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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260910
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260911
DTSTAMP:20260906T130847Z
CREATED:20260906T130847Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260906T130847Z
UID:15454-1788998400-1789084799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nWILLIAM OF ST THIERRY \n◊◊◊ \nNow we on our part hold you dear by the affection of Love which you have \nimplanted in us. But how is it with you? Do you\, the Creator of all things\, both of \nthe good dispositions and of souls that are to be affected by them\, do you love \nthose whom you do love by some extraneous\, incidental activity? And are you\, \nthe Maker of all people and all things\, in some way\, in some respect\, affected in \nso doing? It is unthinkable! It would be ridiculous and contrary to faith to \nimpute such a thing to the Creator of all! \nWell\, then\, how do you love us\, if you do not love us with love? But\, O you \nwho are the One supremely good and the ultimate Goodness\, your love is your \ngoodness\, the Holy spirit proceeding from the father and the Son! From the \nbeginning of creation he has been borne upon the waters – on the tossing souls \nof mortals\, that is – offering himself to all\, drawing all to himself. And by \nbreathing into and upon them\, by warding off things harmful and supplying \nthings useful\, he unites God to us and us to God. Your Holy Spirit\, who is called \nthe Love\, and the Unity\, and the Will of the Father and the Son\, dwells in us by \nhis grace and implants in us the charity of God; and through that charity he \nreconciles God to us. And thus he unites us to God through the good will that he \nbreathes into us. And with us this vehement good will goes by the name of love\, \nby which we love what we ought to love\, namely you. For love is nothing other \nthan a vehement\, well-ordered will… \nWe first hoped\, because we knew your name\, O Lord; we gloried in you as \nLord and loved the name of the Lord in you. But now\, through the grace \ninbreathed into us by the Spirit of your adoption\, we have confidence that all \nthat the father has is ours also. So\, through the grace of adoption\, we invoke you \nnow under the same name as your only Son invokes you by right of nature. But \nbecause all this derives exclusively from you\, O sovereign Father of lights\, for \nwhom to love is to do good and from whom comes every good endowment and \nevery perfect gift\, you\, I say\, love yourself in us\, and us in yourself\, when we love \nyou through you. \nWe are…God’s offspring\, we\, all of us\, are gods and children of the Most \nHigh through a kind of spiritual kinship. We claim for ourselves a closer \nrelationship with you\, because through the Spirit of adoption your Son does not \nscorn to be known by the same name as we\, and because with and by him\, taught \nby saving precepts and schooled by God’s ordinance\, we are bold to say: “Our \nFather\, who art in heaven.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-465/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260911
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260912
DTSTAMP:20260906T130949Z
CREATED:20260906T130949Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260906T130949Z
UID:15456-1789084800-1789171199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nCARDINAL JEAN DANIELOU \n◊◊◊ \nThe Christian Life is altogether an act of waiting. Christians know that \nthey are made for greater things. They feel acutely the misery of their present \ncondition. They aspire to be relieved of the weight of animal life and its \nservitude. “I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ”. While the carnal in us \ngrasps desperately at pleasures and possessions\, the Christian lives already in \nthe order of being\, detached\, free\, making use of time\, so long as it is given\, to \nperform works of charity towards all – an activity invisible to the eyes of the \nworld. The Christian life is a hidden life. \nBut when the world is folded up like a tent\, the reality that has been \nhidden until that moment will be clearly revealed. It is to prepare oneself for this \nsolemn act\, which is the entry of every person into the heavenly Temple\, \nthrough the veil that still conceals it\, that one’s whole life must be devoted. \nThat life consists for the Christian in being endowed little by little with \ndivine manners. And the education that proceeds till the hour of death – for all \nlife is only an adolescence – consists\, as Jean Guitton says\, “in that discipline by \nwhich we prepare the child for temporal life\, the adult for eternal life\, so that \nwhatever we see\, we feel we have seen it already.” We must not be without a \ncountry on our arrival in heaven. Our life is an apprenticeship. It is a matter of \nlearning the rudiments of what we shall have one day to do. \nSo let us already try in prayer to stammer what will later be the \n‘conversation in heaven’ with God and his angels; so we must try to make less \ncrude this intellect of ours\, which is so immersed in the world of time and space\, \nand to acclimatize it gradually to heavenly things through the action of the gifts \nof the Holy Spirit. Thus charity itself is the clumsy beginning of that complete \ncommunion which will embrace all the saints. So doing\, we begin to do what we \nhave always to do. It is our real life which is being mapped out. Let us begin it.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-29/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260912
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260913
DTSTAMP:20260906T131058Z
CREATED:20260906T131058Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260906T131058Z
UID:15458-1789171200-1789257599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Peter Tarentaise
DESCRIPTION:A reading from Butler’s Lives of the Saints on \nST PETER OF TARENTAISE \n◊◊◊ \nSt Peter of Tarentaise was born near Vienne in the French province of the \nDauphine. He early displayed a remarkable memory\, coupled with great \ninclination for religious studies\, and at the age of twenty he entered the abbey of \nBonnevaux. After a time\, his father and the other two sons followed Peter to \nBonnevaux\, while his mother\, with the only daughter\, entered a neighboring \nnunnery. \nHe was not quite thirty when he was chosen superior of a new house built \nat Tamie\, in the desert mountains of Tarentaise. It over looked the pass which \nwas then the chief route from Geneva to Savoy\, and the monks were able to be of \ngreat use to travelers. There\, with the help of Amadeus III\, Count of Savoy\, who \nheld him in high esteem\, he founded a hospice for the sick and for strangers\, in \nwhich he was wont to wait upon his guests with his own hands. \nIn 1142 came his election to the archbishopric of Tarentaise\, and Peter \nwas compelled by St Bernard and the general chapter of his order\, though much \nagainst the grain\, to accept the office. He found the diocese in a deplorable state\, \ndue mainly to the mismanagement of his predecessor\, an unworthy man who \nhad eventually to be deposed. In place of the cathedral clergy whom he found lax \nand careless; St Peter substituted canons regular of St Augustine. He undertook \nthe constant visitation of his diocese; recovered property which had been \nalienated; appointed good priests to various parishes; made excellent \nfoundations for the education of the young and relief of the poor; and \neverywhere provided for the due celebration of the services of the Church.. \nIn 1155\, after he had administered the diocese for thirteen years\, Peter \nsuddenly disappeared. Actually\, he had made his way to a remote Cistercian \nabbey in Switzerland\, where\, he was accepted as a lay-brother. Not until a year \nlater was he discovered. His identity having been revealed to his new superiors\, \nPeter was obliged to leave and return to his see\, where he was greeted with great \njoy. He took up his duties more zealously than ever. He rebuilt the hospice of the \nLittle St Bernard and founded other similar refuges for travelers in the Alps… \nIt was not granted to the saint to die among his mountain flock. His \nreputation as a peacemaker led Alexander III to send him in 1174 to try effect a \nreconciliation between King Louis VII of France and Henry II of England. St \nPeter\, though he was old\, set out at once\, preaching everywhere on his way. As \nhe approached Chaumont in the Vexin\, where the French court was being held\, \nhe was met by King Louis and by Prince Henry\, the rebellious heir to the English \nthrone. The latter\, alighting from his horse to receive the archbishop’s blessing\, \nasked for the saint’s old cloak\, which he reverently kissed. \nBoth at Chaumont and at Gisors where he interviewed the English king\, St \nPeter was treated with utmost honor\, but the reconciliation for which he labored \ndid not take place until after his death. As he was returning to his diocese he was \ntaken ill on the road near Besançon\, and died as he was being carried into the \nabbey of Bellevaux. This St Peter was canonized in 1191.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-peter-tarentaise/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260913
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260914
DTSTAMP:20260913T105424Z
CREATED:20260913T105424Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T105424Z
UID:15460-1789257600-1789343999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n24th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nSeptember 13 – 19\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n13\nMon\n14\nTue\n15\nWed\n16\nThu\n17\nFri\n18\nSat\n19\n\n\nOffice\n24th Sunday\nExaltation of the Holy Cross\nOur Lady of Sorrows\nSS Cornelius & Cyprian\nWeekday\nWeekday\nWeekday\n\n\nVigils\nSong 3:1-11\nIsa 52:13-53:12\n2 Macc 7:20-41\nSong 4:1-5:1\nSong 5:2-6:3\nSong 6:4-7:6\nSong 7:7-8:4\n\n\nLauds\nNahum 2:2-8\nIsa 45:21-25\nBaruch 4:9b-20\nNahum 2:9-14\nNahum 3:1-7\nNahum 3:8-13\nNahum 3:14-19\n\n\nMass\n130\n638\n639\n445\n446\n447\n448\n\n\n1st\nSir 27:30—28:7\nNum 21:4b-9\nHeb 5:7-9\n1 Cor 12:31-13:13\n1 Cor 15:1-11\n1 Cor 15:12-20\n1 Cor 15:35-37\, 42-49\n\n\n2nd\nRom 14:7-9\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 18:21-35\nJohn 3:13-17\nJohn 19:25-27\nLuke 7:31-35\nLuke 7:36-50\nLuke 8:1-3\nLuke 8:4-15\n\n\nVespers\nJas 5:13-20\nGal 6:14-18\nCol 1:21-24\n1 Peter 1:1-7\n1 Pet 1:8-12\n1 Pet 1:13-16\n1 Pet 1:17-21
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-168/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260913
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260914
DTSTAMP:20260913T105600Z
CREATED:20260913T105600Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T105600Z
UID:15462-1789257600-1789343999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading-  24th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST AUGUSTINE \n◊◊◊ \nThe Lord puts the parable of the unforgiving debtor before us that we may \nlearn from it. He has no desire for us to die\, so he warns us: This is how your \nheavenly Father will deal with you if you\, any of you\, fail to forgive your \nbrother or sister from your heart. \nTake notice now\, for clearly this is no idle warning. The fulfillment of this \ncommand calls for the most vigorous obedience. We are all in debt to God\, just \nas other people are in debt to us. Is there anyone who is not God’s debtor? Only \na person in whom no sin can be found. And is there anyone who has no brother \nor sister in his debt? Only if there be someone who has never suffered any \nwrong. Do you think anyone can be found in the entire human race who has not \nin turn wronged another in some way\, incurring a debt to that person? No\, all \nare debtors\, and have others in debt to them. Accordingly\, God who is just has \ntold you how to treat your debtor\, because he means to treat his in the same \nway. \nThere are two works of mercy which will set us free. They are briefly set \ndown in the gospel in the Lord’s own words: Forgive and you will be forgiven\, \nand Give and you will receive. The former concerns pardon\, the latter \ngenerosity. As regards pardon he says: “Just as you want to be forgiven\, so \nsomeone is in need of your forgiveness.” Again\, as regards generosity\, consider \nwhen a beggar asks you for something that you are a beggar too in relation to \nGod. When we pray we are all beggars before God. We are standing at the door \nof a great householder\, or rather\, lying prostrate\, and begging with tears. We \nare longing to receive a gift – the gift of God himself. \nWhat does a beggar ask of you? Bread. And you\, what do you ask of God\, \nif not Christ who said: I am the living bread that has come down from heaven? \nDo you want to be pardoned? Then pardon others. Forgive and you will be \nforgiven. Do you want to receive? Give and you will receive. \nIf we think of our sins\, reckoning up those we have committed by sight\, \nhearing\, thought\, and countless disorderly emotions\, I do not know whether we \ncan even sleep without falling into debt. And so\, every day we pray; every day we \nbeat upon God’s ears with our pleas; every day we prostrate ourselves before \nhim saying: Forgive us our trespasses\, as we also forgive those who trespass \nagainst us. Which of our trespasses\, all of them or only some? All\, you will \nanswer. Do likewise\, therefore\, with those who have offended you. This is the \nrule you have laid down for yourself\, the condition you have stipulated. When \nyou pray according to this pact and covenant you remember to say: Forgive us\, \nas we also forgive our debtors.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-24th-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260914
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260915
DTSTAMP:20260913T105716Z
CREATED:20260913T105716Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T105716Z
UID:15464-1789344000-1789430399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Exaltation of the Holy Cross
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST JOHN HENRY NEWMAN \n◊◊◊ \nAs the doctrine of the Cross\, though it be the true interpretation of this \nworld\, is not prominently manifested in it upon its surface\, but is concealed; so \nagain\, when received into the faithful heart\, there it abides as a living principle\, \nbut deep\, and hidden from observation. Religious people\, in the words of \nScripture\, “live by the faith of the Son of God\, who loved them and gave Himself \nfor them:”but they do not tell this to all; they leave others to find it out as they \nmay. \nOur Lord’s own command to His disciples was\, that when they fast\, they \nshould “anoint their head and wash their face.” Thus they are bound not to make \na display\, but ever to be content to look outwardly different from what they are \nreally inwardly. They are to carry a cheerful countenance with them\, and to \ncontrol and regulate their feelings\, that those feelings\, by not being expended on \nthe surface\, may retire deep into their hearts and there live. \nAnd thus “Jesus Christ and He crucified” is\, as the Apostle tells us\, \n“hidden wisdom;” — hidden in the world\, which seems at first sight to speak a \nfar other doctrine\, — and hidden in the faithful soul\, which to persons at a \ndistance\, or to chance beholders\, seems to be living but an ordinary life\, while \nreally it is in secret holding communion with Him who was “manifested in the \nflesh\,” “crucified through weakness\,” “justified in the Spirit\, seen of Angels\, and \nreceived up into glory.” \nThis being the case\, the great and awful doctrine of the Cross of Christ\, \nwhich we now commemorate\, may fitly be called\, in the language of figure\, the \nheart of religion. The heart may be considered as the seat of life; it is the \nprinciple of motion\, heart\, and activity; from it the blood goes to and fro to the \nextreme parts of the body. It sustains us in our powers and faculties; it enables \nthe brain to think and when it is touched\, we die. And in like manner the sacred \ndoctrine of Christ’s Atoning Sacrifice is the vital principle on which the \nChristian lives\, and without which Christianity is not. Without it no other \ndoctrine is held profitably; to believe in Christ’s Divinity\, or in His manhood\, or \nin the Holy Trinity\, or in a judgment to come\, or in the resurrection of the dead\, \nis an untrue belief\, not Christian faith unless we receive also the doctrine of \nChrist’s sacrifice… \nThe heart is hidden from view; it is carefully and securely guarded; it is \nnot like the eye set in the forehead\, commanding all\, and seen of all: and so in \nlike manner the sacred doctrine of the Atoning Sacrifice is not one to be talked \nof\, but to be lived upon; not to be put forth irreverently\, but to be adored \nsecretly; not to be used as a necessary instrument in the conversion of the \nungodly\, or for the satisfaction of reasoners of this world\, but to be unfolded to \nthe docile and obedient; to young children\, whom the world has not corrupted; \nto the sorrowful\, who need comfort\, to the sincere and earnest\, who need a rule \nof life; to the innocent\, who need warning; and to the established who have \nearned the knowledge of it.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-exaltation-of-the-holy-cross-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260915
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260916
DTSTAMP:20260913T105824Z
CREATED:20260913T105824Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T105824Z
UID:15466-1789430400-1789516799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Our Lady of Sorrows
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nAMADEUS OF LAUSANNE \n◊◊◊ \nWith deep calling to deep\, two loves had come together into one and from \nthe two loves was made a single love when the Virgin mother gave to her Son the \nlove she gave to God\, and showed her love for her son in loving God. Therefore \nthe more she loved\, the more she grieved and the greatness of her love brought \nthe increase of her suffering. \nWhat was she doing when she stood on Calvary and saw the cross\, the \nnails\, the wounds of the One who was dying in innocence and the insatiable \ncruelty of the Pharisee afire with malice? [Jesus] hung there atoning not for his \nsins but for ours\, and the Pharisees with the Scribes\, mocking him\, struck him \non the head and offered to his lips vinegar mingled with gall that there might be \nfulfilled the prophecy of David\, saying in the person of Christ\, ‘They added to the \npain of my wounds.’ \nIn the midst of this the Mother of God was distressed in mind\, and \nsorrows seized upon her as upon a woman in childbirth. There are groans\, sobs\, \nsighs\, sorrow\, grief\, agony\, distress of heart\, fires\, a death more cruel than \ndeath. There life is not taken away yet the bitterness of death is suffered. O \nmemory to be revered\, full of devotion and tears\, to recall how that glorious holy \nsoul suffered\, and what anguish she endured in the death of Christ. The pale \nface of Jesus reflected the bloodless face of his mother. He suffered in the flesh\, \nshe in her heart. \nFinally the insults and scoffing of the wicked came back upon his mother’s \nhead. The Lord’s death was to her more bitter than her own [would have been]. \nAlthough\, taught by the Spirit\, she would not doubt the resurrection\, yet she had \nto drink the Father’s cup and to know the hour of her own passion. Concerning \nthis\, the venerable Simeon prophesied to her: ‘A sword shall pierce your soul.’ O \nLord Jesus\, terrible in your counsels beyond the sons of men\, you did not spare \nyour mother from the sword piercing her soul. By this road must we all pass by \nthe fiery sword turning this way and that to the tree of life which is in the midst \nof paradise. \nBut to return: Blessed Mary was able to cry out that which was especially \nappropriate to Christ: ‘O all you who pass by\, behold and see if there is any \nsorrow like my sorrow. What a sorrow and how great! And in that sorrow what \nwas Mary like? Alas\, as she was then\, how different from the girl who had once \ntended her son amid a choir of angels while shepherds worshiped and Magi \nadored him with an offering of mystic gifts. Very different\, not indeed in virtue \nbut in sadness\, not in grace but in grief. For she increased in virtue and grew in \ngrace. For set in the midst of adversity she neither relaxed her modesty nor lost \nthe strength of her constancy.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-our-lady-of-sorrows-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260924
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260925
DTSTAMP:20260920T110525Z
CREATED:20260920T110525Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260920T110525Z
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260925
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260926
DTSTAMP:20260920T110644Z
CREATED:20260920T110644Z
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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