Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey

Vigils Reading
2026-05-05
A reading from
ST AUGUSTINE
◊◊◊
Your Graces will have noticed when the book of the Acts of the Apostles
was being read that Paul was talking at Athens. The Athenians enjoyed a great
reputation among other peoples for every kind of learning. The city was the
native home of great philosophers. From it had spread through the rest of
Greece and other countries of the world a complex variety of philosophies.
That’s where the Apostle was talking, that’s where he was proclaiming Christ
crucified, to the Jews indeed a stumbling block, to the nations folly; but to
those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the
wisdom of God.
When he finished his address and they heard mention of the resurrection
of the dead, which is the most distinctive point of the faith of Christians, some of
them scoffed, while others said, We will hear you again on this matter.
Now, there is one overriding concern common to all philosophers within
which they divide up into five different sets of special opinions. In common, all
philosophers strive by dedication, investigation, discussion, by their way of life,
to lay hold of the blessed life. This is their one reason for philosophizing; but I
rather think the philosophers also have this in common with us. I mean, if I were
to ask you why you became Christians, every single one of you would answer me
truthfully: ‘For the sake of the blessed life.’
Therefore the urge for the blessed life is common to philosophers and
Christians, and I would even say common to the whole human race. People who
are good, after all, are good in order to be happy, and those who are bad would
not be bad unless they hoped they would thereby be made happy.
Now set before your eyes Epicureans, Stoics, and the Apostle; that is:
Epicureans, Stoics, and Christians. Let’s first question the Epicureans on what
thing it is that makes life happy. They answer, ‘Bodily pleasure.’ The Stoic
answers: ‘A virtuous mind.’ The Christian: ‘The gift of God.’ And so brethren, in
front of our very eyes Epicureans and Stoics are debating with the Apostle, and
teaching us by their debate what we should reject and what we ought to choose.
A virtuous mind is something very praiseworthy; but tell me, Stoic, where
do you get it from? It is not really your virtuous mind that makes you happy, but
the one who has given you virtue, who has inspired you to desire it, and granted
you the capacity for it. There is no life that deserves the name, to be called life,
but a blessed life; and there can be no blessed life that is not eternal. This is what
everybody wants: truth and life.
But how is one to get to such a great possession, such a grand fortune? The
philosophers have worked out for themselves ways that go wrong. They have
missed the true way, because God opposes the proud. We would also miss it,
unless it had come to us. That’s why the Lord says, I am the way…
This is the doctrine of Christians; certainly not something to be set beside
the doctrines of the philosophers, but to be set incomparably above them,
whether the sordid one of the Epicureans, or the arrogant one of the Stoics.

Vigils Reading
2026-05-06
A reading from “The Life in Christ” by
NICHOLAS CABASILAS
◊◊◊
After receiving the Sacrament of Chrismation, we approach the Holy
Table, the consummation of our life in Christ, which leaves no further happiness
to be desired. Now it is no longer a question of sharing in Christ’s death or burial
or in a higher kind of life, but of welcoming the risen Lord himself. It is no longer
the gifts of the Spirit that we receive, insofar as we are able, but our benefactor
himself, the very temple that enshrines all gifts.
Christ is present in each of the Sacraments: he himself confirms us and
cleanses us, and he is our food. He is present to those receiving the Sacraments
of initiation, though in different ways. In Baptism he takes away the stain of sin
and imprints his own image on the baptized. In Chrismation he brings into
action the gifts of the Holy Spirit, of which his own flesh is the repository. But
when he leads communicants to his Table and gives them his body to eat he
completely transforms them, raising them to his own level. This is the last
Sacrament we receive because it is impossible to go beyond it or to add to it
anything whatever.
We remain imperfect even after Baptism has produced in us its full effect
because we have not yet received the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are given in
Chrismation. Those baptized by Philip did not receive the Holy Spirit simply by
the grace of Baptism: it was necessary for John and Peter to lay their hands on
them. As Scripture says, the Holy Spirit had not yet come down on any of them;
they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and
John laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Yet even among those who had been filled with the Spirit and who
prophesied, spoke in tongues and displayed other such gifts, there were some in
the time of the Apostles who were so far from being divine and spiritual as to be
guilty of envy, rivalry, contention, and other similar vices. This is what Paul
referred to when he wrote to them: You are still unspiritual and are living on a
purely human plane. They were indeed spiritual by reason of the graces they
had received, but these graces did not suffice to free them from all sinfulness.
With the Eucharist, however, it is different. No such charge can be
brought against those in whom the Bread of Life, which has saved them from
death, has had its full effect and who have not brought to this feast any wrongful
dispositions. If this Sacrament is fully effective it is quite impossible for it to
allow the slightest imperfection to remain in those who receive it.
If you would know the reason for this, it is because through communion,
in fulfilment of his promise, Christ dwells in us and we in him. He lives in me, he
said, and I in him. When Christ lives in us, what can we lack? When we live in
Christ, what more can we desire? We at once become spiritual in body and soul
and in all our faculties because our soul is united to his soul, our body to his
body, our blood to his blood. The consequence is that the higher prevails over
the lower, the divine over the human. As Paul says, referring to the
Resurrection: What is mortal is swallowed up by life. And elsewhere he writes:
It is no longer I who live: it is Christ who lives in me.

Vigils Reading
2026-05-07
A reading from “The Life in Christ” by
NICHOLAS CABASILAS
◊◊◊
The purpose of Chrismation is to enable us to share in the power of the
Holy Spirit. This anointing brings the Lord Jesus himself to dwell in us, our only
salvation and hope. Through him we are made sharers in the Holy Spirit and are
led to the Father. Unfailingly it procures for Christians those gifts that are
needed in every age, gifts such as faith, reverence for God, prayer, love, and
purity. It does so even though many are unaware of having received such gifts.
Many do not know the power of this Sacrament or even that there is a Holy
Spirit, as it says in the Book of Acts, because they were anointed before reaching
the age of reason and afterward they blinded their souls by sin. Nevertheless,
the Spirit does in truth give the newly initiated his gifts, distributing them to
each one as he wills; and our Lord, who promised to be with us always, never
ceases to shower blessings on us.
Chrismation cannot be superfluous. We obtain the remission of our sins
in Baptism and we receive the body of Christ at the Altar. These Sacraments will
remain until the unveiled appearance of their author. It cannot be doubted,
then, that Christians also enjoy the benefits that belong to this holy anointing
and receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. How could some Sacraments be fruitful
and this one without effect? How can we believe that Saint Paul’s words: He
who promised is faithful, apply to some Sacraments but not to this one? If we
discount the value of any Sacrament we must discount the value of all, since it is
the same power that acts in each of them, it is the immolation of the same Lamb,
it is the same death and the same blood that gives each of them its efficacy.
The Holy Spirit is given to some, as St Paul says, to enable them to do good
to others and to edify the Church by prophesying, teaching revealed truth, or
healing the sick by a mere word. The spirit is given to others for their own
sanctification, imparting to them a shining faith and reverence for God, or
making them outstanding in purity, charity, or humility.

Vigils Reading - Bl Christian de Charge
2026-05-08
A reading on the life of
CHRISTIAN DE CHERGÉ
◊◊◊
In its early stages, monastic life was interpreted in various ways. Not a few
understood monasticism as an authentic martyrdom. The martyr, the monk and
the mystic are people who have oriented their lives toward mystery and entered
deeply therein. They long for one thing only: to enter into communion with their
Lord in death in order to be joined with him in the Resurrection.
Christian de Chergé was born on January 18, 1937 at Colmar into a
distinguished family of eight children. His father was a military man, as would
be his older brother later on. During his childhood he spent three years in
Algeria during the Second World War. From the time of his childhood he always
remained impressed by the Muslim’s way of approaching God.
On October 6, 1956, at the age of nineteen he entered the seminary of the
Carmelites in Paris. His studies were interrupted in 1959 when he had to report
for military service. Set on becoming an officer, he took the required courses
and in July of the following year he was made second lieutenant. That same
month, at the time of the war of independence, he arrived in Algeria at the age of
twenty-three.
An event occurred during this time that left its mark on him for the rest of
his life. He had made friends with an Algerian who worked as a warden under
the French authorities, a position that made him susceptible to the violence of
the National Liberation Army. Mohamed tried to be faithful at one and the same
time to his Christian friend, to his Islamic faith, and to his own people. It so
happened one day that they were involved in a scuffle in the street. Mohamed
protected his friend and tried to pacify his aggressors. The following day, he was13
found dead. This painful episode was never to be forgotten. Christian came back
to it in later years, writing: “I know at least one beloved brother, a convinced
Muslim, who gave his life for love of another, in a concrete way, by spilling his
own blood. Indeed, since then, in my hope for communion of all the elect in
Christ, I can fix my eyes on this friend who lived, even in his death, the one
commandment.”
For Christian de Chergé all of this was a foundational experience and the
seed of a vocation. In the blood of his friend, assassinated for not having wanted
to bargain with hatred, Christian said in 1982: “I knew my calling to follow
Christ would end up living itself out sooner or later in the same country where
I had been given the pledge of the greater love, ‘shed for you and for many’”.
On March 21, 1964, he was ordained a priest and shortly thereafter was sent to
Algeria and to the monastic life. On September 14, 1976, he made his perpetual
vows. In it he expressed his desire to “live in Prayer in the service of the Church
of Algeria, listening to the Muslim soul, God willing, until the final gift of my
death.”
Christian was elected Titular Prior of Atlas monastery in 1984. He was
already deeply involved in the interreligious dialogue. On May 21, 1996, united
with his six brothers of the community, he sealed with his blood the witness of
his life.

Vigils Reading
2026-05-09
A reading from “The First Apology in Defense of the Christians” by
ST JUSTIN MARTYR
◊◊◊
None may share the Eucharist with us unless they believe that what we
teach is true; unless they are washed in the regenerating waters of Baptism for
the remission of their sins; and unless they live in accordance with the
principles given us by Christ.
We do not consume the eucharistic bread and wine as ordinary food and
drink, for we have been taught that as Jesus Christ our Saviour became a man of
flesh and blood by the power of the Word of God, so also the food that our flesh
and blood assimilates for its nourishment becomes the flesh and blood of the
incarnate Jesus by the power of his own words contained in the prayer of
thanksgiving.
The Apostles in their recollections, which are called Gospels, handed
down to us what Jesus commanded them to do. They tell us that he took bread,
gave thanks and said: Do this in memory of me, this is my body. In the same
way he took the cup, he gave thanks and said: This is my blood, and he
distributed it only to them. Ever since then we have constantly reminded one
another of these things. The rich among us help the poor and we are always
united. For all that we receive we praise the Creator of the universe through his
Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.
On Sunday we have a common assembly of all our members, whether they
live in the city or in the outlying districts. The recollections of the Apostles or the
writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits. When the reader has
finished, the president of the assembly speaks to us, urging everyone to imitate
the examples of virtue we have heard about in the readings. Then we all stand up
together and pray.
On the conclusion of our prayer, bread and wine and water are brought
forward. The president offers prayers and gives thanks to the best of his ability,
and the people give their assent by saying, ‘Amen’. The Eucharist is distributed,
everyone present communicates, and the Deacons take it to those who are
absent.
The wealthy if they wish may make a contribution, and they themselves
decide the amount. The collection is placed in the custody of the president, who
uses it to help the orphans and widows and all who for any reason are in distress,
whether because they are sick, in prison, or away from home. In a word, he takes
care of all who are in need.
We hold our common assembly on Sunday because it is the first day of the
week the day on which God put darkness and chaos to flight and created the
world, and because on that same day our Saviour Jesus Christ rose from the
dead. For he was crucified on Friday and on Sunday he appeared to his Apostles
and disciples and taught them the things that we have passed on for your
consideration.

Skema
2026-05-10
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
6th Week of Easter

Mass Readings: Sunday (A), Weekdays (II)
May 10 – 16, 2026

Sun
10
Mon
11
Tue
12
Wed
13
Thu
14
Fri
15
Sat
16

Office
6th Sunday of Easter
Holy Abbots of Cluny
Easter Weekday
Our Lady of Fatima
St Matthias
St Pachomius
Easter Weekday

Vigils
Acts 20:17-38
Acts 21:1-26
Acts 21:27-39
Acts 21:40-22:21
Phil 3:13-4:1
Acts 23:12-35
Acts 24:1-27

Lauds
Col 1:9-14
Col 1:24-29
Col 2:9-15
Col 4:4-9
1 Jn 2:18-25
1 Jn 2:7-11
1 Jn 2:18-23

Mass
55
291
292
293
564
295
296

1st
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
Acts 16:11-15
Acts 16:22-34
Acts 17:15, 22-18:1
Acts 1:15-17, 20-26
Acts 18:9-18
Acts 18:23-28

2nd
1 Pet 3:15-18

Gospel
John 14:15-21
John 15:26-16:4a
John 16:5-11
John 16:12-15
John 15:9-17
John 16:20-23
John 16:23b-28

Vespers
Col 1:15-23
Col 2:1-8
Col 3:12-17
1 Jn 1:1-4
1 Cor 4:1-7
1 Jn 2:12-17
Col 3:1-11

Vigils Reading - 6th Sunday of Easter
2026-05-10
A reading from
ST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
◊◊◊
If you love me, said Christ, keep my commandments. I have commanded
you to love one another and to treat one another as I have treated you. To love
me is to obey these commands, to submit to me your beloved. And I will ask the
father, and he will give you another Counselor. This promise shows once again
Christ’s consideration. Because his disciples did not yet know who he was, it was
likely that they would greatly miss his companionship, his teaching, his actual
physical presence, and be completely disconsolate when he had gone. Therefore
he said: I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, meaning
another like himself.
They received the Spirit after Christ had purified them by his sacrifice.
The Spirit did not come down on them while Christ was still with them, because
this sacrifice had not yet been offered. But when sin had been blotted out and
the disciples, sent out to face danger, were preparing themselves for the battle,
they needed the Holy Spirit’s coming to encourage them. If you ask why the
Spirit did not come immediately after the resurrection, this was in order to
increase their gratitude for receiving him by increasing their desire. They were
troubled by nothing as long as Christ was with them, but when his departure
had left them desolate and very much afraid, they would be most eager to
receive the Spirit.
He will remain with you, Christ said, meaning his presence with you will
not be ended by death. But since there was a danger that hearing of a Counselor
might lead them to expect another incarnation and to think they would be able
to see the Holy Spirit, he corrected this idea saying: The world cannot receive
him because it does not see him. For he will not be with you in the same way as I
am, but will dwell in your very souls, He will be in you.
Christ called him the Spirit of truth because the Spirit would help them to
understand the types of the old law. By He will be with you he meant, He will be
with you as I am with you, but he also hinted at the difference between them,
namely, that the Spirit would not suffer as he had done, nor would he ever
depart…
He said that the Spirit was another like himself, that he would not leave
them, that he would come to them just as he himself had come, and that he
would remain in them. Yet even this did not drive away their sadness, for they
still wanted Christ himself and his companionship. So to satisfy them he said: I
will not leave you orphans; I will come back to you. Do not be afraid, for when I
promised to send you another counselor I did not mean that I was going to
abandon you for ever, nor by saying that he would remain with you did I mean
that I would not see you again. Of course I also will come to you; I will not leave
you orphans.

Vigils Reading - Holy Abbots of Cluny
2026-05-11
A reading from a letter of St Bernard to Pope Eugenius, on behalf of
PETER THE VENERABLE
◊◊◊
It would be silly for me to write you on behalf of the Lord Abbot of Cluny,
to act as if I wanted to befriend a man whom the entire world befriends. But
although he does not need me to write on his behalf, I am nevertheless doing so
in order to satisfy my affection for him, for this purpose alone and no other.
Although I cannot accompany him in body I shall be with him in spirit on his
pilgrimage to Rome. Nothing can separate us, not the height of the Alps, nor the
cold of the snows, nor the long distance of the journey. And I am present to him
now, stretching out my hand to him in this letter. He cannot go anywhere
without me because I am so much in his debt for the favor of his friendship. But
his favor itself acquits me of the debt, for what was a duty has become a
pleasure.
Honor this man as an honorable member of Christ’s body. He is a vessel
fit for all honorable employment, a vessel full of grace and truth, full of all
manner of good things. Send him back with joy to rejoice the hearts of many by
his return. Show him great favor, so that when he returns we may all receive of
his fullness. He should, of course, find no difficulty in obtaining from you
anything he asks for in the name of the Lord Jesus. For, if you do not know it, he
it is that holds out his hands to the poor of our Order; he it is that freely and
frequently, as far as he may without offending his own people, supports our
brethren from the possessions of his monastery.
But let me explain why I say “in the name of the Lord Jesus.” It is because
I fear and suspect he may ask to be released from the rule of his monastery; and
no one who knows him would consider this a petition made in the name of
Jesus. I am very much mistaken if he is not more self-effacing than usual, if he
has not become more perfect since he last saw you, although it is well known
that almost from the first instant of assuming office he reformed his Order in
many ways, in the matter, for instance, of fasting, silence, and costly and curious
clothing.

Vigils Reading
2026-05-12
A reading from “Lumen Gentium” of
THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
◊◊◊
The Lord Jesus, having prayed at length to the Father, called to himself
those he desired and appointed twelve to be with him, whom he might send to
preach the kingdom of God. These Apostles he established in the form of a
College or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter who was
chosen from amongst them. He sent them first of all to the children of Israel and
then to all peoples, so that, sharing in his power, they might make all peoples his
disciples and sanctify and govern them. Thus they would spread the Church,
administer it under the guidance of the Lord, and shepherd it until the end of
the world. They were fully confirmed in this mission on the day of Pentecost
according to the Lord’s promise: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit
descends on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
So, just as by the Lord’s decree St Peter and the rest of the Apostles
constitute a unique apostolic College, so the Roman Pontiff, Peter’s successor,
and the Bishops, the successors of the Apostles, are related with and united to
one another. By ancient discipline the Bishops throughout the whole world lived
in communion with one another and with the Roman Pontiff in a bond of unity,
charity and peace; they also held Councils in order to settle together, in a
decision rendered balanced and equitable by the advice of many, all questions of
major importance.
Both these facts show clearly the collegiate character and structure of the
episcopal order, which is confirmed by the holding of Ecumenical Councils in
the course of the centuries. Indeed, pointing to it also quite clearly is the custom,
dating from very early times, of summoning a number of Bishops to take part in
the elevation of one newly chosen to the highest sacerdotal office. A man is
made a member of the episcopal body by sacramental consecration and
hierarchical communion with the head and members of the College.
This College, composed of many members, is the expression of the
diversity and universality of the People of God. It also shows the unity of the
flock of Christ because it is assembled under one head. In it the Bishops, whilst
loyally respecting the primacy and preeminence of their head, exercise their
own proper authority for the good of their faithful and of the whole Church,
whose organic structure and harmony are strengthened by the continued
influence of the Holy Spirit.
The supreme authority over the whole Church, which this College
possesses, is exercised in a solemn way in an Ecumenical Council. Every
Ecumenical Council is confirmed or at least recognized as such by the successor
of Peter and it is the prerogative of the Roman Pontiff to convoke such Councils,
to preside over them and to confirm them.

Vigils Reading - Our Lady of Fatima
2026-05-13
A reading from
POPE ST JOHN PAUL II
◊◊◊
Since the time when Jesus, dying on the cross, said to John: “Behold your
Mother“, since the time when “the disciple took her into his home”, the mystery
of Mary’s spiritual motherhood had its fulfillment in history with an amplitude
without boundaries. Motherhood means concern for her son’s life. Now, if Mary
is the mother of all people, her concern for human life is universal in scope…
The spiritual motherhood of Mary is therefore participation in the power of the
Holy Spirit, the One who “gives life.” It is with the humble service of the one who
says of herself: “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord“.
In the light of the mystery of Mary’s spiritual motherhood, let us
understand the extraordinary message, which began to resonate in the world by
Fatima since May 13, 1917 and lasted for five months until October 13 of the
same year. If the Church has embraced the message of Fatima it is mainly
because it contains a truth and a call, which in their essential content is the truth
and the call of the Gospel itself.
“Repent and believe in the Gospel“, these are the first words of the
Messiah addressed to humanity. The message of Fatima is in its core a call to
conversion and penance… The call to repentance is maternal and at the same
time, strong and determined. The love that “rejoices in the truth“, knows how to
be outspoken and determined… Can the Mother, who with all the power of her
love, which fosters in the Holy Spirit and desires the salvation of every person,
keep quiet about what undermines the very foundations of this salvation? No,
she cannot!
The Immaculate Heart of Mary, opened by the word: “Woman, behold
your son“, meets spiritually with the Heart of the Son opened by the soldier’s
lance. Mary’s Heart was opened by the same love for mortals and for the world,
with which Christ has loved humanity and the world, offering Himself on the
Cross for them. To consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of the Mother
means returning beneath the Cross of her Son. More it means consecrating this
world to the pierced Heart of the Savior, bringing the very source of his
redemption. Redemption is always greater than the sin of man and the “sin of
the world.”… The Heart of the Mother is aware of this, as no one else in the
whole universe, visible and invisible…
The Mother of Christ calls us and invites us to join the Church of the living
God in the consecration of the world, this reliance by which the world,
humanity, nations, all people are offered to the Eternal Father with the power of
Christ’s redemption. They are offered in the pierced Heart of the Redeemer on
the Cross…
The appeal of the Lady of Fatima is so deeply rooted in the Gospel and in
the whole of tradition that the Church feels committed by this message. Yes, we
can truly say: “Blessed are you, daughter, in front of the Most High God above
all women on earth!”… Yes, here and throughout the Church, in the heart of
every man and in the whole world you are blessed Mary, our sweet Mother!

Vigils Reading - St Matthias
2026-05-14
A reading from
ST JOHN HENRY NEWMAN
◊◊◊
<The feast of St Matthias> is the only day which is to be celebrated with
mingled feelings of joy and pain. It records the fall as well as the election of an
Apostle. St Matthias was chosen in place of the traitor Judas. In the history of
the latter we have the warning recorded in very deed, which our Lord in the text
gives us in word, “Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”
And doubtless many were the warnings such as this, addressed by our Lord to
the wretched man who in the end betrayed him.
The reflection which rises in the mind on a consideration of the election of
St Matthias, is this: how easily God may affect His purposes without us, and put
others in our place, if we are disobedient to Him. It often happens that those
who have long been in His favor grow secure and presuming. They think their
salvation certain, and their service necessary to Him who has graciously
accepted it. Now, this feeling of self-importance is repressed all through the
Scriptures, and especially by the events we commemorate today.
What solemn overpowering thoughts must have crowded on St Matthias,
when he received the greetings of the eleven Apostles, and took his seat among
them as their brother! His very election was a witness against himself if he did
not fulfill it. And such surely will ours be in our degree. We take the place of
others who have gone before, as Matthias did; we are “baptized for the dead,”
filling up the ranks of soldiers, some of whom, indeed, have fought a good fight,
but many of whom in every age have made void their calling. Many are called,
few are chosen. The monuments of sin and unbelief are set up around us. The
casting away of the Jews was the reconciling of the Gentiles. The fall of one
nation is the conversion of another. The Church loses old branches and gains
new. God works according to His own inscrutable pleasure…
Thus the Christian of every age is but the successor of the lost and of the
dead. How long we of this country shall be put in trust with Gospel, we know
not; but while we have the privilege, assuredly we do but stand in the place of
Christians who have either utterly fallen away, or are so corrupted as scarcely to
let their light shine before others. We are at present witnesses of the Truth; and
our very glory is our warning. By the superstitions, the profanities, the
indifference, the unbelief of the world called “Christian”, we are called upon to
be lowly-minded while we preach aloud, and to tremble while we rejoice. Let us
then, as a Church and as individuals, one and all, look to Him who alone can
keep us from falling. Let us with single heart look up to Christ our Saviour, and
put ourselves into His hands, from whom all our strength and wisdom is
derived.

Vigils Reading - St Pachomius
2026-05-15
A reading from
THOMAS MERTON
◊◊◊
Obedience is the distinctive factor of the new [communal] monasticism of
St Pachomius. The whole Pachomian structure is [actually] built on obedience,
[which] is not just the docility of the hermit to a director, but the lifelong
obedience of the subject to the superior, as well as of the son to the Father. It
implies a real concept of self-emptying and subjection, a real renunciation of
one’s own freedom, “for keeps.” Accordingly, all are to obey the Rule, superiors
and subjects. No one in the monastery is to follow his own will. [Even] the heads
of houses and their assistants, [for example,] had to weave a certain number of
baskets in a certain time, as a norm for the others to meet…
However, the superior must command, and he is to be obeyed as God.
Furthermore, the brethren are to obey one another, but above all the superiors.
In commanding, the superior himself obeys God who wants him to command
according to the Rule. All must obey meekly and willingly, without murmuring.
Unwillingness and resistance show lack of faith and seriously affect the spiritual
vitality of the mystery of the common life. It is not just an individual defect, it
affects the community.
Obedience is the highest value—with charity—in the common life. It is
“greater than sacrifices.” That is to say that emphasis is systematically placed on
what is enjoined by obedience, over what may be inspired by our own
spontaneous religious desires, however good [they may be in and of
themselves]. This is another fundamental principle [of communal monastic
life,] of cenobitism. What is enjoined in the name of the community…leads to
life much more surely and effectively than what is merely suggested by
individual inspiration…
To illustrate the importance this, Pachomius burned 500 mats that had
been woven by the cook in the kitchen, while he was cooking. He had been
ordered to cook only, not ordered to weave mats. Work over and above what was
one’s duty was not acceptable, because it was outside obedience. Hence, works
of extra sacrifice are acceptable only when the approval of obedience brings
them within the ambit of the common will and the common life. When a good
work, of personal choice, is approved by the superior, then it becomes part of
the common spiritual striving and merit of the community—it becomes a work
of Christ. But any work, however good, that is deliberately kept out of and apart
from the common life stream, ceases to be a work of Christ. Hence it is not
blessed. Hence it is a potential danger, to the individual and to the community.
Lastly, obedience is according to the Rule: there is no longer any purely
subjective and arbitrary command permitted. In commanding, the superior
must himself obey the Abba, the founder, and carry on the founder’s will… The
Rule represents the personal thought and desire of Abba Pachomius, and is not
a mere legal document.
Thus, obedience, for Pachomius, strikes deep into the heart of the
“mystery” of common life. If superiors do their own will and inferiors merely
comply with that will, then there is not yet a religious mystery. This [mystery]
is constituted by the participation of all in the sacrifice and obedience of
Christ, in His self-emptying. All have renounced their will. When this
happens in a community, the Holy Spirit then breathes in and through all its
members.

Vigils Reading
2026-05-16
A reading from “On the Sacraments” by
ST AMBROSE
◊◊◊
You were asked: ‘Do you believe in God the Father almighty?’ You replied:
‘I believe’, and you were immersed: that is, buried. You were asked for a second
time: ‘Do you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and in his Cross?’ You replied: ‘I
believe’, and you were immersed: which means that you were buried with
Christ. For one who is buried with Christ rises again with Christ. You were asked
a third time: ‘Do you believe also in the Holy Spirit?’ You replied: ‘I believe’, and
you were immersed a third time, so that the threefold confession might absolve
the manifold lapses of the past.
We can give you an illustration of this. The holy Apostle Peter appeared to
lapse through human weakness during the Lord’s Passion. To wipe out and
absolve the fault of his denial, he was asked by Christ three times if he loved
him. Peter replied: Lord, you know that I love you. He answered three times so
as to be absolved three times.
Thus the Father forgives sin, so does the Son, and so does the Holy Spirit.
Do not be surprised that we are baptized in one name: in the name, that is, of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; because Christ spoke of only one
name where there is one substance, one divinity, one majesty. This is the name
of which it is written: In this must all find salvation. It is in this name that you
have all been saved, that you have been restored to the grace of life.
So the Apostle exclaims, as you have just heard in the reading, Whoever is
baptized, is baptized in the death of Jesus. What does in the death mean? It
means that just as Christ died, so you will taste death; that just as Christ died to
sin and lives to God, so through the Sacrament of Baptism you are dead to the
old enticements of sin and have risen again through the grace of Christ. This is a
death, then, not in the reality of bodily death, but in likeness. When you are
immersed, you receive the likeness of death and burial, you receive the
Sacrament of his Cross; because Christ hung upon the Cross and his body was
fastened to it by the nails. So you are crucified with him.
The font has the shape and appearance of a sort of tomb. When we believe
in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we are received and immersed in it;
that is, we are restored to life. You also receive the myrrh, that is, the chrism,
over your heads. Why over your heads? Because the faculties of the wise man
are situated in his head, says Solomon. Wisdom without grace is inert; but
when wisdom receives grace, then its work begins to move toward fulfillment.
This is called regeneration.
What is regeneration? You can read in the Acts of the Apostles that a verse
from the second Psalm, You are my son, today I have begotten you, seems to
refer to the Resurrection. That is why he is also called The firstborn from the
dead. For what is resurrection except that we rise from death to life? So it is in
Baptism, which is an image of death: when you are immersed and rise up again,
there, certainly, is an image of the Resurrection. So as Christ’s Resurrection is
interpreted by the Apostle as a regeneration, so also this resurrection from the
font is a regeneration.
