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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260807
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260808
DTSTAMP:20260802T111728Z
CREATED:20260802T111728Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260802T111728Z
UID:15330-1786060800-1786147199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Cajetan
DESCRIPTION:A reading from Butler’s Lives of the Saints \nST CAJETAN \n◊◊◊ \nSt Cajetan was son of Caspar\, Count of Thiene\, of the nobility of Vicenza\, \nwhere he was born in 1480. Two years later his father was killed\, fighting for the \nVenetians against King Ferdinand of Naples. Cajetan went for four years to \nPadua University\, where he distinguished himself in theology\, and took the \ndegree of doctor in civil and canon law in 1504. He then returned to his native \ntown\, of which he was made senator. In pursuance of his resolve to serve God as \na priest he received the tonsure. In 1506 he went to Rome. Soon after his arrival \nPope Julius II conferred on him the office of protonotary… On the death of \nJulius Cajetan refused his successor’s request to continue in that office\, and \ndevoted three years to preparing himself for the priesthood. He was ordained in \n1516\, being thirty-three years old\, and returned to Vicenza in 1518. \nCajetan had re-founded a confraternity in Rome called “The Oratory of \nthe Divine Love”\, which was an association of zealous and devout clerics who \ndevoted themselves to labor with all their power to promote God’s honor and \nthe welfare of souls… but consisted only of men in the lowest station of life. This \ncircumstance gave great offense to his friends\, who thought it a reflection on the \nhonor of his family. He persisted\, however\, and sought out the sick and the poor \nthroughout the whole town\, served them and cared for those who suffered from \nthe most loathsome diseases in the hospital of the incurables. He founded a \nsimilar oratory at Verona and then went in 1520 to Venice where he took up his \nlodgings in the new hospital of that city… He introduced exposition of the \nBlessed Sacrament in that city\, as well as continuing the promotion of frequent \ncommunion. \nThe state of Christendom at this time shocked and distressed Cajetan\, and \nin 1523 he went back to Rome to confer with his friends of the Oratory of Divine \nLove. They agreed that little could be done other than by reviving in the clergy \nthe spirit and zeal of those holy pastors who first planted the faith\, and a plan \nwas formed for instituting an order of regular clergy upon the model of the lives \nof the Apostles. The first associates of Cajetan were John Peter Caraffa\, who \nlater became pope under the name of Paul IV. The institute was approved by \nClement VII\, and Caraffa was chosen as the first provost general. From the \nname of his episcopal see of Theatensis these clerks regular came to be \ndistinguished from others as Theatines… \nIn 1527\, when it still numbered only a dozen members\, the army of \nEmperor Charles V sacked Rome. The Theatines house was demolished and the \nmembers had to escape to Venice. Cajetan was sent to Verona\, where both the \nclergy and the laity were opposing the reformation of discipline\, which their \nbishop was endeavoring to introduce among them. A general improvement was \nthe fruit of his example\, preaching and labors. \nWorn out with trying to appease civil strife in Naples\, and disappointed at \nthe suspension of the Council of Trent\, from which he hoped so much for the \nChurch’s good\, Cajetan had to take to his bed in the summer of 1547. The end \ncame on Sunday\, August 7. Many miracles wrought by his intercession were \napproved at Rome after rigorous scrutiny\, and he was canonized in 1671.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-cajetan-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260808
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260809
DTSTAMP:20260802T111833Z
CREATED:20260802T111833Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260802T111833Z
UID:15332-1786147200-1786233599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Dominic
DESCRIPTION:A reading on the prayer of \nST DOMINIC \n◊◊◊ \nThe holy father Dominic also had another beautiful way of praying\, full of \ndevotion and grace. After the canonical Hours and the grace which is said in \ncommon after meals\, the father would go off quickly on his own to a cell or \nsomewhere\, sober and alert and anointed with a spirit of devotion which he had \ndrawn from the divine words which had been sung in choir or during the meal; \nthere he would sit down to read or pray\, recollecting himself in himself and \nfixing himself in the presence of God. \nSitting there quietly he would open some book before him\, arming \nhimself first with the sign of the cross\, and then he would read. And he would be \nmoved in his mind as delightfully as if he heard the Lord speaking to him. As the \nPsalm says\, “I will hear what the Lord God is saying in me.” It was as if he were \narguing with a friend; at one moment he would appear to be feeling impatient\, \nnodding his head energetically\, then he would seem to be listening quietly\, then \nyou would see him disputing and struggling\, and laughing and weeping all at \nonce\, fixing his gaze\, submitting\, then again speaking quietly and beating his \nbreast. \nIf anyone was inquisitive enough to want to spy on him secretly\, he would \nfind that the holy father Dominic was like Moses\, who went into the innermost \ndesert and saw the burning bush and the Lord speaking and calling to him to \nhumble himself. The man of God had a prophetic way of passing quickly from \nreading to prayer and from meditation to contemplation. \nWhen he was reading like this on his own\, he used to venerate the book \nand bow to it and sometimes kiss it\, particularly if it was a book of the gospels or \nif he was reading the words which Christ had spoken with his own lips. And \nsometimes he used to hide his face and turn it aside\, or he would bury his face in \nhis hands and hide it a little in his scapular. And then he would also become \nanxious and full of yearning\, and he would also rise a little\, respectfully\, and \nbow as if he were thanking some very special person for favors he has bestowed. \nThen\, quite refreshed and at peace in himself\, he would continue reading his \nbook.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-dominic-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260809
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260810
DTSTAMP:20260809T104458Z
CREATED:20260809T104458Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T104458Z
UID:15345-1786233600-1786319999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading-19th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST AUGUSTINE \n◊◊◊ \nThe gospel tells us how Christ the Lord walked upon the waters of the sea\, \nand how the apostle Peter did the same until fear made him falter and lose \nconfidence. Then he began to sink and emerged from the water only after \ncalling on the Lord with renewed faith. \nNow we must regard the sea as a symbol of the present world\, and the \napostle Peter as a symbol of the one and only Church. For Peter\, who ranked \nfirst among the apostles and was always the most ready to declare his love for \nChrist\, often acted as a spokesman for them all. For instance\, when the Lord \nJesus asked who people thought he was and the other disciples had cited various \nopinions\, it was Peter who responded to the Lord’s further question\, But who do \nyou say that I am? With the affirmation: You are the Christ\, the Son of the \nliving God. One replied for all because all were united. \nWhen we consider Peter as a representative member of the Church we \nshould distinguish between what was due to God’s action in him and what was \nattributable to himself. Then we ourselves shall not falter\, then we shall be \nfounded upon the rock and remain firm and unmoved in the face of the wind\, \nrain\, and floods\, which are the trials and temptations of this present world. \nLook at Peter\, who in this episode is an image of ourselves; at the moment he is \nall confidence\, at the next all uncertainty and doubt; now he professes faith in \nthe immortal One\, now he fears for his life. \nLord\, if it is you\, bid me come to you upon the water. When the Lord \nsaid: “Come”\, Peter climbed out of the boat and began to walk on the water. \nThis is what he could do through the power of the Lord; what by himself? \nRealizing how violently the wind was blowing\, he lost his nerve and as he \nbegan to sink he called out: “Lord\, I am drowning\, save me. When he counted \non the Lord’s help it enabled him to walk on the water; when human frailty \nmade him falter he turned once more to the Lord\, who immediately stretched \nout his hand to help him\, raised him up as he was sinking\, and rebuked him for \nhis lack of faith. \nThink\, then\, of this world as a sea\, whipped up to tempestuous heights by \nviolent winds. A person’s own private tempest will be his or her unruly desires. \nIf you love God you will have the power to walk upon the waters\, and all the \nworld’s swell and turmoil will remain beneath your feet. But if you love the \nworld it will surely engulf you\, for it always devours its lovers\, never sustains \nthem. If you feel your foot slipping beneath you\, if you become a prey to doubt or \nrealize that you are losing control\, if\, in a word\, you begin to sink\, say: Lord\, I \nam drowning\, save me! Only he who for your sake died in your fallen nature \ncan save you from a death inherent in that fallen nature.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-19th-sunday-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260809
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260810
DTSTAMP:20260809T104303Z
CREATED:20260809T104303Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T104303Z
UID:15343-1786233600-1786319999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n19th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nAugust9 – 15\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n9\nMon\n10\nTue\n11\nWed\n12\nThu\n13\nFri\n14\nSat\n15\n\n\nOffice\n19th Sunday\nSt Lawrence\nSt Clare\nOffice for the Dead\nWeekday\nSt Maximilian Kolbe\nAssumption of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\n1 Mac 6:42-63\nExodus 18:13-26\n1 Mac 7:1-25\n1 Mac 7:26-50\n1 Mac 8:1-16\n1 Mac 8: 17-32\nSir 24:1-16\n\n\nLauds\nJoel 2:18-22\nTobit 4:5-11\nJoel 2:23-27\nJoel 3:1-5\nJoel 4:1-8\nJoel 4: 9-16\n1 Chron 15:1-4\, 14-16\, 25-28; 16:1-2;\n\n\nMass\n115\n618\n414\n415\n416\n417\n622\n\n\n1st\n1 Kgs 19:9a\, 11-13a\n2 Cor 9:6-10\nEzek 2:8-3:4\nEzek 9:1-7; 10:18-22\nEzek 12:1-12\nEzek 16:1-15\, 60\, 63\nRev 11:19a; 12:1-6a; 10ab\n\n\n2nd\nRom 9:1-5\n\n\n\n\n\n1 Cor 15:20-27\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 14:22-33\nJohn 12:24-26\nMatt 18:1-5\, 10\, 12-14\nMatt 18:15-20\nMatt 18:21-19:1\nMatt 19:3-12\nLuke 1:39-56\n\n\nVespers\n2 Tim 3:1-9\nRev 6:7-11\n2 Tim 3:10-17\n2 Tim 4:1-8\n2 Tim 4:9-15\nEph 2:1-10\nRom 8:28-39
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-163/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260810
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260811
DTSTAMP:20260809T104610Z
CREATED:20260809T104610Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T104610Z
UID:15348-1786320000-1786406399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Lawrence
DESCRIPTION:A reading by St Augustine on the feast of \nST LAWRENCE \n◊◊◊ \nThe Roman Church commends to us today the anniversary of the triumph \nof St Lawrence. For on this day he trod the furious pagan world underfoot and \nflung aside its allurements\, and so gained victory over Satan’s attack on his \nfaith. As you have often heard\, Lawrence was a deacon of the Church at Rome. \nThere he ministered the sacred blood of Christ; there for the sake of Christ’s \nname he poured out his own blood. \nSt John the Apostle was evidently teaching us about the mystery of the \nLord’s supper when he wrote: Just as Christ laid down his life for us\, so we \nought to lay down our lives for the brethren. My brethren\, Lawrence \nunderstood this and\, understanding\, he acted on it. Just as he had partaken of a \ngift of self at the table of the Lord\, so he prepared to offer such a gift. In his life he \nloved Christ; in his death he followed in his footsteps. \nWe too must imitate Christ if we truly love him. We shall not be able to \nrender better return on that love than by modeling our lives on his. Christ \nsuffered for us\, leaving us an example\, that we should follow in his steps. In \nsaying this\, the Apostle Peter seems to have understood that Christ suffered \nonly for those who follow in his steps\, in the sense that Christ’s passion is of no \navail to those who do not. The holy martyrs followed Christ even to the shedding \nof their life’s blood\, even to reproducing the very likeness of his passion. They \nfollowed him\, but not they alone. It is not true that the bridge was broken after \nthe martyrs crossed; nor is it true that after they had drunk from it\, the fountain \nof eternal life dried up. \nI tell you again and again…that in the Lord’s garden are to be found not \nonly the roses of his martyrs. In it there are also the lilies of the virgins\, the ivy of \nwedded couples\, and the violets of widows. On no account may any class of \npeople despair\, thinking that Christ has not called them. Christ suffered for all. \nWhat the Scriptures say of him is true: He desires all to be saved and to come to \nknowledge of the truth. \nLet us understand\, then\, how a Christian must follow Christ even though \nhe does not shed his blood for him\, and his faith is not called upon to undergo \nthe great test of the martyr’s sufferings. The apostle Paul says of Christ our Lord: \nThough he was in the form of God he did not consider equality with God a prize \nto be clung to. How unrivaled his majesty! But he emptied himself\, taking on \nthe form of a slave\, made in human likeness\, and presenting himself in human \nform. How deep his humility! \nChrist humbled himself. Christian\, that is what you must make your own. \nChrist became obedient. How is it that you are proud? When this humbling \nexperience was completed and death itself lay conquered\, Christ ascended into \nheaven. Let us follow him there\, for we hear Paul saying: If you have been \nraised with Christ\, you must lift your thoughts on high\, where Christ now sits \nat the right hand of God.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-lawrence-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260811
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260812
DTSTAMP:20260809T104718Z
CREATED:20260809T104718Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T104718Z
UID:15350-1786406400-1786492799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Clare
DESCRIPTION:A reading from The Life and Writing of \nST CLARE \n◊◊◊ \nAmong the many graces which we have received and continue daily to \nreceive from the liberality of the Father of mercies\, and for which we must give \ndeepest thanks to our glorious God\, our vocation holds first place. Indeed\, \nbecause it is the more perfect and the greater among these graces\, so much the \nmore does it claim our gratitude. Therefore the Apostle says: “Know your \nvocation”. \nThe Son of God became for us the Way; and that Way our Blessed Father \nFrancis\, His true lover and imitator\, has shown and taught us by word and \nexample. For when the Saint as yet had neither Friars nor companions and\, \nshortly after his conversion\, was repairing the Church of San Damiano and \nthere\, filled completely with divine consolation\, was led to abandon the world \nwholly and forever\, in great joy and in the illumination of the Holy Spirit he \nprophesied concerning us what the Lord later fulfilled. For at that time he \nmounted the wall of the church and cried with a loud voice… “Come and help me \nin building the Monastery of San Damiano; for here will dwell Ladies whose \ngood name and holy life will glorify our Heavenly Father throughout His holy \nChurch.” \nIn this therefore we can behold the great kindness of God toward us\, who \nof the abundance of His mercy and love deigned to speak thus through His Saint \nof our vocation and election. And it was not of us alone that our most blessed \nFather prophesied these things\, but of all others likewise who were to enter the \nholy calling to which God has called us. With what solicitude\, therefore\, and \nfervor of mind and body must we not observe the commandments of God and of \nour Father\, that with the help of God we may return to Him with increase the \ntalent He has given us! For the Lord has placed us as an example and mirror not \nonly for other men\, but also for our Sisters whom God has called to our way of \nlife\, that they in turn should be a mirror and an example to those living in the \nworld. \nSince therefore the Lord has called us to such heights of holiness that in u \ns our other Sisters may behold themselves who are to be an example to mankind \n\, we are truly bound to bless the Lord and praise Him and to be strengthened in \nHim more and more to do good. Wherefore if we live according to the pattern \ngiven us\, we shall leave others a noble example and after life’s short labor gain \nthe prize of eternal happiness.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-clare-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260812
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260813
DTSTAMP:20260809T104824Z
CREATED:20260809T104824Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T104824Z
UID:15352-1786492800-1786579199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nFR KARL RAHNER \n◊◊◊ \nThe real miracle of Christ’s death resides precisely in this: death\, which \ncan be experienced only as the advent of emptiness\, as the dead-end of sin\, as \nthe darkness of eternal night (especially since the supernatural order is the real \norder in which there should be no death)\, and which could be suffered\, even by \nChrist himself\, only as a state of being abandoned by God\, now\, through being \nembraced by the obedient “yes” of the Son\, while losing nothing of the horror of \ndivine abandonment native to death\, is transformed into something completely \ndifferent: into the advent of God in the midst of that empty loneliness\, into the \nmanifestation of a complete\, obedient surrender of the whole person to the Holy \nGod at the very moment when the person seems lost and far removed from God. \nThrough the fact of Christ’s death\, the justifying grace of God illustrates \nand confirms something which previously was not shown but was hidden from \nus\, namely\, that at the very moment in which sin reaches the fullest measure of \nits power\, the grace of God increases in its power to conquer sin. And through \nthe death of Christ\, when he surrendered himself to this innermost part of the \nworld (hell)\, this grace became ours. What he really accomplished in his death\, \nand what his death really is\, may be stated thus: his death\, as an act of grace\, \nhelped to offer to God the “flesh of sin” – which death really is – transforming it \ninto a flesh of grace; so that we now can\, through his grace\, belong to God and to \nChrist in death\, despite the fact that death\, in itself\, means remoteness from \nGod. \nThese considerations may make it possible to understand just what the \nChristian\, in death\, achieves through the grace of Christ (in the death which \ntranspires throughout one’s life); the person experiences life falling into the \nemptiness and powerlessness of death as remoteness from God\, as the \nbitterness of guilt (one’s own and that of the human race)\, while believing in the \nmercy of God\, hoping for life in God and yet loving this God so far removed from \none’s self. This Faith\, Hope and Charity are not\, however\, mere feelings \naccompanying the brutal reality of death\, lasting only until death really occurs\, \npersisting powerlessly beside the hard reality which is death. They are\, rather\, \nbecause transformed by grace\, the true reality which transforms death but \nwhich\, in order that faith should be preserved\, transforms it in such a way that \ndeath is still encountered as the wages of sin. \nThe trinity of Faith\, Hope and Charity makes death itself the highest act of \nbelieving\, hoping\, loving\, the very death which seems to be absolute darkness\, \ndespair\, coldness itself. These three fundamental powers of Christian existence \n(together with grace\, of which they are the personal realization)\, entering death\, \ntransform it into an act of resigning obedience: faith in darkness\, hope against \nhope\, love of God who appears only as Lord and as inexorable justice. In so far \nas these fundamental acts become constituents of death as a human act\, death \nitself is changed; the dreadful falling into the hands of the living God\, which \ndeath must appear as a manifestation of sin\, becomes in reality: “Into thy hands \nI commend my spirit.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-28/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260813
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260814
DTSTAMP:20260809T104927Z
CREATED:20260809T104927Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T104927Z
UID:15354-1786579200-1786665599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nFR KARL RAHNER \n◊◊◊ \nWe are all the work that God the Father has begun in his grace through \nChrist Jesus in the Holy Ghost. He has begun the good work in us\, we have not. \nBut he has begun it through our freedom\, and it is always questionable\, as it \nwere – it is always the one great all-embracing question\, comprehending time \nand eternity – whether the work that has been begun will be brought to \ncompletion. And when the Apostle asks this question\, when he asks whether \nwhat he has begun with words and tears\, with penance\, anguish\, and all the \npower of his apostolic work and suffering\, will really be brought to completion \nor whether it will run down and atrophy – when he asks whether these people \nwho have now made a start will one day enter the glory of divine light as children \nof the light\, asks with fear and trembling because no one is certain of his \nsalvation – then he lifts up his eyes to God\, his heart is filled with confidence\, \nand he says: I am sure that God\, who has begun this work\, will bring it to \ncompletion. \nAnd we too may say this\, frail and helpless as we are\, we whose \nChristianity is always running down and atrophying\, we whom the stream of \ndaily life is always threatening to swallow up\, extinguishing whatever light and \npower\, life and glory\, has begun to emerge in our Christianity. Instead of \nstudying ourselves we ought to say: God who has begun this work – and it is not \nwe who have begun it\, not we in our weakness\, even in our freedom – God\, in the \nglorious power of grace\, will bring it to completion. And that is our bold \nassurance\, our splendid sovereign confidence. \nSt Paul says: It is right for me to feel thus about you all\, because\, he says – \nand here something entirely personal and genuinely human comes into the \npower and grandeur of God’s work – because I hold you in my heart\, for you are \nall partakers with me of grace\, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and \nconfirmation of the gospel.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-456/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260814
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260815
DTSTAMP:20260809T105039Z
CREATED:20260809T105039Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T105039Z
UID:15356-1786665600-1786751999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Maximilian Kolbe
DESCRIPTION:A reading from Pope St John Paul II on the martyrdom of \nST MAXIMILIAN KOLBE \n◊◊◊ \nThe figure of Maximilian [Kolbe] remains as a testimony of the age and \nbelongs to the “signs of the times.” This difficult and tragic epoch\, stigmatized \nby horrible debasement of human dignity\, has brought about at Oswiecim the \nbirth of its salvific sign. Love has shown itself more powerful than death\, more \npowerful than anti-human systems. Love for the person has achieved its victory \nthere where hatred and scorn for human beings seemed to triumph. In this \nvictory of love…the victory of Golgotha presented itself in a particular way. \nMany saw the death of their prison companion not as still another defeat for \nhuman beings\, but a saving sign – the sign of our time\, of our age. \nThe Church is rereading the meaning of such signs. It is in this that its \nlink with the history of humanity\, of peoples and of nations\, consists. Yesterday \nshe reread to the very end the meaning of the sign…that Maximilian Kolbe \nestablished by his martyr’s death. The Church has reread this sign with \nprofound veneration and emotion in proclaiming the holiness of the Martyr of \nOswiecim. The Saints are in history in order to establish permanent points of \nreference as a background for the future of humankind and the world. That \nwhich shows through in them is lasting and unfailing. It bears witness to \neternity. From this testimony we always draw a renewed awareness of our \nvocation and renewed assurance of all that awaits us. This is the direction in \nwhich the Saints guide the Church and humanity. \nAmong these spiritual guides we include today St Maximilian\, our fellow \ncountryman. In him the man of our times discovers a wonderful “synthesis” of \nthe sufferings and the hopes of our age. But in this synthesis there is also a \nprophetic warning. It is a cry addressed to all\, to society\, to humanity\, to the \nsystems responsible for our life and our societies. This modern-day Saint has \ncome forth from the very center of human beings humiliated by human beings\, \nof the humiliation of one’s dignity\, of cruelty and of slaughter. This Saint cries \nout therefore with all the synthesis of his martyrdom for a consistent respect for \nthe rights of all and also of nations since in fact he is the son of a nation whose \nrights have been terribly violated.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-maximilian-kolbe-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260815
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260816
DTSTAMP:20260809T105145Z
CREATED:20260809T105145Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T105145Z
UID:15358-1786752000-1786838399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Assumption of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST AELRED OF RIEVAULX \n◊◊◊ \nAmong all those who are Christ’s\, she who tastes his goodness more \nintimately and more delicately is of greater excellence\, more blessed\, and more \nattractive. She is to him not only a creature\, a handmaid\, a friend\, and a \ndaughter\, but also a mother. So\, then it is only right that we welcome her feast \nwith greater delight and gladness. But today even more we should rejoice with \nher because today her joy was completely fulfilled. Great was her joy when the \nangel greeted her. Great was her joy when she felt the coming of the Holy Spirit\, \nwhen that marvelous fusion of the Son of God with her flesh took place in her \nwomb\, so that he\, one and the same\, was the Son of God and her Son. Great was \nher joy when she held such a Son in her arms\, when she listened to his words\, \nwhen she saw his miracles. And because her sorrow was so great at the Passion\, \nshe took wondrous joy again in his resurrection and greater still at his \nascension. But all these joys were surpassed by the joy which she receives today. \nUp to this day…Mary\, the blessed Mother of God\, knew her dearest Son in \nthe flesh. Although she fastened all her desires and all her love there\, where he \nwas\, after her dearest Son and Lord ascended into heaven\, so long as she \nremained in this corruptible flesh\, what she had seen of him in the flesh could \nnot fade from her memory. For his deeds and words were always coming to her \nmind and above all there lingered in her heart the features of his exquisite face. \nToday\, however\, she passed from this world and went up to the heavenly \nkingdom. There she began to contemplate his brightness\, power\, and divinity\, \nand her joy and her longing were fulfilled. So with good reason could she say: “I \nhave found him whom my soul loves”. She holds him and she does not let him \ngo… Today she has found him whom her soul loves\, she has found him in spirit\, \nshe loves him in spirit\, she holds him in spirit and therefore she will never again \nlose him… \nToday the Blessed Virgin went up into heaven and went round the whole \nof that heavenly city in the full natural vigor of her mind. Today she entered that \nheavenly court. She saw the white robes of the virgins\, the ruddy crowns of the \nmartyrs\, the thrones of the apostles\, and in the midst of them she found her Son \nreigning. Ascending higher than the very highest of the saints\, she has arrived at \nsuch knowledge of the divinity that she then glories in having found him for the \nfirst time… She holds him in the embraces of an utterly perfect love and she can \nnever lose him because she can never love him any less. \nLet us lift up our hearts therefore…to Our Lady\, our Advocate. Let us \nreflect on how much hope we have in her. Just as she surpasses every creature in \nexcellence\, so also she is more merciful and kinder than any creature. Let us \nthen confidently entreat her who can by her excellence assist us and by her \nmercy chooses to do so\, that she may implore her Son for us so that as he \ndeigned to be born of her for us\, he may through her deign to have mercy on us.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-assumption-of-the-bvm-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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