Vigils Reading
2025-03-11
PRAYER, FASTING,
AND MERCY
From a homily by St Peter Chrysologus
◊◊◊
Perseverance in faith, devotion, and virtue is assured by three things:
prayer, fasting, and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting gains entrance,
mercy receives. These three things, prayer, fasting, and mercy are all one and
they give life to each other.
Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one
try to separate them, for this is impossible. If we have only one of them, if we
have not all three together, we have nothing. Whoever prays, then, must also
fast; whoever fasts must also show mercy. If we want our own petitions heard
we must hear the petitions of others. God’s ear will be open to us if we do not
turn a deaf ear to other people.
When we fast we should understand what it means to be really hungry. If
we want God to take account of our hunger we must feel for the hunger of
others. If we hope for mercy we must show mercy. If we look for kindness we
must show kindness. If we want to receive we must give. Only a shameless
person would ask for himself what he refused to give to others. In showing
mercy this should be the rule: show it in the same way, with the same
generosity, with the same promptness as you would wish it to be shown to you.
Let prayer, mercy, and fasting, then, be one single appeal to God on our
behalf, one speech in our defense, one threefold plea in our favor. What we have
lost by despising others let us regain by fasting. By fasting let us offer our souls
in sacrifice, for we can make no better offering to God, as is proved by the
prophet’s words: A sacrifice pleasing to God is a contrite spirit. A contrite and
humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.
Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting so that your
soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own
and at the same time made over to God. Whoever fails to give this gift to God will
not be excused for you are never without the means of giving if the gift to be
given is yourself.
To make these offerings acceptable mercy must be added. Fasting bears
no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. When mercy dries up fasting is arid.
Mercy is to fasting as rain is to the earth. However much you may cultivate your
heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out your vices and sow virtues, if you do
not release the springs of mercy your fasting will bear no fruit. When you fast a
thin sowing of mercy will mean a thin harvest. When you fast what you pour out
in mercy overflows into your barn. So do not lose by saving, but gather in by
scattering. Give to the poor and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to
keep what you have refused to give to others.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-12
RETURN WITH YOUR
WHOLE HEART
From a homily by St Faustus of Riez
◊◊◊
Our Lord and Savior exhorts us through the prophet and advises us how
we ought to come to Him after many negligences, saying: “Come let us bow
down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord who made us”; and again: “Return
to me with your whole heart, with fasting, with weeping and mourning”. If we
notice carefully, dearest brethren, the holy days of Lent signify the life of the
present world, just as Easter prefigures eternal bliss.
Now just as we have a kind of sadness in Lent in order that we may rightly
rejoice at Easter, so as long as we live in this world we ought to do penance in
order that we may be able to receive pardon for our sins in the future and arrive
at eternal joy. Each one ought to sigh over his own sins, shed tears and give alms
in such a way that with God’s help he may always try to avoid the same faults as
long as he lives. Just as there never has been, is not now, and never will be a soul
without slight sins, so with the help and assistance of God we ought to be
altogether without serious sins.
Now in order that we may obtain this, if burdens of the world keep us
occupied at other times, at least during the holy days of Lent let us reflect on the
law of the Lord, as it is written, by day and by night. Let us so fill our hearts with
the sweetness of the divine law that we leave no place within us devoid of virtues
so that vices could occupy it. Just as at the time of the harvest or vintage…
enough is gathered so that the body may be fed, so during the days of Lent as at a
time of spiritual harvest or vintage we ought to gather the means whereby our
soul may live forever. Whenever a careless person fails to gather anything at the
time of harvest or vintage, he will be distressed by hunger throughout the entire
space of the year. In the same way if anyone at this season neglects to provide
and gather spiritual wheat and heavenly wine in the storehouse of his soul by
fasting, reading and prayer, he will suffer forever the most severe thirst and
cruel want.
Know for sure, dearest brethren, that the soul which is not fed
continuously by the word of God is like a body which receives food only after
many days. Just as the body becomes thin and dehydrated, almost like a
shadow, through hunger and want, so the soul which is not fed on God’s word is
found to be parched and useless, fit for no good work. Consider, brethren, if
every year we fill the barn and wine cellar and storehouse in order that our body
may have food for one year, how much do you think we ought to store up so that
our soul may be nourished forever?

Vigils Reading
2025-03-13
THE DRIVING FORCE
OF THE WORLD
By Pope Benedict XVI
◊◊◊
Lent renews in us the hope in the God who made us pass from death to
life. Lent, fully oriented to the mystery of Redemption, is defined the “path of
true conversion”… Prayer nourishes hope because nothing expresses the reality
of our God in our life better than praying with faith. Even in the loneliness of the
most severe trial, nothing and no one can prevent me from addressing the
Father “in the secret” of my heart, where He alone sees, as Jesus says in the
gospel… Thus, prayer proves to be the first and principal “weapon” with which
to win the victory in our struggle against the spirit of evil.
Christ’s prayer reaches its culmination on the Cross. It is expressed in
those last words which the Evangelists have recorded. Where he seems to utter a
cry of despair: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Christ was
actually making his own the invocation of someone beset by enemies with no
escape, who has no other than God to turn to and, over and above any human
possibilities, experiences his grace and salvation.
With these words of the Psalm, first of a man who is suffering, then of the
People of God in their suffering, caused by God’s apparent absence, Jesus made
his own this cry of humanity that suffers from God’s apparent absence, and
carried this cry to the Father’s heart. So, by praying in this ultimate solitude
together with the whole of humanity, he opens the heart of God to us…
The prayer of supplication full of hope is consequently the leitmotif of
Lent and enables us to experience God as the only anchor of salvation. Indeed
when it is collective, the prayer of the People of God is a voice of one heart and
soul, it is a “heart to heart” dialogue, like Queen Esther’s moving plea when her
people were about to be exterminated: “O my Lord, you only are our King; help
me, who am alone and have no helper but you.” … “for a great danger
overshadows me”. In the face of a “great danger” greater hope is needed: only
the hope that can count on God.
Prayer is a crucible in which our expectations and aspirations are exposed
in the light of God’s Word, immersed in dialogue with the One who is Truth, and
from which they emerge free from hidden lies and compromises with various
forms of selfishness. Without the dimension of prayer, the human “I” ends by
withdrawing into himself, and the conscience, which should be an echo of God’s
voice, risks being reduced to a mirror of the self, so that the inner conversation
becomes a monologue, giving rise to self-justifications by the thousands.
Therefore, prayer is a guarantee of openness to others: whoever frees
himself for God and his needs simultaneously opens himself to the other, to the
brother or sister who knocks at the door of his heart and asks to be heard, asks
for attention, forgiveness, at times correction, but always in fraternal charity.
Thus prayer is never self-centered, it is always centered on the other. As such, it
opens the person praying to the “ecstasy” of charity, to the capacity to go out of
oneself to draw close to the other in humble, neighborly service. True prayer is
the driving force of the world, since it keeps it open to God. For this reason
without prayer there is no hope but only illusion.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-14
THE SEASON OF PENANCE
From a sermon by St Ambrose
◊◊◊
Behold now is the appointed time, in which you must confess your sins to
God, and to the priest; and by prayer and by fasting, by tears and by almsgiving,
wipe them away. Why should sinners be ashamed to make known their sins, since
they are already known and manifest to God, and to the angels, and even to the
blessed in heaven? Confession delivers the soul from death. Confession opens the
door to heaven. Confession brings us hope of salvation. Because of this the
Scripture says through Isaiah: “First tell your iniquities, that you may be
justified.” Here we are shown that they will not be saved who, during their life, do
not confess their sins. Neither will that confession deliver you which is made
without true repentance. For true repentance is grief of heart and sorrow of soul
because of the evils one has committed. True repentance causes us to grieve over
them with the firm intention of never committing them again.
And even though every day we live may rightly be a day of repentance, yet is
it in these days more appropriate to confess our sins, to fast, and to give alms to the
poor, since in these days you may wash clean the sins of the whole year. Therefore I
counsel all of you, and I exhort each one of you to repair whatever you know within
your soul is blameworthy. Whoever among you discerns within yourself what is
unworthy in a Christian, make amends. What does it mean to give tithes faithfully,
but that no one should offer to God [anything that] is defective or stunted. For of
all things which the Lord bestows on us, a tenth part we reserve to God. So it is not
lawful to keep what is reserved to God. And if you do not give God’s tenth part, God
will take nine parts from you.
Again, if you know in your own heart that you have taken something unjustly
from another, make amends by restoring what you have unjustly taken. For if you
do not render the tenth to God, which is reserved for Him, and [return] to another
what you took from him unjustly, you are a person who no longer fears God and
does not know the meaning of true repentance, or of true confession of sins.
And you ought to do this, since each person should give to the needy
according to his means; that is, that you who have much should give much and if
you have little ought to give little; as the holy Tobias taught his son: “Give alms out
of your substance, and do not turn away your face from the poor, that the face of
the Lord may not be turned away from you”.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-15
LET US REND
OUR HEARTS
From a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux
◊◊◊
If you grieve for your sin or your neighbor’s, you do well, and this sadness
leads to salvation. If you rejoice at the gifts of grace, this is a holy joy and a true
joy in the Holy spirit. You must rejoice in the love of Christ with your brothers,
in their successes and grieve with them in adversity, as it is written: Rejoice with
those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
This does not mean that we should value lightly the physical turning. As
we know, it is no small support for the spiritual. That is why when the Lord had
said “with all your heart” here, he immediately added “with fasting”, for that is
of the body. Yet I would have you warned, my brothers, that that means not only
abstaining from food, but from all fleshly lusts and all bodily pleasures; indeed
you must fast from vices far more than from food. But there is a bread from
which I do not wish you to fast lest you faint on the way; if you do not know what
it is, I am speaking of the bread of tears… It demands mourning of us by way of
repentance for our former way of life; it demands weeping with desire for future
beatitude. You do not have sufficient cravings for the joys to come if you do not
beg for them every day with tears; if your soul does not refuse comfort until they
come, then you know too little of them.
Let the Spirit rend your heart with his sword, which is the Word of God;
let him rend it and speedily shatter it into many fragments. There is no way to
turn to the Lord with all your heart except your heart be rent. Listen to one
whom God found to be after his own heart. My heart is ready, O God, my heart
is ready, he says – ready for both adversity and prosperity, ready for what is low
and what is lofty; ready for whatever you command. Who is faithful as David in
his going out and coming in? He used to say of sinners, Their heart is curdled
like milk, but I have meditated on your law. This is the reason for hardness of
heart and obstinacy of mind, that someone does not meditate on the law of the
Lord but on his own will.
Let us rend our hearts, dearly beloved, but keep our garments whole. Our
garments are our virtues; love is a good garment, obedience is a good garment.
Happy is the one who cares for these garments that he may not walk naked.
Happy are those whose sins are covered; love covers a multitude of sins. Let us
rend our hearts…that we may keep our garments whole, as was our Savior’s
tunic. The rending of the heart not only keeps the garment whole, but also
makes it long and of many colors, like the coat the holy patriarch Joseph gave
the son whom he loved more than the others. From this comes perseverance in
virtue, from this the many colored unity of a beautiful way of life.
We may also take this rending of the heart in another way; if the heart is
wicked it may be rent by confession; if hard, by compassion. Is not an ulcer rent
so that the diseased matter may flow out? Is not the heart rent to overflow in
compassion? Both rendings are expedient, that the poison of sin may not be
hidden in the heart, and we may not shut off our compassion from our
neighbor’s need, that we may receive mercy from Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
over all, blessed forever.

Skema
2025-03-16
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
2nd Week of Lent

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (I)
March 16 – 22, 2025

Sun
16
Mon
17
Tue
18
Wed
19
Thu
20
Fri
21
Sat
22

Office
2nd Sunday of Lent
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
St Joseph
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday

Vigils
Heb 9:11-28
Heb 10:1-18
Heb 10:19-39
Sir 51: 13-30
Heb 11:17-40
Heb 12:1-13
Heb 12:14-29

Lauds
Exod 7:1-7
Exod 7:8-13
Exod 7:19-22
Zech 10:6-12
Exod 8:12-15
Exod 9:1-7
Exod 9:8-12

Mass
27
230
231
543
233
234
235

1st
Gen 15:5-12, 17-18
Dan 9:4b-10
Isa 1:10, 16-20
2 Sam 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16
Jer 17:5-10
Gen 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a
Mic 7:14-15, 18-20

2nd
Phil 3:17–4:1

Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22

Gospel
Luke 9:28b-36
Luke 6:36-38
Matt 23:1-12
Matt 1:16, 18-21, 24a
Luke 16:19-31
Matt 21:33-43, 45-46
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Vespers
Deut 6:16-19
Deut 6:20-25
Eph 3:14-21
James 1:22-27
Deut 7:12-15
Deut 7:16-21
Deut 8:1-6

Vigils Reading - 2nd Sunday of Lent
2025-03-16
THE VISION OF CHRIST’S GLORY
From a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria
◊◊◊
With three chosen disciples Jesus went up the mountain. Then he was
transfigured by a wonderful light that made even his clothes seem to shine.
Moses and Elijah stood by him and spoke with him on how he was going to
complete his task on earth by dying in Jerusalem. In other words, they spoke of
the mystery of his incarnation, and of his saving passion upon the cross. For the
Law of Moses and the teaching of the holy prophets clearly foreshadowed the
mystery of Christ. The Law portrayed it by types and symbols inscribed on
tablets. The prophets in many ways foretold that in his own time he would
appear, clothed in human nature and that for the salvation of all our race he
would not refuse to suffer death upon the cross.
The presence of Moses and Elijah, and their speaking together, was meant
to show unmistakably that the Law and the prophets were the attendants of Our
Lord Jesus Christ. He was their master, whom they had themselves pointed out
in advance in prophetic words that proved their perfect harmony with one
another. The message of the prophets was in no way at variance with the
precepts of the Law.
Moses and Elijah did not simply appear in silence, they spoke of how
Jesus was to complete his task by dying in Jerusalem. They spoke of his passion
and cross, and of the resurrection that would follow. Thinking no doubt that the
time for the kingdom of God had already come, Peter would gladly have
remained on the mountain. He suggested putting up three tents, hardly
knowing what he was saying. But it was not yet time for the end of the world, nor
was it in this present time that the hopes of the saints would be fulfilled – those
hopes founded on Paul’s promise that Christ would transform our lowly bodies
into the likeness of his glorious body. Only the initial stage of the divine plan
had as yet been accomplished. Until its completion. was it likely that Christ, who
came on earth for love of the world, would give up his wish to die for it? For his
submitting to death was the world’s salvation, and his resurrection was death’s
destruction.
As well as the vision of Christ’s glory, wonderful beyond all description,
something else occurred which was to serve as a vital confirmation , not only of
the disciples’ faith, but of ours as well. From a cloud on high came the voice of
God the Father saying: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
Listen to him.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-17
I HAVE BROUGHT FASTING
INTO MY SOUL
From a meditation by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
◊◊◊
With fasting I gladden my hope in You, my Lord, Who are to come again.
Fasting hastens my preparation for Your coming, the sole expectation of my days
and nights. Fasting makes my body thinner, so that what remains can more easily
shine with the spirit…
But truly, abstaining from food will not save me. Even if I were to eat only
the sand from the lake, You would not come to me, unless the fasting penetrated
deeper into my soul.
I have come to know through my prayer, that bodily fasting is more a symbol
of true fasting, very beneficial for someone who has only just begun to hope in You,
and nevertheless very difficult for someone who merely practices it.
Therefore I have brought fasting into my soul to purge her of many impudent
fiancés and to prepare her for You like a virgin. And I have brought fasting into my
mind, to expel from it all daydreams about worldly matters and to demolish all the
air castles, fabricated from those daydreams…to receive Your Wisdom.
And I have brought fasting into my heart, so that by means of it my heart
might quell all passions and worldly selfishness…so that heavenly peace might
ineffably reign over my heart, when Your stormy Spirit encounters it.
I prescribe fasting for my tongue, to break itself of the habit of idle chatter
and to speak reservedly only those words that clear the way for You to come.
And I have imposed fasting on my worries so that it may blow them all away
before itself like the wind that blows away the mist, lest they stand like dense fog
between me and You, and lest they turn my gaze back to the world.
And fasting has brought into my soul tranquility in the face of uncreated and
created realms, and humility towards men and creatures. And it has instilled in me
courage, the likes of which I never knew when I was armed with every sort of
worldly weapon. What was my hope before I began to fast except merely another
story told by others, which passed from mouth to mouth? The story told by others
about salvation through prayer and fasting became my own.
False fasting accompanies false hope, just as no fasting accompanies
But just as a wheel follows behind a wheel, so true fasting follows
hopelessness. true hope…

Vigils Reading
2025-03-18
PRAYER AND FASTING
By St Bernard of Clairvaux
◊◊◊
Notice in this Lenten observance how prayer and fasting assist each other
like two allies, as it is written: “When a neighbor helps a neighbor, both shall be
comforted”. Prayer obtains the strength for fasting and fasting merits the grace
to pray. Fasting renders prayer more powerful, and prayer responds by
sanctifying the fast and presenting it to the Lord. What would our fast profit us
if – God forbid – it were allowed to remain on the earth? Let it therefore be lifted
up on the wing of prayer. But since this one wing may not be sufficient, it is
necessary to add a second. “The prayer of the just one pierces the heavens”, says
Ecclesiasticus. Consequently, in order that our fast may be easily lifted up to
heaven, let it be provided with the two wings of prayer and justice.
Now what is justice but the virtue which inclines us to render everyone
their due? Therefore it is not enough to have regard only to God. You are a
debtor also to your human superiors, and a debtor to your equals. It is certainly
not the will of God that you should despise those whom He is far from despising.
You may have said to yourself, “It is enough for me if I have the approval of God
alone for my conduct. Why should I be concerned about the judgment of
others?” But be assured of this: that the Lord is pleased with no action of yours
which either gives scandal to His children or which is done contrary to the will of
the one whom you are obliged to obey as God’s representative.
Joel says: “Sanctify the fast; call a solemn assembly”. What is it to “call a
solemn assembly” but to preserve unity, to foster peace, to “love the family of
believers”? The proud Pharisee fasted; he also returned thanks to God. But he
did not call the assembly, since he rather isolated himself by saying, “I am not as
others”. And therefore his fast, borne up on only one wing, was unable to ascend
to heaven. See to it carefully that your fast shall have two wings, “peace, namely,
and holiness, without which no one shall see God”. “Sanctify the fast,” that is to
say, let a pure intention and devout prayer offer it to the Divine Majesty; and
“call a solemn assembly,” that is to say, your fast should not be singular or
detrimental to unity.
Since I have spoken about justice and fasting, it is right that I should say
something concerning prayer. Now just as this holy exercise is more efficacious
when discharged as it ought to be, so the adversary strives to hinder it.
Sometimes he obstructs prayer by inspiring “smallness of spirit” and
immoderate fear. This happens when a person is so taken up with consideration
of their own unworthiness that they lose sight altogether of the goodness of God.
The psalmist says: “Abyss calls on abyss”: the abyss of light on the abyss of
darkness, the abyss of mercy on the abyss of misery. For the human heart is
deep and unfathomable. But although my iniquity is great, much greater, O
Lord, is Your goodness. And consequently, whenever my soul disquiets me, I
shall be “mindful of the multitude of Your mercies” and so shall be comforted.

Vigils Reading - St Joseph
2025-03-19
THE GUARDIAN AND PROTECTOR
OF THE SON OF GOD
From a homily by Fr Karl Rahner
◊◊◊
“Joseph, the husband of Mary, being a just man, and not wishing to
expose her to reproach, was minded to put her away privately.”
Why should Joseph have wanted to put Mary away? Could it have been
perhaps for this reason: that he felt himself, was bound to feel himself, somehow
shut out from this mystery which had come to pass between Mary and heaven?
Since she had now been claimed by someone higher, indeed by God himself, we
may well suppose that Joseph felt he could have no further claim of any kind
upon her and resolved, therefore, to put her away privately.
If we interpret the text in this way – and it is at least a possible
interpretation of an obscure and difficult text – then the message that Joseph
received from heaven, the angel that appeared to him in a dream, takes on a new
and different light. The angel does not merely tell Joseph that Mary has
conceived her child through the power of God – though this fact, which Joseph
already knew from Mary, is confirmed by the apparition – but has as his
principal message: “Take Mary as your wife.”
Be a father to this child, heaven is saying, fulfill the duties of a father
towards this child which heaven has sent to your bride. Protect, watch over,
love, shield, take care of this child. This duty is laid on Joseph by God himself.
We can say, therefore, that he is the foster-father and guardian of the child, not
just because his wedded bride has conceived a child from heaven, but because
God himself wished him to take the place of a father to the son of God who had
come to save the world… Through this message from above Joseph is drawn into
the great, public, official story of salvation. He acts no longer in the purely
private capacity of bridegroom and later husband of Mary, but plays an official
role in the salvation story. He is the guardian and protector of the Son of God,
directly appointed to that office, and not just drifting into this relationship with
the divine child through the accident of his betrothal to Mary.
We too are often called to be guardians of the Holy One in ourselves, in
our lives, in our work… We are being called upon to be the guardians of
something holy, something great: God’s grace in us and about us. For us no
angel from heaven appears, no dream-apparition bids us: Take the child to
yourself. And yet it seems as though through purely earthly incidents we are
made responsible for what is heavenly and divine, for God’s grace in our own
hearts and in our earthly surroundings. In all these the Son of God who became
man continues his life, and we are all asked whether the task of guarding this
Son of God, whom we meet in others, will find us as true as Joseph, of whom it is
said: he was faithful, he took the child and his mother to himself, he spent his
whole life guarding the child so that it might become in truth the savior and the
life of the world.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-20
THE BEATING HEART
OF THE UNIVERSE
From a homily by Pope Benedict XVI
◊◊◊
It is not God’s presence that alienates man, but His absence: without the
true God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, illusory hopes become an invitation
to escape from reality. Speaking with God, dwelling in His presence, letting
oneself be illuminated and purified by His Word introduces us, instead, into the
heart of reality, into the very motor of becoming cosmic; it introduces us, so to
speak, to the beating heart of the universe.
In a harmonious connection with prayer, fasting and almsgiving can also
be considered occasions for learning and practicing Christian hope. The ancient
writers liked to emphasize that these three dimensions of Gospel life are
inseparable, reciprocally enrich each other and bear more fruit the more they
collaborate with each other. Lent as a whole, thanks to the joint action of prayer,
fasting and almsgiving, forms Christians to be men and women of hope after the
example of the Saints…
The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to
suffering and the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for
society. Easter, to which Lent is oriented, is the mystery which gives meaning to
human suffering, based on the superabundant compassion of God, brought
about in Jesus Christ. The Lenten journey therefore, since it is wholly steeped in
the Easter light, makes us relive what happened in Christ’s divine and human
heart while he was going up to Jerusalem for the last time to offer himself in
expiation.
Suffering and death fell like darkness as he gradually came nearer to the
Cross, but the flame of love shone brighter. Indeed Christ’s suffering was
penetrated by the light of love. It was the Father’s love that permitted the son to
confidently face his last “baptism”, which he himself defines as the apex of his
mission.
Jesus received that baptism of sorrow and love for us, for all of humanity.
He has suffered for truth and justice, bringing the gospel of suffering to human
history, which is the other aspect of the Gospel of love. God cannot suffer, but
He can and wants to be compassionate. Through Christ’s passion he can bring
his <consolation> to every human suffering, “the consolation of God’s
compassionate love – and so the star of hope rises.”
As for prayer, so for suffering: the history of the Church is very rich in
witnesses who spent themselves for others without reserve, at the cost of harsh
suffering. The greater the hope that enlivens us, the greater is the ability within
us to suffer for the love of truth and good, joyfully offering up the minor and
major daily hardships and inserting them into Christ’s great compassion.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-21
CHRIST’S PATIENT ENDURANCE
OF SUFFERING
From the spiritual writings of John Ruusbroec
◊◊◊
He began to suffer at the time of his birth, for he was born in poverty and in
cold. He was circumcised and so shed his blood. He was forced to flee to a strange
land… He suffered hunger and thirst, disgrace and contempt, and…slanderous
words and deeds… He fasted, kept vigils, and was tempted by the devil. He was
subject to everyone. He went from country to country and from city to city with
much labor and zeal in order to preach the Good News.
Finally he was arrested by…enemies even though he was a friend to them.
He was betrayed, mocked, and insulted; scourged and beaten; and condemned on
the basis of false testimony. In great pain he carried his cross to the highest place
on earth and was there stripped naked. No man or woman has ever seen so
beautiful a body so cruelly treated. He suffered disgrace, pain, and cold before all
the world, for he was naked and it was cold, with a sharp wind cutting into his
wounds. He was nailed to the wood of the cross with blunt nails and was so
stretched out that his veins were ruptured. He was raised up on the cross, which
was then dropped down into its hole with such force that his wounds began
bleeding. His head was crowned with thorns. His ears heard the…shouting,
“Crucify him! Crucify him!” and many other abusive words.
His eyes saw…obstinacy and malice…and the misery of his mother, and his
eyes lost their power of sight in the bitterness of pain and death. His nose smelled
the foulness which those standing by spat out of their mouths into his face. His
mouth and his sense of taste were drenched with vinegar and gall. Every sensitive
part of his body was pervaded with the pain of the scourging. Thus was Christ our
Bridegroom wounded unto death, abandoned by God and all creatures; he hung
dying on the cross like a piece of wood for which no one cared except Mary his
mother, who could do nothing to help him.
Christ also suffered spiritually, in his soul, because of the obdurate
willfulness of…those who put him to death, for however many signs and wonders
they saw, they persisted in their evil ways… He also suffered because of the distress
and misery of his mother and his disciples, who were sorely afflicted. He suffered
because his death would be of no avail for so many persons and because many
would be ungrateful and even swear false oaths in order to ridicule and revile him
who had died out of love for us. His human nature and his lower reason suffered
because God withdrew from them the influx of his gifts and consolation and left
them to themselves in such distress. For this reason, Christ said in complaint, “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But our Lover was silent about all his
sufferings and cried out to his Father, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know
what they are doing”. Christ was heard by his Father because of his reverence…
These, then, were interior virtues of Christ: humility, charity, and the patient
endurance of suffering. Christ practiced them throughout his life, died with them,
and so redeemed us through his righteousness…

Vigils Reading
2025-03-22
THE SEASON OF PURIFICATION
By Pope St Leo the Great
◊◊◊
This sacred season is dedicated to the purification of the soul, let us
therefore be careful to fulfill the Apostolic command that we cleanse ourselves
from all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit, so that restraining the conflict
that exists between the one and the other substance, the soul, which in the
Providence of God is meant to be the ruler of the body, may regain the dignity of
its rightful authority, so that, giving offense to no one, we may not incur the
contumely of evil mongers. With just contempt shall we be tormented by those
who have no faith, and from our wickedness evil tongues will draw weapons to
wound religion, if the way of life of those who fast be not in accord with what is
needed in true self-denial. For the sum total of our fasting does not consist in
merely abstaining from food. In vain do we deny our body food if we do not
withhold our heart from iniquity, and restrain our lips that they speak no evil.
We must then so moderate our rightful use of food that our other desires
may be subject to the same rule. For this is also a time for gentleness and
patience, a time of peace and serenity, in which having put away all stains of evil
doing we strive after steadfastness in what is good. Now is the time when
generous Christian souls forgive offenses, pay no heed to insults, and wipe out
the memory of past injuries. Now let the Christian soul exercise itself in the
amour of justice, on the right hand and on the left, so that amid honor and
dishonor, evil report and good, the praise of all will not make proud the virtue
that is well rooted, the conscience that has peace, nor dishonor cast it down.
The moderation of those who worship God is not melancholy, but blameless.
Therefore, you Dearly Beloved, the holy offspring of the Catholic Mother,
Whom the Spirit of God has taught in the School of Truth, use your freedom of
action with right reason, knowing that it is good to abstain, even from what is
lawful; and when you must practice self-denial, so abstain from food as merely
putting aside its use, not as condemning its nature. And so you will not allow
yourselves in any way to be infected by the error of those who are completely
defiled by their own observance of it; serving the creature rather than the
Creator; and dedicating their own stupid observance to the lights of heaven.

Skema
2025-03-23
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
3rd Week of Lent

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (I)
March 23 – 29, 2025

Sun
23
Mon
24
Tue
25
Wed
26
Thu
27
Fri
28
Sat
29

Office
3rd Sunday of Lent
Lenten Weekday
Annunciation of the Lord
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday

Vigils
Heb 13:1-25
Lev 1:1-17
1 Chron 17:1-15
Lev 3:1-17
Lev 5:14-26
Lev 8:1-21
Lev 8:22-36; 9:22-24

Lauds
Exod 10:7-11
Exod 10:21-29
Wis 9:1-12
Exod 12:21-28
Exod 12:29-36
Exod 13:11-16
Exod 13:17-22

Mass
30
236
545
239
240
241
242

1st
Exod 3:1-8a, 13-15
Exod 17:1-7
Isa 7:10-14; 8:10
Deut 4:1, 5-9
Jer 7:23-28
Hos 14:2-10
Hos 6:1-6

2nd
1 Cor 10:1-6,
10-12

Heb 10:4-10

Gospel
Luke 13:1-9
John 4:5-42
Luke 1:26-38
Matt 5:17-19
Luke 11:14-23
Mark 12:28b-34
Luke 18:9-14

Vespers
Deut 8:7-14
1 Jn 1:1-4
Heb 2:5-10
Deut 9:15-21
Deut 9:22-29
Deut 10:12-22
Deut 11:1-7

Vigils Reading - 3rd Sunday of Lent
2025-03-23
ABIDE IN GOD’S LOVE
From a commentary by St Augustine of Hippo
◊◊◊
It is My Father’s glory, Christ said, that you should bear abundant fruit
and become my disciples. But even when we have glorified the Father by
bearing much fruit and becoming Christ’s disciples, we still have no right to
claim credit for it as though the work were ours alone. The grace to carry out the
work had first to come to us from God, and so the glory is his, not ours. That is
why Christ is recorded in another place as saying: Let your light so shine before
others that they may see your good works – and here, lest they be tempted to
attribute these good works to themselves, he immediately added: and may give
the glory for them to your heavenly Father.
This, then, is the Father’s glory, that we should bear abundant fruit and
become Christ’s disciples, since it is only through God’s mercy in the first place
that we can become the disciples of Christ. We are God’s handiwork, created in
Christ Jesus for the performance of good works.
As the Father has loved me, Jesus says, so I have loved you. Abide in my
love. There we have the source of every good work of ours. How did they come to
be ours? Only because faith is alive in love. And how could we ever love, unless
we ourselves were loved first? In his first letter, John the evangelist made this
quite clear. Let us love God, he wrote, because he first loved us. The Father does
indeed love us, but he does so in his Son; we glorify the Father by bearing fruit as
branches of the vine which is His Son and becoming his disciples.
Abide in my love, he says to us. How may we do that? In the words that
follow you have your answer. If you observe what I command you. then you
will truly abide in my love. But is it love that makes us keep the Lord’s
commandments, or is it the keeping of them that makes us love him? There can
be no doubt that love comes first. Anyone devoid of love will lack all motive to
keep the commandments.
When, therefore, Christ says to us: If you keep my commandments, you
will abide in my love, he is telling us that the observance of the commandments
is not the source but rather the gauge and touchstone of our love. It is as though
he said to us: Do not suppose that you are abiding in my love if you are not
keeping my commandments, for it is by observing them that you will abide in
my love. That is to say, your observance of my commandments is the proof, the
outward manifestation, of the fact that you abide in my love.
Let no one, then, who neglects to keep the commandments deceive
himself by protesting his love for God. It is only to the extent that we keep the
Lord’s commandments that we abide in his love; insofar as we fail to keep them
we fail in love. Yet even when we do keep God’s commandments, it is not
something we do in order to make God love us, for unless he loved us first we
should not be able to keep them. It is the gift of his grace, a grace which is
accessible to the humble of heart, but beyond the reach of the proud.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-24
A SEASON OF HEALING
By Thomas Merton2
◊◊◊
The Paschal Mystery is above all the mystery of life, in which the Church,
by celebrating the death and resurrection of Christ, enters into the Kingdom of
Life which He has established once for all by His definitive victory over sin and
death… Lent is then not a season of punishment so much as one of healing.
There is joy in the salutary fasting and abstinence of the Christian who
eats and drinks less in order that his mind may be more clear and receptive to
receive the sacred nourishment of God’s word, which the whole Church
announces and meditates upon in each day’s liturgy throughout Lent. The
whole life and teaching of Christ pass before us, and Lent is a season of special
reflection and prayer, a forty-day retreat in which each Christian, to the extent
he is able, tries to follow Christ into the desert by prayer and fasting…
In this way, for the whole Church, Lent will not be merely a season simply
of a few formalized penitential practices, half understood and undertaken
without interest, but a time of metanoia, the turning of all minds and hearts to
God in preparation for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery…
It is a time in which joy and grief go together hand in hand: for that is the
meaning of compunction – a sorrow which pierces, which liberates, which gives
hope and therefore joy. Such sorrow brings joy because it is at once a mature
acknowledgment of guilt and the acceptance of its full consequences: hence it
implies a religious and moral adjustment to reality, the acceptance of one’s
actual condition, and the acceptance of reality is always a liberation from the
burden of illusion which we strive to justify by our errors and sins. Compunction
is a necessary sorrow, but it is followed by joy and relief because it wins for us
one of the greatest blessings: the light of truth and the grace of humility.
Only the inner rending, the tearing of the heart, brings this joy. It lets out
our sins, and lets in the clean air of God’s spring, the sunlight of the days that
advance toward Easter. Rending of the garments lets in nothing but the cold.
The rending of the heart which is spoken of in Joel is that “tearing away” from
ourselves and our <oldness> – the “oldness” of the old man, wearied with the
boredom and drudgery of an indifferent existence, that we may turn to God and
taste His mercy, in the liberty of His sons and daughters.
When we turn to Him, what do we find? That “He is gracious and
merciful, patient and rich of mercy”…The purpose of Lent is…above all a
preparation to rejoice in His love. And this preparation consists in receiving the
gift of His mercy – a gift which we receive in so far as we open our hearts to it,
casting out what cannot remain in the same room with mercy.
Now one of the things we must cast out first of all is fear. Fear narrows the
little entrance of our heart. It shrinks up our capacity to love. It freezes up our
power to give ourselves. If we were terrified of God as an inexorable judge, we
would not confidently await His mercy, or approach Him trustfully in prayer.
Our peace, our joy in Lent are a guarantee of grace.
2 Seasons of Celebration – Farrar, Straus & Giroux – NY – 1965 – pg. 113f.5

Vigils Reading - Annunciation of the Lord
2025-03-25
A KIND WORD
From a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny
◊◊◊
The solemnity of the Lord’s Annunciation providentially interrupts the
days of our Lenten observance, so that we are able to refresh ourselves with
spiritual joy in the midst of the physical austerities which weigh so heavily on us.
Having been humbled by penitential sorrow, we are now encouraged by the
announcement of the one who takes away the sins of the world. This is just what
Scripture says: Grief makes the heart heavy, but a kind word makes it glad.
It is indeed a kind word, a reliable word in which you can believe, this
gospel of our salvation which the angel sent by God announced to Mary on this
day. It is a joyful word which day utters unto day, the angel to the virgin,
concerning the incarnation of the Word. It promises a son to the Virgin, and at
the same time pardon to sinners, redemption to captives, release to the
imprisoned, life to those in the grave. In foretelling the Son’s kingdom and
announcing the glory of the righteous, it makes hell fearful and gives joy to
heaven. By the revelation of these mysteries and by the new joys it brings them,
it seems to have increased the perfection of the angels.
Is there an afflicted person who would not be cheered by this kind word,
or anyone whose lowliness it would not console? Remember your word to your
servant by which you gave me hope, sang David. It was this which consoled me
when I was brought low. He received only a promise, a word which did not
show any sign of coming true. The delay in the fulfillment of his desire
distressed him, but he took comfort by hoping firmly in the good faith of the one
who had made the promise. If David could sustain his spirit with just the hope of
3 A Word in Season – vol/ IV – Augustinian Press p 1991 – pg 52.7
the salvation which was being kept for us, with what joy and delight ought we
not to greet its realization?
Blessed are the mourners because they will be comforted, blessed those
whose hearts are afflicted by a holy grief because they shall be gladdened by a
kind word. Clearly the kind word which consoles is your all-powerful Word, O
Lord, which came today from the heavenly throne into the womb of a virgin.
There, too, he made a royal throne, and from there he consoles those who
mourn on earth even while he sits as king surrounded by the hosts of angels in
heaven.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-26
MORALITY AND PSYCHOANALYSIS
From “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis
◊◊◊
Human beings judge one another by their external actions. God judges them
by their moral choices… When a man who has been perverted from his youth and
taught that cruelty is the right thing, does some tiny little kindness, or refrains from
some cruelty he might have committed, and thereby, perhaps, risks being sneered
at by his companions, he may, in God’s eyes, be doing more than you and I would
do if we gave up life itself for a friend…
Some of us who seem quite nice people may, in fact, have made so little use of
a good heredity and a good upbringing that we are really worse than those whom
we regard as fiends. Can we be quite certain how we should have behaved if we had
been saddled with the psychological outfit, and then with the bad upbringing, and
then with the power, say, of Himmler? That is why Christians are told not to judge.
We see only the results which a man’s choices make out of his raw material. But
God does not judge him on the raw material at all, but on what he has done with it.
Most of the man’s psychological make-up is probably due to his body: when his
body dies all that will fall off him, and the real central man, the thing that chose,
that made the best or the worst out of this material, will stand naked. All sorts of
nice things which we thought our own, but which were really due to a good
digestion, will fall off some of us: all sorts of nasty things which were due to
complexes or bad health will fall off others. We shall then, for the first time, see
every one as he really was. There will be surprises…
People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God
says, “If you keep a lot of rules I’ll reward you, and if you don’t I’ll do the other
thing.”… I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are
turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little
different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your
innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing
either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that
is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one
that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with
itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is it is joy and peace and
knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage,
impotence, and eternal loneliness…
One man may be so placed that his anger sheds the blood of thousands, and
another so placed that however angry he gets he will only be laughed at. But the
little mark on the soul may be much the same in both. Each has done something to
himself which, unless he repents, will make it harder for him to keep out of the rage
next time he is tempted, and will make the rage worse when he does fall into it.
Each of them, if he seriously turns to God, can have that twist in the central man
straightened out again: each is, in the long run, doomed if he will not. The bigness
or smallness of the thing, seen from the outside, is not what really matters…
When a man is getting better, he understands more and more clearly the evil
that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own
badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a
thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right… Good people know about both good and
evil: bad people do not know about either.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-27
THE SPIRIT OF LENT
From a meditation by Dom Alban Boultwood
◊◊◊
In Chapter 49 of the Holy Rule, “On the Observance of Lent,” St Benedict
begins by saying that the spiritual man ought really to be living at all times in the
spirit of Lent, that is, in wholehearted conversion to God. Our frailty causes us
to fail often in this, but if we do not try to live in this spirit during the holy season
of Lent, when shall we ever do so?
St Benedict sees the spirit of Lent not as one of unhappiness, but rather as
a spirit of free and joyful oblation: “so that everyone of his own will may offer to
God, with joy and the Holy Spirit, something beyond the measure appointed to
him”. The Church herself has been preparing us for this, first by drawing us and
inspiring us by the sublime glimpse of divine love unveiled at Christmas, and
then by summoning us to hear the Savior’s call as he manifests his divine
mission and power after the Epiphany. And now we are called to follow him, in
the work of his oblation and redemptive sacrifice which he now so lovingly takes
up. Our Lord calls us to unite ourselves with him in his oblation to his Father’s
will, for this is his mission.
Our response to this divine invitation has led us to the “oblation” by which
as [monks] we offer ourselves wholly to God, and it seems specially fitting for us
during Lent, to renew, solemnly, sincerely, reflectively, our formal [offering] of
ourselves to God through the Rule of St Benedict. It is true that our [offering] is
really made once and for all but the point lies in the renewal of the spirit of our
[offering]. It is not enough to set up a religious program in our life, Even in the
monastery itself, where the vows and the whole rule of life establish a wonderful
religious machinery to guide and speed us towards God, yet these things still
5 Alive to God [Benedictine Studies VII], Baltimore-Dublin, 1964, pp. 72-75.11
remain in themselves just the machinery of our life; and we soon find, here too,
precisely that tendency for things to become mechanical in the bad sense. And
so we are always having to renew our spirit, deepening, clarifying, purifying,
reaffirming, our interior [offering], as the years bring us the daily opportunities
of fulfillment.
We must go forward in faith and in hope and in love, one step at a time,
trying to be ready to recognize God’s will as it comes to us day by day, and trying
to give ourselves to it with all our heart. As occasion arises, the “instruments of
good works” [which St Benedict mentions] will be offered to us; so many
spiritual tools, yet all but a part of the first great one to love the Lord with your
whole heart.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-28
ROOTED AND GROUNDED
IN LOVE
From “Meditations and Prayers” by Evelyn Underhill
◊◊◊
Adoration, as it more deeply possesses us, inevitably leads on to self-
offering: for every advance in prayer is really an advance in love. “I ask not for
thy gifts but for thyself,” says the Divine Voice to Thomas à Kempis… That, of
course, is real intercession; which is gravely misunderstood by us, if we think of
it mainly in terms of asking God to grant particular needs and desires. Such
secret intercessory prayer ought to penetrate and accompany all our active
work, if it is really to be turned to the purpose of God. It is the supreme
expression of the spiritual life on earth: moving from God to man, through us,
because we have ceased to be self-centered units, but are woven into the great
fabric of praying souls, the “mystical body” through which the work of Christ on
earth goes on being done.
Those who deal much with souls soon come to know something about the
strange spiritual currents which are at work under the surface of life, and the
extent in which charity can work on supernatural levels for supernatural ends.
But if you are to do that, the one thing that matters is that you should care
supremely about it; care in fact, so much that you do not mind how much you
suffer for it. We cannot help anyone until we do care, for it is only by love that
spirit penetrates spirit.
Real saints do feel and bear the weight of the sins and pains of the world.
It is the human soul’s greatest privilege that we can thus accept redemptive
suffering for one another – and they do. St Theresa says that if anyone claiming
to be united to God is always in a state of peaceful beatitude, she simply does not
believe in their union with God. Such a union, to her mind, involves great
sorrow for the sin and pain of the world; a sense of identity not only with God
but also with all other souls, and a great longing to redeem and heal. That is real
supernatural charity.
It is a call to love and save not the nice but the nasty; not the lovable but
the unlovely, the hard, the narrow, and the embittered, and the tiresome, who
are so much worse. To love irrespective of merit or opinion or personal
preference; to love even those who offend our taste. If you are to love your
people thus, translating your love, as you must, into unremitting intercessory
work, and avoid being swamped by the great ocean of suffering, sin and need to
which you are sent, once again this will only be done by maintaining and feeding
the temper of adoration and trustful adherence. This is the heart of the life of
prayer; and only in so far as we work from this center can we safely dare to touch
other souls and seek to affect them. For such intercession is a sacrificial job; and
sacrificial jobs need the support of a stronger inner life if they are to be carried
through. They are rooted and grounded in love.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-29
THE DIVINE REMEDIES
A sermon by St Leo the Great
◊◊◊
Apostolic teaching, beloved, exhorts us that we “put off the old man with
his deeds” and renew ourselves from day to day by a holy manner of life. For if
we are the temple of God, and if the Holy Spirit is a Dweller in our souls, as the
Apostle says: “You are the temple of the living God”, we must then strive with all
vigilance that the dwelling of our heart be not unworthy of so great a Guest. And
just as in houses made with hands, we see to it with praiseworthy diligence that
whatever may be damaged, either through the rain coming in, or by the wind in
storms, or by age itself, is promptly and carefully repaired, so must we with
unceasing concern take care that nothing disordered be found in our souls, that
nothing unclean be found there.
For though this dwelling of ours does not endure without the support of
its Maker, nor would the structure be safe without the watchful care of the
Builder, nevertheless since we are rational stones, and living material, the Hand
of our Maker has so fashioned us that even he who is being repaired may
cooperate with His Maker.
Let human obedience then not withdraw itself from the grace of God, nor
turn away from that Good without which it cannot be good. And should it find in
the fulfillment of His commands something that is difficult to accomplish or
beyond its powers, let it not remain apart, but rather turn to Him who
commands us, and who has laid on us this precept that He may both help us and
awaken in us the desire of Him, as the prophet tells us: “Cast your care upon the
Lord, and he shall sustain you”.
Or perhaps there is someone who prides himself beyond due measure,
and who imagines himself to be so untouched, so unblemished, that he has now
no need to renew himself. Such a belief is wholly deceiving, and he will grow old
in unceasing folly who believes that amid the temptations of this life he is safe
from all injury to his soul. All things are filled with dangers, filled with snares.
Desires inflame us, allurements lie in wait for us, the love of gain beguiles us,
losses frighten us, bitter are the tongues of detractors, and not always true the
lips of those who praise us. There hate rages against us; here the false friend
cheats us; so that it is easier to avoid discord than to shun deceit.
And since there are few so steadfast that no trial disturbs them, and since
not merely bad fortune but good also, corrupts many among the faithful, we
must use earnest care in treating the wounds by which our human mortality has
been injured… Since the Scripture says: “Who can say: my heart is clean, I am
pure from sin?”…let each one think within himself of the forgiveness he has
need of for his sins, and of the medicine he needs for the restoration of his soul.
When…should we more fittingly have recourse to the divine remedies
than when we are once again reminded of the mysteries of our redemption? And
that we may more worthily commemorate them, let us earnestly prepare
ourselves by these forty days of abstinence.

Skema
2025-03-30
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
4th Week of Lent

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (I)
March 30 – April 5, 2025

Sun
30
Mon
31
Tue
1
Wed
2
Thu
3
Fri
4
Sat
5

Office
4th Sunday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday

Vigils
Lev 16:1-19
Lev 16:20-34
Lev 17:1-16
Lev 19:1-18, 31-37
Lev 20:1-8, 22-26
Lev 23:1-14, 26-32
Lev 25:1-22

Lauds
Exod 14:10-14
Exod 14:19-22
Exod 14-26-31
Exod 15:19-21
Exod 16:1-3
Exod 16:9-15
Exod 19:1-8

Mass
33
243
245
246
247
248
249

1st
Josh 5:9a, 10-12
Mic 7:7-9
Ezek 47:1-9, 12
Isa 49:8-15
Exod 32:7-14
Wis 2:1a, 12-22
Jer 11:18-20

2nd
2 Cor 5:17-21

Gospel
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
John 9:1-41
John 5:1-3a, 5-16
John 5:17-30
John 5:31-47
John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30
John 7:40-53

Vespers
Deut 11:8-12
Deut 11:13-17
Deut 11:18-25
Deut 11:26-32
Deut 26:16-19
Deut 27:1-10
Deut 29:1-8

Vigils Reading - 4th Sunday of Lent
2025-03-30
A FATHER
AND NOT A JUDGE
From a commentary by St John Chrysostom
◊◊◊
All that God looks for from us is the slightest opening, and he forgives a
multitude of sins. Let me tell you a parable that will confirm this.
There were two brothers: they divided their father’s goods between them,
and one stayed home, while the other went away to a foreign country, wasted all
he had been given, and then could not bear the shame of his poverty. Now the
reason I have told you this parable is so that you will understand that even sins
committed after baptism can be forgiven if we face up to them. I do not say this
to encourage indolence but to save you from despair, which harms us worse
than indolence.
The son who went away represents those who fall after baptism. This is
clear from the fact that he is called a son, since no one is called a son unless he is
baptized. Also, he lived in his father’s house and took a share of all his father’s
goods. Before baptism no one receives the father’s goods or enters upon the
inheritance. We can therefore take all this as signifying the state of believers.
Furthermore, the wastrel was a brother of the good man, and no one is a brother
unless he has been born again through the Spirit.
What does he say after falling into the depths of evil? I will return to my
father. The reason the father let him go and did not prevent his departure for a
foreign land was so that he might learn well by experience what good things are
enjoyed by the one who remains at home. But when words would not convince
us God often leaves us to learn from the things that happen to us.
When the profligate returned after going to a foreign country and finding
out by experience what a great sin it is to leave the father’s house, the father did
not remember past injuries but welcomed him with open arms. Why? Because
he was a father and not a judge. And there were dances and festivities and
banquets and the whole house was full of joy and gladness.
Are you asking: “Is this what he gets for his wickedness?” Not for his
wickedness, but for his return home; not for his sin but for repentance’ not for
evil, but for being converted. What is more, when the elder son was angry at this,
the father gently won him over, saying You were always with me, but he was
lost and has been found; he was dead and has come back to life. When someone
who was lost has to be saved”, says the father, “it is not the time for passing
judgment or making minute inquiries, but only for mercy and forgiveness.”

Vigils Reading
2025-03-31
EVERYWHERE MERCY PRECEDES
From a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny
◊◊◊
O happy the humility of those who repent; O blessed the hope of those
who confess. How mighty you are with the Almighty; how easily you conquer the
unconquerable; how quickly you turn the dreadful judge into a devoted father.
We have heard to our great edification of the prodigal son’s sorrowful journey,
tearful repentance and glorious reception. He was so gravely guilty and had not
yet confessed but only planned to; had not yet made satisfaction but only bent
his mind to it. Yet by merely intending to humble himself he immediately
obtained a pardon, which others seek for so long a time with such great desire,
beg for with such tears, strive for with such diligence. The thief on the cross was
absolved by a simple confession, the prodigal by only the will to confess.
“I said,” Scripture says, “I will confess my transgression to the Lord; and
you did forgive the guilt of my sin.” Everywhere mercy precedes. It had preceded
the will to confess by inspiring it; it preceded also the words of confession by
forgiving what was to be confessed. “When he was still far off,” we read, “his
father saw him and was moved with compassion, and running to meet him fell
upon his neck and kissed him.” These words seem to suggest that the father was
even more anxious o pardon his son than the son was to be pardoned. He
hastened to absolve the guilty one from what was tormenting his conscience, as
if the merciful father suffered more in his compassion for his miserable son than
the son did in his own miseries. We do not mean to attribute human feelings to
the unchangeable nature of God; we intend rather that our affection should be
softened and moved to love that supreme goodness by learning from
comparison with human feelings that he loves us more than we love him.
See how where sin abounded grace abounds still more. The guilty one
could scarcely hope for pardon; the judge, or rather not now the judge but the
advocate, heaps us grace… What a wealth of graciousness and sweetness, what
an abundance of most blessed joy, what torrents of most holy delight do they not
contain? “He fell upon his neck and kissed him.” When he thus showed his
affection for him, what did he do by his embrace and his kiss but take him to his
bosom and cast himself into his son’s bosom, breathe himself into him, in order
that by clinging to his father he might become one spirit with him, just as by
clinging to harlots he had been made one body with them? It was not enough for
that supreme mercy not to close the bowels of his compassion to the wretched.
He draws them into his very bowels and makes them his members. He could not
bind us to himself more closely, could not make us more intimate to himself
than by incorporating us into himself.
Both by charity and by ineffable power he unites us not only with the body
he has assumed but also with his very spirit. If such is the grace accorded to the
repentant what will be the glory of those who reign? If such are the consolations
of the wretched, what will be the joys of the blessed? And since he gives us so
much in advance while we are still on the way, what treasures is he not keeping
stored up for us when we arrive in our fatherland? Indeed, what has not entered
into the heart of man: that we should be like him and that God should be all in
all.

Vigils Reading
2025-04-02
A DELUGE OF MERCY
From a sermon by St Maximus the Confessor
◊◊◊
We must accept with all reverence, brethren, the sacred days of Lent, and
not recoil because of the length of the season; for the longer the days of our
fasting, the greater the grounds of our forgiveness; the longer the time of our
self-denial, the grater the price paid for our soul’s salvation; the severer the
treatment of our wounds, the more sure the healing of our offenses. For God
who is the Physician of our souls has instituted an appropriate time; sufficient
for the just to make reparation and for sinners to ask for mercy; the one praying
for peace, the other imploring pardon.
For the days of Lent are suited to our purposes; not short, so that we may
plead in prayer; not long, for our need to gain merit. For in this fast of forty days
any offense may be wiped out, and the severity of any judge softened. The time
may be long and tedious for the one who neither pleads for his sins, nor hopes
for forgiveness. For he who despairs will neither confess his sins, nor hope in the
mercy of the Judge.
Holy and salutary therefore is the time of Lent, in which the Judge is
moved to mercy, the sinner to repentance, and the just to peace. For in these
days the Divinity is inclined to be more merciful, the sinner to repent, and grace
to be obtained. All things are now prepared: the heavens to pardon, the sinner to
confess, the tongue to plead.
Mystical and salutary is this number forty. For when in the beginning the
iniquity of mortals covered the earth, God, dissolving the clouds of heaven for
the space of this number of days, covered the whole earth with a flood. You see
then already that in this time the Mystery is put before us in Figure. For as it
then rained for forty days, to cleanse the world, so now it also happens. Yet the
deluge of those days must be called a mercy; in that through it iniquity was
crushed, and justice upheld. For it took place out of mercy, to deliver the just,
and that the wicked might no longer sin. We see clearly it was through mercy it
came, as a sort of baptism, in which the face of the earth was renewed; that is, so
that mortals who wallowed in the dreadful sin of those abandoned might come
to grace in the dwelling of Noah, and so that he who was then an abode of
iniquity, might become a dwelling of holiness.
Holy and dedicated is this time of forty days, which immediately from the
beginning began to divide the just from the unjust; and by a kind of judgment
separate the good from the bad. And this takes place even in our time of forty
days. For in these forty days the good are divided from the bad, that is, the
chaste from the unchaste, the temperate from the intemperate, the Christian
from the heathen. The wicked…are separated from the good, that is, the sinner
from the just, the devil from the saint, the heretic from the faithful. For those
others are lost, as in the Flood, in the disaster of this world, while the Church
alone, with all its virtues, is like the Ark sustained above the deep.

Vigils Reading
2025-04-03
THE EXPERIENCE OF ETERNITY
From “Christian at the Crossroads” by Fr Karl Rahner
◊◊◊
In every human life not confined to the visible and tangible or totally
absorbed in the needs of the moment, but lived in the Spirit, there are moments
and events in which our whole existence comes into play, in which we are
brought up against our life in its entirety, in which the meaning and fulfillment
or failure of that life is weighed in the balance: perhaps when we make a
commitment to selfless love, or reach out in yearning and hope for the fulfill-
ment of our life, or are threatened in the depths of our existence. At those
moments attitudes are formed and decisions taken not wholly or rationally
explicable in purely inner-worldly terms and without an ultimate grounding in
the solely here and now; the presence and efficacy of the Spirit is sought – and
perhaps also discovered – in a more reflexive way.
Have we ever been silent although we wished to defend ourselves,
although we were treated with less than justice? Did we ever forgive although we
got no thanks for it and our silent pardon was taken for granted? Did we once
obey not because we had to or would otherwise have suffered unpleasant
consequences, but merely because of that mysterious, speechless,
incomprehensible force we call God and God’s will? Have we ever made a
sacrifice without thanks, acknowledgment or even sentiments of inner peace?
Have we ever been thoroughly lonely? Have we had to take a decision purely on
the verdict of our conscience, when we cannot tell anybody or explain to
anybody, when we are quite alone and know we are making a decision no one
can make for us and for which we shall be responsible to eternity? Have we ever
tried to love God when no wave of heartfelt enthusiasm sustains us, when we
cannot exchange ourselves and life’s pressures with God, when we think we are
dying of such love, when it feels like death and absolute negation, when we seem
to be summoned into the void and wholly unheard-of, when everything is
apparently becoming incomprehensible and seemingly meaningless?… And so
on.
We can all perhaps see ourselves in such life experiences, or think of our
own similar ones. If we can, then we have had the spiritual experience referred
to here: the experience of eternity, the experience that spirit is more than a piece
of this temporal world, the experience that the meaning of being human is not
exhausted in the meaning and happiness of this world, the experience of risk
and venturesome trust which has no provable justification deducible from mere
worldly success, in short and finally: the experience of God, the experience of
the descent of the Holy Spirit which became a reality in Christ through his
incarnation and his sacrifice on the cross.

Vigils Reading
2025-04-04
THE SOJOURN
OF OUR PEACE
From the writing of Dom Columba Marmion
◊◊◊
When we thus submit ourselves entirely to Christ Jesus, when we abandon
ourselves to Him, when our soul only responds, like His own, with a perpetual
Amen to all that He asks of us in the name of His Father…then Christ Jesus
establishes His peace in us: His peace, not that which the world promises, but the
true peace which can only come from Himself…
Doubtless, here below, peace is not always sensible; upon earth we are in a
condition of trial and, most often, peace is won by conflict… We may be slighted,
opposed, persecuted, be unjustly treated, our intentions and deeds may be
misunderstood; temptation may shake us, suffering may come suddenly upon us;
but there is an inner sanctuary which none can reach; here is the sojourn of our
peace, because in this innermost secret of the soul dwell adoration, submission and
abandonment to God. “I love my God,” said St. Augustine, “no one takes Him from
me: no one takes from me what I ought to give Him, for that is enclosed within my
heart…
Death cannot trouble the soul that has sought only God. Has it not confided
itself to the One Who says: “He that believes in Me, although he be dead, shall
live”…
In one of her “Exercises,” St Gertrude allows her assurance, which the
infinite merits of Jesus give her, to overflow. “Woe, woe unto me, if, when I come
before You, I had no advocate to plead my cause!… Come with me to judgment…
there let us stand together. Judge me, for the right is Yours; but remember You are
also my Advocate. In order that I be fully acquitted, You have but to recount what
You did become for love of me, the price with which You have purchased me…”
For souls moved by such sentiments, death is but a transition; Christ comes
Himself to open to them the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem… There will be no
more darkness, trouble, tears, or sighs; but peace, infinite and perfect peace.
“Peace first becomes ours with the longing and seeking for the Creator; it is in the
full vision and eternal possession of Him that peace is made perfect.”

Vigils Reading
2025-04-05
FORGIVE US,
AS WE FORGIVE
From a sermon by Caesarius of Arles
◊◊◊
If any one of us is in conflict with another, let us end the quarrel lest we
ourselves end badly. Do not consider this unimportant, my beloved. Let us call
to mind that our life here is mortal and frail, that it is endangered by many and
great temptations, and this makes us pray that we may not be overcome. And so,
we realize that even the just are not without some sins. But there is one remedy
which enables us to keep alive. For God, our Master, told us to say in our
prayers: “Forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive those who wrong us.”
We have made a contract with God and taken a resolution that the wrong must
be forgiven. This makes us ask with complete confidence to be forgiven
provided we too forgive.
If, on the contrary, we do not forgive, how can we in good conscience hope
that our sins will be forgiven? Let us not deceive ourselves: God deceived no
one. It is human to be angry, but I wish it were impossible. It is human to
become angry but let us not water the small plant born of anger with various
suspicions. Let us not permit it to develop into a tree of hatred. It happens also
frequently that a father is angry with his son, but he does not hate the son. He is
angry because he wishes to correct the son. If this is his purpose, his anger is
animated by love.
We read in Scripture: “Why look at the speck in your brother’s eye when
you miss the plank in your own?” You find fault with another person for being
angry, and you keep hatred in yourself. Anger in comparison with hatred is only
a speck, but if the speck is fostered, it becomes a plank. If, on the contrary, you
pluck out the speck and cast it away, it will amount to nothing.
Our Master says in another place: “Anyone who hates his brother is a
murderer.” Those who hate their brother, walk around, go out, come in, march
on, are not burdened by any chains and are not shut up in any prison, but they
are bound by their guilt. Do not think of them as not being imprisoned. Their
heart is in prison. When you hear: “He who hates his brother is in darkness all
the while,” lest you might despise that darkness, the evangelist adds: “Anyone
who hates his brother is a murderer.”
You hate your brothers and sisters and walk safely around and refuse to
be reconciled with them, and God has given you time and opportunity. Yet you
are a murderer and are still alive. If you felt God’s wrath you would be suddenly
snatched away with your hatred toward others. God spares you; spare others
likewise; make up and seek reconciliation with them. But suppose you want
reconciliation and another does not want it. That is enough for you; you have
something to grieve for, you have freed yourself. If you want agreement and the
other refuses, say confidently: “Forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive
those who wrong us.”

Skema
2025-04-06
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
5th Week of Lent

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (I)
March 6 – 12, 2025

Sun
6
Mon
7
Tue
8
Wed
9
Thu
10
Fri
11
Sat
12

Office
5th Sunday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday

Vigils
Lev 26:1-17, 40-46
Num 9:15-23; 10:33-36
Num 11:1-6, 10-30
Num 12:1-15
Num 13:1-3, 17-33
Num 14:1-25
Num 20:1-13; 21:4-9

Lauds
Exod 19:16-19
Exod 20:1-7
Exod 20:8-17
Exod 20:18-21
Exod 24:12-18
Exod 32:7-14
Exod 32:30-35

Mass
36
250
252
253
254
255
256

1st
Isa 43:16-21
2 Kgs 4:18b-21, 32-37
Num 21:4-9
Dan 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
Gen 17:3-9
Jer 20:10-13
Ezek 37:21-28

2nd
Phil 3:8-14

Gospel
John 8:1-11
John 11:1-45
John 8:21-30
John 8:31-42
John 8:51-59
John 10:31-42
John 11:45-56

Vespers
Deut 30:1-6
Deut 30:9-14
Deut 30:15-20
Deut 31:1-6
Deut 31:9-13
Deut 32:45-47
1 Tim 6:11-16

Vigils Reading - 5th Sunday of Lent
2025-04-06
IT IS SIN HE CONDEMNS,
NOT PEOPLE
From a commentary by St Augustine
◊◊◊
The scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman who had been
caught committing adultery. Now the penalty of the law for adultery was
stoning. It was, of course, unthinkable that any of the prescriptions of the law
could be unjust, so it followed that anyone whose teachings contravened what
the law required would lay himself open to the charge of advocating injustice.
The Lord’s enemies accordingly said to themselves: “He has a reputation
for truth and is regarded as a man of great kindness and forbearance, so we
must find a pretext for accusing him on the grounds of injustice. Let us confront
him with a woman caught committing adultery, and quote the ruling of the law
in her regard. If he orders her to be stoned, he will lose his name for clemency; if
he tells us to release her, he will not be upholding justice. There is little doubt
that he will sway she must be freed, in order not to lose the reputation which has
made him so popular. That will be our chance to incriminate him and find him
guilty of an offense against the law. We shall be able to say: ‘You are an enemy
of the law! Your answer is not merely an attack on Moses but on God who gave
the law to Moses. You have made yourself liable to the death penalty. You and
the woman should both be stoned.’” By voicing such opinions the Lord’s
enemies might be able to enflame popular feelings against him; they might
incite the crowds to denounce him and demand his condemnation.
But look at the way our Lord’s answer upheld justice without forgoing
clemency. He was not caught in the snare his enemies had laid for him; it was
they themselves who were caught in it. He did not say the woman should not be
stoned, for then it would look as though he were opposing the law. But he had no
intention of saying: “Let her be stoned,” because he came not to destroy those he
found but to seek those who were lost. Mark his reply. It contains justice,
clemency and truth in full measure. Let the one among you who has never
sinned be the first to throw a stone at her. Let the sinner be punished, yes – but
not be sinners. Let the law be carried out, but not by lawbreakers.
This, unquestionably, is the voice of justice, justice that pierced those men
like a javelin. Looking into themselves, they realized their guilt, and one by one
they all went out. Two remained behind: the miserable woman, and Mercy. The
Lord raised his eyes, and with a gentle look he asked her: Has no one
condemned you? She replied: No one, sir. And he said: Neither will I condemn
you. What is this, Lord? Are you giving approval to immorality? Not at all. Take
note of what follows: Go and sin no more.
You see then that the Lord does indeed pass sentence, but it is sin he
condemns, not people. One who approved of immorality would have said:
“Neither will I condemn you. Go and live as you please; you can be sure that I
will acquit you. However much you sin, I will release you from all penalty, and
from the tortures of hell and the underworld.” He did not say that. He said:
“Neither will I condemn you; you need have no fear of the past, but beware of
what you do in the future. Neither will I condemn you: I have blotted out what
you have done; now observe what I have commanded, in order to obtain what I
have promised.”
