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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260308
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260309
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260308
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260309
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260308T031449Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T031449Z
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260309
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260310
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260308T031848Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T031848Z
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260310
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260311
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260308T032318Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T032318Z
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260311
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260312
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260312
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260313
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260313
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260314
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260314
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260315
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260315
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260316
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260315
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260316
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
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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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260316
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260317
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260314T234553Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260314T234553Z
UID:14705-1773619200-1773705599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE ACCURSED ONE \nWEARS THE WREATH \nFrom “The Letter of Barnabas” \n◊◊◊ \nBear in mind\, O children of joy\, that there is not a single thing which the \nLord in his goodness has not made clear to us beforehand\, so that we may know \nto whom all our thanks and praises are due. Though the Son of God was the \ndivine Lord\, and the future Judge of living and dead alike\, yet nevertheless he \nsuffered\, in order that his affliction might win life for us. \nNotice the directions he gave. Take a couple of goats\, unblemished and \nwell-matched; bring them for an offering\, and let the priest take one of them \nfor a burnt offering. And what are they to do with the other? The other\, he \ndeclares\, is accursed. (Now see how plainly the type of Jesus appears.) Spit on \nit\, all of you; thrust your goads into it\, wreathe its head with scarlet wool\, and \nso let it be driven out into the desert. \nThis is done\, and the servant leads the animal into the desert\, where he \ntakes off the wool and leaves it there… Now what does that signify? Notice that \nthe first goat is for the altar\, and the other is accursed; and that it is the accursed \none that wears the wreath. That is because they shall see him on That Day clad to \nthe ankles in his red woollen robe\, and will say\, ‘Is not this he whom we once \ncrucified\, and mocked and pierced and spat upon? Yes\, this is the man who told \nus that he was the son of God.’ \nBut how will he resemble the goat? The point of there being two similar \ngoats\, both of them fair and alike\, is that when they see him coming on the Day\, \nthey are going to be struck with terror at the manifest parallel between him and \nthe goat. In this ordinance\, then\, you are to see typified the future sufferings of \nJesus… \nMen whose sins had come to a head were to bring a heifer for an offering\, \nand slay it and burn it. Then\, after gathering up the ashes and putting them into \nbasins of water\, young children were to tie scarlet wool on branches of wood \n(here again\, you see\, we have the scarlet wool and the type of the Cross)\, \ntogether with sprigs of hyssop; and with these the people were to be sprinkled\, \nman by man\, by the youngsters\, to cleanse them from their sins. See how clearly \nhe is speaking to you here! The calf is Jesus\, and the sinners who offer it are \nthose who dragged him to the slaughter. Why was the wool put on living wood? \nBecause the royal realm of Jesus is founded on a Tree\, and they who hope in him \nshall have eternal life. To ourselves it is plain enough that these were the true \nreasons for doing things in this way; but to them it was all dark\, because their \nears were deaf to the voice of the Lord.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-410/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260318
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260314T234657Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260314T234657Z
UID:14707-1773705600-1773791999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:GUARDING OUR CONSCIENCE \nFrom the writing of St Dorotheus of Gaza \n◊◊◊ \nWhen God created man\, he implanted in us something of his own divinity\, \nin the way of a more ardent disposition\, with a shining spark of reason to \nilluminate our minds and teach us the difference between good and evil. This is \ncalled conscience\, which is the natural law. It was by submitting to this law\, that \nis\, to the conscience\, that the patriarchs and all the faithful in the days before the \nwritten Law were well-pleasing to God. But since conscience was clogged and \ntrampled on by humanity in general through successive sins\, we needed the \nwritten Law\, we needed the holy Prophets\, and we needed the coming of our \nLord Jesus Christ to uncover and awaken it\, and to bring the buried spark back \nto life through the observance of his holy commands. \nSo it is now up to us either to keep it buried\, or to allow it to shine in us and \nilluminate us if we obey it. For when our conscience tells us to do something and \nwe ignore it\, and it speaks again and we still do nothing but trample on it\, we \nfinally bury it\, and it can no longer speak clearly to us because of the weight \npressing on it. \nLet us take the greatest care\, then\, brothers\, to guard our conscience as \nlong as we live in this world\, and not allow it to convict us of any wrongdoing\, \nnor despise it even in the smallest matters for any reason at all. For\, as you \nknow\, from scorning such small and supposedly unimportant things we are led \nto despise even great things. Both living a good life and living a life of sin grow \nfrom small beginnings\, to end in either great good or great evil. \nThen we must guard our conscience in relation to God\, in relation to our \nneighbour and in relation to material things. In relation to God\, so as not to \ndespise his commands\, even if no one sees us or expects anything of us. We \nguard our conscience for God in secret\, for instance\, when we do not neglect \nprayers and\, when our mind is inflamed with passion\, we agree to calm down \nand relax; and\, when we see our neighbour talking or doing anything\, we refrain \nfrom suspecting and condemning him for appearing to be up to no good. \nGuarding our conscience in relation to our neighbour means to do \nnothing at all which we know will distress or frighten our neighbour\, either by \ndeed\, word\, gesture or look. For\, as I have often told you before\, even a gesture \ncan upset a neighbour\, and so can a look. \nGuarding our conscience in relation to material things means not to \nmisuse anything\, nor let anything be wasted or left lying about\, but if we see \nanything lying about not to ignore it\, even if it is something quite unimportant\, \nbut pick it up and return it to its right place; it also means not to neglect our \nclothes. Equally with food: you can satisfy your needs with a small amount of \nvegetables or lentils\, or a few olives; but to refuse to do so\, and to insist on \nhaving either pleasanter or more expensive food – all such things are against \nconscience.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-411/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260318
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260319
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260314T234759Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260314T234759Z
UID:14709-1773792000-1773878399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:GROUNDED IN THE FAITH \nFrom a homily by Origen \n◊◊◊ \nThe omnipotent God\, who lays down for men the contest of observing his \nLaw in this world\, lists what ought to be done and not done\, announces suitably \nat the end of the book of Leviticus where each individual observance is \nestablished\, what reward he who fulfills them bears and what punishment he \nwho does not observe them undergoes. \nBut if the Law…is not spiritual but carnal\, there is no doubt that he grants \ncarnally observed blessings also to those who observe them carnally. But if\, as it \nseems to the Apostle Paul\, the Law is spiritual then it must be observed \nspiritually and there is a spiritual reward of the blessings for which they hope… \nSo that what we say may not be doubted\, let us hear the voice of the Apostle Paul \nhimself writing about spiritual blessings to the Ephesians: Blessed be the God \nand Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who blessed us in Christ with every \nspiritual blessing in heaven. \nAnd you will eat your bread in abundance. I do not take that to be a \nphysical blessing\, as if he who keeps the Law of God obtains this ordinary bread \nin abundance. Why? Do not the impious and wicked eat bread not only in \nabundance but even in delight? Therefore\, if we turn our attention more to him \nwho said\, I am the living bread which descended from heaven\, and whoever \neats this bread will live forever\, and if we consider that he who said this was \nthe Word by which souls are nourished\, then we will understand about \nwhich bread it was said\, And you will eat your bread in abundance. In \nProverbs\, Solomon also proclaims similar things about the just man when \nhe says\, When the just man eats\, he will fill his soul; but the souls of the \nimpious will be in extreme poverty. \nIf you take it according to the literal sense\, it appears false. For the \nsouls of the impious take food with eagerness and strive after satiety; but \nthe just meanwhile are hungry. Paul was just and he said\, Up to this hour \nwe are hungry\, and thirsty\, and naked\, and we are beaten with fists. But \nif you consider how the just man always and without interruption eats \nfrom the living bread and fills his soul with the heavenly food which is the \nWord of God and his Wisdom\, you will find how the just man eats his \nbread in abundance from the blessing of God. \nAnd you will dwell secure upon your land. The unjust man is never \nsecure but is always moved and wavers and is carried about by every wind of \ndoctrine. But the just man who keeps the Law of God dwells secure upon his \nland. For his understanding is made firm by saying to God\, Confirm me\, O \nLord\, in your words. Therefore\, he lives upon his land grounded in the faith \nbecause his building is not placed upon sand\, and his root is not ‘upon a rock’\, \nbut indeed his house was founded upon the earth\, but his plant took root in the \ndepth of the earth\, that is\, in the interior of his soul. Therefore\, it is rightly said \nto a soul of this kind in the blessings\, You will dwell secure upon your land; and \nI will give peace upon your land.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-412/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260319
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260320
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260314T234909Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260314T234909Z
UID:14711-1773878400-1773964799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Joseph
DESCRIPTION:EVERYTHING HE DID \nWAS DONE FOR GOD \nFrom a sermon by Jacques Benigne Bossuet \n◊◊◊ \nAmong all the various vocations\, I have noticed in Scripture two which \nseem complete opposites: the first is that of the apostles; the second that of St. \nJoseph. Jesus was revealed both to the apostles and to St Joseph\, but for very \ndifferent reasons. He was revealed to the apostles so that they could proclaim \nhim to the whole world. He was revealed to Joseph so that he could remain \nsilent and conceal him. \nThe apostles were lights to make Jesus Christ visible to the whole world. \nJoseph was a veil to hide him\, and under this veil of mystery were hidden for us \nthe virginity of Mary and the greatness of the Savior. So we read in Scripture \nthat when people wished to belittle him they would say: Is he not Joseph’s son? \nFor the apostles then\, Jesus was a Word to be proclaimed. Preach the message \nof this gospel. For Joseph\, however\, Jesus was an unspoken word which was not \nto be revealed. \nSee what the result is. The holy apostles proclaimed the word so loudly \nthat their word was re-echoed in the heavens\, and St Paul dared to say that the \nheavenly powers learned the counsels of the divine Wisdom through the \nChurch. On the other hand\, when Joseph heard the marvels of Jesus Christ \nspoke of\, he listened\, wondered\, and kept silence. \nWhat is the meaning of this difference? Is God at odds with Himself in \nsuch contrasting vocations? No\, you must not think so. All this diversity is \nmeant to teach God’s children the important truth that the whole of Christian \nperfection lies simply in submission. He who glorified the apostles by conferring \non them the honorable duty of preaching\, glorified Saint Joseph also by giving \nhim the humble duty of keeping silent. We should learn from this that true \nChristian glory lies not in employments that win public acclaim\, but in doing \nGod’s will. \nIf everyone cannot have the honor of preaching Jesus Christ\, everyone \ncan have the honor of obeying him\, and that is the glory of Saint Joseph\, the \ntrustworthy honor of Christians. So do not ask me what Saint Joseph did in his \nhidden life. I cannot possibly tell you. I can only reply the words of the Psalmist: \nBut what has the just man done? Usually the lives of sinners attract more \nattention than those of good people because it is excitement and passion which \nmake a stir in the world. The sinners have drawn the bow\, says David\, they \nhave let fly at the righteous\, destroyed\, overthrown – he speaks only of worldly \npeople – for they have destroyed what you have made. He goes on. But what \nhas the just man done? He means that he has done nothing. Indeed he has done \nnothing for people to see\, because everything he did was done for God. \nThat is the way Saint Joseph lived. He saw Jesus Christ and remained \nsilent; he had experience of him but spoke no word. He did not share his glory \nwith others\, but was satisfied with God alone. He fulfilled his vocation because\, \njust as the apostles were the ministers appointed to make Jesus Christ known\, \nso Joseph was his minister and companion in his hidden life.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-joseph-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260320
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260321
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260314T235009Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260314T235009Z
UID:14713-1773964800-1774051199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:WHEREVER CHRIST LEADS \nBy St Cyril of Alexandria \n◊◊◊ \nThe glory of Christ filled the true Tabernacle\, which is the Church\, from \nthe very moment it was set up on earth. This\, surely\, is what is signified by the \ncloud that covered the first Tabernacle. Christ has filled the Church with his \nglory\, and now like a fire\, he shines forth to give light to those who live in the \ndarkness of ignorance and error. He shades and protects those already \nenlightened by the dawn of his day in their hearts. He refreshes them with the \nheavenly dew of his consolations sent down from above through the Spirit. This \nis what we should understand by the saying that by night he appeared in the \nform of fire\, and by day in the form of cloud. \nThose who were as yet uninstructed in the teaching of Christ required \nspiritual enlightenment to bring them to a knowledge of God; but the more \nadvanced\, whose minds had been illumined by faith\, were in need of protection \nfrom the scorching heat of the day\, and of courage to bear the burdens of this \npresent life. For all who desire to live a godly life in Christ will suffer \npersecution. \nWhenever the cloud moved forward\, the Tabernacle went with it; when \nthe cloud settled\, the Tabernacle came to rest with it and the Israelites broke \ntheir journey. Now the meaning of this for us is that wherever Christ leads\, the \nChurch\, the holy multitude of believers\, follows him. The faithful are never \nseparated from the Saviour who calls them to himself. We may not be able to \nfind any special meaning in the constant halts and new departures throughout \nour spiritual journey under Christ’s guidance. It is the whole journey\, following \nthe cloud whether it moves forward or settles\, that symbolizes our desire to be \nwith God. \nNevertheless\, if we would have a more subtle interpretation\, we could \nperhaps say that our first departure is from unbelief to faith\, from ignorance to \nknowledge\, and from having no perception of the true God to clear recognition \nof the Creator and Lord of the universe. The second stage\, and an essential one\, \nis conversion from sin and licentiousness to a desire for amendment both in \nthought and deed. But the best and most glorious is the third part of the journey\, \nbecause in it we leave behind what is deficient and move onward toward what is \nperfect both in our actions and in our belief. \nSo\, little by little\, we advance toward the ideal we see in Christ\, to become \nthe perfect man\, sharing in the perfection of Christ himself. This surely is what \nSaint Paul means by saying: Forgetting what lies behind me and straining \nforward to what lies ahead\, I press on to reach the goal\, the heavenly reward to \nwhich God calls me in Christ Jesus.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-413/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260321
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260322
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260314T235108Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260314T235108Z
UID:14715-1774051200-1774137599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:MANY ARE CALLED\, \nBUT FEW ARE CHOSEN \nFrom “The Conferences” of St John Cassian \n◊◊◊ \nNow something must be said about the renunciations which the tradition \nof the Fathers and the authority of Holy Scripture show to be three and which \neach one of us ought to pursue with all our zeal. The first is that by which in \nbodily fashion we despise all the wealth and resources of the world. The second \nis that by which we reject the former behavior\, vices\, and affections of soul and \nbody. The third is that by which we call our mind away from everything that is \npresent and visible and contemplate only what is to come and desire those \nthings that are invisible. \nWe read that the Lord commanded Abraham to do these three things all at \nonce when he said to him\, Leave your country and your kinsfolk and your \nfather’s house. First he spoke of your country – namely\, of the resources of this \nworld and of earthly wealth; secondly\, of your kinsfolk – namely\, of the former \nway of life and behavior and vices that have been related to us from our birth by \na connection as it were of a certain affinity or consanguinity; thirdly\, of your \nfather’s house – namely\, of every vestige of this world which the eyes gaze upon. \nTherefore\, if we desire to achieve true perfection we ought to strive so \nthat\, just as with our body we have disdained parents\, homeland\, wealth\, and \nthe pleasures of the world\, we may also in our heart abandon all these things \nand not turn back again in our desires to what we have left behind\, like those \nwho were led out by Moses. Although\, to be sure\, they did not return in body\, \nnonetheless they are said to have turned back to Egypt in their heart\, for they \nabandoned the God who had led them out with such powerful signs and they \nvenerated the idols of Egypt that they had once disdained. Scripture recalls it \nthus: In their hearts they turned back to Egypt\, saying to Aaron: Make for us \ngods who will go before us. \nWe would be censured along with those who dwelled in the desert and \nwho desired the disgusting food of vice and filthiness after having eaten the \nheavenly manna\, and we would seem to complain like them: It was well with us \nin Egypt\, when we sat over pots of flesh and ate onions and garlic and \ncucumbers and melons. Although this manner of speaking first referred to that \npeople\, nonetheless we see it now daily fulfilled in our life and profession. For \neveryone who has first renounced this world and then returns to his former \npursuits and his erstwhile desires proclaims that in deed and in intention he is \nthe same as they were\, and he says: ‘It was well with me in Egypt’. \nI fear that there will be found as many such people as we read there were \nmultitudes of sinners in the time of Moses. For although six hundred and three \nthousand armed men were said to have left Egypt\, no more than two of these \nentered the promised land. Hence we must strive to take our models of virtue \nfrom the few and far between\, since\, according to that figure of speech in the \nGospel\, many are said to be called but few are said to be chosen. Bodily \nrenunciation and removal from Egypt\, as it were\, will be of no value to us\, \ntherefore\, if we have been unable to obtain at the same time the renunciation \nof heart which is more sublime and more beneficial.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-414/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260322
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260323
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260322T202843Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260322T202843Z
UID:14722-1774137600-1774223999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema--Fifth Week in Lent
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n5th Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 22 – 28\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n22\nMon\n23\nTue\n24\nWed\n25\nThu\n26\nFri\n27\nSat\n28\n\n\nOffice\n5th Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nAnnunciation of the Lord\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nExod 29:1-21\nExod 31:1-18\nExod 32:1-20\n1 Chron 17:1-15\nExod 33:7-23\nExod 34:1-16\, 27-35\nExod 40:1-38\n\n\nLauds\nDeut 29:1-8\nDeut 30:1-6\nDeut 30:9-14\nIsa 52:7-12\nDeut 31:1-6\nDeut 31:9-13\nDeut 32:45-47\n\n\nMass\n34\n251\n252\n545\n254\n255\n256\n\n\n1st\nEzek 37:12-14\nDan 13:1-9\, 15-17\, 19-30\, 33-62\nNum 21:4-9\nIsa 7:10-14; 8:10\nGen 17:3-9\nJer 20:10-13\nEzek 37:21-28\n\n\n2nd\nRom 8:8-11\n\n\nHeb 10:4-10\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 11:1-45\nJohn 8:1-11\nJohn 8:21-30\nLuke 1:26-38\nJohn 8:51-59\nJohn 10:31-42\nJohn 11:45-56\n\n\nVespers\nHeb 12:14-17\nHeb 12:18-24\nHeb 2:5-10\nHeb 2:11-18\nHeb 13:9-16\nHeb 13:17-25\nGal 3:7-14
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-fifth-week-in-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260322
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260323
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260322T203546Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260322T203546Z
UID:14725-1774137600-1774223999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:5th Sunday in Lent
DESCRIPTION:From a commentary by 1\nST PETER CHRYSOLOGUS\n◊◊◊\nOn his return from the underworld\, Lazarus comes forth from the tomb like death confronting its conqueror\, an image of the resurrection to come. Before we can fathom the depths of meaning behind this miracle\, we must consider the way in which our Lord raised Lazarus to life. This action appears to us as the greatest of all his signs; we see in it the supreme example of divine power\, the most marvelous of all his wonderful works. \nOur Lord had raised up the daughter of Jairus…but although he restored life to the dead girl\, he left the law of death still in force. He also raised the widow’s only son. He halted the bier\, forestalled the young man’s burial\, arrested the onslaught of physical decay; but the life he restored had not completely fallen into the power of death. The case of Lazarus was unique. His death and resurrection to life had nothing in common with the other two. Death had already exerted its full power over him\, so that in him the sign of the resurrection shone out in all its fullness. I think it is possible to say that if Lazarus had remained only three days in the tomb it would have deprived our Lord’s resurrection of its full significance\, since Christ proved himself Lord by returning to life after three days\, whereas Lazarus\, as his servant\, had to lie in the grave for four days before he was recalled. However let us see if we can verify this suggestion by reading the text further. \nHis sisters sent a message to Jesus saying\, Lord\, the friend whom you love is sick. By these words they appeal to his affection\, they lay claim to his friendship\, they call on his love\, urging their familiar relationship with him to persuade him to relieve their distress. But for Christ it was more important to conquer death than to cure disease. He showed his love for his friend not by healing him but by calling him back from the grave. Instead of a remedy for his illness\, he offered him the glory of rising from the dead. \nWe are next told that when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick\, he remained where he was for two days. You see how he gives full scope to death. He grants free reign to the grave; he allows corruption to set in. He prohibits neither putrefaction nor stench from taking their normal course; he allows the realm of darkness to seize his friend\, drag him down to the underworld\, and take possession of him. He acts like this so that human hope may perish entirely and human despair reach its lowest depths. The deed he is about to accomplish may then clearly be seen to be the work of God\, not of man. \nHe waited for Lazarus to die\, staying in the same place until he could tell his disciples that he was dead; then he announced his intention of going to him. Lazarus is dead\, he said\, and I am glad… Why…? Because the death and resurrection of Lazarus was a perfect prefiguration of the death and resurrection of the Lord himself. What the Lord was soon to achieve in himself had already been achieved in his servant… It was necessary that Lazarus should die\, so that the faith of the disciples might also rise with him from the dead. \n1\nJourney with the Fathers – Year A – New City Press – NY – 1992 – p 44.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/5th-sunday-in-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260323
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260324
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260322T204303Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260322T204303Z
UID:14727-1774224000-1774310399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:From a letter by 2\nST AUGUSTINE\n◊◊◊\nWhen the time came for the grace of the New Testament to be revealed through the man Christ Jesus\, there was no question of his attracting us to himself with the promise of earthly happiness. This explains our Lord’s willingness to undergo suffering\, to be scourged\, spat upon\, mocked\, nailed to the Cross\, and to accept death itself like one conquered and humiliated. All this he endured so that those who believed in him might learn what recompense for their dutiful service they could ask for and expect from God who had made them his children. They had to learn to serve him without any eye to earthly prosperity\, for to value their faith at so low a price would be tantamount to rejecting it and trampling it underfoot. \nBy his great human compassion and by appearing among us in the form of a servant\, Christ\, who is both God and man\, meant to teach us what we should spurn in this life and what we should hope for in the next. It was accordingly at the very height of his Passion\, when his enemies thought they had won such a mighty victory\, that he gave voice to our human weakness which was being crucified together with our former selves to set our sinful bodies free; and his cry was My God\, my God\, why have you forsaken me? \nIn taking up this expression of our frailty our Head is praying the psalm: My God\, my God\, look upon me: why have you forsaken me? Here the suppliant feels abandoned; his prayer seems to be of no avail. Jesus made these words his own; they are the words of his Body\, that is\, of the Church which must endure the travail of conversion from unregenerate human nature into the new\ncreation. His is the voice of our human weakness\, which has to be weaned from the good things of the Old Testament and taught to long after and hope for those of the New. \n2\nSt Augustine\, Letter 140.13-15 (PL 33:543-544); Word in Season II\, 1st ed.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-11/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260325
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260322T205047Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260322T205047Z
UID:14729-1774310400-1774396799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:From a homily by 3\nST AUGUSTINE\n◊◊◊\nThe Lord marked out for us the fullness of love we ought to have for each other when he told us: There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Taking into account his previous words\, namely: This is my commandment\, that you love one another as I have loved you\, the conclusion we must draw is the same as that of the evangelist John who recorded these statements. In his first letter John tells us that we ought to lay down our lives for our brethren in the same way as Christ laid down his life for us\, loving one another after the example of Christ who loved us and made the supreme sacrifice for us. \nSurely this is what we read in the Proverbs of Solomon: When you sit down to eat at the table of a ruler\, consider carefully what is set before you\, then stretch out your hand and take your portion knowing that you in your turn will have to provide the same kind of meal. What is this ruler’s table\, if not the altar at which we receive the body and blood of him who laid down his life for us? \nAnd what does it mean to sit at this table\, if not to approach it with humility? What does it mean to stretch out your hand and take your portion knowing that you will have to provide the same kind of meal yourself\, if not what I have already told you\, namely that just as Christ laid down his life for us so we too ought to lay down our lives for our brethren? This is what the apostle Peter said: Christ suffered for us\, leaving us an example\, that we might follow in his footsteps. \nThis is what it means to provide the same kind of meal\, and what their burning love enabled the blessed martyrs to do. If we are to give true meaning to our celebration of their memorials\, approaching the Lord’s table at the very feast at which they were fed\, we must\, like them\, provide the same kind of meal. At this table we do not commemorate the martyrs in the same way as we commemorate others who now rest in peace\, so as to include them in our prayers\, but rather in order that they should pray for us and help us to follow in their footsteps. They practiced that perfect love which Christ said could not be surpassed\, offering their brethren the same kind of meal as they themselves had received from the table of the Lord. \nThis must not be understood as implying that we can be the Lord’s equals by bearing witness to him to the extent of shedding our blood. Christ had the power to lay down his life and to take it up again; but we cannot choose how long we shall live\, and death comes to us even against our will. Finally\, even if martyrs die for their brethren\, none of them by shedding his blood brings forgiveness for the sins of his brothers\, as Christ brought forgiveness to us. In this he gave us not so much an example to imitate as a reason for rejoicing. Insofar\, then\, as they shed their blood for their brethren\, the martyrs provided the same kind of meal as they themselves had received from the table of the Lord. Let us therefore love one another as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. \n3\nSt Augustine\, In John. 84.1-2 (CCL 36:536-538); Word in Season II\, 1st ed.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-12/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260322T205510Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260322T205510Z
UID:14731-1774396800-1774483199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Annunciation of the Lord
DESCRIPTION:From a sermon by 4\nBLESSED GUERRIC OF IGNY\n◊◊◊\nIt is indeed a kind word\, a reliable word in which you can believe\, this gospel of our salvation which the angel\, sent by God\, announced to Mary on this day. It is a joyful word which day utters unto day\, the angel to the virgin\, concerning the incarnation of the Word. It promises a son to the Virgin\, and at the same time pardon to sinners\, redemption to captives\, release to the imprisoned\, life to those in the grave. In foretelling the Son’s kingdom and announcing the glory of the righteous\, it makes hell fearful and gives joy to heaven. By the revelation of these mysteries and by the new joys it brings them\, it seems to have increased the perfection of the angels. \nIs there an afflicted person who would not be cheered by this kind word\, or anyone whose lowliness it would not console? Remember your word to your servant by which you gave me hope\, sang David. It was this which consoled me when I was brought low. He received only a promise\, a word which did not show any sign of coming true. The delay in the fulfillment of his desire distressed him\, but he took comfort by hoping firmly in the good faith of the one who had made the promise. If David could sustain his spirit with just the hope of the salvation which was being kept for us\, with what joy and delight ought we not to greet its realization? \nBlessed are the mourners because they will be comforted\, blessed those whose hearts are afflicted by a holy grief because they shall be gladdened by a kind word. Clearly the kind word which consoles is your all-powerful Word\, O Lord\, which came today from the heavenly throne into the womb of a virgin. There\, too\, he made a royal throne\, and from there he consoles those who\nmourn on earth even while he sits as king surrounded by the hosts of angels in heaven. \n4\nA Word in Season – vol/ IV – Augustinian Press p 1991 – pg 52.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/annunciation-of-the-lord/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260327
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260322T210155Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260322T210155Z
UID:14733-1774483200-1774569599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:From a commentary by 5\nST AUGUSTINE\n◊◊◊\nIf our natural\, sinful life had not been symbolically hanging on the Cross when the Lord died\, the unregenerate instincts that were once ours would not have been crucified with him. But the apostle Paul assures us that our former selves were put to death with Christ on the Cross. The Lord died to free our bodies from the tyranny of sin. He intended us to be slaves of sin no longer.\nChrist’s death and our sin were foreshadowed long ago in the desert\, when Moses fastened a serpent to a wooden stake and held it on high. We must remember that it was through heeding the voice of a serpent that the human race had incurred the penalty of death\, and so it was appropriate that a serpent\, fastened to a wooden standard and raised aloft\, should prefigure the death of Christ. In that symbol we have an image of the Lord’s death by hanging. \nNow if Scripture were to say: Cursed be all that hang from a tree\, we should scarcely feel disturbed. Yet that serpent hanging from a tree represents our Lord’s physical death. He himself confirmed this interpretation by saying: Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert\, so must the Son of Man be lifted up above the earth. No one therefore will be likely to accuse Moses of intending to insult the Lord by this action\, when he understands the power the Cross contains for the healing of the human race. Only because the serpent was a symbol of our Lord’s Cross did Moses command it to be erected\, so that the people who were dying from snakebite might find instant cure through fixing their gaze upon it. \nThe serpent was fashioned from bronze as a symbol of faith in the enduring effects of the Lord’s Passion… The fact is that if people were to forget that Christ died for them and every record of the time of his Passion were to be destroyed\, the human race would indeed be in the grip of death. But faith in Christ’s Cross abides for ever; it is as enduring as bronze. Despite the constant cycle of birth and death the Cross continues to be held high above the earth for the healing of all who gaze upon it. \nThere need be no surprise\, then\, at the way in which Christ dealt with the curse on the human race. He overcame that curse by taking it upon his own person. He vanquished death by undergoing death himself\, sin by identifying himself with sin\, and the ancient serpent by means of another serpent. Death\, sin and the serpent were all included in God’s curse\, but the Cross has triumphed over each of them. \nAnd so there is profound truth in that word of Scripture: Cursed be all that hang on a tree. Christ grants justification to those who believe in him\, simply because they have faith and not because they observe the Law. This means that any fear of falling under the curse attached to the Cross has been taken away\, while love endures. The blessing granted to Abraham for his exemplary faith is extended to the Gentiles\, so that we may receive the promised Spirit through faith. In other words\, the promised gift to believers is not a spirit of outward observance based on fear\, but one of inward devotion inspired by love. \n5\nSt Augustine\, In Gal. 22 (PL 35:2120-2121); Word in Season II\, 1st ed.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-13/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260328
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260322T210652Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260322T210652Z
UID:14735-1774569600-1774655999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:From a commentary by 6\nORIGEN\n◊◊◊\nWhile we were still weak\, at the right time\, Christ died for the ungodly. Few people would die for a righteous man\, though perhaps for a good man one might have the courage to die. \nSaint Paul has just told us that the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Now in his desire to demonstrate the power of that love more fully\, he gives us the convincing proof that it was not for good men but for sinners that Christ died. It is indeed true that we were sinners before we turned to God\, and that our Lord Jesus Christ laid down his life for us before we believed in him. This he surely could not have done without an immense love for us\, either the love he himself showed by dying for sinners\, or the love God the Father showed by giving his only Son for our redemption. \nFew people would give their lives even for a righteous man\, and all of us face death with reluctance\, even in a just cause. How great a Saviour we have then\, and how deeply we ought to ponder his love for us! It is a clear proof of his divine goodness that when the appointed time came\, he did not hesitate to suffer and die for the ungodly and the unjust. In the Gospel it is said that no one is good but God the Father; and so unless our Saviour had been his Son\, sharing in the Father’s very substance\, he could not have shown such great goodness toward us. By this proof\, therefore\, we can recognize in him that good man for whom someone might have the courage to die. \nOnce people have understood the extent of Christ’s goodness toward them and his love has been poured into their hearts\, they will long not only to die for this good man Christ\, but to die voluntarily. In fact we often see this happen\, when Christians whose hearts are overflowing with the love of Christ present themselves before their persecutors of their own free will and with the utmost courage\, confessing the name of Christ in the presence of angels and men for the whole world to hear. Not only do they have the courage to suffer injustice for the name of this good man\, but for his sake they are even ready to give their lives. Few would do this even for a righteous man\, since our love of this mortal life is so great that even in a just cause hardly anyone can bear to die. Only for God’s sake will people have the courage to submit to death of their own free will. For any other reason they can scarcely endure it\, even in the cause of justice and in obedience to the laws of nature. \n6\nOrigen\, In Rom. 4.10-11 (PG 14:997-999); Word in Season II\, 1st ed.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-14/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260322T211407Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260322T211407Z
UID:14737-1774656000-1774742399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:From the writing of 7\nDOM COLUMBA MARMION\n◊◊◊\nWhen we thus submit ourselves entirely to Christ Jesus\, when we abandon ourselves to Him\, when our soul only responds\, like His own\, with a perpetual Amen to all that He asks of us in the name of His Father…then Christ Jesus establishes His peace in us: His peace\, not that which the world promises\, but the true peace which can only come from Himself… \nDoubtless\, here below\, peace is not always sensible; upon earth we are in a condition of trial and\, most often\, peace is won by conflict… We may be slighted\, opposed\, persecuted\, be unjustly treated\, our intentions and deeds may be misunderstood; temptation may shake us\, suffering may come suddenly upon us; but there is an inner sanctuary which none can reach; here is the sojourn of our peace\, because in this innermost secret of the soul dwell adoration\, submission and abandonment to God. “I love my God\,” said St Augustine\, “no one takes Him from me: no one takes from me what I ought to give Him\, for that is enclosed within my heart…” \nDeath cannot trouble the soul that has sought only God. Has it not confided itself to the One Who says: “He that believes in Me\, although he be dead\, shall live”… \nIn one of her “Exercises\,” St Gertrude allows her assurance\, which the infinite merits of Jesus give her\, to overflow. “Woe\, woe unto me\, if\, when I come before You\, I had no advocate to plead my cause!… Come with me to judgment… there let us stand together. Judge me\, for the right is Yours; but remember You are also my Advocate. In order that I be fully acquitted\, You have but to recount what You did become for love of me\, the price wherewith You have purchased me…” \nFor souls moved by such sentiments\, death is but a transition; Christ comes Himself to open to them the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem… There will be no more darkness\, trouble\, tears\, or sighs; but peace\, infinite and perfect peace. “Peace first becomes ours with the longing and seeking for the Creator; it is in the full vision and eternal possession of Him that peace is made perfect.” \n  \n7\nMarmion\, Dom Columba\, O.S.B. Suffering with Christ: An anthology of the Writings of Dom Columba Cmarmion\, O.S.B. Compiled by Dom Raymund Thibaut\, O.S.B. Westminster\, Maryland: The Newman Press\, 1954. 220-221\, 232-233.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-15/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260330
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260329T023219Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260329T023219Z
UID:14743-1774742400-1774828799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\nHoly Week\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 29 – April 4\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n29\nMon\n30\nTue\n31\nWed\n1\nThu\n2\nFri\n3\nSat\n4\n\n\nOffice\nPalm Sunday\nMonday of Holy Week\nTuesday of Holy Week\nWednesday of Holy Week\nHoly Thursday\nGood Friday\nHoly Saturday\n\n\nVigils\nZech 9:9-17\nLam 1:1-16\nLam 2:1-10\nLam 2:18-22\nLam 3:19-54\nLam 4:1-6\nLam 5:1-22\n\n\nLauds\nZeph 3:14-20\nLam 1:17-22\nLam 2:11-17\nLam 3:1-18\nLam 3:55-66\nWis 2:10-22\nIsa 63:1-6\n\n\nMass\n38\n257\n258\n259\n39\n40\n\n\n\n1st\nIsa 50:4-7\nIsa 42:1-7\nIsa 49:1-6\nIsa 50:4-9a\nExod 12:1-8\, 11-14\nIsa 52:13-53:12\n\n\n\n2nd\nPhil 2:6-11\n\n\n\n1 Cor 11:23-26\nHeb 4:14-16; 5:7-9\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 26:14-27:66\nJohn 12:1-11\nJohn 13:21-33\, 36-38\nMatt 26:14-25\nJohn 13:1-15\nJohn 18:1-19:42\n\n\n\nVespers\n1 Tim 6:11-16\nRom 5:6-11\n1 Cor 1:18-25\n1 Pet 2:20-25\n—-\n—-\n1 Pet 4:1-8
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-holy-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260329T023848Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260329T023848Z
UID:14745-1774742400-1774828799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Palm Sunday
DESCRIPTION:From the writing of 1\nHENRI DANIEL-ROPS\n◊◊◊\nJesus stopped at a village called\, Bethphage\, which means “the house of figs”\, and it was market day. “Go into the village\,” said Jesus\, “and untie a donkey and a colt that you will find there\, and bring them to me. If anyone raises an objection\, say that the Lord has need of them\, and you will be allowed to take the animals”. The command seems rather strange to a modern reader\, but it would have seemed much less so to the Jews round Jesus. Even if the mode of borrowing the donkey is unusual\, one could sense that it had a prophetic significance. After all\, Zacharias had said” “See where thy king comes to greet thee\, a trusty deliverer; see how lowly he rides\, mounted on a donkey\, the foal of a donkey”. A messianic entry was being arranged. \nSuch was certainly the scene that actually took place. “The moment”\, says Romano Guardini\, “belongs to the power of the Spirit.” Jesus arrived\, in the sunshine of the Palestinian spring\, in sight of the city. His friends and followers acclaimed him\, and there was soon a whole crowd surging round him… \n“Who is it?” asked those loitering by the roadside. “Jesus\, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee”\, was the answer\, and Hosannas rang out\, people cut branches off the palm trees and waved them enthusiastically above their heads\, and cloaks were strewn on the ground to make a ceremonial carpet for the Messiah’s mount. A curious triumph\, which was to remain limited and modest\, but a significant one; now that the hour of decision was at hand\, Jesus no longer needed to keep his messianic character half-concealed; indeed\, it was important that it should be recognized. \nHowever\, amid this manifestation of joy\, Jesus had a deep feeling of anxiety and anguish. When he arrived on the crest of the mount of Olives\, he stopped; the city lay before him behind huge walls bristling with towers\, looking invincible and eternal. But the power of the Holy Spirit gave Christ a quite different picture\, that of a Jerusalem besieged\, crushed and destroyed. Why? Because it had been blind to the light… \nWhen he arrived at the Temple\, the goal of his entry as a pilgrim\, Jesus caused a spectacular scene. Noticing in the colonnades the traders who were changing money or selling counters entitling their holders to the ritual lamb or doves for sacrifice\, he rushed to their tables and overturned them. “Was the house of prayer to become a den of thieves?” He was really blazing with the zeal of God. It was an astonishing mysterious day. It looks as if Jesus wanted to confront all humans with the truth\, with their responsibilities\, once and for all. \nWhen the day was over\, and the western sky was red behind the three Herodian towers which crowned the wall on that side of the city\, he had this further lesson for the little band of faithful followers who had stayed round him and was probably gazing at the setting sun: “I have come into this world as a light\, so that all those who believe in me may continue no longer in darkness.” As they returned with him to Bethany\, to spend the night there\, the disciples must have had much to think about. \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/palm-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260329T024510Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260329T024510Z
UID:14747-1774828800-1774915199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Monday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:From a sermon by 2\nST AELRED OF RIEVAULX\n◊◊◊\nOur Lord Jesus Christ worked our salvation not in one way only\, but undoubtedly in many ways. Since it was in mercy that he had planned our redemption\, he wrought this redemption in such a way that he might serve as an example for us… In this season you are recalling this redemption of ours. Be careful\, then\, to reflect not only on the fact of this redemption but also on two other points: the manner in which this redemption was wrought\, and the place in which it was wrought. The manner of redemption is the suffering of the Cross; the place\, outside the city. \nLet us then learn from the Cross of Jesus our proper way of living. Should I say ‘living’ or\, instead\, ‘dying’? Rather\, both living and dying. Dying to the world\, living for God. Dying to vices and living by the virtues. Dying to the flesh\, but living in the spirit. Thus in the Cross of Christ there is death and in the Cross of Christ there is life. The death of death is there\, and the life of life. The death of sins is there and the life of the virtues. The death of the flesh is there\, and the life of the spirit. But why did God choose this manner of death? He chose it as both a mystery and an example. In addition\, he chose it because our sickness was such as to make such a remedy appropriate. \nIt was fitting that we who had fallen because of a tree might rise up because of a tree. Fitting that the one who had conquered by means of a tree might also be conquered by means of a tree… And because we had fallen from the security of that most blessed place on earth into this great\, expansive sea\, it was fitting that wood should be made ready to carry us across it. For no one crosses the sea except on wood\, or this world except on the Cross… \nDeath on a Cross is endured not on the earth but above the earth; and the victim’s limbs are not cut off but stretched. They are stretched horizontally and perpendicularly\, so that the crucified man is stretched out in the four directions and seems to embrace the four quarters of the world\, taking possession of both heaven and earth. For when a Cross is set upright\, the head is directed to heaven and the feet to earth\, and the outstretched arms to what is located between heaven and earth. Moreover\, if you lay a crucified man on the ground\, one part of him will occupy the east\, another the west\, another the south\, and another the north. \nDo you see\, now\, the mystery in the kind of death Christ chose? The Apostle sets forth this point with clarity\, when he says: He humbled himself\, becoming obedient unto death\, even to death on the Cross. And\, revealing the mystery\, he says: Therefore God exalted him and gave him the name that is above all names\, so that at the name of Jesus every knee might bend of those who are in heaven\, on earth\, and under the earth. Since\, then\, he was to take possession of heaven and earth through the Cross\, on the Cross he embraced heaven and earth. \n2\nSt Aelred\, In Hebd. Sancta\, sermon 36.1-2.4 (CCM 2A:294-295); Word in Season II\, 2nd ed.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/monday-of-holy-week-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260329T025211Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260329T025211Z
UID:14749-1774915200-1775001599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Tuesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:From “On the Virtue of Patience” by 3\nST CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE\n◊◊◊\nJesus Christ\, our God and Lord\, said that he had come down to earth to do his Father’s will. Among the virtues that revealed his divine majesty was the endurance that mirrored his Father’s patience. Every act of his\, from the moment of his first appearing\, bore the stamp of the patience with which it was carried out. He was no sinner\, but the Son of God; yet when he descended to earth from the heights of heaven\, he did not disdain to assume human nature and bear the sins of men. \nLaying aside his immortality for a while\, he suffered himself to be made mortal\, in order that the innocent could die to save the guilty. He\, the Lord\, was baptized by a servant\, and though he had come to grant forgiveness of sins he did not think it beneath him to wash in the life-giving waters. He fasted for forty days\, yet it is through him that others are filled with good things. If he hungered and thirsted\, it was to enable those who were faint for want of the word and grace of God to be filled with bread from heaven. He engaged in combat with the devil who tempted him\, but was content to defeat his enemy by words alone. \nHe did not govern his disciples as a master rules his slaves. He was kind and gentle\, loving them as brothers\, even washing the feet of the apostles\, showing by his example how a servant should bear himself toward his equals when his master dealt in such a way with his servants. No wonder he could show such goodness to the disciples who obeyed him\, if he was able to bear so long and so patiently with Judas\, eating and drinking with his enemy\, recognizing the foe in his own household yet neither exposing him publicly nor refusing his treacherous kiss. \nAt the time of his Passion and Cross\, even before it had gone as far as the inhuman crucifixion and the shedding of his blood\, how patiently he bore reviling and reproach\, insult and mockery! A little while before\, he had cured the eyes of a blind man with his spittle\, yet now he allowed his tormentors to spit in his face. His servants today scourge the devil and his angels in the name of Christ\, but at the time of his Passion Christ himself submitted to being scourged. He crowns the martyrs with never-fading flowers\, though he himself was crowned with thorns. Others he clothes in the garment of immortality\, yet he himself was stripped of his earthly garments. He had fed them with bread from heaven\, yet he himself was fed with gall; and he who had poured out the saving cup was offered vinegar to drink. \nHe the innocent\, he the just\, he rather who is the embodiment of innocence and justice\, is counted among evil-doers. Truth is confuted by false evidence. The future judge is subjected to judgment; the Word of God is led to the Cross in silence. At the Lord’s crucifixion the stars are thrown into confusion\, the elements are disturbed\, earth trembles\, and night swallows up day. But he himself is silent\, unmoved\, hiding every sign of his godhead throughout the whole duration of his Passion. Enduring all things\, he perseveres to the end\, so that in him patience may be brought to its full measure of perfection. \n3 St Cyprian\, On the Virtue of Patience 6-7 (CSEL 3:401-402); Word in Season II\, 1st ed.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/tuesday-of-holy-week-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260329T025719Z
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UID:14751-1775001600-1775087999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Wednesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:From a sermon by 4\nST LEO THE GREAT\n◊◊◊\nWhen God\, whose absolute being is immune from suffering\, assumed our fragile humanity in Christ\, he strengthened it beyond measure. Henceforth it was no longer to remain under death’s dominion; through a nature immortal in itself\, mortal man would be raised to life. \nWe must strive\, dearly beloved\, with great effort of soul and body to join ourselves inseparably to this mystery. While failure to observe the Paschal Solemnity would be a very grave offense\, it would be still more dangerous to be united with congregations at Church but have no sharing in our Lord’s Passion. The apostle’s saying is true: If we suffer with him\, we shall also reign with him.No one can truly worship the suffering\, dead and risen Christ unless he himself suffers\, dies\, and rises again with him. \nFor all the Church’s children this sharing in Christ’s death and resurrection begins at the mystery of regeneration\, when sin is destroyed and we are born to new life. There the Lord’s three-day sojourn in the grave is represented by a three-fold immersion. The stone is\, as it were\, rolled away from the tomb\, and those who enter the font in their old\, sin-stained condition are brought forth new by the baptismal waters. What has been effected in mystery\, however\, must still be carried out in their daily lives. As long as they are in this mortal body\, those who are born of the Spirit must take up their cross. \nChrist has lifted us up with himself on the Cross: there let the Christian take his stand. He knows it is the place where his human nature was redeemed\, and all his steps should be directed toward it – for the Lord’s Passion is prolonged until the end of the world. Just as it is he whom we honour and love in the saints\, he whom we feed and clothe in the poor\, so too it is he who suffers in all who endure adversity for the sake of what is right\, unless\, indeed\, we are to imagine that\, with the spread of the faith\, all persecution has come to an end together with every conflict which ever raged against the blessed martyrs – as if the bearing of the Cross were reserved only for those who have to suffer atrocious torments for the love of Christ. \nWise souls who have learned to fear and love the one and only Lord and to hope in him alone\, mortify their passions and crucify their bodily senses. They prefer the will of God to their own lives\, and insofar as they renounce love of self for love of God\, they love themselves all the more truly. In such members of Christ’s body\, beloved brethren\, the Holy Passover is celebrated properly and they shall lack none of those victories which our Saviour’s Passion has won. \n4\nSt Leo the Great\, Sermon 70.3-5 – Good Friday 443 (PL 54\,:382-384); Word in Season II\, 2nd ed.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/wednesday-of-holy-week-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260402
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260403
DTSTAMP:20260403T182141
CREATED:20260329T030224Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260329T030224Z
UID:14753-1775088000-1775174399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Thursday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:From the writing of 5\nST EPHREM OF SYRIA\n◊◊◊\nThe evening before our Lord gave himself up to death he shared his own body with his Apostles and offered them his blood\, with the command that they were to do what he had done in order to keep the memory of his Passion alive. Then a strange thing happened. Earlier Jesus had charged his disciples not to fear death. Do not be afraid of those who have power to kill your body\, he had said. But now he himself showed fear\, and begged to be spared the cup of suffering. Father\, he prayed if it be possible\, let this cup pass me by. How are we to explain this? \nThe answer is that our Lord’s petition was wrung from the human weakness he had made his own. There was no pretense about his incarnation; it was absolutely real. And since the donning of our poor humanity had made him puny and defenseless\, it was only natural that he should experience fear and alarm. Eating to alleviate hunger\, showing weariness after exertion\, and revealing human weakness by the need for sleep were all the effects of his taking our flesh and clothing himself with our infirmity. Consequently when the moment of death drew near\, he necessarily experienced the ultimate frailty of our human condition; he was gripped by a dreadful horror of dying. \nIt was then that Jesus said to his disciples: Stay awake and pray that you may be spared the test. The spirit is willing\, but the flesh is weak. And in answer to our question he might well say: ‘When you are afraid\, it is not your spirit that trembles but your human weakness. Remember then that I myself tasted the fear of death in my desire to convince you that I truly shared your flesh and blood.’ \nA further answer to our question is that Jesus wished to teach his disciples how to commit themselves to God both in life and in death. His own divine knowledge made him supremely wise\, yet he prayed for what his Father judged to be expedient. How much more ought we ignorant men to surrender our wills to God’s omniscience! \nWe may also tell ourselves that we too were in our Lord’s mind as he prayed. In time of temptation our minds become confused and our imagination runs riot. By persevering in prayer Jesus was showing us how much we ourselves need to pray if we are to escape the wiles and snares of the devil. It is only by constant prayer that we gain control of our distracted thoughts. \nFinally\, there is our Lord’s desire to strengthen all who are afraid of death. By letting them see that he himself had experienced fear he would show them that fear does not necessarily lead to sin\, provided one continues to resist it. This is the force of our Lord’s concluding prayer: Not my will\, Father\, but yours be done. He is saying: ‘Yes\, Father\, I am ready to die in order to bring life to many.’ \n5. St Ephrem of Syria\, Diatessaron 20.3-4\, 6-7 (CSCO 145:201-204); Word in Season II\, 2nd ed.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/thursday-of-holy-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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