimony in the tabernacle and cover it with the veil. For in the preceding account the Word was described to us as in the whole tabernacle; for it was the house in which God dwelt\, namely\, the holy body of Christ. But despite that\, the ark gives us the same meaning in detail. For it was made of acacia wood\, for you to perceive his incorruptibility. It was entirely overlaid with pure gold\, as it is written\, both inside and outside. For everything in him\, both divine and human\, is precious and splendid; and in everything he is pre-eminent\, as Paul says… \nSo the ark was made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold\, and had the divine Law put into it as a symbol of the indwelling Word of God united to a holy body. For the Word of God was also the Law\, even\, if not in human form\, as the Son is. But it is covered with the veil. \nIt was much the same with God the Word made man\, the covering of his own body obscured to the many. He\, too\, was hidden by his holy flesh as by a veil. Some of the Jews\, therefore\, failing to recognize his divine majesty\, sometimes tried to stone him to death\, accusing him of claiming to be God\, when he was a man. Others again did not hesitate to say: Is this not Jesus\, the son of Joseph\, whose father and mother we know? How\, then\, can he say: ‘I have come down from heaven.’ \nSo the laying of a veil on the ark tells us symbolically that Jesus would not be recognized by the many. Then even the ark itself was a symbol of him. So it was even he who went before the Israelites in the desert\, taking the place of God at that time; for it was he who led the people. The psalmist is also a witness to this\, saying: When you went before your people\, O God\, when you crossed the desert\, the earth shook and the heavens\, too\, poured down rain. For the ark being always in front clearly means that God leads the way. \nFor Christ is one\, but is understood in many and various ways: he is the tabernacle\, because of the veil of flesh; he is the ark\, containing the divine Law\, as he is the Word of God the Father; he is the table\, as life and nourishment; the lampstand\, as intellectual and spiritual light; he is the altar of sacrifice\, as the fragrant odor in sanctity; and the altar of offerings\, as an offering for the life of the world. Thus all things in life are sanctified\, for Christ is entirely holy\, in whatever way he is understood. \n7 St Cyril of Alexandria\, On John IV.4 (PG 73:620-621\, 625); from Word in Season II\, 2nd ed
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/saturday-in-the-third-week-in-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20260314T234305Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260314T234305Z
UID:14701-1773532800-1773619199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n4th Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 15 – 21\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n15\nMon\n16\nTue\n17\nWed\n18\nThu\n19\nFri\n20\nSat\n21\n\n\nOffice\n4th Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nSt Joseph\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nExod 18:1-27\nExod 19:1-15\nExod 19:16-25\nExod 20:1-21\nHeb 11:1-16\nExod 24:1-18\nExod 25:1-22\n\n\nLauds\nDeut 11:1-7\nDeut 11:8-12\nDeut 11:13-17\nDeut 11:18-25\nGen 45:4-8\nDeut 26:16-19\nDeut 27:1-10\n\n\nMass\n31\n244\n245\n246\n543\n248\n249\n\n\n1st\n1 Sam 16:1b\, 6-7\, 10-13a\nIsa 65:17-21\nEzek 47:1-9\, 12\nIsa 49:8-15\n2 Sam 7:4-5a\, 12-14a\, 16\nWis 2:1a\, 12-22\nJer 11:18-20\n\n\n2nd\nEph 5:8-14\n\n\n\nRom 4:13\, 16-18\, 22\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 9:1-41\nJohn 4:43-54\nJohn 5:1-3a\, 5-16\nJohn 5:17-30\nMatt 1:16\, 18-21\, 24a\nJohn 7:1-2\, 10\, 25-30\nJohn 7:40-53\n\n\nVespers\nHeb 11:1-7\nHeb 11:8-16\nHeb 11:17-22\nEph 3:14-21\nJames 1:22-27\nHeb 12:1-6\nHeb 12:7-13
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-148/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260315
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260316
DTSTAMP:20260403T164148
CREATED:20260314T234446Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260314T234446Z
UID:14703-1773532800-1773619199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 4th Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:COME TO CHRIST \nFrom a commentary by St Ambrose \n◊◊◊ \nYou have heard that story in the gospel where we are told that the Lord \nJesus\, as he was passing by\, caught sight of a man who had been blind from \nbirth. Since the Lord did not overlook him\, neither ought we to overlook the \nstory of a man whom the Lord considered worthy of his attention. In particular \nwe should notice the fact that he had been blind from birth. This is an important \npoint. \nThere is\, indeed\, a kind of blindness\, usually brought on by serious illness\, \nwhich obscures one’s vision\, but which can be cured\, given time; and there is \nanother sort of blindness\, caused by cataract\, that can be remedied by a \nsurgeon; he can remove the cause and so the blindness is dispelled. Draw your \nown conclusion: this man\, who was actually born blind\, was not cured by \nsurgical skill\, but by the power of God. \nWhen nature is defective the Creator\, who is the author of nature\, has the \npower to restore it. That is why Jesus also said: As long as I am in the world\, I \nam the light of the world\, meaning: all who are blind are able to see\, so long as I \nam the light they are looking for. Come\, then\, and receive the light\, so that you \nmay be able to see. \nWhat is he trying to tell us\, he who brought human beings back to life\, \nwho restored them to health by a word of command\, who said to a corpse\, Come \nout! And Lazarus came out from the tomb; who said to a paralytic\, Arise and \npick up your stretcher\, and the sick man rose and picked up the very bed on \nwhich he used to be carried as a helpless cripple? Again\, I ask you\, what is he \ntrying to convey to us by spitting on the ground\, mixing his spittle with clay and \nputting it on the eyes of a blind man\, saying: Go and wash yourself in the pool of \nSiloam (a name that means “sent”)? What is the meaning of the Lord’s action in \nthis? Surely one of great significance\, since the person whom Jesus touches \nreceives more than just his sight. \nIn one instant we see both the power of his divinity and the strength of his \nholiness. As the divine light\, he touched this man and enlightened him; as a \npriest\, by an action symbolizing baptism he wrought in him his work of \nredemption. The only reason for his mixing clay with the spittle and smearing it \non the eyes of the blind man was to remind you that he who restored the man to \nhealth by anointing his eyes with clay is the very one who fashioned the first \nman out of clay\, and that this clay that is our flesh can receive the light of eternal \nlife through the sacrament of baptism. \nYou\, too\, should come to Siloam\, that is\, to him who was sent by the \nFather (as he says in the gospel\, My teaching is not my own\, it comes from him \nwho sent me). Let Christ wash you and you will then see. Come and be baptized\, \nit is time; come quickly\, and you too will be able to say\, I was blind\, and now I \ncan see\, and as the blind man said when his eyes began to receive the light\, The \nnight is almost over and the day is at hand.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-4th-sunday-of-lent-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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