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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230330
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230331
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230325T213305Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230325T213305Z
UID:10317-1680134400-1680220799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Reading: Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:The Origin of Death 5\nFrom the writing of Fr. Alexander Schmemann \n…Death as the liberation from the oppressiveness of the body; death as the\nliberation from suffering; death as freedom from this changing\, busy\, evil world;\ndeath as the beginning of eternity. Here\, in fact\, is the sum total of religious and\nphilosophical teaching before Christ and outside of Christianity… But Christ\nweeps at the grave of his friend\, and in so doing he reveals his own struggle with\ndeath\, his refusal to acknowledge it and to come to terms with it. Suddenly\,\ndeath ceases to be a normal and natural fact\, it appears as something foreign\, as\nunnatural\, as fearsome and perverted\, and it is acknowledged as an enemy: “The\nlast enemy to be destroyed is death.” \nIn order to feel the whole depth and revolutionary force of this change we\nmust begin at the beginning\, at the source of this new and unprecedented\napproach to death. We find it as a brief statement in Holy Scripture: “God did\nnot make death\, and he does not delight in the death of the living”. This means\nthat in the world\, in creation\, there is a power that does not have its origin in\nGod\, which he did not desire\, which he did not create\, which opposes him and is\nindependent of him…Death is the denial of God\, and if death is natural\, if it is the\nultimate truth about life and about the world\, if it is the highest and immutable\nlaw about all of creation\, then there is no God\, then this whole story about\ncreation\, about joy\, and about the light of life is a total lie. \nTherefore\, the most important and more profound question of the\nChristian faith must be\, How and from where did death arise\, and why has it\nbecome stronger than life? Why has it become so powerful that the world itself has become a kind of cosmic cemetery\, a place where a collection of people\ncondemned to death live either in fear or terror\, or in their efforts to forget about\ndeath find themselves rushing around one great big burial plot? \nTo this question Christianity answers with equal force\, brevity\, and\nconviction. Here is the text: “and through sin death has come into the world”. In\nother words\, for Christianity\, death first of all is revealed as part of the moral\norder\, as a spiritual catastrophe. In some final and indescribable sense man\ndesired death\, or perhaps one might say\, he did not desire that life that was given\nto him by God freely\, with love and joy… Man did not desire this life with God\nand for God. He desired life for himself\, and in himself he found the purpose\, the\ngoal\, and the content of life. And in this free choice of himself\, and not of God\, in\nhis preference for himself over God\, without realizing it\, man became inextricably\na slave of the world\, a slave of his own dependence on the world…\n“God did not create death.” It is man who introduced death into the world\,\nfreely desiring life only for himself and in himself\, cutting himself off from the\nsource\, the goal\, and content of life – from God. And this is why death -as\ndisintegration\, as separation\, as temporality\, transitoriness – has become the\nsupreme law of life\, revealing the illusory nature of everything on earth. \nIn order to console himself\, man created a dream of another world where\nthere is no death\, and for that dream he forfeited this world\, gave it up decidedly\nto death. Only if we fully return to the Christian understanding about death\, as\nthe root of man’s own perversion of the understanding of the very content of life\,\ncan we hear once more\, as new\, the Christian proclamation about the destruction\nof death in the resurrection. \n5 \nSchmemann\, Alexander. O Death Where is Thy Sting?. Crestwood\, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press\, 2003. 29-36.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/reading-lenten-weekday-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230329
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230330
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230325T212531Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230325T212531Z
UID:10315-1680048000-1680134399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Reading: Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:Father and Son 4\nfrom the Paschal Homilies of St Cyril of Alexandria \nIn the account of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac\, the Bible portrays\nthe mystery of our Savior in all its aspects. Because I want you to have a clear\nunderstanding of this deep mystery of our religion\, I must show you the\nconnection between the events that typified the truth itself\, and explain how each\npart of the story should be interpreted. \nThe holy Abraham took his son and hastened to the place that God had\nshown him. The fact that the boy was brought to be sacrificed by his father is\nmeant to teach us by way of type or sign that the Lord Jesus Christ was not raised\nupon the cross by any human power\, nor by the wickedness of those who laid\nsnares for him\, but by the will of the Father\, whose providential plan permitted\nhim to suffer death for the whole world. The Savior himself said as much when\nhe answered Pilate: you would have no power over me if it had not been given\nyou from above. At another time\, speaking to his Father in heaven\, he said:\nFather\, if it is possible\, let this cup pass me by. But your will\, not mine\, be done. \nAbraham laid the wood for the sacrifice on his son’s shoulders. In the\nsame way\, the Jews laid the wood of the cross on the Savior’s shoulders and they\ndid this with the consent\, one might almost say the cooperation of the Father; for\nit is not possible to compel the divine power. The prophet Isaiah bears reliable\nwitness to this when he says: He bore the punishment which brings us peace\,\nand by his wounds we are healed. We had all strayed like sheep\, everyone had\ngone his own way and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. \nWhen the patriarch eventually arrived at the appointed place\, he put all his\nskill into building a good altar. This too we are meant to interpret in a spiritual\nway and so to understand that what appears to the human eye as a cross and a\ngibbet is in fact in the eyes of the Father of the whole universe a vast and towering\naltar raised up for the salvation of the world\, and blackened by the smoke of a\npure and most holy sacrifice. \nBy his words\, I bared my back to the scourge\, and let myself be struck on\nthe face Isaiah foretold the blows that his enemies would shamelessly inflict on\nthe Savior’s body\, and their spitting upon it… Our Lord Jesus Christ\, disregarding\nthe shame\, humbled himself in obedience to the Father\, even to the extent of\ndying for our salvation. He died to give us life through the Holy Spirit and to\nraise us up with himself\, to open the gates of heaven to us and to lead us in\, thus\nrestoring to the Father the human race whose sin had long ago made it fly from\nhis presence. \nTherefore\, beloved\, let this great work of our Savior be acclaimed by every\nvoice\, let his praise be on every tongue. Let the sweet sound of that ancient song\nbe heard again: God has gone up with shouts of jubilation\, the Lord has\nascended with a fanfare of trumpets. He completed the work of our salvation\nand then ascended\, indeed he not only ascended but he also led captivity captive\nand gave gifts to mortals. \n4 A Word in Season – vol. II – Exordium Books – 1982 – pg 147
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/reading-lenten-weekday-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230328
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230329
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230325T212041Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230325T212041Z
UID:10313-1679961600-1680047999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Reading: Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:On Despising the Things of This World and\nOn the Hope of Heavenly Things 3\nA sermon by Alan of Lille \n…The hope of earthly goods leads only to promises for the future; it\ndestroys our joys before they arrive. [Earthly hope] corrupts the mind by too\nmuch anxiety\, for fear trips up hope and mortgages the joys to come; it stretches\ndesire into infinity. O man\, you depend on earthly things; you rely upon what is\nuncertain; you lean upon a reed cane which is easily broken. Do not therefore\ntrust in that which is fragile and slippery; it quickly sinks away and destroys you.\nSet your mind on the clouds of adversity rather than on the clear skies of\nprosperity. If you set your hope on earthly prosperity… not only will you fail to\nfind there what you hope for\, but you will discover instead the tinder of sin and of\nruin\, a snare for your soul and the leavening of justice. \nRather direct your hope towards tribulations\, which although they present\nan external bitterness\, yet – for those who stand firm – they bring forth in the\nspirit the sweetness of the hope of heaven. Nor may he who has not been pricked\nby the bitterness of tribulation enjoy the sweet fruit of patience. Tribulation is\nthe furnace which refines gold\, the file which burnishes iron\, the flail by which\nthe grain is separated from the chaff. In this warfare of tribulation\, patience is\nexercised\, fortitude does battle\, constancy is strengthened\, hope is summoned\nheavenwards… \nO how happy is that heavenly hope\, which fear does not overpower\, in\nwhich fear is not engendered by falsehood\, where desire does not dream\nreason invite us to believe and hope in this. What fear is able to weaken the\nhuman mind\, if heavenly hope pleads for it before God? What harm will the\nthundering of tyrants\, the precipices of fortune\, the weaknesses of the body\, the\ngroanings of poverty do to the man whose mind is fortified with heavenly hope?\nThis is the hope which governs the assemblies [of men]\, and directs their actions.\nThis it is which finds its height in charity\, that we may direct our actions towards\nGod; this it is which expands its breadth in charity\, that we may extend charity to\nour enemy. This it is which stretches out its length in charity\, that we may\npersevere in charity to the very end of life. \nBetween this [hope] and fear\, as between two millstones\, the Christian\nshould be ground smooth and fine. Whence it is said in Deuteronomy: ‘You shall\nnot accept the upper or the lower millstone as a pledge’. The upper millstone is\nhope\, the lower\, fear. The one must not be accepted without the other. Anyone\nwho hopes and does not fear is neglectful; anyone who fears and does not hope is\ndowncast. \n3 Alan of Lille. The Art of Preaching. CF 23. Trans. Gillian R. Evans. Kalamazoo\, MI: Cistercian\nPublications\, Inc.\, 1981. 58-61.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/reading-lenten-weekday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230327
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230328
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230325T211423Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230325T211423Z
UID:10311-1679875200-1679961599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Reading: Lenten Weekday
DESCRIPTION:Morality and Psychoanalysis 2\nAn excerpt from “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis \nHuman beings judge one another by their external actions. God judges\nthem by their moral choices… When a man who has been perverted from his\nyouth and taught that cruelty is the right thing\, does some tiny little kindness\, or\nrefrains from some cruelty he might have committed\, and thereby\, perhaps\, risks\nbeing sneered at by his companions\, he may\, in God’s eyes\, be doing more than\nyou and I would do if we gave up life itself for a friend. \n…Some of us who seem quite nice people may\, in fact\, have made so little\nuse of a good heredity and a good upbringing that we are really worse than those\nwhom we regard as fiends. Can we be quite certain how we should have behaved\nif we had been saddled with the psychological outfit\, and then with the bad\nupbringing\, and then with the power\, say\, of Himmler? That is why Christians\nare told not to judge. We see only the results which a man’s choices make out of\nhis raw material. But God does not judge him on the raw material at all\, but on\nwhat he has done with it. Most of the man’s psychological make-up is probably\ndue to his body: when his body dies all that will fall off him\, and the real central\nman\, the thing that chose\, that made the best or the worst out of this material\,\nwill stand naked. All sorts of nice things which we thought our own\, but which\nwere really due to a good digestion\, will fall off some of us: all sorts of nasty\nthings which were due to complexes or bad health will fall off others. We shall\nthen\, for the first time\, see every one as he really was. There will be surprises. \n…People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which\nGod says\, “If you keep a lot of rules I’ll reward you\, and if you don’t I’ll do the\nother thing.”… I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you\nare turning the central part of you\, the part of you that chooses\, into something a\nlittle different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole\, with all\nyour innumerable choices\, all your life long you are slowly turning this central\nthing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a\ncreature that is in harmony with God\, and with other creatures\, and with itself\, or\nelse into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God\, and with its fellowcreatures\, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is it is joy\nand peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness\, horror\,\nidiocy\, rage\, impotence\, and eternal loneliness… \nOne man may be so placed that his anger sheds the blood of thousands\,\nand another so placed that however angry he gets he will only be laughed at. But\nthe little mark on the soul may be much the same in both. Each has done\nsomething to himself which\, unless he repents\, will make it harder for him to\nkeep out of the rage next time he is tempted\, and will make the rage worse when\nhe does fall into it. Each of them\, if he seriously turns to God\, can have that twist\nin the central man straightened out again: each is\, in the long run\, doomed if he\nwill not. The bigness or smallness of the thing\, seen from the outside\, is not what\nreally matters… \nWhen a man is getting better\, he understands more and more clearly the\nevil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse\, he understands his own\nbadness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a\nthoroughly bad man thinks he is all right… Good people know about both good\nand evil: bad people do not know about either. \n2 Lewis\, C.S. Mere Christianity. New York: The Macmillan Company\, 1966. 85-87.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/reading-lenten-weekday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230326
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230327
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230325T210620Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230325T210620Z
UID:10309-1679788800-1679875199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Reading: 5th Sunday of Lent
DESCRIPTION:The Resurrection and the Life 1\nA Commentary by St Peter Chrysologus \nOn his return from the underworld\, Lazarus comes forth from the tomb\nlike death confronting its conqueror\, an image of the resurrection to come.\nBefore we can fathom the depths of meaning behind this miracle\, we must\nconsider the way in which our Lord raised Lazarus to life. This action appears to\nus as the greatest of all his signs; we see in it the supreme example of divine\npower\, the most marvelous of all his wonderful works. \nOur Lord had raised up the daughter of Jairus\, the ruler of the synagogue;\nbut although he restored life to the dead girl\, he left the law of death still in force.\nHe also raised the widow’s only son. He halted the bier\, forestalled the young\nman’s burial\, arrested the onset of physical decay; but the life he restored had not\ncompletely fallen into the power of death. The case of Lazarus was unique. His\ndeath and resurrection to life had nothing in common with the other two. Death\nhad already exerted its full power over him\, so that in him the sign of the\nresurrection shone out in all its fullness… \nHis sisters sent a message to Jesus saying\, Lord\, the friend whom you\nlove is sick. By these words they appeal to his affection\, they lay claim to his\nfriendship\, they call on his love\, urging their familiar relationship with him to\npersuade him to relieve their distress. But for Christ it was more important to\nconquer death than to cure disease. He showed his love for his friend not by\nhealing him but by calling him back from the grave. Instead of a remedy for his\nillness\, he offered him the glory of rising from the dead. \nWe are next told that when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick\, he\nremained where he was for two days. You see how he gives full scope to death.\nHe grants free reign to the grave; he allows corruption to set in. He prohibits\nneither putrefaction nor stench from taking their normal course; he allows the\nrealms of darkness to seize his friend\, drag him down to the underworld\, and take\npossession of him. He acts like this so that human hope may perish entirely and\nhuman despair reach its lowest depths. The deed he is about to accomplish may\nthen clearly be seen to be the work of God\, not of man. \nHe waited for Lazarus to die\, staying in the same place until he could tell\nhis disciples that he was dead; then he announced his intention of going to him.\nLazarus is dead\, he said\, and I am glad. Was this a sign of his love for his\nfriend? Not so. Christ was glad because their sorrow over the death of Lazarus\nwas soon to be changed into joy at his restoration to life. I am glad for your\nsake\, he said. Why for their sake? Because the death and raising of Lazarus were\na perfect prefiguration of the death and resurrection of the Lord himself. What\nthe Lord was soon to achieve in himself had already been achieved in his servant.\nThis explains why he said to them: I am glad for your sake not to have been\nthere\, because now you will believe. It was necessary that Lazarus should die\, so\nthat the faith of the disciples might also rise with him from the dead. \n1 Journey with the Fathers: Commentaries on the Sunday Gospels – Year A. Ed. Edith Barnecut\, OSB.\nNew York: New City Press\, 1992. 44-45.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/reading-5th-sunday-of-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230326
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230327
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230325T210050Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230325T210050Z
UID:10307-1679788800-1679875199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema 5th Week in Lent
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n5th Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (I)\nMarch 26 – April 1\, 2023\n\n\n\nSun\n26\nMon\n27\nTue\n28\nWed\n29\nThu\n30\nFri\n31\nSat\n1\n\n\nOffice\n5th Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nExod 29:1-21\nExod 31:1-18\nExod 32:1-20\nExod 32:21-33:6\nExod 33:7-23\nExod 34:1-16\, 27-35\nExod 40:1-38\n\n\nLauds\nDeut 29:1-8\nDeut 30:1-6\nDeut 30:9-14\nDeut 30:15-20\nDeut 31:1-6\nDeut 31:9-13\nDeut 32:45-47\n\n\nMass\n34\n251\n252\n253\n254\n255\n256\n\n\n1st\nEzek 37:12-14\nDan 13:1-9\, 15-17\, 19-30\, 33-62\nNum 21:4-9\nDan 3:14-20\, 91-92\, 95\nGen 17:3-9\nJer 20:10-13\nEzek 37:21-28\n\n\n2nd\nRom 8:8-11\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 11:1-45\nJohn 8:1-11\nJohn 8:21-30\nJohn 8:31-42\nJohn 8:51-59\nJohn 10:31-42\nJohn 11:45-56\n\n\nVespers\nHeb 12:14-17\nHeb 12:18-24\nHeb 12:25-29\nHeb 13:1-8\nHeb 13:9-16\nHeb 13:17-25\nGal 3:7-14
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-5th-week-in-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230325
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230326
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230318T205118Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230318T205118Z
UID:10294-1679702400-1679788799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Annunciation of the Lord
DESCRIPTION:On the Annunciation of Saint Mary7 \nA sermon by St Aelred of Rievaulx \nHail Mary\, full of grace\, the Lord is with you… The sacred solemnity of this day ought to be taken up and venerated with the whole of devotion\, all enthusiasm and reverence. For this annunciation is the beginning of our salvation. This is the first of all the Blessed Virgin’s feast days in dignity andimportance\, rightly more excellent and more fruitful than a sacrament. \nLet us celebrate the conception of her who was going to conceive God’s Son\, because it has happened today. It is appropriate to celebrate the nativity of her from whom God’s Son was going to be born\, because it was announced by the angel today. It is religious to venerate the conception of her who was going to conceive God’s Son\, because it has happened today. Let us venerate her purification and the presentation of her son in the temple\, because as it happens\, they received their cause and origin from the sacrament of this holy annunciation. In the same way\, if we attend other feast days of the Lord himself or of his saints\, this holy solemnity is the beginning and origin of each one\, if we consider it in the right way. For whatever was done today is divine and sacramental. Today the Blessed Virgin consented in order that she should be full of grace. From that fullness\, honor and reverence have flowed to all the remaining feast days that the holy church celebrates. Today she conceived God and humankind\, and would give birth with the integrity of her virginity unharmed. \nThis is the mystery hidden from the ages\, promised by the prophets\, hoped for by the patriarchs\, rendered in the end\, destined to be beneficial without end. Humans are ignorant of this mystery\, wise people wonder\, philosophers are astounded\, angels venerate\, stars speak\, demons tremble\, kings adore\, Herod fears\, children testify and proclaim by their death. This mystery transcends nature\, goes beyond codes of law\, empties every custom\, surpasses all understanding… it demands from us only faith and reverence for God\, rather than the investigation of human reason or assertion of arguments… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nFor just as in the first condition the work of the whole Trinity was expressed (where it says\, Let us make humankind to our image and likeness)\, similarly by one and indivisible work of the whole Trinity\, the fall of our mortality was repaired and our condition restored. For the Father has sent his Son into the flesh. The Son descended into a woman\, the Holy Spirit came upon the virgin\, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her…The former came down in divine power\, the latter obeys in virgin sincerity. The angel announces lofty realities\, the virgin responds in humble ways. \nRightly therefore this feast is raised up for a singular celebration\, which enriched the world with a singular benefit of divine compassion. For whatever of grace\, whatever of sweetness and of love for her son we reserve in our hearts\, this lady experienced wholly today in her praises\, so that we love and praise her as much as we can and however we can. But what weakness lacks in possibility\, may our devotion supply to a loving purpose. And just as we need her constant influence\, so may we venerate her by constant deference\, the lady of the universe\, the queen of heaven\, who took away servitude\, restored our freedom\, and furnished salvation and life while she brought forth the Savior for us\, our Lord Jesus Christ\, who is God over all the blessed forever \n\n\n7 Aelred of Rievaulx. The Liturgical Sermons: The Reading-Cluny Collection\, 2 of 2 – Sermons 134-182. Trans. Daniel Griggs. Collegeville\, MN: Cistercian Publications\, 2022. 169-173. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-annunciation-of-the-lord/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230324
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230325
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230318T205003Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230318T205003Z
UID:10292-1679616000-1679702399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:An Excerpt from the Meditations6 \nby William of Saint-Thierry \nWhen I desire to stimulate\, exercise\, and accustom my heart for praying continually and effectively\, I prefer to be instructed by no one in this schooling other than you\, O Lord Jesus\, Wisdom of God the Father. Consequently\, I call to mind the ways of prayer that you used… sometimes praying alone\, sometimes in the midst of a crowd\, sometimes in exultation of spirit\, once in a bloody sweat\, and once exalted on the cross… \nBecause of habit itself\, we are desensitized when seeing you crucified\, thinking of you as dead and buried. What should pierce through further into the heart and more penetratingly is this: struck on the face with blows\, scourged\, mocked\, spat upon\, pierced by nails and the lance\, crowned with thorns\, given gall and vinegar to drink\, you on your cross were thirsting for nothing but our salvation. The earth trembled when you were crucified; we laugh. Heaven with its lights was obscured; we burn to shine in the world. Rocks were rent; we harden our hearts… Unless repentance removes these sins\, unless a bloody sweat expels them and the cross crucifies them\, I do not find persons sinning willingly and knowingly to have a share in the prayer of the one sweating blood or hanging in sacrifice on the cross… For if you appear to have excluded all who sin knowingly\, woe to the entire world\, because you may appear to have embraced a very\, very few persons… \nBut\, Lord\, transform your judgment into mercy\, and condemn sin by sin. As you have justly condemned me for the so little love with which I love you then\, now having received from your grace the fullness of your love\, may I come before your Judgment and appear in your holy place\, and before the eyes of your mercy\, by the same reason by which that sinful woman appeared of whom you said\, Many sins are forgiven her for she has loved much. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n…Deign to let the fire of your perfect love set my heart on fire. Let its great ardor well up within me and boil away all poison of sin… May your cross crucify whatever has been collected through concupiscence of the flesh\, concupiscence of the eyes\, and pride of life\, in the vast expanse of my negligence. May whatever has been singed and undermined by the flesh’s will and the mind’s consent be destroyed at the rebuke of your countenance… \nI present my case before you and not before anyone else. I lie at the feet of your mercy. There I will lie\, there I will lament until you make me hear your kind voice\, the judgment of your mouth\, the verdict of your justice and mine also\, for you have given it to me: since she has loved much\, many sins are forgiven her. \nLord\, because the Father has handed over to you every judgement\, today\, come to me in advance with kindness. And judge me with this judgment. For because of the love of your love\, I prefer to be justified and saved by this judgment than to be magnified and glorified in any other way. Lord\, do not exclude me from the embrace of your redemption. For in everything I desire to share in your cross… And give to my heart a form of penitence pleasing to you. Furthermore\, grant to me\, Lord\, a faith unadulterated and devoted\, conscientious\, strong\, and unshaken\, so that\, giving grace for grace\, you can also say to me\, Go\, for your faith has made you alive \n\n\n6 William of Saint-Thierry. The Meditations with a Monastic Commentary. CF 91. Trans. Thomas X. Davis. Collegeville\, MN: Cistercian Publications\, 2022. 29-35. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-70/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:10290-1679529600-1679615999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:You\, O Lord\, are My Hope5\nFrom the Sermons on Conversion by St Bernard of Clairvaux \nWhatever must be done\, whatever must be refused\, whatever must be borne\, whatever must be chosen\, YOU\, O LORD\, ARE MY HOPE. This is the only reason for all the promises made to me\, this is the whole reason for my expectation. Someone else may pretend to have merit\, he may pride himself on having borne the burden and heat of day\, he may say he has fasted twice a week\, and finally he may boast that he is not like other men. But ‘for me it is good to cling to my God; to place my hope in the Lord my God’… If rewards are promised me\, it is through you I hope to obtain them; if a host encamps against me\, if the world fumes\, if the evil one rages\, if the flesh itself lusts against the spirit\, I will hope in you. \nBrothers\, to savor this is to live by faith… The person who is inwardly persuaded by the Spirit… casts his burden upon the Lord\, knowing that he will be cared for by him\, as is in keeping with what the apostle Peter said\, ‘Cast all your anxieties on him\, for he cares about you. Why then\, if we have savored all this\, do we hesitate to throw away all our wretched\, vain\, useless\, seductive hopes\, and cling with fervor of our spirit\, with all the devotion of our mind to this one so solid\, so perfect\, so blessed hope? If there is something impossible to him\, if there is anything difficult\, then look for someone else in whom to hope. But he can do all things by his word… You probably have no doubt about the ease with which he can do all this\, but do you perhaps wonder whether it is his will? Surely the testimonies to this will are very creditable… He has said\, ‘They will call to me in any tribulation whatever\, and I will hear them’. Look at how many tribulations there are. According to the number of them\, his consolations are going to cheer your soul\, as long as you do not turn aside to others\, as long as you call out to him\, as long as you hope in him and take your refuge in the Most High and not in any lowly or earthly thing. ‘Who ever hoped in him and was put to shame?’ It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for his word to be cancelled out. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nA soul thirsting for God… does not want with Peter to make a shrine on the earthly mountain\, nor wish with Mary to touch him on earth… for it has heard him say\, ‘If you loved me\, you would have rejoiced\, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I’. It has heard him say\, ‘Do not touch me\, for I have not yet ascended to my Father’… Atop all power and dominion\, atop the angels and the archangels\, even the cherubim and the seraphim… surely at the right hand of the Father\, where the Father will no longer be greater than he\, the soul goes\, desiring to grasp the right hand of him who is co-equal with the Most High. This then\, brothers\, is eternal life\, that we should know the Father\, the true God\, and him whom he has sent\, Jesus Christ\, true God and one with him\, God over all and blessed for ever \n\n\n5 Bernard of Clairvaux. Sermons on Conversion. CF 25. Trans. Marie-Bernard Saïd\, OSB. Kalamazoo\, MI: Cistercian Publications\, 1981. 186-191. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-69/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:10288-1679443200-1679529599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:The Power of Virtue4\nFrom the discourses and sayings of Dorotheos of Gaza \nAt the time when I was one of Abba Seridos’ disciples there came a disciple of a great old monk from the region of Ascalon about some business for his abbot. He had the command from his senior to return after vespers to his own cell. When the time came to leave\, a violent thunderstorm arose\, with rain heavy enough to cause flooding\, and yet he wanted to leave as the senior had told him. We begged him to stay\, seeing that it was impossible to get safely across the river. He would not be persuaded to stay with us. At last we said\, ‘Let us go with him as far as the river. When he sees it\, he will return of his own accord.’ So we went off with him\, and when we reached the river he took off his cloak and bound it round his head\, tied up his scapular and jumped into the raging waters of the river. We just stood there astonished and fearful that he would be drowned\, but he kept afloat\, and very soon he was seen on the other bank. He put on his cloak\, threw us a profound bow from there\, received ours in return\, and went off at a run. But we stood in wonder\, astonished at the power of virtue. We came near with fear\, but he went through without danger because of his obedience. \nAnother Brother was sent by his abba on some necessary business to a correspondent in the country. When he saw himself solicited by the [man’s] daughter to a shameful act and himself in danger of falling\, simply cried out\, ‘O God of my Father\, deliver me’\, and straightway he was found on the road to<the> Skete\, fleeing toward his spiritual father. \nNotice the power of virtue\, notice the efficacy of prayer… Mark well the humility and discretion of both… Each of them was counting on the prayers of his father. See how they yoked obedience to humility! Just as horses are yoked together in a chariot so that one does not outstep the other\, so obedience needs to have humility yoked together with it. How can a man be worthy of this grace\, unless… he treats himself harshly to cut off the desires of his own and to give himself\, after God\, to his [spiritual] father\, without hesitation\, doing everything with full confidence as though obeying God. Such a man is worthy to find mercy\, such a man is worthy to find salvation. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe story is told of Blessed Basil that\, making a visitation of his monasteries\, he said to one of the Heads\, ‘Have you any saints here?’ The Abba said\, ‘Through your prayers\, my Lord\, we all desire to be saints.’ And again Blessed Basil said to him\, ‘No! I mean have you got any saints here?’ And the Abba tumbled to it (for he\, too\, had spiritual insight). ‘Yes\,” he <said>\, and he sent for a certain brother. When he arrived\, the Saint said to him\, ‘ Wash my feet’ and he went and fetched what was necessary. And after his feet were washed\, Basil said to the brother\, ‘Wait till I wash your feet.’ And without a murmur heallowed himself to be washed by the holy man. After testing the brother in this way\, he said\, ‘When I enter the sanctuary\, you come\, too! And remind me to ordain you.’ Again without a murmur\, the brother obeyed\, and when he saw the holy Basil in the inner sanctuary he went up and reminded him\, and Basil ordained him and took him with him\, for who else but this blessed brother was suitable to be with this holy godbearing father?… Everyone who throws himself completely into obedience to the Fathers shall surely possess this state of freedom from care and peacefulness of soul \n\n\n4 Dorotheos of Gaza. Discourses and Sayings. CS 33. Trans. Eric P. Wheeler. Kalamazoo\, MI: Cistercian Publications\, INC.\, 1977. 89-92. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-68/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20230318T204617Z
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UID:10286-1679356800-1679443199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:From the Letters of Armand-Jean de Rancé3 \nI see\, my very dear Monsieur\, that your ills are not at an end\, and that God is not yet content with what you have suffered up till now; but I see that your patience is renewed and that neither your faith nor your constancy have been shaken by the length of your sufferings. You see them too clearly in their true light\, and you know too well that the sovereign master is using in your case the right he has over all creatures for you… <to> accept all its moves with profound submission. Most men\, that is\, those whose conduct follows natural inclinations\, grow weary and forget to suffer as their sufferings progress; but those who live by faith learn this knowledge of the saints by suffering\, and the feeling given them by God increases proportionately to their afflictions. \nYou will agree\, my very dear Monsieur\, that we have cause to say\, whatever the state in which we find ourselves\, <I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us>\, that everything we endure on earth is unrelated to the goods and advantages we hope for. God’s eternity will console us for everything\, and the faith which teaches us that affliction and pain are the means whereby we open its doors to ourselves should make all our ills\, however great they may be\, tolerable. Our souls must be purified in the fire of tribulations to become worthy of the happiness God prepares for us\, and our bodies will only be clothed in immortality after they have been reduced to dust and ashes… His goodness will make up for everything\, and your trust in him will be the great remedy for bodily as for spiritual ills… \nGod alone contains those goods which are proper to us\, he is himself our true riches… and if we belong to Christ as much as we should\, and I am sure you do\, each of us should say to him from the depths of his heart\, <My kingdom does not belong to this world>\, all the more as we have his word and he himself has promised to his elect\, who are his disciples\, to give them his kingdom \n\n\n3 The Letters of Armand-Jean de Rancé: Abbot and Reformer of la Trappe – Volume One. Presented by A.J. Krailsheimer. Kalamazoo\, MI: Cistercian Publications\, 1984. 278-279\, 291. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-67/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:10284-1679270400-1679356799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Joseph
DESCRIPTION:St. Joseph’s Intercession2 \nFrom the writings of St Teresa of Avila \nFinding myself so crippled while still young\, and earthly doctors having failed to cure me\, I turned to heavenly physicians for help… \nI took the glorious St. Joseph for my advocate and protector\, and commended myself earnestly to him; and it was clearly he who both healed me of this sickness and delivered me from great dangers that threatened my good name and the salvation of my soul. His aid has brought me more good than I could ever hope for from him. I do not remember once having asked anything of him that was not granted. I am full of wonder at the great graces God has bestowed on me\, and the perils to body and soul from which he has freed me\, at the intercession of this blessed saint. God seems to have given other saints power to help us in particular circumstances\, but I know from experience that this glorious St. Joseph helps in each and every need. Our Lord would have us understand that\, since on earth He was subject to this man who was called His father\, whom as His guardian He had to obey\, so now in Heaven He still does all that Joseph asks. Others\, who have turned to Joseph on my advice\, have had the like experience; and today there are many people who honor him and keep on finding out the truth of what I say… \nI wish I could persuade everybody to be devoted to this glorious saint\, for long experience has taught me what blessings he can obtain from God for us. Of all the people I have known with a true devotion and particular veneration for St. Joseph\, not one has failed to advance in virtue; he helps those who turn to him to make real progress. For several years now\, I believe\, I have always made some request to him on his feast day\, and it has always been granted; and when my request is not quite what it ought to be\, he puts it right for my greater benefit. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n…All I ask\, for the love of God\, is that anyone who does not believe me will put what I say to the test\, and he will then learn for himself how advantageous it is to commend oneself to this glorious patriarch Joseph and to have a special devotion for him… \nI do not know how anyone can think of the Queen of angels\, at the time when she was undergoing so much with the Child Jesus\, without giving thanks to St. Joseph for looking after them in the way he did. If anyone has not got a guide to teach him how to pray\, let him take this glorious saint as his master and he will not go astray.. \n\n\n\n2 Taken from: Rondet\, Henri\, S.J. Saint Joseph. Trans. and Ed. Donald Attwater. New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons\, 1956. 75-77. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-joseph/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20230302T032716Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230302T033520Z
UID:10221-1679253900-1679256000@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Compline
DESCRIPTION:Sunday\, March 19th at 7:25 pm \nZoom Link: \nhttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/3917499727 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/compline-5/
CATEGORIES:Compline
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DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230318T204356Z
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UID:10282-1679184000-1679270399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 4th Sun Lent
DESCRIPTION:Come to Siloam1\nA commentary by St Ambrose \nYou have heard that story in the gospel where we are told that the Lord Jesus\, as he was passing by\, caught sight of a man who had been blind from birth. Since the Lord did not overlook him\, neither ought we to overlook this story of a man whom the Lord considered worthy of his attention. In particular we should notice the fact that he had been blind from birth. This is an important point. \nThere is\, indeed\, a kind of blindness\, usually brought on by serious illness\, which obscures one’s vision\, but which can be cured\, given time; and there is another sort of blindness\, caused by cataract\, that can be remedied by a surgeon: he can remove the cause and so the blindness is dispelled. Draw your own conclusion: this man\, who was actually born blind\, was not cured by surgical skill\, but by the power of God. \nWhen nature is defective the Creator\, who is the author of nature\, has the power to restore it. This is why Jesus also said\, As long as I am in the world\, I am the light of the world\, meaning: all who are blind are able to see\, so long as I am the light they are looking for. Come\, then\, and receive the light\, so that you may be able to see. \nWhat is he trying to tell us\, he who brought human beings back to life\, who restored them to health by a word of command\, who said to a corpse\, Come out! And Lazarus came out from the tomb; who said to a paralytic\, Arise and pick up your stretcher\, and the sick man rose and picked up the very bed on which he used to be carried as a helpless cripple? Again\, I ask you\, what is he trying to convey to us by spitting on the ground\, mixing his spittle with clay and putting it on the eyes of a blind man\, saying: Go and wash yourself in the pool of Siloam (a name that means “sent”)? What is the meaning of the Lord’s action in this? Surely one of great significance\, since the person whom Jesus touches receives more than just his sight. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn one instant we see both the power of his divinity and the strength of his holiness. As the divine light\, he touched this man and enlightened him; as priest\, by an action symbolizing baptism he wrought in him his work of redemption. The only reason for his mixing clay with the spittle and smearing it on the eyes of the blind man was to remind you that he who restored the man to health by anointing his eyes with clay is the very one who fashioned the first man out of clay\, and that this clay that is our flesh can receive the light of eternal life through the sacrament of baptism. \nYou\, too\, should come to Siloam\, that is\, to him who was sent by the Father (as he says in the gospel\, My teaching is not my own\, it comes from him who sent me). Let Christ wash you and you will then see. Come and be baptized\, it is time; come quickly\, and you too will be able to say\, I went and washed; you will be able to say\, I was blind and now I can see\, and as the blind man said when his eyes began to receive the light\, The night is almost over and the day is at hand.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-4th-sun-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20230318T204227Z
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UID:10280-1679184000-1679270399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n4th Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (I)\nMarch 19 – 25\, 2023\n\n\n\nSun\n19\nMon\n20\nTue\n21\nWed\n22\nThu\n23\nFri\n24\nSat\n25\n\n\nOffice\n4th Sunday of Lent\nSt Joseph\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nAnnunciation of the Lord\n\n\nVigils\nExod 18:1-27\nHosea 11:1-11\nExod 19:16-25\nExod 20:1-21\nExod 22:20-23:9\nExod 24:1-18\n1 Chron 17:1-15\n\n\nLauds\nDeut 11:1-7\nZech 10:6-12\nDeut 11:13-17\nDeut 11:18-25\nDeut 11:26-32\nDeut 26:16-19\nEzek 43:27-44:4\n\n\nMass\n31\n543\n245\n246\n247\n248\n545\n\n\n1st\n1 Sam 16:1b\, 6-7\, 10-13a\n2 Sam 7:4-5a\, 12-14a\, 16\nEzek 47:1-9\, 12\nIsa 49:8-15\nExod 32:7-14\nWis 2:1a\, 12-22\nIsa 7:10-14; 8:10\n\n\n2nd\nEph 5:8-14\nRom 4:13\, 16-18\, 22\n\n\n\n\nHeb 10:4-10\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 9:1-41\nMatt 1:16\, 18-21\, 24a\nJohn 5:1-3a\, 5-16\nJohn 5:17-30\nJohn 5:31-47\nJohn 7:1-2\, 10\, 25-30\nLuke 1:26-38\n\n\nVespers\nHeb 11:1-7\nEph 3:14-21\nHeb 11:17-22\nHeb 11:23-31\nHeb 11:32-40\nHeb 2:5-10\nHeb 12:7-13
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-24/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20230101T010639Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230101T010639Z
UID:9884-1679151600-1679157000@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Cleveland LCG Meeting
DESCRIPTION:Content is protected.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/cleveland-lcg-meeting/
CATEGORIES:LCG Local Community Meetings
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CREATED:20230311T163752Z
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UID:10275-1679097600-1679183999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:On the Lord’s Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee7 \nA Homily by St Gregory Palamas \n…Not only can virtue remain unshaken by the various wicked devices prepared by the enemy\, but it can also lift up and restore those fallen into the depths of evil\, and easily lead them to God by repentance and humility. \nHere is an example and a clear proof. The publican… dwells in the depths of sin. All he has in common with those who live virtuously is one short utterance\, but he finds relief\, is lifted up and rises above every evil… If the Pharisee is condemned by his speech\, it is because… he thinks himself somebody\, although he is not really righteous\, and utters many arrogant words which provoke God’s anger with their every syllable. \nWhy does humility lead up to the heights of righteousness\, whereas self- conceit leads down to the depths of sin? Because anybody who thinks he is something great\, even before God\, is rightly abandoned by God\, as one who thinks that he does not need His help. Anybody who despises himself\, on the other hand\, and relies on mercy from above\, wins God’s sympathy\, help and grace. As it says\, “The Lord resisteth the proud: but he giveth grace unto the lowly”… \nThe Pharisee and the publican went up into the Temple\, both with the aim of praying. But the Pharisee brought himself down after going up\, defeating his aim by the way he prayed… One made the ascent broken and contrite\, for he had learned from the psalmist and prophet that “a broken and a contrite heart\, O God\, thou wilt not despise”. The Pharisee\, by contrast\, goes up bloated with pretensions to justify himself in the presence of God\, although all our righteousness is like a filthy rag before Him. He had not heard the saying\, “Everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord”… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nBy contrast\, the publican “standing afar off\, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven\, but smote upon his breast saying\, God be merciful to me a sinner”. See the utter abasement of his thoughts and feelings\, and\, at the same time\, contrition of heart mingled with this publican’s prayer. When he went upinto the Temple to pray for the remission of his sins\, he brought with him good advocates before God: unashamed faith\, uncondemned self-reproach\, contrition of heart that is not despised and humility that exalts… Although still far from God\, without the boldness toward Him that comes from good works\, it hopes to draw near to him because it has already renounced evil and is intent on good… For he believed Him who said\, “Turn ye unto me\, and I will turn unto you.” \nWhat happened then? “This man”\, says the Lord\, “went down to his house justified rather than the other\, for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted”. As the devil is conceit itself and pride is his own particular evil\, it defeats and swallows up any human virtue with which it is mixed. Whereas\, humility is the virtue of the good angels\, and defeats any human evil that comes upon fallen mankind. Humility is the chariot by which we ascend to God\, like those clouds which are to carry up to God those who would dwell for endless ages with Him\, as foretold by the apostle: “We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord”. Humility is the same as such a cloud. It is formed by repentance\, releases streams of tears; brings out the worthy from among the unworthy and leads them up to unite them with God\, justified by His free gift for the gratitude of their free disposition \n\n\n7 St Gregory Palamas. The Homilies. Trans. Christopher Veniamin. Essex\, England: Mount Thabor Publishing\, 2009. 6-12. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-66/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230311T163628Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230311T163628Z
UID:10273-1679011200-1679097599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Patrick
DESCRIPTION:Words of God to Humanity\,\nthat They Should Obey the Divine Precepts6 \nFrom the Fourth Vision of St Hildegard of Bingen \n…O My dearest children\, open your eyes and ears and obey My precepts! Why do you despise your Father\, Who has delivered you from death? The choirs of angels sing\, “You are just\, O Lord!”\, because God’s justice has no flaw in it; for God delivered Man not by power but by mercy\, when He sent His Son into the world to redeem him… \nBut you\, when you consider good and evil\, are standing\, as it were\, where two roads branch off. If you despise the darkness of evil and want to see Him Whose creature you are\, and Whom you acknowledged in holy baptism where the old sin of Adam was nullified in you; and if you say\, “ I want to fly from the Devil and his works and follow the true God and His precepts”; then think how you have been taught to turn away from evil and do good\, and how the Heavenly Father did not spare His Only-Begotten but sent Him for your deliverance; and pray to God to help you. And He\, hearing you\, will say\, “These eyes are pleasing to me!” And if you then cast off weariness and run courageously in God’s commands\, He will always hear the cry of your prayers… \nBut if you have fallen into sin\, quickly rise by confession and pure penitence\, before death lays claim to you. For your Father wants you to cry out\, weep and ask for help so as not to remain in the squalor of sin. For if you have been wounded\, you seek a physician lest you die. Does not God often send peopletroubles\, so that they will more intently invoke Him? But you\, O human\, say “I cannot do good works!” I say you can. And you say “How?” And I say\, “By thought and action.” And you answer\, “I lack decision.” And I answer\, “Learn to fight against yourself!” And you say\, “I cannot fight against myself unless God helps me.” Hear then how you can fight against yourself. When evil rises up in you and you do not know how to get rid of it\, then\, touched by My grace\, which reaches you in the paths of your inner vision\, at once cry out\, pray\, confess and weep so that God will help you\, and remove evil from you\, and grant you strength in good. For this good is yours by the knowledge that lets you understand God by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nSo let the faithful person recognize his pain and seek a physician before he falls dead. If he considers his pain and seeks a physician\, the latter when found will show him the bitter medicine that can save him; that is\, the bitter words by which he must be tested to see whether his penitence comes from the root of his heart or only from his unstable breath. And when he has tested this\, he will give him the wine of penitence\, with which to wash away the pus from his wounds\, and the oil of mercy\, with which to anoint the wounds to heal them. Then he will enjoin him to be careful of his health\, saying\, “See that you keep taking this medicine carefully and regularly\, and do not tire of it\, for your wounds are serious.” There are many who accept penance for their sins only with difficulty; but\, though with much effort\, they nonetheless carry it out for fear of death. But I give them My hand\, and change their bitterness into sweetness… But he who neglects repentance for his sins\, saying it is hard for him to chastise his body\, will be wretched\, for he does not want to look at himself\, or seek a physician\, or have his wounds healed\, but hides the dreadful wound in himself and covers over death with false appearance to conceal it… \nTherefore\, O ye faithful\, run in God’s precepts lest the damnation of death seize upon you \n\n\n6 Hildegard of Bingen. Scivias. Trans. Mother Columba Hart and Jane Bishop. New York: Paulist Press\, 1990. 125-128. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-patrick/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230311T163430Z
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UID:10271-1678924800-1679011199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:If You are to Stand and Not Fall5 \nA Reading from “The Cloud of Unknowing” \nShould any thought arise… asking what you are seeking\, and what you are wanting\, answer that it is God you want: ‘Him I covet\, him I seek\, and nothing but him.’ Should the thought ask\, ‘What is this God?’ answer that it is the God who made you and redeemed you\, and who has\, through his grace\, called you tohis love. ‘And’\, tell <the thought>… ‘Get down’\, and proceed to trample on him out of love for God; yes\, even when such thoughts seem to be holy\, and calculated to help you find God… \nMake up your mind\, therefore\, to put down all such reflections\, holy and attractive though they be… Be quite sure that you will never have the unclouded vision of God here in this life. But you may have the awareness of him\, if he is willing by his grace to give it you. So lift up your love… or\, more accurately let God draw your love up… and strive by his grace to forget all else. \nBut if you allow houseroom to this thing that you naturally like or grouse about\, and make no attempt to rebuke it\, ultimately it will take root in your inmost being\, in your will\, and with the consent of your will… If it is a thing that grieves or has grieved you\, then you rage and want revenge – and that is Wrath. Or you will despise and loathe it\, and think spitefully and harshly of it – and that is Envy. Or you will get weary and bored with being good in spirit and body – and that is Sloth. And if it is a pleasant thing\, present or past\, you experience a passing delight when you think about it\, whatever it may be. So that you dwell on it\, and in the end fix your heart and will on it\, and turn to it for nourishment… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nNow\, if this thought that you deliberately conjure up\, or harbour\, and dwell lovingly upon\, is natural worth or knowledge\, charm or station\, favour or beauty – then it is Pride. If it is a matter of worldly good\, riches\, or possessions\, ownership or lordship\, then it is Avarice. If it is a matter of choice food and drink\, or any other delight of the palate\, then it is Gluttony. If it is love or pleasure\, or flirting\, fawning\, and flattering\, for another or for yourself – then it is Lust… \nSo if you are to stand and not fall\, never give up your firm intention: beat away at this cloud…between you and God with that sharp dart of longing love. Hate to think about anything less than God\, and let nothing whatever distract you from this purpose. It is only thus that you can destroy the ground and root of sin. \nWere you to fast beyond all measure\, or watch at great length\, or rise at the crack of dawn\, or sleep on boards and wear chains… this would not help you at all. The urge of sin would still be with you… However much you might weep in sorrow for your sins\, or for the sufferings of Christ\, or however much you might think of the delights of heaven… compared with this blind outreaching of love… there is very little indeed that it can do without love. This\, in itself\, is the ‘best part’ that Mary chose… For if this love is there in truth\, so too will all other virtues truly\, perfectly\, and knowingly\, be included in it \n\n\n5 The Cloud of Unknowing. Trans. Clifton Wolters. Middlesex\, England: Penguin Books\, 1973. 60-69. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-65/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230316
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230311T163315Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230311T163315Z
UID:10269-1678838400-1678924799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:The Role of the Prophet4\nFrom the writings of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel \nThe certainty of being inspired by God\, of speaking in His name\, of having been sent by Him to the people\, is the basic and central fact of the prophet’s consciousness. Other people regard experience as the source of certainty; what singles out the prophet in the world of man is that to him the source of his experience is the source of his certainty. To his mind\, the validity and distinction of his message lie in the origin\, not only in the moment of his experience… \nIn a variety of ways\, in utterance and in action\, the prophets stressed their staggering claim. It was such certainty of being inspired that enabled the prophet to proclaim again and again: “Thus says the Lord”; “Hear the word of the Lord”… There is no doubt that the prophets were conscious of their own sincerity; that their tongues were not confuted by their consciences. “What I heard from the Lord of hosts\, … I announce to you\,” said Isaiah. And Jeremiah insisted “That which came out of my lips was before Thy face”. \nThe prophet does not speak of a resolution or a purpose\, framed by himself\, to devote himself to his vocation\, but describes a decisive moment in which he received a call. He thinks of himself as “a messenger of God”\, sent by Him to His people. Moreover\, he does not speak on the strength of a single experience or sporadic inspirations. His entire existence is dedicated to his mission… When “Jeremiah’s harsh word of judgment against the Temple of Jerusalem provoked the priests… that they wanted to kill him\,” Jeremiah had nothing to say in his defense before the royal officials except: “…the Lord has sentme to you\, to say all these words in your ears”… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo the consciousness of the prophet\, the prophetic act is more than an experience; it is an objective event… It is not a discovery\, a coming upon something permanently given by the mind of the prophet…a timeless idea… justice\, a law\, but something dynamic\, an act of giving; not an eternal word\, but a word spoken\, a word expressed\, springing from a Presence\, a word in time\, a pathos overflowing in words. His experience is a perception of an act that happens rather than a perception of a situation that abides… \nThus\, to the prophetic consciousness\, inspiration is …experienced as a divine act which takes place not within but beyond\, as an event which happens in one’s view rather than in one’s heart. The prophet does not merely feel it; he faces it \n\n\n4 Heschel\, Abraham J. The Prophets. New York: Harper & Row\, 1962. 426-433. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-64/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230311T163157Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230311T163157Z
UID:10267-1678752000-1678838399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Readings
DESCRIPTION:Forgive us\, as We Forgive3 \nfrom a sermon by Caesarius of Arles \nIf 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. \nIf\, 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. \nWe 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. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nOur 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… \nYou 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. \n\n\n3Fraternal Harmony (Morin Sermon 185) 1-2: PLS IV\, 446-447. (CR VI p 215) \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-readings/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230313
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230314
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230311T163036Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230311T163036Z
UID:10265-1678665600-1678751999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:Our Struggle in Search of Truth2 \nfrom “Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander” by Thomas Merton \nLife is\, or should be\, nothing but a struggle to seek truth: yet what we seek is really the truth that we already possess. Truth is mine in the reality of life as it is given to me to live: yet to take life thoughtlessly\, passively as it comes\, is to renounce the struggle and purification which are necessary. One cannot simply open his eyes and see. The work of understanding involves not only dialectic\, but a long labor of acceptance\, obedience\, liberty\, and love. The temptation of monastic life is to evade this austere responsibility by falling back into passive indifference\, thinly veiled resentment disguised as obedience and abandonment. Since in fact one need not positively accept what happens\, one can be merely resigned and negative. Others make all the important decisions: but the most important decision always falls to me\, and if I am in the habit of never deciding\, I will evade it. The root decision to accept my own life and to obey its demands may challenge my understanding of those demands\, my honesty in their regard. The worst temptation\, and that to which many monks succumb early in their lives\, and by which they remain defeated\, is simply to give up asking and seeking. To leave everything to the superiors in this life and to God in the next–a hope which may in fact be nothing but a veiled despair\, a refusal to live. And it is not Christian to despair of the present\, merely putting off hope into the future. There is also a very essential hope that belongs in the present\, and is based on the nearness of the hidden God\, and of His Spirit\, in the present. What future can make sense without this present hope? \nEvil and falsity are unavoidable: but one does not bow down to them passively and without response. Resignation is not enough. God demands of us a creative consent\, in our deepest and most hidden self\, the self we do not experience\, though it is always there. This creative consent is the obedience of my whole being to the will of God\, here and now. The inner “word” of consent is the coincidence\, in the Spirit\, the identity of my own obedience and will with the obedience and will of Christ. Such is the depth of our Sonship and of the life of grace. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nGradually\, by accepting our place in the world and our tasks as they are\, we come to be liberated from the limitations of the world and of a restricted\, halfhearted milieu: yet one is content with one’s moment of history and one’s obscure task in it. One must be detached from systems and collective plans\, without rancor toward them\, but with insight and compassion. To be truly Catholic is not merely to be correct according to an abstractly universal standard of truth\, but also and above all to be able to enter into the problems and the joys of all\, to understand all\, to be all things to all persons. This cannot be done if we do not first completely and honestly accept ourselves\, our own problems\, our own defeats\, with the creative consent and responsibility that unite us to God’s will and thus to the dynamism of history in its very source \n\n\n2 Merton\, Thomas. Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. Doubleday & Co\, 1966. 166-167. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-63/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230313
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230311T162910Z
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UID:10263-1678579200-1678665599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 3rd Sun Lent
DESCRIPTION:What it Means to be “in Christ Jesus”1 \nby Fr. Raymond \nWhat is in your mind as you set out for Mass?… If Christ was forced\, as it were\, to say to the woman at Jacob’s well with whom He had had but a few words: “If you understood God’s gift and knew who he is that speaks to you…” what can He not say to us who should understand and who should know that in Mass he not only speaks to us\, but gives us God’s Only Word – Himself? \nWhat would your existence be like had Christ at His Last Supper decreed that only once in your lifetime could a priest do what He had done there in the Cenacle? Or to make it more concrete\, suppose that on that same momentous night\, this same Jesus Christ had decided that Mass should be offered only once every fifty years\, and then only at Gethsemani\, Kentucky. How would you spend your years\, your days\, all your hours? Would not this monastery become the focal point of your universe? Would not your days\, weeks\, months\, all your years be spent preparing for that one morning when you could come here and meet your God in an intimacy that baffles description?… \nFaced with such a supposition\, we are forced to admit that we do not appreciate God and His goodness. We do not realize that Mass is not only alive with God but is meant to set us alive with the same life. Why is it that we have not come to this appreciation and realization? The answer is simple: we do not reflect sufficiently; we do not probe; we are too easily satisfied with what lies on the surface. Let us be honest: We have not understood this “gift of God.”… \n…Just think again on that supposition about Mass being offered once in your lifetime\, and then only here at Gethsemani. Would not your life have a center\, you a very definite goal\, and every passing hour a very specific meaning? \n\n\n\n\n\n\nYou would be awaiting that one definite moment when you could meet your loving God in person\, not only to pay Him homage as His creature\, but to love Him and be loved by Him as His child. More than likely Mass would then be for you what Mass was meant to be when Christ said: “Do this as my memorial”. It would be agape – a “love feast”. \n…Realize that in Mass you meet God not as your Maker\, certainly not as your Judge\, in one sense not even as your Redeemer\, but only as your Lover. For this is He who said: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love…“Can a woman forget her infant\, so as not to have pity on the child of her womb? And if she should forget\, yet will not I forget thee. Behold\, I have graven thee in my hands”? Yes\, in those hands which hold Calvary’s nail prints… Here is He who repeats by His love-radiating presence what He once put into words in the parables of Solomon: “My child\, give me thy heart”. You meet Him as that One who said\, and still says: “O come to me all you who are weary and overburdened\, and I will refresh you”. That is the God you are to meet\, and that is the guise in which you are to see Him. He who once “loved you to death” is waiting in every Mass to love you to life \n\n\n\n1 Rev. M. Raymond\, O.C.S.O. This Is Love. Milwaukee\, WI: The Bruce Publishing Company\, 1964. 13-20. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-3rd-sun-lent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230313
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230311T162736Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230311T162736Z
UID:10261-1678579200-1678665599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n3rd Week of Lent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nMarch 12 – 18\, 2023\n\n\n\nSun\n12\nMon\n13\nTue\n14\nWed\n15\nThu\n16\nFri\n17\nSat\n18\n\n\nOffice\n3rd Sunday of Lent\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday\nLenten Weekday/ St Patrick\nLenten Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nExod 13:1-16\nExod 13:17-14:9\nExod 14:10-31\nExod 15:1-21\nExod 15:22-16:15\nExod 16:16-35\nExod 17:1-16\n\n\nLauds\nDeut 8:1-6\nDeut 8:7-14\nDeut 9:1-6\nDeut 9:7-13\nDeut 9:15-21\nDeut 9:22-29\nDeut 10:12-22\n\n\nMass\n28\n237\n238\n239\n240\n241\n242\n\n\n1st\nExod 17:3-7\n2 Kgs 5:1-15a\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\nRom 5:1-2\, 5-8\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 4:5-42\nLuke 4:24-30\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-23/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230311T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230311T120000
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230205T221005Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230307T035101Z
UID:10062-1678525200-1678536000@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Chicago community 9:00 am CDT: Zoom
DESCRIPTION:You are welcome to join us! \nJoin Zoom Meeting \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/85220595622?pwd=enM3MGpFNkZKU2daMjRITmo0N0JUUT09 \nMeeting ID: 852 2059 5622 \nPasscode: 961490 \nVIA ZOOM VIDEOCONFERENCE \n9:00 Gather for Opening prayer and lighting of the candles illuminating the Theotokos icon of Blessed Mother Mary and the baby Jesus. \nWe also pray for all our lay Cistercian sisters and brothers in the US and around the world.  Specially we pray for our Gethsemani monks.  Finally\, we pray this month specially for these Gethsemani monks: \nBr. Christian Leblanc \nFr. Andrew McAughan \nFr. Joachim Johnson \n 9:10 Lectio. Our lectio piece will be led by Mary Haley. \n9:50 Reading.  Our reading this month is Living Buddha\, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hahn. \n10:45 Housekeeping.   Volunteer to lead lectio next month?  Report on LCG Advisory Council activity; report of 1/28/23 IALCC Anglophone Zoom meeting (any next steps?); host October LCG retreat (Gethsemani 175th Anniversary—involve the monastic community?). Select reading for April. \n11:00 Update.   Share how the Holy Spirt has entered our lives as lay Cistercians since our last meeting. How goes our Lenten experience? \n11:45 Closing worship and prayer.  We will pray the liturgical hour of None as with our Gethsemani monks (identical Psalms as done today at Gethsemani Abbey.) \n  \nWe look forward to our continuing LCG Chicago journey at our next meeting: April 8\, 2023.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/chicago-community-900-am-cdt-zoom/
CATEGORIES:LCG Local Community Meetings,LCG open events
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230311
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230312
DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230305T022516Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230305T022516Z
UID:10252-1678492800-1678579199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:The Mass7\nFrom “The Meaning of the Monastic Life” by Louis Bouyer \nThe whole of religion and at the same time the whole history of humanity is summed up in the Parable of the prodigal son… who becomes aware that he has gone astray and is brough to ruin by his own fault… The more this awareness deepens\, the more the desire of returning to the Father wells up in it… Ayearning and a painful desire: with what obstacles will not the return journey be strewn! And at the end\, what sort of a welcome awaits the prodigal?… \nWe see him then heavy-hearted and yet trembling with hope\, trudging once more along the steep and rocky path\, which had seemed so easy to him as he descended it… But he has hardly taken more than a few steps when he finds the Father running along the road\, his arms flung wide open\, having set out to meet him… And the son can scarcely lisp the first words of the expression of sorrow… before…the Father had given his orders… Let him be clad in costly apparel\, let a ring be placed on his finger\, let the fat cattle be killed for him\, and let the house be filled with lights and music… \nThe reconciliation is thus effected. But it is the one who has been sinned against who bears all the cost of it. It is the Father who surmounts the accumulated obstacles of which the son was afraid. It is the Father who will pay the ineluctable reparation which\, to the son\, appeared as impossible as he knew it to be essential. He despaired of ever finding the place he had abandoned of his own initiative\, again. But the Father’s limitless generosity was reserving an even better place for him. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n…The Mass is the return to the Father in Christ\, who has come to us on behalf of the Father – who has come to us and returns to him\, this time bearing us in himself through the death of obedience… \nThe monk is the one who lives only for this return to the Father. That is why the monk’s life is a crucifixion; for\, between God and sinful man\, there is no other way than the one God himself has opened: the way of the Cross. But this crucifixion of the monk would be vain\, would be merely sterile suicide\, if it were not accomplished through a participation in Christ’s own Cross. Such a participation can be accomplished through the Mass\, and that is why the monk’s Suscipe will only receive its significance when it is so to speak enfolded in the offertory of the Mass\, as his charter of profession is in the altar cloth. \nThus the Mass must daily bring before us primarily the mystery of the divine Word who is seeking and calling us… the mystery of the same divine Word who elicits from us the only response truly effective… who crushes us to create us anew: therein lies the whole meaning of the eucharistic immolation at the centre of the Mass of the faithful. And both are there given to us in Christ: the appeal which touches us\, the response which moves us and carries us over all obstacles to the very heart of the Father. For the Mass\, finally\, under all its aspects\, is only the perpetual fulfillment of the apostle’s words: ‘Christ in you\, the hope of glory’ \n\n\n\n7 Bouyer\, Louis. The Meaning of the Monastic Life. Trans. Kathleen Pond. New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons\, 1950. 190-192. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-62/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T182715
CREATED:20230305T022401Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230305T022401Z
UID:10250-1678406400-1678492799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:An Excerpt from the Sermons of Conversion6 \nby St Bernard of Clairvaux \nON THEIR HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP\, LEST YOU DASH YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE… What great instruction\, warning\, and encouragement there is for us\, brothers\, in these words of Scripture. What other psalm so wonderfully encourages the weak-willed\, warns the careless\, and instructs the ignorant? This is why divine providence desires his faithful have the verses of this psalm constantly on their lips especially during the Lenten season. And from their very usurpation by the devil\, opportunity was snatched to make that thoroughly wicked and unwilling servant serve the sons. What could be more vexing for him or happier for us than that even his evil should work for our good? \nHE HAS GIVEN HIS ANGELS CHARGE OF YOU TO GUARD YOU IN ALL YOUR WAYS… How this word ought in you to produce respect to promote devotion and to provide confidence! Respect because of the presence of angels\, devotion because of their friendliness\, and confidence because of their guardianship. Walk cautiously; his angels are everywhere\, as he has charged them\, in all your ways. In every little nook or cranny\, respect your angel… Your faith\, if you refer to it\, proves that the angels are never absent from you… What should we fear? Let us simply follow them\, stay close to them\, and we shall dwell in the protection of the God of heaven… Each time you feel some great temptation pushing you and strong tribulation pressing\, call on your guardian\, your guide\, him who is your helper in tribulation and opportunity… \nIs someone grievously disturbed either by some physical infirmity or by some worldly tribulation or by lukewarmness of spirit and the listlessness of mental fatigue? Already\, he would be beginning to be tempted beyond what he can bear\, already he would be stubbing his toe and stumbling over a stone\, if someone did not come to help. But what is this stone? I understand it to be the stone of offence and rock of stumbling which bruises anyone who falls over it\, but crushes anyone upon whom it falls; it is the cornerstone\, chosen and precious; it is the Lord Christ. To murmur against him is to dash our foot against this stone\, stumbling from weakness of spirit and the storm. There is a need for angelic work\, for angelic comfort\, for angelic hands\, when someone is already fainting\, already close to stumbling over the stone. And someone who murmurs and blasphemes does stumble against the stone\, bruising himself\, not the stone he furiously runs into. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nI think that men are sometimes borne up by angels as if by two hands\, so that almost unconsciously they pass over the temptations and dangers which terrify them most. And afterwards they are not a little astonished at how easily they got over what at first seemed so difficult. Do you want to know what I understand these two hands to be? A double indication of the brevity of tribulation here below and the eternity of reward later on\, or rather\, painting and imprinting it on the heart so that if feels by some intimate disposition how this ‘slight momentary affliction is preparing for us a far surpassing and eternal weight of glory’. Who could not believe that such good thoughts are produced in us by the good angels\, when it is certain\, or the contrary\, that wicked innuendoes come from bad angels? Be familiar with the angels\, brothers\, visit with them often by careful meditation and devout prayer\, for they are always near to comfort and protect you \n\n\n6 St Bernard of Clairvaux. Sermons on Conversion. Trans. Marie-Bernard Saïd\, OSB. Kalamazoo\, MI: Cistercian Publications\, 1981. 214-222. \n\n\n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-61/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:10248-1678320000-1678406399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A Tough Mind and a Tender Heart5 \nFrom a sermon by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. \nToughmindedness without tenderheartedness is cold and detached\, leaving one’s life in a perpetual winter devoid of the warmth of spring and the gentle heat of summer. What is more tragic than to see a person who has risen to the disciplined heights of toughmindedness but has at the same time sunk to the passionless depths of hardheartedness? \nThe hardhearted person never truly loves. He engages in a crass utilitarianism which values other people mainly according to their usefulness to him. He never experiences the beauty of friendship\, because he is too cold to feel affection for another and is too self-centered to share another’s joy and sorrow. He is an isolated island. No outpouring of love links him with the mainland of humanity. The hardhearted person lacks the capacity for genuine compassion. He is unmoved by the pains and afflictions of his brothers. He passes unfortunate men every day\, but never really sees them. He gives dollars to a worthwhile charity\, but he gives not of his spirit… \nJesus frequently illustrated the characteristics of the hardhearted. The rich fool was condemned\, not because he was not toughminded\, but rather because he was not tenderhearted. Life for him was a mirror in which he saw only himself\, and not a window through which he saw other selves. Dives went to hell\, not because he was wealthy\, but because he was not tenderhearted enough to see Lazarus and because he made no attempt to bridge the gulf between himself and his brother. Jesus reminds us that the good life combines the toughness of the serpent and the tenderness of the dove. To have serpentlike qualities devoid of dovelike qualities is to be passionless\, mean\, and selfish. To have dovelike qualities without serpentlike qualities is to be sentimental\, anemic\, and aimless. We must combine strongly marked antitheses… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe greatness of our God lies in the fact that he is both toughminded and tenderhearted. He has qualities both of austerity and of gentleness. The Bible\, always clear in stressing both attributes of God\, expresses his toughmindedness in his justice and wrath and his tenderheartedness in his love and grace. God has two outstretched arms. One is strong enough to surround us with justice\, and one is gentle enough to embrace us with grace. On the one hand\, God is a God of justice who punished Israel for her wayward deeds\, and on the other hand\, he is a forgiving father whose heart was filled with unutterable joy when the prodigal returned home. \nI am thankful that we worship a God who is both toughminded and tenderhearted… At times we need to know that the Lord is a God of justice.\nWhen slumbering giants of injustice emerge in the earth\, we need to know that there is a God of power who can cut them down like the grass and leave them withering like the green herb. When our most tireless efforts fail to stop the surging sweep of oppression\, we need to know that in this universe is a God whose matchless strength is a fit contrast to the sordid weakness of man. But there is also times when we need to know that God possesses love and mercy. When we are staggered by the chilly winds of adversity and battered by the raging storms of disappointment and when through our folly and sin we stray into some destructive far country and are frustrated because of a strange feeling of homesickness\, we need to know that there is Someone who loves us\, cares for us\, understands us\, and will give us another chance. When days grow dark and nights grow dreary\, we can be thankful that our God combines in his nature a creative synthesis of love and justice which will lead us through life’s dark valleys and into sunlit pathways of hope and fulfillment \n\n\n5 Martin Luther King Jr. Strength to Love. New York: Harper & Row\, 1964. 5-9. \n\n\n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-60/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:10246-1678233600-1678319999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:Wilt Thou Refuse Me? 4\nFrom the private letters of St Teresa of Calcutta –Jan. 13th\, 1947 \nOne day at Holy Communion\, I heard the same voice very distinctly – “I want…Victims of my love\, who would be Mary & Martha. Who would be so very united to me as to radiate my love on souls. I want free nuns covered with my poverty of the Cross – I want obedient nuns covered with my obedience of the Cross. I want full of love nuns covered with the Charity of the Cross. Wilt thou refuse to do this for me?” \nOn another day. “You have become my Spouse for my Love – you have come to India for Me. The thirst you had for souls brought you so far. – Are you afraid to take one more step for your Spouse – for me – for souls? – Is your generosity grown cold – am I a second to you? You did not die for souls – that is why you don’t care what happens to them. – Your heart was never drowned in sorrow as was My Mother’s. We both gave our all for souls – and you? You are afraid that you will lose your vocation – you will become secular – you will be wanting in perseverance. – Nay- your vocation is to love and suffer and save souls and by taking this step you will fulfil my Heart’s desire for you – That is your vocation… You are I know the most uncapable person\, weak & sinful\, but just because you are that I want to use you\, for my Glory! Wilt thou refuse?” \nThese words or rather this voice frightened me… I prayed long – I prayed so much – I asked Our Mother Mary to ask Jesus to remove all this from me. The more I prayed – the clearer grew the voice in my heart and so I prayed that He would do with me whatever he wanted. He asked again and again. Then once more the voice was very clear – “You have been always saying ‘do with me what ever you wish’ – Now I want to act – let me do it – my little Spouse – My own little one. – Do not fear – I shall be with you always. – You will suffer and you suffer now – but if you are my own little Spouse – the Spouse of the Crucified Jesus – you will have to bear these torments on your heart. – Let me act – Refuse me not – Trust me lovingly – trust me blindly.” “Little one give me souls… If you would only answer my call – and bring me these souls – draw them away from the hands of the evil one. – If you only knew how many little ones fall into sin everyday…” \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis is what went on between Him and me during the days of much prayer. – Now the whole thing stands clear before my eyes… God is calling me – unworthy and sinful that I am. I am longing to give all for souls. They will all think me mad – after so many years – to begin a thing which will bring me for the most part only suffering – but He calls me also to join the few to start the work\, to fight the devil and deprive him of the thousand little souls which he is destroying every day… \nI long to be really only <for Jesus> – to burn myself completely for Him and souls. – I want Him to be loved tenderly by many… I am ready to do His will. Count not my feelings – count not the cost I would have to pay – I am ready – for I have already given my all to Him. And if you think all this a deception – that too I would accept – and sacrifice myself completely… \nPray for me. That I would become a religious according to His heart \n\n\n4 Teresa\, Mother. Come be my light: the private writing of the Saint of Calcutta / Mother Teresa. Ed. Brian Kolodiejchuk. New York: Doubleday\, 2007. 47-52. \n\n\n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-59/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:10244-1678147200-1678233599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:I Have Brought Fasting into My Soul3 \nA Meditation by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich \nWith 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. \n…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. \nI 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. \nTherefore 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. I have brought fasting into my mind\, so that it might jettison the world and prepare to receive Your Wisdom. \nAnd I have brought fasting into my heart\, so that by means of it my heart might quell all passions and worldly selfishness. I have brought fasting into my heart\, so that heavenly peace might ineffably reign over my heart\, when Your stormy Spirit encounters it. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nI 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. \nAnd 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. \nAnd 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. \nFalse fasting accompanies false hope\, just as no fasting accompanies hopelessness. But just as a wheel follows behind a wheel\, so true fasting follows true hope.. \n\n\n3 Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich. A Treasury of Serbian Orthodox Spirituality Volume 5 – Prayers by the Lake. Trans. Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Todor Mika\, S.T.M. and Very Rev. Dr. Steven Scott. Grayslake\, IL: The Serbian Orthodox Metropolitante of New Gracanica\, 1999. 72-73. \n\n\n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-58/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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