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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240207
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240208
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20240203T124059Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240203T124059Z
UID:11556-1707264000-1707350399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE HOLY SPIRIT BESTOWS \nTHE UNDERSTANDING OF FAITH \nFrom a treatise by William of St Thierry4 \n◊◊◊ \nIf your whole being hesitates before the all too profound mysteries \nof faith\, say without fear\, not in disagreement but out of a desire to obey\, \n“How can this be?” Let your question be a prayer\, let it be love\, devotion\, \nhumble desire. Do not let it look haughtily at the divine majesty\, but seek \nfor salvation in the means of salvation which the God of our deliverance \nprovides. Then the Angel of great Counsel will answer you: “When the \nCounsellor comes whom I shall send to you from the Father\, …he will \nbear witness to me and will teach you all things: all truth will come to you \nfrom the Spirit of truth.” “Who\, for example\, knows one’s own innermost \nself but one’s own spirit within him? Similarly\, no one knows what lies at \nthe depths of God but the Spirit of God.” \nHasten\, then\, to come into communion with the Holy Spirit: and he \nis invoked only when he is present. When called upon\, he comes; he \narrives in the abundance of divine blessings. It is he who is the swift- \nflowing river which makes glad the city of God. At his coming\, if he finds \nyou humble and free from anxiety\, reflecting on the word of God\, he will \nrest upon you and reveal to you what God hides from the wise and prudent \nof this world. You will then be enlightened by all the things which \nWisdom\, when on earth\, could have said to the disciples\, but which they \ncould not bear before the coming of the Spirit of truth who would lead \nthem into all truth. \nTo receive and learn this truth\, it is useless to expect from the mouth \nof another human person what one was not able to receive or learn from \nthe lips of the Truth himself. For as this Truth declared\, “God is Spirit”; \nand just as those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth\, \nso those who desire to know him must seek only in the Holy Spirit to \nunderstand faith and the meaning of this pure and unalloyed truth. \nIn the darkness and ignorance of this life the Holy Spirit is himself\, \nfor the poor in spirit\, the light which lightens\, the love which attracts\, the \ngentleness which charms\, the love of one who loves\, the piety of one who \ngives himself without reserve. It is he who from one conviction to another\, \nreveals the justice of God to those who believe; he gives grace for grace \nand enlightenment for the faith which “comes from hearing. \n  \n4 THE MIRROR OF FAITH; PL 180\, 384-D.9 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-155/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240208
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240209
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20240203T124252Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240203T124252Z
UID:11558-1707350400-1707436799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:THE DIVINE CALL \nFrom a book by Hans Urs von Balthasar5 \n◊◊◊ \nChristian revelation is primarily a revelation of hearing\, not of seeing. \nAlthough the image of seeing is not excluded – for “we see now through a mirror \nin an obscure manner”; wisdom\, when it appears\, is the “mirror … and image” \nof the divine goodness; and Christ is “the image of the invisible God” so that\, in \nseeing him\, we also see the Father – nevertheless the comparison with hearing \nis the dominant one in revelation: the Second Person is heard primarily as \n“Word” – and faith in him comes by hearing. \nThe hearing of the Word is by no means a temporary substitute for the \nseeing that is wanting to us here below. On the contrary\, it is the lasting proof \nthat God never is and never will be a mere “object” of knowledge to us\, but is \nrather the infinitely sovereign majesty of a Trinity of Persons that makes itself \nknown in whatever way and to whomever it wills. That God speaks to us in his \npersonal word is a greater grace than that we are allowed to see him: That we \nare deemed worthy of his word is the grace of graces that makes us partners in \na divine\, even Trinitarian\, conversation. That the word of God is spoken to us is \nthe highest revelation and honor the personal God can bestow upon us\, for it \npresumes that God considers us capable of understanding his word through the \ngift of his grace and of possessing the Spirit who “searches all things\, even the \ndeep things of God\, that we may know all things that have been given us by \nGod”. \nSo tremendous is this grace that the creature thus addressed by God must \nforget its own wishes and desires\, even its longing for “eternal happiness” and \nfor the “vision of God” so that\, trembling in the depths of its being\, it may fall to \nthe ground and hear his voice only to ask: “What shall I do\, Lord?” \nBut one who has been thrown to the ground by the impact of this \ncompelling voice is also “set upon his feet” by it. When God speaks\, He wants a \npartner. He wants one who is erect\, who\, hearing his voice\, is yet able to stand \nupon his feet and answer: “…I fell upon my face\, and I heard the voice of the one \nthat spoke. And he said to me: Son of man\, stand upon your feet\, and I will speak \nto you. And the Spirit entered into me after he spoke to me\, and he set me upon \nmy feet; and I heard him speaking to me…”. When God speaks personally\, he \nwants to be understood personally; when he utters his personal word into the \nworld\, he wants that word to be returned to him\, not as a dead echo\, but as a \npersonal response from his creature in an exchange that is genuinely a dialogue \neven though it can be conducted only in the unity of the divine Word that \nmediates between the Father and us. But just as that divine Word proceeds from \nthe Father\, yet is not the Father\, but only declares the Father\, so the creature \ncan give back to the Father this word it has received by uttering itself in it – or \nbetter\, by letting itself be uttered by it. \n  \n5 The Christian State of Life – Hans Urs von Balthasar – Ignatius Press – San Francisco – 1983 – \npg 393.11 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-11/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240209
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240210
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20240203T124442Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240203T124442Z
UID:11560-1707436800-1707523199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THANKFULNESS IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES \nFrom a sermon by St John Henry Newman6 \n◊◊◊ \nIt would be well if we were in the habit of looking at all we have as God’s \ngift\, undeservedly given\, and day by day continued to us solely by his mercy. He \ngave; He may take away. He gave us all we have\, life\, health\, strength\, reason\, \nenjoyment\, the light of conscience; whatever we have good and holy within us; \nwhatever faith we have; whatever of a renewed will; whatever love towards him; \nwhatever power over ourselves; whatever prospect of heaven. He gave us \nrelatives\, friends\, education\, training\, knowledge\, the Bible\, the Church. All \ncomes from him. He gave; he may take away. Did he take away\, we should be \ncalled on to follow Job’s pattern\, and be resigned: “The Lord gave\, and the Lord \nhas taken away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.” While he continues his \nblessings\, we should follow David and Jacob\, by living in constant praise and \nthanksgiving\, and in offering up to him of his own. \nWe are not our own\, any more than what we possess is our own. We did \nnot make ourselves; we cannot be supreme over ourselves. We cannot be our \nown masters. We are God’s property by creation\, by redemption\, by \nregeneration. He has a triple claim upon us. Is it not our happiness thus to view \nthe matter? Is it any happiness\, or any comfort\, to consider that we are our \nown? It may be thought so by the young and prosperous. These may think it a \ngreat thing to have everything\, as they suppose\, their own way\, — to depend on \nno one\, — to have to think of nothing out of sight\, — to be without the \nirksomeness of continual acknowledgment\, continual prayer\, continual \nreference of what they do to the will of another. But as time goes on\, they\, as all \nothers\, will find that independence was not made for man — that it is an \nunnatural state — may do for a while\, but will not carry us on safely to the end. \nNo\, we are creatures; and\, as being such\, we have two duties\, to be resigned and \nto be thankful. \nLet us then view God’s providences towards us more religiously than we \nhave hitherto done. Let us try to gain a truer view of what we are\, and where we \nare\, in his kingdom. Let us humbly and reverently attempt to trace his guiding \nhand in the years which we have hitherto lived. Let us thankfully commemorate \nthe many mercies he has vouchsafed to us in time past\, the many sins he has \nnot remembered\, the many dangers he has averted\, the many prayers he has \nanswered\, the many mistakes he has corrected\, the many warnings\, the many \nlessons\, the much light\, the abounding comfort which he has from time to time \ngiven. Let us dwell upon times and seasons\, times of trouble\, times of joy\, times \nof trial\, times of refreshment. \nHow did he cherish us as children? How did he guide us in that dangerous \ntime when the mind began to think for itself\, and the heart to open to the world! \nHow did he with his sweet discipline restrain our passions\, mortify our hopes\, \ncalm our fears\, enliven our heaviness\, sweeten our desolateness\, and strengthen \nour infirmities! How did he gently guide us towards the strait gate! How did he \nallure us along his everlasting way\, in spite of its strictness\, in spite of its \nloneliness\, in spite of the dim twilight in which it lay! He has been all things to \nus. He has been\, as he was to Abraham\, Isaac\, and Jacob\, our God\, our shield\, \nand great reward\, promising and performing\, day by day. \n  \n6 Parochial and Plain Sermons\, San Francisco: Ignatius Press\, 1987\, pp. 1003-1005.13 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-156/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240210
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240211
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20240203T124602Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240203T124602Z
UID:11562-1707523200-1707609599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Scholastica
DESCRIPTION:THE LIFE OF ST SCHOLASTICA \nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints7 \n◊◊◊ \nSt Scholastica\, who was St Benedict’s sister\, traditionally his twin\, \nconsecrated herself to God from her earliest years\, as we learn from St Gregory. \nIt is not known where she lived\, whether at home or in a community\, but after \nher brother had moved to Monte Cassino\, she settled at Plombariola in that \nsame neighborhood\, probably founding and ruling a nunnery about five miles \nto the south of St Benedict’s monastery. St. Gregory tells us that St. Benedict \ngoverned the nuns as well as the monks\, and it seems clear that St Scholastica \nmust have been their Abbess\, under his direction. She used to visit her brother \nonce a year and\, since she was not allowed to enter his monastery\, he used to go \nwith some monks to meet her at a house a little way off. They spent these visits \nin praising God and in conferring together on spiritual matters. \nSt. Gregory gives a remarkable description of the last of these visits. After \nthey had passed the day as usual they sat down in the evening to have supper. \nWhen it was finished\, Scholastica\, possibly foreseeing that it would be their last \nvisit in this world\, begged her brother to delay his return till the next day that \nthey might spend the time discoursing of the joys of Heaven. Benedict\, who was \nunwilling to transgress his rule\, told her that he could not pass a night away \nfrom the monastery. When Scholastica found that she could not move him\, she \nlaid her head upon her hands which were clasped together on the table and \nbesought God to interpose on her behalf. Her prayer was scarcely ended when \nthere arose such a violent storm of rain that St. Benedict and his companions \nwere unable to set foot outside the door. He exclaimed\, “God forgive you sister; \nwhat have you done?” Whereupon she answered\, “I asked a favor of you and \nyou refused it. I asked it of God\, and He has granted it.” Benedict was therefore \nforced to comply with her request\, and they spent the night talking about holy \nthings. The next morning they parted\, and three days later St. Benedict saw the \nsoul of his sister rising to heaven like a dove. \n  \n7 Butler’s Lives of the Saints \, pg 42\, edited by Michael Walsh – revised version \, Harper Collins\, San Francisco\, \n1991.15 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-scholastica-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240212
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20240210T224456Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240210T224456Z
UID:11569-1707609600-1707695999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema: 6th Week in Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n6th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nFebruary 11 – 17\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n11\nMon\n12\nTue\n13\nWed\n14\nThu\n15\nFri\n16\nSat\n17\n\n\nOffice\n6th Sunday\nBl Humbeline\nOffice for the Dead\nAsh Wednesday\nThursday after Ash Wednesday\nFriday after Ash Wednesday\nSaturday after Ash Wednesday\n\n\nVigils\nJosh 10:1-15\nJosh 10:16-27\nJosh 10:28-43\nIsa 58:1-14\nDeut 1:1-25\nDeut 1:26-46\nDeut 2:24-3:7\n\n\nLauds\nWis 4:20-5:5\nWis 5:6-13\nWis 5:15-23\nSir 17:22-32\nExod 1:6-14\nExod 1:15-22\nExod 2:1-10\n\n\nMass\n77\n335\n336\n219\n220\n221\n222\n\n\n1st\nLev 13:1-2\, 44-46\nJas 1:1-11\nJas 1:12-18\nJoel 2:12-18\nDeut 30:15-20\nIsa 58:1-9a\nIsa 58:9b-14\n\n\n2nd\n1 Cor 10:31-11:1\n\n\n2 Cor 5:20-6:2\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 1:40-45\nMark 8:11-13\nMark 8:14-21\nMatt 6:1-6\, 16-18\nLuke 9:22-25\nMatt 9:14-15\nLuke 5:27-32\n\n\nVespers\nGal 3:1-9\nGal 3:10-14\nGal 3:15-22\nRom 5:1-11\nHeb 1:1-9\nHeb 1:13-2:4\nHeb 2:5-9
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-6th-week-in-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240212
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20240210T224946Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240210T224946Z
UID:11571-1707609600-1707695999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:PURIFIED BY FAITH\nFrom a commentary by Paschasius Radbertus 1\n◊◊◊\nHowever great our sinfulness\, each one of us can be healed by God\nevery day. We have only to worship him with humility and love\, and wherever\nwe are\, to say with faith: Lord\, if you want to you can make me clean. It is by\nbelieving from the heart that we are justified\, so we must make our petitions\nwith utmost confidence\, and without the slightest doubt of God’s power. If\nwe pray with a faith springing from love\, God’s will need be in no doubt. He\nwill be ready and able to save us by an all-powerful command. He\nimmediately answered the leper’s request\, saying: I do want to. Indeed\, no\nsooner had the leper begun to pray with faith than the Savior’s hand began\nto cure him of his leprosy. \nThis leper is an excellent teacher of the right way to make petitions. He\ndid not doubt the Lord’s willingness through disbelief in his compassion\, but\nneither did he take it for granted\, for he knew the depths of his own\nsinfulness. Yet because he acknowledged that the Lord was able to cleanse\nhim if he wished\, we praise this declaration of firm faith just as we praise the\nLord’s mighty power. For obtaining a favor from God rightly depends as\nmuch on having a real living faith as on the exercise of the Creator’s power\nand mercy. If faith is weak\, it must be strengthened\, for only then will it\nsucceed in obtaining health of body or soul. The Apostle’s words\, purifying\ntheir hearts by faith referred\, surely\, to strong faith like this. And so if the\nhearts of believers are purified by faith\, we must give thought to this virtue\nof faith\, for\, as the Apostle says\, Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea. \nA faith shown to be living by its love\, steadfast by its perseverance\,\npatient by its endurance of delay\, humble by confession. Strong by its\nconfidence\, reverent by its way of presenting petitions\, and discerning with\nregard to their content – such a faith may be certain that in every place it will\nhear the Lord sating: I do want to. \nPondering this wonderful reply put the words together in their proper\nsequence. The leper began: Lord\, if you want to\, and the Savior said: I do\nwant to. The leper continued: You can make me clean\, and the Lord spoke\nhis powerful word of command: Be clean. All that the sinner’s true confession\nmaintained with faith\, love and power immediately conferred. And in case\nthe gravity of his sins should make anyone despair\, another Evangelist says\nthis man who was cured had been completely covered with leprosy. For all\nhave sinned and forfeited the glory of God. Since\, as we rightly believe\, God’s\npower is operative everywhere\, we ought to believe the same of his will\, for\nhis will is that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. \n1 \nJourney with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1999 – pg 80-81.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/6th-sunday-in-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240212
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240213
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20240210T225534Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240210T225534Z
UID:11573-1707696000-1707782399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Blessed Humbeline
DESCRIPTION:BLESSED HUMBELINE\nFrom the Life of St Bernard 2\n◊◊◊\nFrom earliest childhood Humbeline and Bernard had been drawn together\nby a special bond of affection and sympathy\, due to identity of interests and tastes.\nAfter her marriage\, forgetful of her mother’s example and exhortations\, she began\nto follow the fashions of the world. In 1117 she came to Clairvaux surrounded with\nall the splendor of dress and attendants that unlimited wealth could bestow\,\nthinking\, so it seems\, that she was doing her brother honor. Her brother Andrew\,\nthe porter\, in announcing her arrival\, did not omit to describe to his Abbot the\npomp and ceremony that attended her. It grieved Bernard to hear that his beloved\nsister had become a worshipper at the shrine of vanity. He refused to see her\nhimself\, nor would he allow any of his brothers to see her\, but told Andrew to tell\nher from him that with these worldly ornaments she was making herself the devil’s\ninstrument for the ruin of immortal souls. Andrew delivered the message\, adding\non his own: “Why so much solicitude to embellish a body destined for worms and\nrottenness\, while the soul that now animates it is burning in everlasting flames?” \nHumbeline burst into tears\, crying out: “I deserve it all because I am a\nsinner. Yet it is for such as I that Christ suffered on the Cross. Indeed it is because\nof my sinfulness that I seek counsel and encouragement from the saints. If my\nbrother Bernard\, who is the servant of God\, despises my body\, let him at least have\npity on my soul. Let him come; let him command; and whatever he thinks proper\nto enjoin I am prepared to carry out.” \nThere was no resisting such an appeal. Bernard and his brothers hastened\nto meet her and to confirm her in these good dispositions. It was the holy Abbot’s\ndesire that she should enter religion; but as this was unlawful without her\nhusband’s consent\, he recommended her to live as much as possible like a recluse\nin the world\, shunning ostentation and all kinds of vanity\, and devoting herself\,\nafter her mother’s example\, to the service of God and the poor. She promised to do\nso. \nFive years later\, in 1122\, having obtained after much resistance her\nhusband’s consent\, she left the world altogether and entered the convent of Jully\nwhere Elizabeth\, her sister-in-law was superioress. When the latter went forth\nabout 1130 to found a new convent in the neighborhood of Dijon\, Humbeline was\nappointed to succeed her. Under her direction the house flourished greatly; the\nnoblest ladies of the land sought admission in such numbers that she was forced\nto make about a dozen new foundations. She rivaled Bernard himself in her love of\nthe Cross. Of food and sleep she allowed herself much less than the minimum\nwhich nature demands; her clothes were the meanest she could find\, and it was her\nhappiness to be employed in the humblest occupations. When her nuns begged her\nto be more careful of her health\, which seemed in danger of breaking down under\nsuch austere practices\, she replied: “For you\, my dear sisters\, whose lives have been\nconsecrated to the service of God\, this is an excellent counsel. But for me\, who have\nlived so long amidst worldly vanities\, no kind of penance can be excessive.”…\nHer last hours were consoled by the presence of three of her brothers\,\nBernard\, Andrew and Nivard… When about to breathe her last she looked with a\nradiant smile at Bernard and said: “Oh\, how happy I am to have followed your\ncounsel and consecrated myself to God! And what a beautiful reward I expect to\nreceive for the love I have entertained for you in this life! It is to that love that I\nowe the joy and glory awaiting me in the homeland.” Then turning to the others\nshe cried out: “I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: we shall go into the\nhouse of the Lord.” With these words\, she gave up her spirit. \n2 Life and Teaching of St Bernard by Ailbe J. Luddy\, O. Cist.\, pg. 68-69\, M.H. Gill & Son\, Dublin\, 1937.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/blessed-humbeline/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240213
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240214
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20240210T230106Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240210T232129Z
UID:11575-1707782400-1707868799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Office For the Dead
DESCRIPTION:CHRIST WILL DRAW ALL PEOPLE TO HIMSELF\nFrom a sermon by St Athanasius of Antioch 3\n◊◊◊\n“To this end Christ died and rose to life that he might be Lord both of the\ndead and of the living. But God is not God of the dead\, but of the living.” \nThat is why the dead\, now under the dominion of one who has risen to\nlife\, are no longer dead but alive. Therefore life has dominion over them and\,\njust as Christ having been raised from the dead\, will never die again\, so too they\nwill live and never fear death again. When they have been thus raised from the\ndead and freed from decay\, they shall never again see death\, for they will share\nin Christ’s resurrection just as he himself shared in their death. \nThat is why Christ descended into the underworld\, with its imperishable\nprison-bars: to shatter the doors of bronze and break the bars of iron and\, from\ndecay\, to raise our life to himself by giving us freedom in place of servitude. \nBut if this plan does not yet appear to be perfectly realized – for people\nstill die and bodies still decay in death – this should not occasion any loss of\nfaith. For\, in receiving the first-fruits\, we have already received the pledge of all\nthe blessings we have mentioned; with them we have reached the heights of\nheaven\, and we have taken our place beside him who has raised us up with\nhimself\, as Paul says: In Christ God has raised us up with him\, and has made us\nsit with him in the heavenly places. \nAnd the fulfillment will be ours on the day predestined by the Father\,\nwhen we shall put off our childish ways and come to perfect manhood. For this\nis the decree of the Father of the ages: the gift\, once given\, is to be secure and\nno more to be rejected by a return to childish attitudes. \nThere is no need to recall that the Lord rose from the dead with a spiritual\nbody\, since Paul in speaking of our bodies bears witness that they are sown as\nanimal bodies and raised as spiritual bodies: that is\, they are transformed in\naccordance with the glorious transfiguration of Christ who goes before us as our\nleader. \nThe Apostle\, affirming something he clearly knew\, also said that this\nwould happen to all peoples through Christ\, who will change our lowly body to\nmake it like his glorious body. \nIf this transformation is a change into a spiritual body and one\,\nfurthermore\, like the glorious body of Christ\, then Christ rose with a spiritual\nbody\, a body that was sown in dishonor\, but the very body that was transformed\nin glory. \nHaving brought this body to the Father as the first-fruits of our nature\, he\nwill also bring the whole body to fulfillment. For he promised this when he said:\nI\, when I am lifted up\, will draw all people to myself. \n3 Oratio 5\, de Resurrectione Christi\, 6-7\,9: PG 89\,1358-1359. 1361-1362. From the Liturgy of the Hours vol. III\, p. 1886.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/office-for-the-dead/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240214
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240215
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20240210T230456Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240210T230456Z
UID:11577-1707868800-1707955199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Ash Wednesday
DESCRIPTION:RETURN WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART\nFrom a homily by St Faustus of Riez 4\n◊◊◊\nOur Lord and Savior exhorts us through the prophet and advises us how\nwe ought to come to Him after many negligences\, saying: “Come let us bow\ndown in worship\, let us kneel before the Lord who made us”; and again: “Return\nto me with your whole heart\, with fasting\, with weeping and mourning”. If we\nnotice carefully\, dearest brethren\, the holy days of Lent signify the life of the\npresent world\, just as Easter prefigures eternal bliss. Now just as we have a kind\nof sadness in Lent in order that we may rightly rejoice at Easter\, so as long as\nwe live in this world we ought to do penance in order that we may be able to\nreceive pardon for our sins in the future and arrive at eternal joy. Each one\nought to sigh over his own sins\, shed tears and give alms in such a way that with\nGod’s help he may always try to avoid the same faults as long as he lives. Just as\nthere never has been\, is not now\, and never will be a soul without slight sins\, so\nwith the help and assistance of God we ought to be altogether without serious\nsins. \nNow in order that we may obtain this\, if burdens of the world keep us\noccupied at other times\, at least during the holy days of Lent let us reflect on the\nlaw of the Lord\, as it is written\, by day and by night. Let us so fill our hearts with\nthe sweetness of the divine law that we leave no place within us devoid of virtues\nso that vices could occupy it. Just as at the time of the harvest or\nvintage…enough is gathered so that the body may be fed\, so during the days of\nLent as at a time of spiritual harvest or vintage we ought to gather the means\nwhereby our soul may live forever. Whenever a careless person fails to gather\nanything at the time of harvest or vintage\, he will be distressed by hunger\nthroughout the entire space of the year. In the same way if anyone at this season\nneglects to provide and gather spiritual wheat and heavenly wine in the\nstorehouse of his soul by fasting\, reading and prayer\, he will suffer forever the\nmost severe thirst and cruel want. Know for sure\, dearest brethren\, that the soul\nwhich is not fed continuously by the word of God is like a body which receives\nfood only after many days. Just as the body becomes thin and dehydrated\,\nalmost like a shadow\, through hunger and want\, so the soul which is not fed on\nGod’s word is found to be parched and useless\, fit for no good work. Consider\,\nbrethren\, if every year we fill the barn and wine cellar and storehouse in order\nthat our body may have food for one year\, how much do you think we ought to\nstore up so that our soul may be nourished forever? \n4 St Caesarius of Arles\, Sermons\, vo. 3\, The Fathers of the Church\, vol. 66\, Catholic University of America Press\,\nWashington DC\, 1973\, pg. 48.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/ash-wednesday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11579-1707955200-1708041599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Thursday After Ash Wednesday
DESCRIPTION:NOW IS THE TIME\nFrom a sermon by St Leo the Great 5\n◊◊◊\n“Behold\, now is the acceptable time; behold now is the day of salvation”.\nFor though there is no season that is not filled with the divine gifts\, and though\nat each moment we have\, through His grace\, access to the Divine Mercy\, yet\nnow is the time in which the souls of all mortals should be stirred with greater\nfervor towards spiritual perfection\, and inspired with greater confidence; now\nwhen the return of that day when we were redeemed invites us once more to the\nfulfillment of all our sacred duties\, so that purified in body and soul we may\ncelebrate the supreme Mystery of the Passion of Our Lord. Indeed such\nunending reverence and unceasing devotion is due to these sacred mysteries\,\nthat we should ever be in the Presence of God as we now are obliged to be for\nthe worthy celebration of the Paschal Feast. \nBut since there are few that have this strength of soul\, and since because\nof the weakness of our flesh\, the more severe observance is relaxed\, and since\nthe manifold duties of the present life take up so much of our care\, it will happen\nthat even the most devout of heart are stained with the dust of earth.\nAccordingly\, with great solicitude has this divine means been given us\, so that\nthese forty days of reflection may assist us to restore the purity of our souls\, and\nso that during them we may by good works make satisfaction for our past sins\,\nand by devout mortification purge ourselves of them. \nAs we are therefore beginning this sacred season\, dedicated to the\npurification of the soul\, let us be careful to fulfill the Apostolic command that\n“we cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit”\, so that\nrestraining the conflict that exists between the one and the other substance\, the\nsoul\, which in the Providence of God is meant to be the ruler of the body\, may\nregain the dignity of its rightful authority\, so that\, giving offence to no one\, we\nmay not incur the punishment of evildoers. For the sum total of our fasting does\nnot consist in merely abstaining from food. In vain do we deny our body food if\nwe do not withhold our heart from iniquity\, and restrain our lips that they speak\nno evil. \nWe must then so moderate our rightful use of food that our other desires\nmay be subject to the same rule. For this is also a time for gentleness and\npatience\, a time of peace and serenity\, in which having put away all stains of evil\ndoing we strive after steadfastness in what is good. Now is the time when\ngenerous Christian souls forgive offences\, pay no heed to insults\, and wipe out\nthe memory of past injuries. Now let the Christian soul exercise itself in the\narmor of justice\, on the right hand and on the left\, so that amid honor and\ndishonor\, evil report and good\, the praise of men will not make proud the virtue\nthat is well rooted\, the conscience that has peace\, nor dishonor cast it down.\nThe moderation of those who worship God is blameless. \n5 The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers\, vol. 2\, Henry Regnery Co\, Chicago\, 1958\, pg. 29.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/thursday-after-ash-wednesday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11581-1708041600-1708127999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Friday After Ash Wednesday
DESCRIPTION:THIS FAST OF FORTY DAYS\nFrom a sermon by St Maximus the Confessor 6\n◊◊◊\nWe must accept with all reverence…the sacred days of Lent\, and not recoil\nbecause of the length of the season; for the longer the days of our fasting\, the\ngreater the grounds of our forgiveness; the longer the time of our self-denial\,\nthe greater the price paid for our soul’s salvation; the severer the treatment of\nour wounds\, the more sure the healing of our offences. For God who is the\nPhysician of our souls has instituted an appropriate time; sufficient for the just\nto make reparation and for sinners to ask for mercy; the one praying for peace\,\nthe other imploring pardon.\nFor the days of Lent are suited to our purposes; not short\, so that we may\nplead in prayer; not long\, for our need to gain merit. For in this fast of forty days\nany offence may be wiped out\, and the severity of any judge softened. The time\nmay be long and tedious for the one neither pleads for his sins\, nor hopes for\nforgiveness. For he who despairs will neither confess his sins\, nor hope in the\nmercy of the Judge. \nHoly and salutary therefore is the time of Lent\, in which the Judge is\nmoved to mercy\, the sinner to repentance\, and the just to peace. For in these\ndays the Divinity is inclined to be more merciful\, the sinner to repent\, and grace\nto be obtained. All things are now prepared: the heavens to pardon\, the sinner\nto confess\, the tongue to plead. \nMystical and salutary is this number forty. For when in the beginning the\niniquity of mortals covered the earth\, God\, dissolving the clouds of heaven for \nthe space of this number of days\, covered the whole earth with a flood. You see\nthen already that in this time the Mystery is put before us in Figure. For as it\nthen rained for forty days\, to cleanse the world\, so now it also happens. Yet the\ndeluge of those days must be called a mercy; in that through it iniquity was\ncrushed\, and justice upheld. For it took place out of mercy\, to deliver the just\,\nand that the wicked might no longer sin. We see clearly it was through mercy it\ncame\, as a sort of baptism\, in which the face of the earth was renewed; that is\,\nso that mortals who wallowed in the dreadful sin of those abandoned might\ncome to grace in the dwelling of Noah\, and so that he who was then an abode of\niniquity\, might become a dwelling of holiness. \nHoly and dedicated is this time of forty days\, which immediately from the\nbeginning began to divide the just from the unjust; and by a kind of judgment\nseparate the good from the bad. And this takes place even in our time of forty\ndays. For in these forty days the good are divided from the bad\, that is\, the\nchaste from the unchaste\, the temperate from the intemperate\, the Christian\nfrom the heathen. The wicked\, as I say\, are separated from the good\, that is\, the\nsinner from the just\, the devil from the saint\, the heretic from the faithful. For\nthose others are lost\, as in the Flood\, in the disaster of this world\, while the\nChurch alone\, with all its virtues\, is like the Ark sustained above the deep. \n6 The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers\, vol. 2\, Henry Regnery Co. Chicago\, 1958\, pg 92.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/friday-after-ash-wednesday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11583-1708128000-1708214399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Saturday After Ash Wednesday
DESCRIPTION:LIFE RISES THROUGH DEATH\nFrom “The Eternal Year” by Fr Karl Rahner 7\n◊◊◊\nThere is a distance of God that permeates the pious and the impious\, that\nperplexes the mind and unspeakably terrifies the heart. The pious do not like to\nadmit it\, because they suppose that such a thing should not happen to them\n(although the Lord himself cried out\, “My God\, my God\, why have you forsaken\nme?”); and the others\, the impious\, draw false consequences from the admitted\nfacts. \nIf this God-distance of choked-up hearts is the ultimate bitterness of the\nfasting season of our life\, then it is fitting to ask how we are to deal with it\,\nand…how we can today celebrate the fasting season of the Church. For when\nthe bitter God-distance becomes a divine service\, the fasting season of the world\nchanges into the fasting season of the Church. \nThe first thing we have to do is this: stand up and face this God-distance\nof a choked-up heart. We have to resist the desire to run away from it either in\npious or in worldly business. We have to endure it without the narcotic of the\nworld\, without the narcotic of sin or of obstinate despair. What God is really far\naway from you in this emptiness of heart? Not the true and living God; for he is\nprecisely the intangible God\, the nameless God; and that is why he can really be\nthe God of your measureless heart. Distant from you is only a God who does not\nexist: a tangible God\, a God of our small thoughts and our cheap\, timid feelings\,\na God of earthly security\, a God whose concern is that the children don’t cry and\nthat philanthropy doesn’t fall into disillusion\, a very venerable – idol! That is\nwhat has become distant… \nDo not be frightened over the loneliness and abandonment of your\ninterior dungeon\, which seems to be so dead – like a grave. For if you stand firm\n– this is already a wonder of grace – then you will suddenly perceive that your\ngrave-dungeon only blocks the futile finiteness; you will become aware that\nyour deadly void is only the breadth of God’s intimacy\, that the silence is filled\nup by a word without words\, by the one who is above all name and is all in all.\nThat silence is God’s silence. It tells you that God is there. \nThat is the second thing you should do in your despair: notice that God is\nthere. Know with faith that he is with you. Perceive that for a long time now he\nhas been waiting for you in the deepest dungeon of your blocked-up heart\, and\nthat for a long time he has been quietly listening to you\, even though you\, after\nall the busy noise that we call our life\, do not even let him get a word in edgewise\,\nand his words to the person-you-were-until-now seem only deadly silence. You\nshall see that you by no means make a mistake if you give up your anxiety over\nyourself and your life\, that you by no means make a mistake if you relax your\nhold on self\, that you are by no means crushed with despair if once and for all\nyou despair of yourself\, of your wisdom and strength\, and of the false image of\nGod that is snatched away from you… \nIf we do this\, then peace comes all by itself. Peace is the most genuine\nactivity: the silence that is filled with God’s word\, the trust that is no longer\nafraid\, the sureness that no longer needs to be assured\, and the strength that is\npowerful in weakness – it is\, then\, the life that rises through death… \n7 The Eternal Year\, K. Rahner\, Helicon: Baltimore MD 1964. pp 68ff.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/saturday-after-ash-wednesday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11590-1708214400-1708300799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema\, 1st Week of Lent
DESCRIPTION:  \n\n\n\nBiblical Readings for Office and Mass\n1st Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nFebruary 18 – 24\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n18\nMon\n19\nTue\n20\nWed\n21\nThu\n22\nFri\n23\nSat\n24\n\n\nOffice\n1st Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nChair of St Peter\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nDeut 3:18-4:8\nDeut 4:9-24\nDeut 4:25-40\nDeut 4:44-5:21\nActs 11:1-18\nDeut 6:4-25\nDeut 7:1-11\n\n\nLauds\nExod 2:23-3:6\nExod 3:7-10\nExod 3:11-15\nExod 3:16-22\nNum 27:15-23\nExod 5:1-5\nExod 6:2-9\n\n\nMass\n23\n224\n225\n226\n535\n228\n229\n\n\n1st\nGen 9:8-15\nLev 19:1-2\, 11-18\nIsa 55:10-11\nJonah 3:1-10\n1 Pet 5:1-4\nEzek 18:21-28\nDeut 26:16-19\n\n\n2nd\n1 Pet 3:18-22\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 1:12-15\nMatt 25:31-46\nMatt 6:7-15\nLuke 11:29-32\nMatt 16:13-19\nMatt 5:20-26\nMatt 5:43-48\n\n\nVespers\nHeb 2:10-18\nHeb 3:1-6\nHeb 3:7-13\nHeb 3:14-19\nActs 4:8-13\nHeb 4:12-16\nHeb 5:1-10\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-1st-week-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11592-1708214400-1708300799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:1 st Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:PREPARE YOUR SOUL FOR AN ORDEAL \nFrom a commentary by John Justus Landsberg 1\n◊◊◊\nEverything the Lord Jesus decided to do\, everything he chose to endure\,\nwas ordained by him for our instruction\, our correction\, and our advantage\, and\nsince he knew that the teaching and consolation we should derive from it all was\nfar from negligible\, he was loath to let slip any opportunity that might profit us.\nAnd so when he was led out into the wilderness there is no doubt that his guide\nwas the Holy Spirit whose intention was to take him to a place where he would\nbe exposed to temptation\, a place where the devil would have the audacity to\naccost him and put him to the test. The circumstances were so greatly in the\ndevil’s favor that he was prompted to capitalize on them; here was Jesus alone\nat prayer\, physically worn out by fasting and abstinence. A chance indeed to\nfind out whether this man really was the Christ\, whether or not he was the Son\nof God. \nFrom this episode therefore our first lesson is that human life on earth\nis a life of warfare\, and the first thing Christians must expect is to be tempted\nby the devil. As Scripture tells us\, we have to be prepared for temptation\, for it\nis written: When you enter God’s service\, prepare your soul for an ordeal. For\nthis reason\, the Lord desires that newly baptized and recent converts too find\ncomfort in his own example. Reading in the gospel that Christ too was tempted\nby the devil immediately after he was baptized\, they will not grow fainthearted\nand fearful if they experience keener temptations from the devil after their\nconversion or baptism than before – even if persecution should be their lot. \nThe second lesson Christ desires to impress upon us by his own example\nis that we should not lightly expose ourselves to temptation\, for we read that it\nwas the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness. Mindful of our frailty\nrather\, we must be on the watch\, praying not to be put to the test\, and keeping\nourselves clear of every occasion of temptation. \n1\nJourney with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1999 – pg 82-83.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/1-st-sunday-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11594-1708300800-1708387199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:THE LIGHT OF LENT \nBy Thomas Merton 2\n◊◊◊\nThere is confidence everywhere in Lent\, yet that does not mean unmixed\nand untroubled security. The confidence of the Christian is always a confidence\nin spite of darkness and risk\, in the presence of peril\, with every evidence of\npossible disaster. “Let us amend for the better in those things in which we have\nsinned through ignorance: lest suddenly overtaken by the day of death we seek\nspace for repentance and are not able to find it.” The last words are sobering\nindeed. And note\, it is the sins we have not been fully aware of that we must\namend. Once again\, Lent is not just a time for squaring conscious accounts: but\nfor realizing what we had perhaps not seen before. The light of Lent is given us\nto help us with this realization… \nNevertheless the liturgy of Lent is not focused on the sinfulness of the\npenitent but on the mercy of God. The question of sinfulness is raised precisely\nbecause this is a time of mercy\, and the just do not need a Savior. Nowhere will\nwe find more tender expressions of the divine mercy than at this season. His\nmercy is kind… How good are these words of Wisdom in a time when on all\nsides the Lord is thought by mortals to be a God who hates. Those who deny\nHim say they do so because evil in the world could be the work only of a God\nthat hated the world. \nBut even those who profess to love Him regard Him too often as a furious\nFather\, who seeks only to punish and revenge Himself for the evil that is done\n“against Him” – One who cannot abide the slightest contradiction but will\nimmediately mark it down for retribution\, and will not let a farthing of the debt\ngo unpaid. \nThis is not the God\, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ\, who Himself\n“hides” our sins and gets them out of sight\, like a mother making quick and\nefficient repairs on the soiled face of a child just before entering a house where\nhe ought to appear clean. The words of the Lenten liturgies know Him only as\nthe “God who desires not the death of the sinner”\, “who is moved by\nhumiliation and appeased by satisfaction”. He is everywhere shown to us as\n“plenteous in mercy”. \nAnd from the infinite treasure of His mercies He draws forth the gift of\ncompunction. This is a sorrow without servile fear\, which is all the more deep\nand tender as it receives pardon from the tranquil\, calm love of the merciful\nLord… The God of Lent is like a calm sea of mercy. In Him there is no anger.\nThis “hiding” of God’s severity is not a subterfuge. It is a revelation of His true\nnature. He is not severe\, and it is not theologically accurate to say that He\nbecomes angry\, that He is moved to hurt and to punish. \nHe is love. Love becomes severe only to those who make Him severe for\nthemselves. Love is hard only to those who refuse Him. It is not\, and cannot be\nLove’s will to be refused. Therefore it is not and cannot be Love’s will to be\nsevere and punish. But it is the very nature of Love that His absence is sorrow\nand death and punishment. His severity flows not from His own nature but\nfrom the fact of our refusal. Those who refuse Him are severe to themselves\,\nand immolate themselves to the blood-thirsty god of their own self-love. It is\nfrom this idol that Love would deliver us. To such bitter servitude\, Love would\nnever condemn us. \n2 Seasons of Celebration – Farrar\, Straus & Giroux – NY – 1965 – pg. 118.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11596-1708387200-1708473599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:REND YOUR HEARTS\, \nBUT KEEP YOUR GARMENTS WHOLE \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux \n3\n◊◊◊\nIf you grieve for your sin or your neighbor’s\, you do well\, and this sadness\nleads to salvation. If you rejoice at the gifts of grace\, this is a holy joy and a true\njoy in the Holy spirit. You must rejoice in the love of Christ with your brothers\,\nin their successes and grieve with them in adversity\, as it is written: Rejoice with\nthose who rejoice\, weep with those who weep. \nThis does not mean that we should value lightly the physical turning. As\nwe know\, it is no small support for the spiritual. That is why when the Lord had\nsaid “with all your heart” here\, he immediately added “with fasting”\, for that is\nof the body. Yet I would have you warned\, my brothers\, that that means not only\nabstaining from food\, but from all fleshly lusts and all bodily pleasures; indeed\nyou must fast from vices far more than from food. But there is a bread from\nwhich I do not wish you to fast lest you faint on the way; if you do not know\nwhat it is\, I am speaking of the bread of tears. The text goes on\, with fasting\,\nwith weeping\, and with mourning. It demands mourning of us by way of\nrepentance for our former way of life; it demands weeping with desire for future\nbeatitude. You do not have sufficient cravings for the joys to come if you do not\nbeg for them every day with tears; if your soul does not refuse comfort until they\ncome\, then you know too little of them. \nLet the Spirit rend your heart with his sword\, which is the Word of God;\nlet him rend it and speedily shatter it into many fragments. There is no way to\nturn to the Lord with all your heart except your heart be rent. Listen to one\nwhom God found to be after his own heart. My heart is ready\, O God\, my heart\nis ready\, he says – ready for both adversity and prosperity\, ready for what is\nlow and what is lofty; ready for whatever you command. Who is faithful as David\nin his going out and coming in? He used to say of sinners\, Their heart is curdled\nlike milk\, but I have meditated on your law. This is the reason for hardness of\nheart and obstinacy of mind\, that someone does not meditate on the law of the\nLord but on his own will. \nLet us rend our hearts\, dearly beloved\, but keep our garments whole. Our\ngarments are our virtues; love is a good garment\, obedience is a good garment.\nHappy is the one who cares for these garments that he may not walk naked.\nHappy are those whose sins are covered; love covers a multitude of sins. Let\nus rend our hearts\, as was said before\, that we may keep our garments whole\,\nas was our Savior’s tunic. The rending of the heart not only keeps the garment\nwhole\, but also makes it long and of many colors\, like the coat the holy patriarch\nJoseph gave the son whom he loved more than the others. From this comes\nperseverance in virtue\, from this the many-colored unity of a beautiful way of\nlife. \nWe may also take this rending of the heart in another way; if the heart is\nwicked it may be rent by confession; if hard\, by compassion. Is not an ulcer rent\nso that the diseased matter may flow out? Is not the heart rent to overflow in\ncompassion? Both rendings are expedient\, that the poison of sin may not be\nhidden in the heart\, and we may not shut off our compassion from our\nneighbor’s need\, that we may receive mercy from Our Lord Jesus Christ\, who is\nover all\, blessed forever. \n3 Bernard of Clairvaux – Sermons for Lent – Cistercian Fathers Series – #52 – Collegeville\, MN –\npg. 34.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20240217T145232Z
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UID:11598-1708473600-1708559999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:CAST YOUR CARE UPON THE LORD\nFrom a sermon by St Leo the Great 4\n◊◊◊\nApostolic teaching\, Beloved\, exhorts us that we put off the old man with\nhis deeds\, and renew ourselves from day to day by a holy manner of life. For if\nwe are the temple of God\, and if the Holy Spirit is a Dweller in our souls\, as the\nApostle says: You are the temple of the living God; we must strive with all our\nvigilance that the dwelling of our heart be not unworthy of so great a Guest. And\njust as in houses made with hands\, we see to it with praiseworthy diligence that\nwhatever may be damaged\, either through the rain coming in\, or by the wind in\nstorms\, or by age itself\, is promptly and carefully repaired\, so must we with\nunceasing concern take care that nothing disordered be found in our souls\, that\nnothing unclean be found there. For though this dwelling of ours does not\nendure without the support of its Maker\, nor would the structure be safe\nwithout the watchful care of the Builder\, nevertheless\, since we are rational\nstones\, and living material\, the Hand of our Maker has so fashioned us\, that\neven he who is being repaired may cooperate with his Maker. \nLet human obedience then not withdraw itself from the grace of God\, nor\nturn away from that Good without which it cannot be good. And should it find\nin the fulfillment of His commands something that is difficult to accomplish or\nbeyond its powers\, let it not remain apart\, but rather turn to Him who\ncommands us\, and Who has laid on us this precept that He may both help us\nand awaken in us the desire of Him\, as the Prophet tells us: Cast your care upon\nthe Lord\, and He will sustain you. Or perhaps there is someone who prides\nhimself beyond due measure\, and who imagines himself to be so untouched\, so\nunblemished\, that he has now no need to renew himself such a belief is wholly\ndeceiving\, and he will grow old in folly. All things are filled with dangers\, filled\nwith snares. Desires inflame us\, allurements lie in wait for us\, the love of gain\nbeguiles us\, losses frighten us. \nBut in holding fast to virtue\, so faltering is our control\, so uncertain our\ndiscernment\, that though a person may observe with the utmost fidelity the\nlines between what is good and what is bad\, it is difficult for the person of\nupright conscience to escape the wounding tongue of the slanderer\, or for one\nwho loves justice to avoid the reproaches of the wicked. \nWhen\, dearly beloved\, should we more fittingly have recourse to the\ndivine remedies than when\, by the very law of time\, we are once again reminded\nof the mysteries of our redemption? And that we may the more worthily\ncommemorate them\, let us earnestly prepare ourselves by these days of Lent.\nFor as the apostle says: Whoever thinks that he stands\, let him take heed lest\nhe fall\, no one is sustained by such strength of mind that he can be certain of\nhis own constancy in virtue. \n4 The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers – vol. 2 – Henry Regnery Co – Chicago – 1958 – pg 125.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11600-1708560000-1708646399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Chair of St. Peter
DESCRIPTION:THE CHAIR OF ST PETER \nBy St John Henry Newman 5\n◊◊◊\nThe very first act of the Apostles after Christ was gone out of their sight\, was the\nordination of Matthias in the place of the traitor Judas. That ordination is related very\nminutely. Every particular of it is full of instruction; but at present I wish to draw attention\nto one circumstance more especially: namely\, the time when it occurred. It was contrived\n(if one may say so) exactly to fall within the very short interval which elapsed between the\ndeparture of our Lord\, and the arrival of the Comforter in His place: on that ‘little while\,’\nduring which the Church was comparatively left alone in the world. Then it was that St\nPeter rose and declared with authority\, that the time was come for supplying the vacancy\nwhich Judas had made. ‘One\,’ said he\, ‘must be ordained;’ and without delay they proceeded\nto the ordination. Of course\, St Peter must have had from our Lord express authority for\nthis step. Otherwise it would seem most natural to defer a transaction so important until the\nunerring Guide\, the Holy Spirit\, should have come among them\, as they knew he would in\na few days. \nOn the other hand\, since the Apostles were eminently Apostles of our Incarnate\nLord\, since their very being\, as Apostles\, depended entirely on their personal mission from\nhim…one should naturally have expected that he himself before his departure would have\nsupplied the vacancy by personal designation. But we see it was not his pleasure to do so.\nAs the Apostles afterwards brought on the ordination sooner\, so he had deferred it longer\nthan might have been expected. Both ways it should seem as if there were a purpose of\nbringing the event within those ten days\, during which\, as I said\, the church was left to\nherself; left to exercise her faith and hope\, much as Christians are left now\, without any\nmiraculous aid or extraordinary illumination from above. Then\, at that moment of the New\nTestament history in which the circumstances of believers corresponded most nearly to\nwhat they have been since miracles and inspiration ceased\, — just at that time it pleased our\nLord that afresh Apostle should be consecrated\, with authority and commission as ample\nas the former enjoyed. In a word\, it was his will that the eleven Disciples alone\, not himself\npersonally\, should name the successor of Judas; and that they chose the right person\, he\ngave testimony very soon after\, by sending his Holy Spirit on St Matthias\, as richly as on\nSt John\, St James\, or St Peter. \n5 Tracts For the Times\, Vol.ii No.52.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/chair-of-st-peter/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11602-1708646400-1708732799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:BEHOLD\, NOW IS THE ACCEPTABLE TIME \nFrom a sermon of St Aelred of Rievaulx 6 \n◊◊◊ \nThese forty days are called an acceptable time and named a day of salvation\, because during these days the Lord cleanses and sanctifies his church through fasting. That is why the Lenten fast was established by the holy fathers\, so that whatever is lacking in us during the year may be purified and made clean for the remaining times\, generally by fasting in this holy observance… \nMoses fasted for forty days and nights so that he would merit to receive the law. And through fasting he merited to have an audience before God and to see God face to face. So let anyone who desires to approach the Lord love fasting… Although we do not presume to investigate secret and profound mysteries of divinity\, let us nonetheless gain acquaintance with God as much as we can. To do so we must still prepare and train ourselves; that way we might contemplate God here as through a mirror and obscurely\, and in the future we might see him face to face… \nThat forgiveness of sins is given generously through fasting\, we see manifestly among the Ninevite penitents who took refuge in repentance and reconciled themselves to God through fasting… when the Lord had threatened them\, through the prophet\, with death and overthrow of the city. In fact\, the wise king also learned to avoid the danger; having laid aside royal finery and sitting in ashes\, he exhausted his flesh with fasting\, ordering not only human beings but even beasts to fast and to cry out to God through fasting with courage. Thus they evaded the overturn of the Ninevite city and peril of death… \nEven Christ\, King and Lord of prophets\, who founded and sanctified fasting\, before he was tempted by the devil fasted forty days and nights\, to teach that the adversary is to be overcome through fasting. The Lord let an example for us\, so if we want a full victory over the devil\, the world and the flesh\, then let us take refuge in the weapons of fasting\, by which the devil is slaughtered\, the world is conquered\, and every attachment of the flesh is expelled… \nFinally we must offer to God repentance in all of our sacrifices\, always repenting that we either overlooked the good or continued in evil… Because therefore the measure of repentance must be weighted according to the measure of sin\, it is necessary to produce fruit repentance. If your suffering in correction is less than was your enjoyment in the fault\, then the fruit of your repentance is not worthy… \nStill\, so that a sinning conscience might be consoled\, the method and measure of exterior repentance have been set; as the conscience is satisfied and perfected you begin to have confidence\, and with a certain holy anticipation in the hope of divine mercy\, you have confidence pardon and forgiveness of sins\, so the more truly then — the more sincerely you fulfill the imposed repentance… To the extent that we attain full and perfect pardon we may also merit eternal glory. \n6 Aelred of Rievaulx. The Liturgical Sermons: The Reading-Cluny Collection\, 1 of 2 – Sermons 85-133. Trans. Daniel Griggs. Collegeville\, MN: Cistercian Publications\, 2021. 108-115.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11604-1708732800-1708819199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:GOD’S LOVE POURED OUT\nFrom a commentary by Origen 7\n◊◊◊\nSt. Paul has told us that the love of God has been poured into our hearts\nby the Holy Spirit. Now in his desire to demonstrate the power of that love more\nfully\, he gives us the convincing proof that it was not for good people but for\nsinners that Christ died. It is indeed true that we were sinners before we turned\nto God and that our Lord Jesus Christ laid down his life for us before we believed\nin him. This he surely could not have done without an immense love for us\,\neither the love that he himself showed by dying for sinners or the love God the\nFather showed by giving his only Son for our redemption. \nFew people would give their lives even for a just person\, and all of us face\ndeath with reluctance\, even in a just cause. How great a Savior we have\, then\,\nand how deeply we ought to ponder his love for us! It is a clear proof of his\ndivine goodness that when the time appointed came\, he did not hesitate to\nsuffer and die for the wicked and unjust. In the gospel it is said that no one is\ngood but God the Father; and so unless our Savior had been his Son\, sharing in\nthe Father’s very substance\, he could not have shown such great goodness\ntoward us. By this proof\, therefore\, we can recognize in him that good man for\nwhom someone might have the courage to die. \nOnce people have understood the extent of Christ’s goodness toward\nthem and his love has been poured into their hearts\, they will long not only to\ndie for this good man Christ\, but to die voluntarily. In fact we often see this\nhappen\, when Christians whose hearts are overflowing with love for Christ\npresent themselves before their persecutors of their own free will and with the\nutmost courage\, confessing the name of Christ in the presence of angels and\nmen for the whole world to hear. Not only do they have the courage to suffer\ninjustice for the name of this good man\, but for his sake they are even ready to\ngive their lives. Few would do this even for a just person\, since our love of this\nmortal life is so great that even in a just cause hardly anyone can bear to die.\nOnly for God’s sake will people have the courage to submit to death of their own\nfree will. For any other reason they can scarcely endure it\, even in the cause of\njustice and in obedience to the law of nature. \nGod has proven his love for us; it was while we were still sinners that\nChrist died for us. Since we are justified by the shedding of his blood\, how can\nwe doubt that he will save us from the wrath to come? \nThe Apostle has told us that at the appointed time Christ died for the\nwicked. Now he is showing us how this reveals God’s immeasurable love for the\nhuman race. If the love of God for ungodly sinners was so great that he could\ngive his only Son for their salvation\, he says\, how much more abundantly will\nhis love be poured out upon those who have turned to him in repentance and\nwhom he has redeemed by his Son’s own blood. \n7 Origen\, Lib.4\,10-11; PG 14\, 997-999.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lenten-weekday-5/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11607-1708819200-1708905599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n2nd Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nFebruary 25 – March 2\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n25\nMon\n26\nTue\n27\nWed\n28\nThu\n29\nFri\n1\nSat\n2\n\n\nOffice\n2nd Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nDeut 7:12-26\nDeut 8:1-20\nDeut 9:1-24\nDeut 9:25-10:11\nDeut 10:12-22\nDeut 11:1-17\nDeut 11:18-32\n\n\nLauds\nExod 7:1-7\nExod 7:8-13\nExod 7:19-22\nExod 8:1-3\, 8-11\nExod 8:12-15\nExod 9:1-7\nExod 9:8-12\n\n\nMass\n26\n230\n231\n232\n233\n234\n235\n\n\n1st\nGen 22:1-2\, 9a\, 10-13\, 15-18\nDan 9:4b-10\nIsa 1:10\, 16-20\nJer 18:18-20\nJer 17:5-10\nGen 37:3-4\, 12-13a\, 17b-28a\nMic 7:14-15\, 18-20\n\n\n2nd\nRom 8:31b-34\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 9:2-10\nLuke 6:36-38\nMatt 23:1-12\nMatt 20:17-28\nLuke 16:19-31\nMatt 21:33-43\, 45-46\nLuke 15:1-3\, 11-32\n\n\nVespers\nHeb 6:1-8\nHeb 6:13-20\nHeb 7:17-28\nHeb 8:1-6\nHeb 8:7-13\nHeb 9:1-10\nHeb 9:11-14
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-62/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11610-1708819200-1708905599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 2nd Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:DIVINE GLORY \nFrom a commentary by St Ephrem1 \n◊◊◊ \nJesus took the three apostles up to the mountain for three reasons: first\, \nto show them the glory of his divinity\, then to declare himself Israel’s redeemer \nas he had already foretold by the prophets; and thirdly to prevent the apostles’ \nbeing scandalized at seeing him soon afterwards enduring those human \nsufferings which he had freely accepted for our sake. The apostles knew that \nJesus was a man; they did not know that he was God. To their knowledge he \nwas the son of Mary\, a man who shared their daily life in this world. On the \nmountain he revealed to them that he was the Son of God\, that he was in fact \nGod himself. Peter\, James\, and John were familiar with the sight of their \nmaster eating and drinking\, working and taking rest\, growing tired and falling \nasleep\, experiencing fear and breaking out in sweat. All these things were \nnatural to his humanity not to his divinity. He therefore took them up onto the \nmountain so that they could hear his Father’s voice calling his Son\, and he could \nshow them that he was truly the Son of God and was himself divine. \nHe took them up unto the mountain in order to show them his kingship \nbefore they witnessed his passion\, to let them see his mighty power before they \nwatched his death\, to reveal his glory to them before they beheld his \nhumiliation. Then when the Jews took him captive and condemned him to the \ncross\, the apostles would understand that it was not for any lack of power on his \npart that Jesus allowed himself to be crucified by his enemies\, but because he \nhad freely chosen to suffer in that way for the world’s salvation. He took them \nup onto the mountain before his resurrection and showed them the glory of his \ndivinity\, so that when he rose from the dead in that same divine glory they \nwould realize that this was not something given him as a reward for his labor\, \nas if he were previously without it. That glory has been his with the Father from \nall eternity\, as is clear from his words on approaching his freely chosen passion\, \n“Father\, glorify me now with the glory I had with you before the world was \nmade”. \n  \n1 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – NY -1993.3 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/2nd-sunday-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11613-1708905600-1708991999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:PRAYER AND FASTING \nBy St Bernard of Clairvaux2 \n◊◊◊ \nNotice in this Lenten observance how prayer and fasting assist each other \nlike two allies\, as it is written: “When a neighbor helps a neighbor\, both shall be \ncomforted”. Prayer obtains the strength for fasting and fasting merits the grace \nto pray. Fasting renders prayer more powerful\, and prayer responds by \nsanctifying the fast and presenting it to the Lord. What would our fast profit us \nif – God forbid – it were allowed to remain on the earth? Let it therefore be lifted \nup on the wing of prayer. But since this one wing may not be sufficient\, it is \nnecessary to add a second. “The prayer of the just one pierces the heavens”\, says \nEcclesiasticus. Consequently\, in order that our fast may be easily lifted up to \nheaven\, let it be provided with the two wings of prayer and justice. \nNow what is justice but the virtue which inclines us to render everyone \ntheir due? Therefore it is not enough to have regard only to God. You are a \ndebtor also to your human superiors\, and a debtor to your equals. It is certainly \nnot the will of God that you should despise those whom He is far from despising. \nYou may have said to yourself\, “It is enough for me if I have the approval of God \nalone for my conduct. Why should I be concerned about the judgment of \nothers?” But be assured of this: that the Lord is pleased with no action of yours \nwhich either gives scandal to His children or which is done contrary to the will \nof the one whom you are obliged to obey as God’s representative. \nJoel says: “Sanctify the fast; call a solemn assembly”. What is it to “call a \nsolemn assembly” but to preserve unity\, to foster peace\, to “love the family of \nbelievers”? The proud Pharisee fasted; he also returned thanks to God. But he \ndid not call the assembly\, since he rather isolated himself by saying\, “I am not \nas others”. And therefore his fast\, borne up on only one wing\, was unable to \nascend to heaven. See to it carefully that your fast shall have two wings\, “peace\, \nnamely\, and holiness\, without which no one shall see God”. “Sanctify the fast\,” \nthat is to say\, let a pure intention and devout prayer offer it to the Divine \nMajesty; and “call a solemn assembly\,” that is to say\, your fast should not be \nsingular or detrimental to unity. \nSince I have spoken about justice and fasting\, it is right that I should say \nsomething concerning prayer. Now just as this holy exercise is more efficacious \nwhen discharged as it ought to be\, so the adversary strives to hinder it. \nSometimes he obstructs prayer by inspiring “smallness of spirit” and \nimmoderate fear. This happens when a person is so taken up with consideration \nof their own unworthiness that they lose sight altogether of the goodness of God. \nThe psalmist says: “Abyss calls on abyss”: the abyss of light on the abyss of \ndarkness\, the abyss of mercy on the abyss of misery. For the human heart is \ndeep and unfathomable. But although my iniquity is great\, much greater\, O \nLord\, is Your goodness. And consequently\, whenever my soul disquiets me\, I \nshall be “mindful of the multitude of Your mercies” and so shall be comforted. \n  \n2 St. Bernard’s Sermons for the Seasons & Principal Feastivals of the Year. vol. II. Bernard of Clairvaux. The Carroll \nPress. Westminster\, MD. 1950. p. 91.5 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-157/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11615-1708992000-1709078399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:TRUE REPENTANCE \nFrom a sermon by St Ambrose3 \n◊◊◊ \nBehold now is the appointed time\, in which you must confess your sins to \nGod\, and to the priest; and by prayer and by fasting\, by tears and by almsgiving\, \nwipe them away. Why should sinners be ashamed to make known their sins\, \nsince they are already known and manifest to God\, and to the angels\, and even \nto the blessed in heaven? Confession delivers the soul from death. Confession \nopens the door to heaven. Confession brings us hope of salvation. Because of \nthis the Scripture says through Isaiah: “First tell your iniquities\, that you may \nbe justified.” Here we are shown that they will not be saved who\, during their \nlife\, do not confess their sins. Neither will that confession deliver you which is \nmade without true repentance. For true repentance is grief of heart and sorrow \nof soul because of the evils one has committed. True repentance causes us to \ngrieve over them with the firm intention of never committing them again. \nAnd even though every day we live may rightly be a day of repentance\, yet \nis it in these days more appropriate to confess our sins\, to fast\, and to give alms \nto the poor\, since in these days you may wash clean the sins of the whole year. \nTherefore I counsel all of you\, and I exhort each one of you to repair whatever \nyou know within your soul is blameworthy. Whoever among you discerns \nwithin yourself what is unworthy in a Christian\, make amends. \nWhat does it mean to give tithes faithfully\, but that no one should offer \nto God [anything that] is defective or stunted. For of all things which the Lord \nbestows on us\, a tenth part we reserve to God. So it is not lawful to keep what \nis reserved to God. And if you do not give God’s tenth part\, God will take nine \nparts from you. \nAgain\, if you know in your own heart that you have taken something \nunjustly from another\, make amends by restoring what you have unjustly taken. \nFor if you do not render the tenth to God\, which is reserved for Him\, and \n[return] to another what you took from him unjustly\, you are a person who no \nlonger fears God and does not know the meaning of true repentance\, or of true \nconfession of sins. \nAnd you ought to do this\, since each person should give to the needy \naccording to his means; that is\, that you who have much should give much and \nif you have little ought to give little; as the holy Tobias taught his son: “Give \nalms out of your substance\, and do not turn away your face from the poor\, \nthat the face of the Lord may not be turned away from you”. \n  \n3 From The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers\, Henry Regnery Co.\, 1958\, pp. 13-15.7 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-158/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11617-1709078400-1709164799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:LOVE THE LORD WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART \nFrom a meditation by Dom Alban Boultwood4 \n◊◊◊ \nIn Chapter 49 of the Holy Rule\, “On the Observance of Lent\,” St. Benedict \nbegins by saying that the spiritual man ought really to be living at all times in \nthe spirit of Lent\, that is\, in wholehearted conversion to God. Our frailty causes \nus to fail often in this\, but if we do not try to live in this spirit during the holy \nseason of Lent\, when shall we ever do so? \nSt Benedict sees the spirit of Lent not as one of unhappiness\, but rather \nas a spirit of free and joyful oblation: “so that everyone of his own will may offer \nto God\, with joy and the holy spirit\, something beyond the measure appointed \nto him”. The Church herself has been preparing us for this\, first by drawing us \nand inspiring us by the sublime glimpse of divine love unveiled at Christmas\, \nand then by summoning us to hear the Savior’s call as he manifests his divine \nmission and power after the Epiphany. And now we are called to follow him\, in \nthe work of his oblation and redemptive sacrifice which he now so lovingly takes \nup. Our Lord calls us to unite ourselves with him in his oblation to his Father’s \nwill\, for this is his mission. \nOur response to this divine invitation has led us to the “oblation” by which \nas [monks] we offer ourselves wholly to God\, and it seems specially fitting for \nus during Lent\, to renew\, solemnly\, sincerely\, reflectively\, our formal [offering] \nof ourselves to God through the Rule of St. Benedict. It is true that our [offering] \nis really made once and for all but the point lies in the renewal of the spirit of \nour [offering]. It is not enough to set up a religious program in our life\, Even in \nthe monastery itself\, where the vows and the whole rule of life establish a \nwonderful religious machinery to guide and speed us towards God\, yet these \nthings still remain in themselves just the machinery of our life; and we soon \nfind\, here too\, precisely that tendency for things to become mechanical in the \nbad sense. And so we are always having to renew our spirit\, deepening\, \nclarifying\, purifying\, reaffirming\, our interior [offering]\, as the years bring us \nthe daily opportunities of fulfillment. \nWe must go forward in faith and in hope and in love\, one step at a time\, \ntrying to be ready to recognize God’s will as it comes to us day by day\, and trying \nto give ourselves to it with all our heart. As occasion arises\, the “instruments of \ngood works” [which St. Benedict mentions] will be offered to us; so many \nspiritual tools\, yet all but a part of the first great one to love the Lord with your \nwhole heart. \n  \n4 Alive to God [Benedictine Studies VII]\, Baltimore-Dublin\, 1964\, pp. 72-75.9 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-159/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11619-1709164800-1709251199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:BE CONVERTED TO GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux5 \n◊◊◊ \n“Be converted to Me with all your heart\,” says the Lord Almighty\, “in \nfasting\, and in weeping and in mourning. And rend your hearts and not your \ngarments\, and turn to the Lord your God.” What does it mean\, dearest brethren\, \nthat the Lord here commands us to turn to Him? For He is everywhere\, He fills \nall things and at the same time contains all things… This\, my brethren\, is a \nsecret of divine wisdom\, a secret which is communicated only to the friends of \nGod. It is a “mystery of the kingdom of God” which is revealed privately to the \ndisciples. “Unless you be converted\,” said the Lord\, “and become like little \nchildren\, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven”. Now I see clearly where \nHe wants us to turn. We must turn to that little Child in order to learn from \nHim\, because He is “meek and humble of heart”. \nBut let us now see how we should turn to this little One\, to this Master of \nmeekness and humility. “Be converted to Me\,” He says\, “with all your heart.” \nMy brethren\, had His words been simply “Be converted to Me”\, without any \naddition\, we might have replied: “That we have already done; give us now \nanother precept.” As a matter of fact\, however\, He admonishes us here of a \npurely spiritual conversion which cannot be accomplished in a single day; and \nwould to God we were able to complete it in the whole course of the life we live \nin the body! An external turning to God\, unaccompanied by a conversion of the \nheart and spirit is worth nothing. It is only a formal\, not a true conversion\, \n“having the appearance indeed of godliness but lacking the power of it”. \nUnhappy the monk who\, devoting all his attention to outward \nobservances\, remains ignorant of his interior\, for “thinking himself to be \nsomething\, whereas he is nothing\, he deceives himself”. For as he looks only to \nthe outward appearance\, when that is found to be in order he judges everything \nsecure\, unaware of that secret worm that is consuming his being. The tonsure \nstill remains\, the religious habit is not yet put off\, the regular fasts are observed \nas before\, the divine praises are chanted at the appointed hours. Nevertheless \nthe Lord says of such a one\, “His heart is far from Me”… \nTherefore\, let your love be converted to God\, so that henceforth you shall \nlove nothing besides Him\, or at least nothing except for His sake. Let your fear\, \ntoo\, be converted to the Lord\, because every fear is perverse other than fear of \nHim or on account of Him. To Him let your joy also as well as your sadness be \nconverted. This will happen when you no longer grieve or rejoice over anything \nexcept according to God… \nLet us therefore rend our hearts\, in order that thus we may be able to keep \nour garments whole. Our garments are our virtues. One can understand this \nrending of heart in two senses: compunction rends the evil heart\, while \ncompassion rends the strong heart. Both rendings are undoubtedly profitable; \nfor the poison of sin must not remain concealed in the heart and the depths of \ncompassion should not be closed to a needy neighbor\, so that we ourselves may \nobtain mercy from our Lord Jesus Christ. \n  \n5 St. Bernard’s Sermons for the Seasons & Principal Festivals. Bernard of Clairvaux. vol. II. The Carroll Press. \nWestminster\, MD. 1950. p. 76.11 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-160/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11621-1709251200-1709337599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:FORGIVE US\, AS WE FORGIVE \nFrom a sermon by Caesarius of Arles6 \n◊◊◊ \nIf any one of us is in conflict with another\, let us end the quarrel lest we \nourselves end badly. Do not consider this unimportant\, my beloved. Let us call \nto mind that our life here is mortal and frail\, that it is endangered by many and \ngreat temptations\, and this makes us pray that we may not be overcome. And \nso\, we realize that even the just are not without some sins. But there is one \nremedy which enables us to keep alive. For God\, our Master\, told us to say in \nour prayers: “Forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive those who wrong \nus.” We have made a contract with God and taken a resolution that the wrong \nmust be forgiven. This makes us ask with complete confidence to be forgiven \nprovided we too forgive. \nIf\, on the contrary\, we do not forgive\, how can we in good conscience hope \nthat our sins will be forgiven? Let us not deceive ourselves: God deceived no \none. It is human to be angry\, but I wish it were impossible. It is human to \nbecome angry but let us not water the small plant born of anger with various \nsuspicions. Let us not permit it to develop into a tree of hatred. It happens also \nfrequently that a father is angry with his son\, but he does not hate the son. He \nis angry because he wishes to correct the son. If this is his purpose\, his anger is \nanimated by love. \nWe read in Scripture: “Why look at the speck in your brother’s eye when \nyou miss the plank in your own?” You find fault with another person for being \nangry\, and you keep hatred in yourself. Anger in comparison with hatred is only \na speck\, but if the speck is fostered\, it becomes a plank. If\, on the contrary\, you \npluck out the speck and cast it away\, it will amount to nothing. \nOur Master says in another place: “Anyone who hates his brother is a \nmurderer.” Those who hate their brother\, walk around\, go out\, come in\, march \non\, are not burdened by any chains and are not shut up in any prison\, but they \nare bound by their guilt. Do not think of them as not being imprisoned. Their \nheart is in prison. When you hear: “He who hates his brother is in darkness all \nthe while\,” lest you might despise that darkness\, the evangelist adds: “Anyone \nwho hates his brother is a murderer.” \nYou hate your brothers and sisters and walk safely around and refuse to \nbe reconciled with them\, and God has given you time and opportunity. Yet you \nare a murderer and are still alive. If you felt God’s wrath you would be suddenly \nsnatched away with your hatred toward others. God spares you; spare others \nlikewise; make up and seek reconciliation with them. But suppose you want \nreconciliation and another does not want it. That is enough for you; you have \nsomething to grieve for\, you have freed yourself. If you want agreement and the \nother refuses\, say confidently: “Forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive \nthose who wrong us.” \n  \n6 Fraternal Harmony (Morin Sermon 185) 1-2: PLS IV\, 446-447. (CR VI p 215)13 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-161/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11623-1709337600-1709423999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE SEASON OF PURIFICATION \nBy Pope St Leo the Great7 \n◊◊◊ \nThis sacred season is dedicated to the purification of the soul\, let us \ntherefore be careful to fulfill the Apostolic command that we cleanse ourselves \nfrom all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit\, so that restraining the conflict \nthat exists between the one and the other substance\, the soul\, which in the \nProvidence of God is meant to be the ruler of the body\, may regain the dignity \nof its rightful authority\, so that\, giving offence to no one\, we may not incur the \ncontumely of evil mongers. With just contempt shall we be tormented by those \nwho have no faith\, and from our wickedness evil tongues will draw weapons to \nwound religion\, if the way of life of those who fast be not in accord with what is \nneeded in true self-denial. For the sum total of our fasting does not consist in \nmerely abstaining from food. In vain do we deny our body food if we do not \nwithhold our heart from iniquity\, and restrain our lips that they speak no evil. \nWe must then so moderate our rightful use of food that our other desires \nmay be subject to the same rule. For this is also a time for gentleness and \npatience\, a time of peace and serenity\, in which having put away all stains of evil \ndoing we strive after steadfastness in what is good. Now is the time when \ngenerous Christian souls forgive offences\, pay no heed to insults\, and wipe out \nthe memory of past injuries. Now let the Christian soul exercise itself in the \namour of justice\, on the right hand and on the left\, so that amid honor and \ndishonor\, evil report and good\, the praise of all will not make proud the virtue \nthat is well rooted\, the conscience that has peace\, nor dishonor cast it down. \nThe moderation of those who worship God is not melancholy\, but blameless. \nTherefore\, you Dearly Beloved\, the holy offspring of the Catholic Mother\, \nWhom the Spirit of God has taught in the School of Truth\, use your freedom of \naction with right reason\, knowing that it is good to abstain\, even from what is \nlawful; and when you must practice self-denial\, so abstain from food as merely \nputting aside its use\, not as condemning its nature. And so you will not allow \nyourselves in any way to be infected by the error of those who are completely \ndefiled by their own observance of it; serving the creature rather than the \nCreator; and dedicating their own stupid observance to the lights of heaven. \n  \n7 Sermons of the Great Fathers. “Lent the Season of Purification” by Pope Leo the Great. Henry Regenery Co.\, 1958\, \npp. 29-31.15 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-162/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11631-1709424000-1709510399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n3rd Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 3 – 9\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n3\nMon\n4\nTue\n5\nWed\n6\nThu\n7\nFri\n8\nSat\n9\n\n\nOffice\n3rd Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nDeut 12:1-14\nDeut 12:29-13:19\nDeut 14:22-15:11\nDeut 16:1-17\nDeut 16:18-17:13\nDeut 18:1-22\nDeut 19:1-21\n\n\nLauds\nExod 10:7-11\nExod 10:21-29\nExod 11:4-10\nExod 12:21-28\nExod 12:29-36\nExod 13:11-16\nExod 13:17-22\n\n\nMass\n29\n236\n238\n239\n240\n241\n242\n\n\n1st\nExod 20:1-17\nExod 17:1-7\nDan 3:25\, 34-43\nDeut 4:1\, 5-9\nJer 7:23-28\nHos 14:2-10\nHos 6:1-6\n\n\n2nd\n1 Cor 1:22-25\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 2:13-25\nJohn 4:5-42\nMatt 18:21-35\nMatt 5:17-19\nLuke 11:14-23\nMark 12:28b-34\nLuke 18:9-14\n\n\nVespers\nHeb 9:15-22\nHeb 9:23-28\nHeb 10:1-10\nHeb 10:11-18\nHeb 10:19-25\nHeb 10:26-31\nHeb 10:32-39
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-63/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:11633-1709424000-1709510399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 3rd Sun Lent
DESCRIPTION:THE TEMPLE OF GOD\, \nTHIS BODY OF CHRIST \nFrom a commentary by St Augustine1 \n◊◊◊ \nGod’s temple is holy\, and you are that temple all you who believe in Christ \nand whose belief makes you love him. Real belief in Christ means love of Christ: \nit is not the belief of the demons who believed without loving and therefore \ndespite their belief said: “What do you want with us\, Son of God?” No\, let our \nbelief be full of love for him…so that instead of saying: What do you want with \nus\, we may rather say: We belong to you\, you have redeemed us. All who believe \nin this way are like the living stones which go to build God’s temple\, and like the \nrot-proof timber used in the framework of the ark which the floodwaters could \nnot submerge. It is in this temple\, that is\, in ourselves\, that prayer is addressed \nto God and heard by Him. \nBut to pray in God’s temple we must pray in the peace of the Church\, in \nthe unity of the body of Christ\, which is made up of many believers throughout \nthe world. When we pray in this temple our prayers are heard\, because whoever \nprays in the peace of the Church prays in spirit and in truth. \nOur Lord’s driving out of the temple people who were seeking their own \nends\, who came to the temple to buy and sell\, is symbolic. For if that temple was \na symbol it obviously follows that the body of Christ\, the true temple of which \nthe other was an image\, has within it some who are buyers and sellers\, or in \nother words\, people who are seeking their own interests and not those of Jesus \nChrist. \nBut the temple was not destroyed by the people who wanted to turn the \nhouse of God into a den of thieves\, and neither will those who live evil lives in \nthe Catholic Church and do all they can to convert God’s house into a robber’s \nden succeed in destroying the temple. The time will come when they will be \ndriven out by a whip made of their own sins. \nThe temple of God\, this body of Christ\, this assembly of believers\, has but \none voice\, and sings the psalms as though it were but one person. If we wish\, it \nis our voice; if we wish\, we may listen to the singer with our ears and ourselves \nsing in our hearts. But if we choose not to do so\, it will mean that we are like \nbuyers and sellers\, preoccupied with our own interests. \n  \n1 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – NY – 1994 – pg 14.3 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-3rd-sun-lent-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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