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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260916
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260917
DTSTAMP:20260913T105948Z
CREATED:20260913T105948Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T105948Z
UID:15468-1789516800-1789603199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Cornelius & Cyprian
DESCRIPTION:A letter from St Cyprian to \nST CORNELIUS \n◊◊◊ \nCyprian sends greetings to his brother Cornelius. My very dear brother\, \nwe have heard of the glorious witness given by your courageous faith. On \nlearning of the honor you had won by your witness\, we were filled with such joy \nthat we felt ourselves sharers and companions in your praiseworthy \nachievements. After all\, we have the same Church\, the same mind. The same \nunbroken harmony. Why then should a priest not take pride in the praise given \nto a fellow priest as though it were given to him? What brotherhood fails to \nrejoice in the happiness of its brothers wherever they are? \nWords cannot express how great was the exaltation and delight here when \nwe heard of your good fortune and brave deeds: how you stood out as a leader of \nyour brothers in their declaration of faith\, while the leader’s confession was \nenhanced as they declared their faith. You led the way to glory\, but you gained \nmany companions in that glory; being foremost in your readiness to bear \nwitness on behalf of all\, you prevailed on your people to become a single \nwitness. We cannot decide which we ought to praise\, your own ready and \nunshaken faith or the love of your brothers who would not leave you. While the \ncourage of the bishop who thus led the way has been demonstrated\, at the same \ntime the unity of the brotherhood who followed has been manifested. Since you \nhave one heart and one voice\, it is the Roman Church as a whole that has thus \nborne witness. \nDearest brother\, bright and shining is the faith which the blessed Apostle \npraised in your community. He foresaw in the spirit the praise your courage \ndeserves and the strength that could not be broke; he was heralding the future \nwhen he testified to your achievements; his praise of the fathers was a challenge \nto the sons. Your unity\, your strength have become shining examples of these \nvirtues to the rest of the brethren. \nDivine providence has now prepared us. God’s merciful design has \nwarned us that the day of our own struggle\, our own contest\, is at hand. By that \nshared love which binds us closely together\, we are doing all we can to exhort \nour congregation\, to give ourselves unceasingly to fastings\, vigils and prayers in \ncommon. These are the heavenly weapons which give us strength to stand firm \nand endure; they are the spiritual defenses\, the God-given armaments that \nprotect us. \nLet us then remember one another\, united in mind and heart. Let us pray \nwithout ceasing\, you for us\, we for you; by the love we share we shall thus relieve \nthe strain of these great trials.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-cornelius-cyprian-5/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260917
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260918
DTSTAMP:20260913T110051Z
CREATED:20260913T110051Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T110051Z
UID:15470-1789603200-1789689599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from the Rule of \nST BENEDICT \n◊◊◊ \nIn choosing an abbot\, the guiding principle should always be that the man \nplaced in office be the one selected either by the whole community acting \nunanimously in the fear of God\, or by some part of the community\, no matter \nhow small\, which possesses sounder judgment. Goodness of life and wisdom in \nteaching must be the criteria for choosing the one to be made abbot even if he is \nthe last in community rank. \nMay God forbid that a whole community should conspire to elect a man \nwho goes along with its own evil ways. But if it does\, and if the bishop of the \ndiocese or the abbots or Christians in the area come to know of these evil ways to \nany extent\, they must block the success of this wicked conspiracy\, and set a \nworthy steward in charge of God’s house. They may be sure that they will receive \na generous reward for this\, if they do it with pure motives and zeal for God’s \nhonor. Conversely\, they may be equally sure that to neglect to do so is sinful. \nOnce in office\, the abbot must keep constantly in mind the nature of the \nburden he has received\, and remember to whom he will have to give an account \nof his stewardship. Let him recognize that his goal must be profit for the monks\, \nnot preeminence for himself. He ought\, therefore\, to be learned in divine law\, so \nthat he has a treasury of knowledge from which he can bring out what is new \nand what is old. He must be chaste\, temperate and merciful. He should always \nlet mercy triumph over judgment so that he too may win mercy. He must hate \nfaults but love the brothers. When he must punish them\, he should use \nprudence and avoid extremes; otherwise\, by rubbing too hard to remove the \nrust\, he may break the vessel. He is to distrust his own frailty and remember not \nto crush the bruised reed. By this we do not mean that he should allow faults to \nflourish\, but rather\, as we have already said\, he should prune them away with \nprudence and love as he see best for each individual. Let him strive to be love \nrather than feared. \nExcitable\, anxious\, extreme\, obstinate\, jealous or oversuspicious he must \nnot be. Such a man is never at rest. Instead\, he must show forethought and \nconsideration in his orders\, and whether the task he assigns concerns God or the \nworld\, he should be discerning and moderate\, bearing in mind the discretion of \nholy Jacob\, who said: If I drive my flocks too hard\, they will all die in a single \nday. Therefore\, drawing on this and other examples of discretion\, the mother of \nvirtues\, he must so arrange everything that the strong have something to yearn \nfor and the weak nothing to run from. \nHe must\, above all\, keep this rule in every particular\, so that when he has \nministered well he will hear from the Lord what that good servant heard who \ngave his fellow servants grain at the proper time: I tell you solemnly\, he said\, he \nsets him over all his possessions.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-466/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260918
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260919
DTSTAMP:20260913T110203Z
CREATED:20260913T110203Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T110203Z
UID:15472-1789689600-1789775999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from “Faith and Theology” by \nFR MARIE-DOMINIQUE CHENU \n◊◊◊ \nThe Christian is always haunted by the memory of the primitive Church \ncommunity in which “the multitude of the believers were of one heart and one \nsoul\, and not one of them said that anything he possessed was his own\, but \nthey had all things in common”. In this the Christian sees the ideal blueprint of \nthe Church\, the new-born foundation\, fresh from the breath of the Spirit in the \ncandid youth of a first love. \nDid the attempt fail? Some may believe so\, but I will not! That sacred fire \nwas never extinguished; throughout the centuries the Church has supported\, \nprotected and exalted those of her members who have practiced this ideal of \ncommon life and borne witness to the truth of its revelation. I believe this with \nall my heart\, for despite the many failures\, I see its success and I experience it \ndaily. The irrepressible leaven always makes the bread rise\, and the great stages \nof the Church\, her great successes – not her political or military victories for \nthese are not important and they are far from the spirit of the Gospel – her true \ntriumphs are characterized by revivals of this fraternity which blossoms amid \nthe thorns of conflict\, for it is in conflict\, by a divine paradox\, that this ideal finds \nits daring and its authenticity. \nA universal society? A chimera to the economist\, a dream to the politician\, \na mystical illusion to a reasonable person! And I would be inclined to \nagree…had not God one day become the first-born among brothers. \nWe retract nothing of this fraternal mystique\, and if there is folly in it\, we \nprefer its excess to the folly which in peoples\, nations\, races or classes\, \ncondemns humanity to falsehood\, hate and despair. But we believe that\, far \nfrom supplanting the structures and the solidarities which the economist\, the \nsociologist and the political scientist observe\, this fraternity requires them; we \nbelieve that this mystical fraternity\, if it is to be realized in practice\, must \npenetrate these social values and orders in their own autonomous reality. To \nfulfill its purpose this fraternity incarnates\, and is incarnated by\, the love of \nGod\, the prototype of its own universal love.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-467/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260919
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260920
DTSTAMP:20260913T110344Z
CREATED:20260913T110344Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T110344Z
UID:15474-1789776000-1789862399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX \n◊◊◊ \nDo you not see what heaven the Church possesses within her\, and that she \nherself\, in her universality\, is an immense heaven\, stretching out “from sea to \nsea\, and from the river to the ends of the earth?” Consider therefore\, to what \nyou may compare her in this respect\, provided you do not forget what I \nmentioned a short while ago concerning the heaven of heaven and heavens of \nheavens. Just like our mother above\, this one\, though still a pilgrim\, has her own \nheaven: spiritual men outstanding in their lives and reputations\, men of \ngenuine faith\, unshaken hope\, generous love\, men raised to the heights of \ncontemplation. \nThese men rain down God’s saving work like showers\, reprove with a \nvoice of thunder\, shine with a splendor of miracles. They proclaim the glory of \nGod\, and stretched out like curtains over the earth\, make known the law of life \nand knowledge written by God’s finger into their own lives\, “to give knowledge \nof salvation to his people.” They show forth the gospel of peace\, because they \nare the curtain of Solomon. In these curtains then we must discern the likeness \nof those heavenly figures whom we have just described as part of the \nBridegroom’s adornment. We must recognize too the queen standing at his \nright hand\, decked with ornaments similar\, though not equal\, to his. For \nalthough she is endowed with no small share of glory and beauty even where she \nsojourns as a pilgrim\, as well as in the day of her strength amid the splendors of \nthe saints\, yet the fullness and perfection of the glory of the blessed crowns her \nBridegroom in a way that is different. \nIf I do refer to the bride as perfect and blessed\, she is not wholly so. In part \nshe resembles the tents of Kedar; but she is also beautiful\, both in that part of \nher which already reigns in heaven\, and in those illustrious men whose wisdom \nand virtues grace her journey through the night\, like a heaven spangled with \nstars. Hence the Prophet’s words: “The wise leaders shall shine like the bright \nvault of heaven\, and those who have guided the people in the true path shall be \nlike stars for ever and ever.” \nHow lowly! Yet how sublime! At the same time tent of Kedar and \nsanctuary of God; an earthly tent and a heavenly palace; a mud hut and a royal \napartment; a body doomed to death and a temple bright with light; an object of \ncontempt to the proud\, yet the bride of Christ. She is black but beautiful\, \ndaughters of Jerusalem: for though the hardship and sorrow of prolonged exile \ndarkens her complexion\, a heavenly loveliness shines through it\, the curtains of \nSolomon enhance it. If the swarthy skin repels you\, you must still admire the \nbeauty; if you scorn what seems lowly\, you must look up with esteem to what is \nsublime. \nIndeed you must note the prudence\, the great wisdom\, the amount of \ndiscretion and sense of fittingness generated in the bride by that controlled \ninterplay of lowliness and exaltation according as occasion demands\, so that \namid the ups and downs of this world her sublime gifts sustain her lowliness lest \nshe succumb to adversity; while her lowliness curbs her exaltation\, or good \nfortune will bring it toppling down. These poles of her life act so harmoniously. \nThough of their nature opposites they will work with equal effectiveness for the \ngood of the bride. They subserve her spiritual welfare.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-468/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260920
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260921
DTSTAMP:20260920T105723Z
CREATED:20260920T105723Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260920T105723Z
UID:15485-1789862400-1789948799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n25th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nSeptember 20 – 26\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n20\nMon\n21\nTue\n22\nWed\n23\nThu\n24\nFri\n25\nSat\n26\n\n\nOffice\n25th Sunday\nSt Matthew\nWeekday\nSt Pius Pietrelcina\nOffice for Vocations\nWeekday\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nSong 8:5-14\nJob 28:1-28\nSirach Foreword\nSir 1:1-10\nSir 1:11-30\nSir 2:1-18\nSir 1:1-16\n\n\nLauds\nZephaniah 1:1-6\nProv 15:27-33\nZeph 1:7-13\nZeph 1:14-18\nZeph 2:1-7\nZeph 2:8-15\nZeph 3:1-7\n\n\nMass\n133\n643\n450\n451\n452\n453\n454\n\n\n1st\nIsa 55:6-9\nEph 4:1-7\, 11-13\nProv 21:1-6\, 10-13\nProv 30:5-9\nEccl 1:2-11\nEccl 3:1-11\nEccl 11:9-12:8\n\n\n2nd\nPhil 1:20c-24\, 27a\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 20:1-16a\nMatt 9:9-13\nLuke 8:19-21\nLuke 9:1-6\nLuke 9:7-9\nLuke 9:18-22\nLuke 9:43b-45\n\n\nVespers\n1 Pet 1:22-25\n2 Tim 3:10-17\n1 Pet 2:1-10\n1 Pet 2:11-17\n1 Pet 2:18-25\n1 Pet 3:8-12\n1 Pet 3:13-17
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-169/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260920
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260921
DTSTAMP:20260920T105914Z
CREATED:20260920T105914Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260920T105914Z
UID:15487-1789862400-1789948799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 25th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST AUGUSTINE \n◊◊◊ \nThe gospel story about the vineyard workers is appropriate to this time \nof year\, the season of the earthly grape harvest. But there is also another \nharvest\, the spiritual one\, at which God rejoices in the fruits of his vineyard. \nThe kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out to hire men to \nwork in his vineyard. In the evening he gave orders for all to be paid\, beginning \nwith the last comers and ending with the first. Now why did he pay the last \ncomers first? Will not everyone be rewarded at the same time? We read in \nanother gospel passage how the king will say to those placed on his right hand: \nCome\, you whom my Father has blessed: take possession of the kingdom prepared \nfor you from the foundation of the world. \nIf all\, then\, are to receive their wages together\, how should we understand \nthis statement about those who arrived at the eleventh hour being paid first\, and \nthose who had been working since daybreak being paid last? If I can say \nanything to further your understanding\, thanks be to God. Give thanks to him \nwho teaches you through me\, for my own knowledge is not the source of my \nteaching. To take an example\, then\, let us ask which of two workers receives his \nwages sooner\, one who is paid after an hour\, or one who is paid after twelve \nhours? Anyone will answer: “One who is paid after an hour.” So also in our \nparable. All the workmen were paid at the same time\, but because some were \npaid after an hour and others after twelve hours\, the former\, having had a \nshorter time to wait\, may be said to have received their wages first. \nThe earliest righteous people like Abel and Noah\, called as it were at the \nfirst hour\, will receive the joy of resurrection at the same time as we do. So also \nwill others who came later\, Abraham\, Isaac\, and Jacob\, and those contemporary \nwith them\, called as we may say at the third hour; Moses and Aaron and those \ncalled with them at the sixth hour; and after them the holy prophets\, called at the \nninth hour. At the end of the world all Christians\, called at the eleventh hour\, will \nreceive the joy of resurrection together with those who went before them. All \nwill be rewarded at the same time\, but the first comers will have had the longest \nto wait. Therefore\, if they receive their reward after a longer period and we after \na shorter one\, the fact that our reward is not delayed will make it seem as though \nwe were receiving it first\, even though we all receive it together. \nIn that great reward\, then\, we shall all be equal-the first to the last and the \nlast to the first. For the denarius stands for eternal life\, in which all will have the \nsame share. Although through diversity of merit some will shine more brilliantly \nthan others\, in the possession of eternal life there will be equality. What is \nendless for all will not be longer for one and shorter for another. What has no \nbounds will have none either for you or for me. Those who lived chastely in the \nmarried state will have one kind of splendor; virgins will have another. The \nreward for good works will differ from the crown of martyrdom; but where \neternal life is concerned there can be no question of more or less for anyone. \nWhatever may be the individual’s degree of glory\, each one will live in it \neternally. This is the meaning of the denarius.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-25th-sunday-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260921
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260922
DTSTAMP:20260920T110116Z
CREATED:20260920T110116Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260920T110116Z
UID:15489-1789948800-1790035199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Matthew
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST JOHN HENRY NEWMAN \n◊◊◊ \nThe most obvious danger which worldly possessions present to our \nspiritual welfare is\, that they become practically a substitute in our hearts for \nthat One Object to which our supreme devotion is due. They are present; God is \nunseen. They are means at hand of effecting what we want: whether God will \nhear our petitions for those wants is uncertain; or rather I may say\, certain in \nthe negative. Thus they minister to the corrupt inclinations of our nature; they \npromise and are able to be gods to us\, and such gods too as require no service\, \nbut\, like dumb idols\, exalt the worshipper\, impressing him with the notion of his \nown power and security. And in this consist their chief and most subtle mischief. \nReligious men are able to repress and even extirpate sinful desires\, the \nlust of the flesh and of the eyes\, gluttony\, drunkenness\, and the like\, love of \namusements and frivolous pleasures and display\, indulgence in luxuries of \nwhatever kind; but as to wealth\, they cannot easily rid themselves of a secret \nfeeling that it gives them a footing to stand upon\, an importance\, a superiority; \nand in consequence they get attached to this world\, lose sight of the duty of \nbearing the Cross\, become dull and dim-sighted\, and lose their delicacy and \nprecision of touch\, are numbed (so to say) in their fingers’ ends\, as regards \nreligious interests and prospects. \nTo risk all upon Christ’s word seems somehow unnatural to them\, \nextravagant\, and evidences a morbid excitement; and death\, instead of being a \ngracious\, however awful release\, is not a welcome subject of thought. They are \ncontent to remain as they are\, and do not contemplate a change. They desire and \nmean to serve God\, and actually do serve Him in their measure; but not with the \nkeen sensibilities\, the noble enthusiasm\, the grandeur and elevation of soul\, the \ndutifulness and affectionateness towards Christ by which one becomes a \nChristian… \nNot\, of course\, that the due use of God’s temporal blessings is wrong\, but \nto make them the object of our affections\, to allow them to beguile us from the \n“One Husband” to whom we are espoused\, is to mistake the Gospel. \nThis\, then\, if we may venture to say so\, was some part of our Savior’s \nmeaning\, when He connects together the having with the trusting in riches; and \nit is especially suitable to consider it upon this day\, when we commemorate an \nApostle and an Evangelist\, whose history is an example and encouragement for \nall those who have\, and fear lest they should trust.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-matthew-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260922
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260923
DTSTAMP:20260920T110222Z
CREATED:20260920T110222Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260920T110222Z
UID:15491-1790035200-1790121599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nDOM ODO CASEL \n◊◊◊ \nBy his passion the Lord became pneuma [spirit]; accordingly\, we too have \nbeen filled with pneuma through the mystical passion in baptism and the \nspiritual resurrection which flowed from it: we have become spiritual people. \nPneuma means the life of godhead\, which the Lord gives us\, now that he is \nraised up to it\, become it\, his human nature lifted up now to God\, and his place \nat the Father’s right hand. Possession of the pneuma is\, according to Peter\, Paul\, \nand John\, the mark of the Christian. It is expressed in a particularly positive \nfashion within baptism through the rite of breathing\, as the washing primarily \nexpresses purification from sin. \nThrough the pneuma the Christian is made like Christ\, the pneuma in \nperson\, and is thereby anointed with this pneuma\, as Cyril of Jerusalem tells us \nin his Mystagogical Catechesis: \n“After you were baptized in Christ and had put on Christ\, you were formed \ntoo in the likeness of the Son of God. Because God predestined that we \nshould have acceptance as his children\, he made us also of one form with \nChrist’s body of glory. Because you are now sharers in Christ you are \nrightly called christs\, anointed ones\, and of you God said\, “touch not my \nanointed ones”. \nYou were anointed as you received the image of the holy Pneuma\, and \neverything was done in image upon you\, because you are images of the \nanointed one. He bathed in the river Jordan\, and gave the water the good \nodor of his divinity\, so that when he rose out of it\, the pneuma came \n3 The Mystery of Christian Worship\, Odo Casel OSB\, The Newman Press MD 1962\, p.17-18.7 \nbodily upon him\, like resting upon like. In just the same way the chrism \nwas given to you as you stepped out of the spring of waters\, the off-set of \nthat chrism with which Christ was anointed. \nBut this is the holy pneuma of whom the blessed Isaiah spoke in the \nperson of the Lord\, “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me\, and he has anointed \nme to bring the gospel to the poor; he has sent me on his business”. As \nChrist was crucified in fact\, buried and raised up again\, so you gained \nyour high estate at baptism\, crucified with him in likening\, buried with \nhim so as to rise with him\, so it is\, too\, for you with the chrism. \nHe was anointed with the oil of spiritual gladness\, with the pneuma\, \ncalled the oil of joy because it is the spring of joy in spirit. And you were \nanointed with myrrh\, and in this way became co-sharers\, companions of \nChrist.” \nThe Christian is\, therefore\, a second christ\, pneuma. \nThrough initiation\, a person becomes a living member of Christ\, a \n‘christus’. Now no mere human person\, but a person transformed\, divinized\, \nnew-begotten out of God to be God’s child. We carry the life of God within us. As \na member of the High-Priest\, Christ\, he or she is christus\, an anointed one; a \npriest who may sacrifice to God the Father\, a sacrifice which through Christ \nbecomes uniquely acceptable and accepted.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-469/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260923
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260924
DTSTAMP:20260920T110402Z
CREATED:20260920T110402Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260920T110402Z
UID:15493-1790121600-1790207999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Pius Pietrelcina
DESCRIPTION:A reading from Butler’s Lives of the Saints on \nST PADRE PIO \n◊◊◊ \nThe most famous stigmatist since St Francis of Assisi was born into a \nfamily of agricultural laborers in Pietrelcina\, northeast of Naples\, on May 25\, \n1887. In 1903 he received the Capuchin habit\, taking the name of Fra Pio. Seven \nyears later he was ordained to the priesthood. Not long after this he began to \nexperience pains in his hands and feet\, and on September 11\, 1911 he confessed \nto his spiritual director that he had had invisible stigmata for over a year. He \nalso suffered the pains of Christ’s crown of thorns and scourging. \nOn august 5\, 1918 he underwent the further mystical experience of \n“transverberation” (piercing with the lance)\, which left him with a wound in his \nside that bled continually. A month later the stigmata in his hands and feet \nbecame visible and remained so until the final day of his life. The Capuchins \nmade no attempt to conceal Padre Pio’s condition\, which soon became known \nall over Italy and was the main cause of both his celebrity and the controversy \nthat surrounded him. \nAs people started flocking to his convent in their thousands\, the Vatican\, \ncautious as ever when faced with “private” favors and revelations\, had him \nexamined by a succession of doctors. The physical manifestations were \nundeniable. But were they from God\, the psychosomatic effect of a disturbed \npersonality\, or even a fraudulent attempt on his part of that of the convent to \nachieve notoriety? \nHuge crowds attended his Masses\, during which he went into ecstatic \nstates that could last for two hours or more. In July 1923 he received an order to \nsay Mass in private\, but so real was the threat of a violent popular reaction that \nit was rescinded the following day. Padre Pio himself made no comment on his \ncondition other than that he was “a mystery to himself” but his gifts should \nproduce benefits for others. \nHis community was able to ensure that they were so used when money \nofferings started coming in from his penitents and admirers. In January 1925\, \nhe opened a twenty-bed hospital that was named after St Francis and remained \nin operation for thirteen years… \nIn 1940\, with the particular support of Maria Pyle\, a wealthy American \nwoman to whose mother he had ministered as she was dying in 1929\, Padre Pio \nwas in a position to undertake a more ambitious hospital project. Medical and \nadministrative committees were set up\, but the Second World War delayed \nfurther implementation of the project until 1946\, when a limited company was \nformed to carry the work forward… \nIn 1959 Padre Pio’s own health deteriorated. Then in August he \nrecovered\, apparently miraculously\, when a statue of Our Lady of Fatima was \nbrought into the hospital for two days. He died on September 23\, 1968\, and \ndoctors who examined his body found his hands and feet unmarked and “fresh \nas those of a child”. He was beatified and later canonized by Pope John Paul II. \nIn his address the Pope spoke not so much of Padre Pio’s extraordinary \nexperiences but of the long hours the friar would spend in the confessional and \nof his extraordinary charity\, which\, he said\, “was poured like balm on the \nsufferings of his brothers and sisters.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-pius-pietrelcina/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260920T110525Z
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UID:15495-1790208000-1790294399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nHENRI LE SAUX \n◊◊◊ \nVocations are as diverse as temperaments are diverse. More simply\, we \ncould say that certain temperaments are more predisposed to the solitary life \nand others to life in the world. Among the great vocations there are the Sages \nand there are the Prophets. There are those whom the Holy Spirit compels to \nwithdraw within themselves and to meditate night and day on the Law of the \nLord\, like the inspired scribes of Israel and those first hermits of Mount Carmel. \nAnd there are those who are called to proclaim the Word of God to others. \nIn the world we must have people who testify that God is beyond all \nsymbol\, people who witness to the absolute. We must have people who\, in the \nname of the world\, place the world at the center and who live in this center \nwhere God dwells. We needed some of them even in the Church to ward off \npragmatism which constantly threatens it\, even under the finest outward \nappearances of pastoral and missionary zeal. We need people who take literally \nthe call of Christ to poverty\, to freedom from concern about the morrow\, to \nindifference to all but the one essential thing. We are so made that it is only in \nfellowship\, in collaboration and in one person complementing the qualities of \nanother\, that we are completely capable of putting the Gospel into effect. \nIndeed\, alongside the people who witness to the immutability of God\, \nthere must be people who witness to his activity. Alongside the people who \nwitness to his transcendence\, there must be those who witness to his \nimmanence. \nThere must be people who enter with all their abilities into the Divine plan \nfor the development of the universe and for the growth of the mystical body of \nthe Lord. God did not intend everything in universe to be made all at once. He \nchose to have his creation – and above all\, humanity – working with him. It is \nthrough secondary causes that God leads the world to find its consummation. \nAt the human level\, this collaboration becomes freedom. At the same time it \nbecomes understanding. \nThis means that we are called to use our intelligence to discover how best \nto improve the conditions of human life. We are responsible and intelligent \ncollaborators in the work of creating and of ruling the world. We cannot refuse \nto take part in it without refusing God himself. That is inscribed in our human \nbirth and in the condition of communion (or koinonia)\, which is the condition \nof our existence\, human as well as Christian. \nHowever\, not everyone is called to collaborate in the same way. There are \nkings and there are farmers; there are doctors and there are merchants. The \nimportant point is that each one\, wherever God has placed them\, should always \nwork for the good of all. Selfishness is not only the act of someone who may \nwithdraw to the desert out of laziness or cowardice. It is no less present in the \none who has chosen to live in the world\, but who uses the world for their own \nexclusive gain. Every vocation is a service\, both in the church and in the world. \nEach of us is at the service of each other.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-31/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260926
DTSTAMP:20260920T110644Z
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LAST-MODIFIED:20260920T110644Z
UID:15497-1790294400-1790380799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST AMBROSE \n◊◊◊ \nWhat is regeneration? You can read in the Acts of the Apostles a verse \nwhich is cited from the second psalm: “You are my son\, I have begotten you \ntoday”. The words seem to refer to the resurrection. Indeed\, the holy apostle \nPeter interprets them in this way in the Acts of the Apostles: when the Son rose \nfrom the dead the Father’s voice was heard proclaiming: “You are my son\, I have \nbegotten you today.” That is why he is also called “the first-born from the dead. \nFor what is resurrection except that we rise from death to life? So it is in \nbaptism\, which is an image of death: when you are immersed and rise up again\, \nthere\, certainly\, is an image of the resurrection. And as Christ’s resurrection\, \naccording to the right interpretation of the apostle Peter\, is a regeneration\, so \nalso this resurrection here is a regeneration. \nBut what conclusions do you draw from the fact that it is in water that you \nare immersed. Are you a little lost here? Does some doubt creep in? We read: \n“Let the earth produce for herself fruits which germinate.” You have read the \nsame about the waters: “Let the waters produce living things; and living things \nwere born”. These were born in the beginning\, at the creation; but this gift was \nkept for you: that the waters should regenerate you in grace\, even as those other \nwaters generated into life. \nImitate the fish; it received a lesser grace than you\, but you should still \nconsider it a marvel… It is in the sea and swims on the waves. On the sea the \ntempest rages\, violent winds blow; but the fish swims on. It does not drown \nbecause it is used to swimming. In the same way this world is the sea for you. It \nhas various currents\, huge waves\, fierce storms. You too\, must be a fish\, so that \nthe waves of this world do not drown you. Those are lovely words of the Father: \n“I have begotten you today.” It means “when you have redeemed the world\, \nwhen you have summoned hearts to the kingdom of heaven\, when you have \nfulfilled my will\, you have proved that you are my son.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-470/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260926
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260927
DTSTAMP:20260920T110802Z
CREATED:20260920T110802Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260920T110802Z
UID:15499-1790380800-1790467199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nFR ROMANO GUARDINI \n◊◊◊ \nElizabeth calls the Virgin Blessed because she had faith – for everything \nwould happen as the Lord had told her; through the power of the Holy Spirit she \nwould become the Mother of the Redeemer\, and in this find the fulfillment of her \nlife and salvation. To be assured of this was not always easy. When the Gospel \nspeaks of Mary and her son\, one perceives a great love\, but also a remoteness. \nThe answer of the twelve-year-old boy in the temple; the answer Jesus gave \nat the wedding feast of Cana; his words to the bystanders\, when Mary\, at the door\, \nasks for him; what he said to the woman who exalted his Mother; and his last \ntestament in which he committed her to the care of the disciple – in each of these\, \nsomething is revealed that removes him from her\, and we always sense the \npossibility that she might have become perplexed about God’s guidance. But each \ntime her confidence increased and she placed all into his hands. Mary lived \ncompletely through her confidence in God’s power\, a power that is capable of \nconsummating all\, even in darkness and opposition. \nHope is confidence in God’s power to accomplish all things. He has promised \nthat we shall become new persons\, and that his creation shall be a “new heaven and \na new earth”. This is gainsaid by the impression made on us by worldly things; by \nthe course our life is taking; by the opinions of people around us; by our own daily \ninsufficiency and sin – by everything. Hope is the “nevertheless” of faith. In spite of \nall contradiction\, the new life is within us\, and God will complete it if we trust in \nhim despite all opposition. But that is difficult\, sometimes impossible. So we must \nask again that the Lord “may strengthen our hope.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-the-bvm-13/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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