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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260715
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260716
DTSTAMP:20260712T110402Z
CREATED:20260712T110402Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260712T110402Z
UID:15187-1784073600-1784159999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Bonaventure
DESCRIPTION:A reading from “Butler’s Lives of the Saints” on \nST BONAVENTURE \n◊◊◊ \nThis greatest successor of St Francis of Assisi…was born at Bagnorea\, near \nViterbo\, in the year 1221… He was clothed in the order of Friars Minor and \nstudied at the University of Paris under Alexander of Hales… Bonaventure\, who \nwas to become known as the Seraphic Doctor\, taught theology and Holy \nScripture at the University from 1248 to 1257. \nHe was called by his priestly obligation to labor for the salvation of his \nneighbor\, and to this he devoted himself with enthusiasm. He preached to the \npeople with an energy which kindled a flame in the hearts of those that heard \nhim. While at the University of Paris he produced one of the best-known of his \nwritten works\, the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard\, which \ncovers the whole field of scholastic theology. The years of his public lecturing at \nParis were greatly disturbed\, however\, by the attack made on the mendicant \nfriars by the other professors at the university. Jealousy of their pastoral and \nacademic success and the standing reproof to worldliness and ease of the friars’ \nlives were in part behind this attempt to get them excluded from the schools. \nThe leader of the secular party was William of Saint-Amour\, who made a \nbitter onslaught on the mendicants in a book called The Perils of the Last Times. \nBonaventure\, who had to suspend lecturing for a time\, replied in a treatise on \nevangelical poverty\, named Concerning the Poverty of Christ. Pope Alexander \nIV appointed a commission of cardinals to go into the matter at Anagni\, and on \ntheir findings ordered Saint-Amour’s book to be burnt\, vindicated and \nreinstated the friars\, and ordered the offenders to withdraw their attack. A year \nlater\, in 1257\, St Bonaventure and St Thomas Aquinas received the degree of \ndoctor of theology together. \nIn 1257 Bonaventure was chosen minister general of the Friars Minor. He \nwas not yet thirty-six years old\, and the order was torn by dissensions\, some of \nthe friars being for an inflexible severity\, others demanding certain mitigation \nof the rule; between the two extremes were a number of other interpretations. \nSome of the extreme rigorists\, called Spirituals\, had even fallen into error and \ndisobedience\, and thus given a handle to the friars’ opponents in the Paris \ndispute. Bonaventure wrote a letter to his provincials in which he made it clear \nthat he required a disciplined observance of the rule\, involving a reformation of \nthe relaxed\, but giving no countenance to the excesses of the Spirituals. \nAt Narbonne in 1260\, the first of the five general chapters which \nBonaventure held\, he produced a set of constitutions on the rule\, which were \nadopted and had a permanent effect on Franciscan life\, but they failed to pacify \nthe excessive rigorists. At the request of the friars assembled in this chapter\, he \nundertook to write the life of St Francis\, with a spirit which shows him to have \nbeen filled with the virtues of the founder whose life he wrote. St Bonaventure \ngoverned his order for seventeen years and has been justly called its second \nfounder.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-bonaventure-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260714
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260715
DTSTAMP:20260712T110250Z
CREATED:20260712T110250Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260712T110250Z
UID:15185-1783987200-1784073599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Kateri Tekaqwitha
DESCRIPTION:A reading by Daniel Sargent on \nST KATERI TEKAKWITHA \n◊◊◊ \nOn the fourteenth of October\, 1682\, a Frenchman living in Canada began \na letter to a Frenchman living in France. He had seen many wonders in Canada\, \nand was therefore eager to tell about them. \nHe was a missionary\, a priest\, a Jesuit\, a certain Father Chauchetière\, now \nonly thirty-seven years old\, and who had spent seven years already among the \nIndians of Canada whom he was trying to Christianize. The great astonishment \nof his life as a missionary had not been the size of the St Lawrence River\, but the \npiety which he had found among the Indians at his St Lawrence Mission. \nHe had expected to be horrified by the Indians even though he was willing \nto give his life for them. Instead he had been edified by them. But how was he \ngoing to convince the Jesuit Superior\, to whom he was writing his letter\, of this \nIndian holiness?… He dwelt on the inconvenience of this fervor: it led the \nIndians to adopt immoderate penances\, and forced him to step in and restrain \nthem. Only grudgingly did he add\, as the sole flash of his enthusiasm\, that “They \nwould be admired in France if what they do were known there.” \n[Then] he came to what was most incredible of all: “During the past two \nyears their fervor has greatly increased since God has removed from this world \none of these devout savage women who live like nuns\, and she died with the \nreputation of sanctity. Journeys are continually made to her tomb; and the \nsavages\, following her example\, have become better Christians than they were. \nWe daily see wonders worked through her intercession. Her name was [Kateri] \nTekakwitha.”… \nTekakwitha’s ancestors were an old people. Not merely that they had had \nas many ancestors as any other person alive\, but they remembered those \nancestors. They carried the past with them in their traditions\, from generation \nto generation… The ancestors of [Tekakwitha] had been suffering and longing \nfor ages… The gaining of salvation had been their age-long preoccupation… \nIf we look at the past of [Tekakwitha’s] ancestors\, as Fr. Chauchetière did \nnot and could not\, and if we look at the story of the French missionaries\, then \nthe spiritual blossoming of this [Kateri Tekakwitha] becomes a climax of a long \ndrama. Instead of exclaiming as Chauchetière did\, “How suddenly she has \ncome\,” our sigh is\, “How long\, how long\, the world has waited!”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-kateri-tekaqwitha/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260713
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260714
DTSTAMP:20260712T110110Z
CREATED:20260712T110110Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260712T110110Z
UID:15183-1783900800-1783987199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nJOHN TAULER \n◊◊◊ \nOur Lord said to his disciples: “You shall be witnesses unto me in \nJerusalem\, and in all Judea\, and Samaria\, and even to the uttermost part of the \nearth.” Jerusalem was a city of peace\, but also of tribulation\, for there it was that \nChrist underwent such infinite suffering and a bitter death. Children\, we are to \nbe his witnesses in this city\, not by mere words but in truth\, by our life and by \nfollowing him according to our strength. \nThere are plenty of persons who would gladly be Christ’s witnesses in \npeace\, when everything goes along just as they would wish. They would like to \nbe holy\, provided that their pious exercises and work never become irksome; \nthey would be glad enough to enjoy\, desire\, or know the things of God\, if there \nwere no bitterness\, labor\, or tedium involved. But once they are assailed by \nstrong temptations and spiritual darkness\, as soon as they no longer feel or \nenjoy the nearness of God\, and are left destitute inwardly and outwardly\, they \nfall away and are not true witnesses at all. \nPeace is what all are striving for; they seek after it in every direction\, in \nevery occupation\, and in all their ways of life. Oh\, if we could only shake \nourselves free from this tendency\, and learn to seek peace in tribulation. Only \nthere is true peace born\, peace which will last and really endure. To seek \nelsewhere is to go astray inevitably. You will always find that this is true. If only \nwe could seek joy in sadness\, peace in trouble\, simplicity in multiplicity\, comfort \nin bitterness! This is the way to become true witnesses to God. \nBefore his death our Lord always promised his disciples peace\, and also \nafter his resurrection he promised them all peace. Yet they never obtained peace \nexternally. Nonetheless\, they found peace in tribulation and love in suffering. In \ndeath they found life; to be cross-examined\, judged\, and condemned was for \nthem a joyous victory. These were true witnesses. \nThere are many who have been inundated with consolation in body and \nsoul. I have known some who were filled with such sweetness in every fiber of \ntheir being. And yet\, when suffering and darkness came upon them\, when they \nwere forsaken inwardly and outwardly\, they did not know which way to turn. \nThey stopped short\, and it all came to nothing. \nWhen terrible storms break upon us\, buffeting us with desolations and \ntemptations\, then it is\, if only we can break through and weather the storm\, that \nwe shall find essential peace\, a peace that no one can take from us.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-446/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260712
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260713
DTSTAMP:20260712T105958Z
CREATED:20260712T105958Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260712T105958Z
UID:15181-1783814400-1783900799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 15th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST GREGORY THE GREAT \n◊◊◊ \nDearly beloved\, the reading from the holy gospel about the sower requires \nno explanation\, but only a word of warning. In fact the explanation has been \ngiven by Truth himself\, and it cannot be disputed by a frail human being. \nHowever\, there is one point in our Lord’s exposition which you ought to weigh \nwell. It is this. If I told you that the seed represented the word\, the field the \nworld\, the birds the demons\, and the thorns riches\, you would perhaps be in two \nminds as to whether to believe me. Therefore the Lord himself deigned to \nexplain what he had said\, so that you would know that a hidden meaning is to be \nsought also in those passages which he did not wish to interpret himself. \nWould anyone have believed me if I had said that thorns stood for riches? \nAfter all\, thorns are piercing and riches pleasurable. And yet riches are thorns \nbecause thoughts of them pierce the mind and torture it. When finally they lure \na person into sin\, it is as though they were drawing blood from the wound they \nhave inflicted… The only true riches are those that make us rich in virtue. \nTherefore\, if you want to be rich\, beloved\, love true riches. If you aspire to the \nheights of real honor\, strive to reach the kingdom of heaven. If you value rank \nand renown\, hasten to be enrolled in the heavenly court of the angels. \nStore up in your minds the Lord’s words which you receive through your \nears\, for the word of the Lord is the nourishment of the mind. When his word is \nheard but not stored away in the memory\, it is like food which has been eaten \nand then rejected by an upset stomach. A person’s life is despaired of if he \ncannot retain his food; so if you receive the food of holy exhortations\, but fail to \nstore in your memory those words of life which nurture righteousness\, you have \ngood reason to fear the danger of everlasting death. \nBe careful\, then\, that the word you have received through your ears \nremains in your heart. Be careful that the seed does not fall along the path\, for \nfear that the evil spirit may come and take it from your memory. Be careful that \nthe seed is not received in stony ground\, so that it produces a harvest of good \nworks without the roots of perseverance. Many people are pleased with what \nthey hear and resolve to undertake some good work\, but as soon as difficulties \nbegin to arise and hinder them they leave the work unfinished. The stony \nground lacked the necessary moisture for the sprouting seed to yield the fruit of \nperseverance. \nGood earth\, on the other hand\, brings forth fruit by patience. The reason \nfor this is that nothing we do is good unless we also bear with equanimity the \ninjuries done us by our neighbors. In fact\, the more we progress\, the more \nhardships we shall have to endure in this world; for when our love for this \npresent world dies\, its sufferings increase. This is why we see many people \ndoing good works and at the same time struggling under a heavy burden of \nafflictions. They now shun earthly desires\, and yet they are tormented by \ngreater sufferings. But\, as the Lord said\, they bring forth fruit by patience\, \nbecause\, since they humbly endure misfortunes\, they are welcomed when these \nare over into a place of rest in heaven.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-15th-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260712
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260713
DTSTAMP:20260712T105842Z
CREATED:20260712T105842Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260712T105842Z
UID:15179-1783814400-1783900799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n15th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nJuly 12 – 18\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n12\nMon\n13\nTue\n14\nWed\n15\nThu\n16\nFri\n17\nSat\n18\n\n\nOffice\n15th Sunday\nWeekday\nSt Kateri Tekaqwitha\nSt Bonaventure\nBl Virgin Martyrs of Orange\nWeekday\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nJud 10:1-10\nJud 10:11-23\nJud 11:1-23\nJud 12:1-20\nJud 13:1-11\nJud 13:12-20\nJud 14:1-10\n\n\nLauds\nHos 5:1-7\nHos 5:8-15\nHos 6:1-6\nHos 6:7-7:2\nHos 7:3-10\nHos 7:11-16\nHos 8:1-7\n\n\nMass\n103\n389\n390\n391\n392\n393\n394\n\n\n1st\nIsa 55:10-11\nIsa 1:10-17\nIsa 7:1-9\nIsa 10:5-7\, 13b-16\nIsa 26:7-9\, 12\, 16-19\nIsa 38:1-6\, 21-22\, 7-8\nMic 2:1-5\n\n\n2nd\nRom 8:18-23\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 13:1-23\nMatt 10:34-11:1\nMatt 11:20-24\nMatt 11:25-27\nMatt 11:28-30\nMatt 12:1-8\nMatt 12:14-21\n\n\nVespers\nEph 6:18-24\n2 Thess 1:1-10\n2 Thess 1:11-12\n2 Thess 2:1-10\n2 Thess 2:11-17\n2 Thess 3:1-10\n2 Thess 3:11-18
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-159/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260711T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260711T120000
DTSTAMP:20260707T145535Z
CREATED:20260707T145535Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260707T145535Z
UID:15157-1783760400-1783771200@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Chicago LCG 9 am CDT
DESCRIPTION:Please join our Chicago LCG community at our Zoom meeting at 9:00 am CDT.  All LCG folk are welcome. \nJoin Zoom Meeting \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/86028356465 \nMeeting ID: 860 2835 6465 \nOne tap mobile \n+13126266799\,\,86028356465# US (Chicago) \n+13092053325\,\,86028356465# USC \nOur Agenda: \n9:00 Gather for Opening prayer. \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: \nFr. Anton Rusnak \nBr. Aaron Schulte \nBr. Gaetan Blanchette \n                                                                                                                                                                    \n9:10 Lectio. Our lectio piece will be led by Tom Kosnik . \n 9:50  Reading.  Our reading this month will be the first half of Anthony De Mello’s Awareness. Life. \n10:45 Housekeeping.   Volunteer to lead lectio next month?  Chicago Report on LCG Advisory Council activity. Chicago LCG at Gethsemani Fall Retreat? What’s happening with the International Lay Cistercians?  Tina With Pope Leo XIV at La Sagrada Familia. \n11:00 Update.   Share how the Holy Spirt has entered our lives as lay Cistercians since our last meeting. \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.) \nOur next meeting: August 8\, 2026. \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/chicago-lcg-9-am-cdt/
CATEGORIES:LCG Local Community Meetings,LCG open events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260711
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260712
DTSTAMP:20260705T125503Z
CREATED:20260705T125503Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260705T125503Z
UID:15154-1783728000-1783814399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Benedict
DESCRIPTION:A reading from “Butler’s Lives of the Saints” on \nST BENEDICT \n◊◊◊ \nBenedict was of good birth\, and was born and brought up at the ancient \nSabine town of Nursia. He was sent to Rome for his ‘liberal education’\, being \naccompanied by a ‘nurse’\, probably to act as housekeeper. He was then in his \nearly teens\, or perhaps a little older. But Benedict\, revolted by the licentiousness \nof his companions in the city\, made up his mind to leave Rome. He made his \nescape without telling anyone of his plans excepting his nurse\, who \naccompanied him. They made their way to the village of Enfide in the \nmountains thirty miles from Rome. What was the length of his stay we do not \nknow\, but it was sufficient to enable him to determine his next step. Absence \nfrom the temptations of Rome\, he soon realized\, was not enough; God was \ncalling him to be a solitary and to abandon the world. \nIn search of complete solitude Benedict started forth once more\, alone\, \nand climbed further among the hills until he reached a place now known as \nSubiaco. In this wild and rocky country he came upon a monk called Romanus\, \nto whom he opened his heart\, explaining his intention of leading the life of a \nhermit. Romanus assisted the young man\, clothing him with a sheepskin habit \nand leading him to a cave in the mountain. In this desolate cavern Benedict \nspent the next three years of his life… \nDisciples began to gather about him\, attracted by his sanctity and by his \nmiraculous powers… We do not know how long the saint remained at Subiaco\, \nbut he stayed long enough to establish his monasteries on a firm and permanent \nbasis. His departure was sudden. \nHaving set all things in order\, he withdrew from Subiaco to the territory of \nMonte Cassino… Upon the site of a big temple he built two chapels and round \nabout these sanctuaries there rose little by little a great building which was \ndestined to become the most famous abbey the world has ever known\, the \nfoundation of which is likely to have been laid by St Benedict in the year 530… \nIt is probably that Benedict\, who was now in middle age\, again spent some \ntime as a hermit; but disciples soon flocked to Monte Cassino too… \nThe holy abbot\, far from confining his ministrations to those who would \nfollow his rule\, extended his solicitude to the population of the surrounding \ncountry: he cured their sick\, relieved the distressed\, distributed alms and food \nto the poor\, and is said to have raised the dead on more than one occasion. The \ngreat saint who had foretold so many other things was also forewarned of his \nown approaching death. He notified it to his disciples… He was stricken with \nfever\, and on the last day he received the Body and Blood of the Lord. Then\, \nwhile the loving hands of the brethren were supporting his weak limbs\, he \nuttered a few final words of prayer and died – standing on his feet in the chapel\, \nwith his hands uplifted towards heaven.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-benedict-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260710
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260711
DTSTAMP:20260705T125357Z
CREATED:20260705T125357Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260705T125357Z
UID:15152-1783641600-1783727999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST AELRED OF RIEVAULX \n◊◊◊ \nFor when in bitterness of soul \nI view my former life\, \nit scares and frightens me that I should be called shepherd\, \nfor I am surely crazy if I do not know myself \nunworthy of the name. \nYour holy mercy is upon me\, \nto snatch my wretched soul out of hell. \nYou show mercy as you will; \nyour pity succors him whom you are pleased to pity; \nand such is your forgiveness of my sin\, \nthat you do not avenge yourself by damning me\, \nnor do you even overwhelm me with reproaches; \nand\, even when you do accuse\, you love me no less. \nNevertheless\, I am disturbed and troubled\, \nfor I am mindful of your goodness\, yes— \nbut I am not unmindful of my own ingratitude. \nSee\, then\, \nbefore you is my heart’s confession of the countless sins\, \nfrom which your mercy has been pleased to free my \nhapless soul. \nMy whole heart renders thanks and praise to you \nwith all its might for all these benefits. \n6 (CF 2 : 106-107).12 \nBut I am no less in your debt \nfor all the evil things I have not done. \nFor\, most assuredly\, whatever evil thing \nI have not done\, it was your guiding hand \nthat made me abstain from doing it; \nsince either you took away the means to do it\, \nor else you corrected my inclination\, \nor gave me the power to resist. \nBut what am I to do\, O Lord my God\, \nabout the ills whereby\, in your just judgment\, \nyou suffer your servant\, the son of your handmaiden\, \nstill to be wearied and be overcome? \nThe things concerning which my sinful soul \nis troubled in your sight\, O Lord\, cannot be counted; \nyet\, for all that\, \nneither my sorrow for them nor my care \nto shun their repetition is as great \nas they demand\, and as my will desires.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-445/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260709T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260709T170000
DTSTAMP:20260705T125256Z
CREATED:20260705T125256Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260705T125256Z
UID:15150-1783584000-1783616400@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nFR LOUIS BOUYER \n◊◊◊ \nIt is not purely and simply by dying that we shall live\, but by dying such a \ndeath that it kills death itself – and it is only the death of Christ that can do that. \nFor it is not the life of the mortal body which has injured the life of the soul. It is\, \non the contrary\, the death of the soul which has injured the body and made it \nmortal. Life will be won back by the resurrection\, not of the soul alone\, but of the \nhuman being in its unity\, inseparably body and soul. And if the passage through \ndeath can lead to the resurrection\, it is only in as much as the soul\, which has \nbecome alive again in Christ\, has been made capable of burning away the death \nof the body as with a red-hot iron and of causing it to evaporate in its own flame. \nThe monk goes forward to meet death because he believes that this \nmiracle\, the greatest of all\, has been accomplished in the death of Christ: \nbecause he believes that Christ was Life\, the very Life of God\, and that in making \nphysical death his own\, he has robbed the evil one of all his power and all his \nempire which are annihilated by this very act. Again he goes forward to meet \ndeath because he believes that Christ now and for the future lives in him: and \nfinally because he believes that what has taken place in Christ will be \nreproduced in himself\, in the same manner. \nThe death of the monk\, so desired and sought after day after day\, is then \nonly the supreme evidence of his faith\, his faith in Christ vanquishing death in \nhimself\, his faith in Christ present in his followers to vanquish it in them. The \nmonk’s mortification is ultimately nothing more than his witness given to \nChrist\, the witness of his faith\, which makes it clear that it is not only an \nintellectual thing but an engagement of the whole being.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-27/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260708T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260708T170000
DTSTAMP:20260705T125201Z
CREATED:20260705T125201Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260705T125201Z
UID:15148-1783497600-1783530000@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Bl Eugene III
DESCRIPTION:A reading from St Bernard of Clairvaux for \nPOPE BLESSED EUGENE III \n◊◊◊ \nIt has occurred to me to write something which might edify\, delight or \nconsole you\, Blessed Father Eugene. But I do not know the rules for writing a \nformal yet intimate treatise. Two opposites\, your majesty and my love\, vie to \ndictate my style. Love draws me on; majesty holds me back. But you graciously \nintervene and request rather than command this treatise\, although it would be \nmore fitting for you to command it. Since your majesty so admirably \ncondescends\, why does my hesitancy persist? What if you have ascended the \nthrone? Even if you were to walk on the wings of the wind\, you would not escape \nmy affection. Love knows no master. It recognizes a son even though he wear \nthe tiara. It is the nature of a lover to be suitably humble\, willingly submissive\, \nfreely compliant\, respectful without duress. \nThis is not the way with others however; they are driven either by fear or \nby greed. Such men bless openly\, but harbor evil in their hearts. They flatter you \nwhen you are present\, yet fail you in time of need. But charity never fails. It is \ntrue that I have been freed of maternal obligation toward you\, but I am not \nstripped of affection for you. You were once in my womb; you will not be drawn \nfrom my heart so easily. Ascend to the heavens\, descend to the depths\, you will \nnot escape me. I will follow you wherever you go. I loved you when you were \npoor in spirit; I shall love you still as father of the poor and the rich. \nIf I know you\, you did not cease being poor in spirit when you became the \nfather of the poor. I am confident that this change has been thrust on you and \nwas not of your doing\, that this promotion has not replaced your former state\, \nbut rather has enhanced it. Therefore I will instruct you not as a teacher\, but as a \nmother\, indeed as a lover. I may seem more the fool\, but only to one who does \nnot love\, to one who does not feel the force of love.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-bl-eugene-iii-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260707
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260708
DTSTAMP:20260705T125038Z
CREATED:20260705T125038Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260705T125038Z
UID:15146-1783382400-1783468799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nFR KARL RAHNER \n◊◊◊ \nWhat must we do in order to avoid stifling the Spirit? This is a dark and \ndifficult question. If it could ever be thought easy to answer it would be no \nquestion at all. The real answer to it is itself a factor in the movement and \nguidance of the Spirit\, who himself ensures that he shall not be stifled. It can be \nfound\, in the last analysis\, not by the reflexive processes of theory and \nspeculation\, but rather\, at basis\, through the sureness of instinct to be found in \nChristian living. \nThe first thing that we could do\, and do with all our hearts\, would be to \nacquire an attitude of caring; of recognizing with anxiety that it is possible to \nstifle the Spirit. The Spirit can be stifled not indeed throughout the entire \nChurch\, but still over so wide an area\, and to such a terrible extent that we have \nto fear that judgment which begins with the house of God. And for this reason \nwe must all face the possibility with fear and trembling that we could be the ones \nwho stifle the Spirit – stifle him through that pride in ‘knowing better’\, that \ninertia of heart\, that cowardice\, that unteachableness with which we react to \nfresh impulses and new pressures in the Church. \nHow different many things would be if we did not so often react to what is \nnew with a self-assured superiority\, an attitude of conservatism\, adopted as a \ndefense not of the honor of God and the teaching and institutions of the Church\, \nbut of our own selves\, of what we have always been accustomed to\, of the usual\, \nwith which we can live without daily experiencing the pain of the new metanoia. \nBut if we realized\, and with burning conviction\, that we can also be judged for \nour omissions\, for a general obtuseness and inertia of heart which\, though \nindefinable\, extends over all spheres of our lives\, for our culpable lack of \ncreative imagination and boldness of spirit\, then we should lend a sharper ear\, \nkeener eye\, a livelier anticipation to the slightest indication that somewhere that \nSpirit is stirring whose inspiration is not merely confined to the official \npronouncements and directives of the Church\, or to the holders of official \npositions in her. \nThen we should be eagerly on the watch to see whether charisms were not \nappearing\, of which only a glimpse and a feeling can initially be obtained. Then \nwe would not make it a condition for admitting those charisms which the Spirit \nwills to impart (a condition to which\, however\, we do not subject our own lives \nand activities) that such charisms must have no element of the human in them\, \nnothing which has not yet been purified out. For this is not possible in view of \nthe fact that even the fire of the Holy Spirit burns up from the thorn-bush of our \nhuman – all too human – nature.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-444/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260706
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260707
DTSTAMP:20260705T124934Z
CREATED:20260705T124934Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260705T124934Z
UID:15144-1783296000-1783382399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from the Encyclical “Ut Unum Sint” by \nPOPE ST JOHN PAUL II \n◊◊◊ \nThe Second Vatican Council exhorts all Christ’s faithful to remember that \nthe more they strive to live according to the Gospel\, the more they are fostering \nand even practicing Christian unity. For they can achieve depth and ease in \nstrengthening mutual brotherhood to the degree that they enjoy profound \ncommunion with the Father\, the Word and the Holy Spirit. This change of heart \nand holiness of life\, along with public and private prayer for the unity of \nChristians should be regarded as the soul of the whole ecumenical movement\, \nand can rightly be called ‘spiritual ecumenism’. \nWe proceed along the road leading to the conversion of hearts guided by \nlove which is directed to God and\, at the same time\, to all our brothers and \nsisters\, including those not in full communion with us. Love gives rise to the \ndesire for unity\, even in those who have never been aware of the need for it. Love \nbuilds communion between individuals and between Communities. If we love \none another\, we strive to deepen our communion and make it perfect. Love is \ngiven to God as the perfect source of communion – the unity of Father\, Son and \nHoly Spirit – that we may draw from that source the strength to build \ncommunion between individuals and communities or to reestablish it between \nChristians still divided. Love is the great undercurrent which gives life and adds \nvigor to the movement toward unity. \nThis love finds its most complete expression in common prayer. When \nbrothers and sisters who are not in perfect communion with one another come \ntogether to pray\, the Second Vatican Council defines their prayer as the soul of \nthe whole ecumenical movement. This prayer is “a very effective means of \npetitioning for the grace of unity”\, “a genuine expression of ties which even \nnow bind Catholics to their separated brethren.” Even when prayer is not \nspecifically offered for Christian unity\, but for other intentions such as peace\, it \nactually becomes an expression and confirmation of unity. The common prayer \nof Christians is an invitation to Christ himself to visit the community of those \nwho call upon him: “Where two or three are gathered in my name\, there am I \nin the midst of them.” \nAlong the ecumenical path to unity\, pride of place certainly belongs to \ncommon prayer; the prayerful union of those who gather together around Christ \nhimself. If Christians\, despite their divisions\, can grow ever more united in \ncommon prayer around Christ\, they will grow in the awareness of how little \ndivides them in comparison to what unites them. Fellowship in prayer leads \npeople to look at the Church and Christianity in a new way. It must not be \nforgotten in fact that the Lord prayed to the Father that his disciples might be \none\, so that their unity might bear witness to his mission and that the world \nwould believe that the Father had sent him. “Ecumenical prayer” is at the \nservice of the Christian mission and its credibility. It must be especially present \nin the life of the Church and in every activity aimed at fostering Christian unity.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-443/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260705
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260706
DTSTAMP:20260705T124836Z
CREATED:20260705T124836Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260705T124836Z
UID:15142-1783209600-1783295999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 14th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM \n◊◊◊ \nOur Master is always the same\, gentle and benevolent. In his constant \nconcern for our salvation\, he says explicitly in the gospel: Come\, learn of me\, \nfor I am gentle and humble of heart. \nWhat great condescension on the part of the Creator! And yet the creature \nfeels no shame! Come\, learn from me. The Master came to console his fallen \nservants. This is how Christ treats us. He shows pity when a sinner deserves \npunishment. When the race that angers him deserves to be annihilated\, he \naddresses the guilty ones in the kindly words: Come\, learn from me\, for I am \ngentle and humble of heart. \nGod is humble\, and we are proud! The judge is gentle; the criminal \narrogant! The potter speaks in lowered voice; the clay discourses in tones of a \nking! Come\, learn from me\, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Our master \ncarries a whip not to wound\, but to heal us. Reflect upon his indescribable \nkindness. Who could fail to love a master who never strikes his servants? Who \nwould not marvel at a judge who beseeches a condemned criminal? Surely the \nself-abasement of these words must astound you. \nI am the Creator and I love my work. I am the sculptor and I care for what \nI have made. If I thought of my dignity\, I should not rescue fallen humankind. If \nI failed to treat its incurable sickness with fitting remedies\, it would never \nrecover its strength. If I did not console it\, it would die. If I did nothing but \nthreaten it\, it would perish. This is why I apply the salve of kindness to it where \nit lies. Compassionately I bend down very low in order to raise it up. No one \nstanding erect can lift a fallen man without putting a hand down to him. \nCome learn from me\, for I am gentle and humble of heart. I do not make \na show of words; I have left you the proof of my deeds. You can see that I am \ngentle and humble of heart from what I have become. Consider my nature\, \nreflect upon my dignity\, and marvel at the condescension I have shown you. \nThink of where I came from\, and of where I am as I speak to you. Heaven is my \nthrone\, yet I talk to you standing on the earth! I am glorified on high\, but \nbecause I am long-suffering I am not angry with you\, for I am gentle and \nhumble in heart.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-14th-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260705
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260706
DTSTAMP:20260705T124716Z
CREATED:20260705T124716Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260705T124716Z
UID:15140-1783209600-1783295999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n14th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nJuly 5 – 11\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n5\nMon\n6\nTue\n7\nWed\n8\nThu\n9\nFri\n10\nSat\n11\n\n\nOffice\n14th Sunday\nWeekday\nWeekday\nBl Eugene III\nOffice for the Dead\nWeekday\nSt Benedict\n\n\nVigils\nJud 6:1-21\nJud 7:1-18\nJud 7:19-32\nJud 8:1-23\nJud 8:24-36\nJud 9:1-14\nTobit 4:14-19\, 21\n\n\nLauds\nHos 2:13-17\nHos 2:18-25\nHos 3:1-5\nHos 4:1-6\nHos 4:7-12\nHos 4:13-19\nSir 45:1-5\n\n\nMass\n100\n383\n384\n385\n386\n387\n*597\, 477\, 810\n\n\n1st\nZech 9:9-10\nHos 2:16\, 17c-18\, 21-22\nHos 8:4-7\, 11-13\nHos 10:1-3\, 7-8\, 12\nHos 11:1-4\, 8e-9\nHos 14:2-10\nProv 2:1-9\n\n\n2nd\nRom 8:9\, 11-13\n\n\n\n\n\nEph 4:1-6\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 11:25-30\nMatt 9:18-26\nMatt 9:32-38\nMatt 10:1-7\nMatt 10:7-15\nMatt 10:16-23\nLuke 22:24-27\n\n\nVespers\nEph 5:6-14\nEph 5:15-20\nEph 5:21-33\nEph 6:1-9\nEph 6:10-17\nGal 5:22-6:2\nCol 3:12-17
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-158/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260704
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260705
DTSTAMP:20260628T115225Z
CREATED:20260628T115225Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260628T115225Z
UID:15130-1783123200-1783209599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST THEODORE THE STUDITE \n◊◊◊ \nNever has anyone been nearer to God than the blessed and most \nwonderful Virgin Mary. Who could be purer? Who more sinless? She was loved \nso ardently by God\, the Divine\, infinitely pure light\, that he made himself of one \nsubstance with her through the power of the Holy Spirit and was born of her as \nperfect man\, while keeping entire his own unchangeable and unblended nature. \nHow marvelous this is! In his immense love for man\, God was not ashamed to \ntake for his mother her who was his handmaid. What condescension! In his \ninfinite goodness he did not hesitate to become a child of her whom he himself \nhad made. He was truly in love with the most gracious of his creatures\, and he \ntook her who was of greater worth than the heavenly powers. \nThe words of Zechariah the prophet do indeed apply to her: “Sing and \nrejoice\, O daughter of Zion; for lo\, I come and I will dwell in the midst of you\, \nsays the Lord”. And again it is she whom blessed Joel is addressing\, so it seems \nto me\, when he writes: “Fear not\, O land: be glad and rejoiced\, for the Lord has \ndone great things!”. For Mary is a land: that land on which Moses the man of \nGod was told to remove his shoe\, figure of the law\, for grace was going to take \nthe place of law. \nAgain\, she is that land which is established by the Holy Spirit himself\, as \nwe sing: “He laid the foundation of the earth”. She is a land that\, without having \nbeen sown\, has yielded the fruit which nourishes everything that exists. She is a \nland on which the thorn of sin has never grown: on the contrary\, she has given \nthe light of day to him who has torn up sin by the root. In short\, she is a land that \nhas not been cursed\, as the first one has\, with harvests of thorns and thistles\, for \nshe is one on which the Lord’s blessing rests\, a land bearing in her womb a \nblessed fruit\, as the sacred word declares. \nRejoice\, House of God\, land on which God has stepped\, you who have \ncontained in your body him whose divinity overflows all bounds. For he who is \nsimplicity itself has taken man’s complex nature; the Eternal has entered into \ntime and the infinite into limits. Rejoice\, House of God\, resplendent with the \nlight of divinity. Rejoice\, full of grace: your deed and your name are more joy- \ngiving than all joy. For your immortal joy\, Christ\, has come into the world\, the \ncure for the sadness of man. Rejoice\, Paradise happier than the garden of Eden\, \nwhere all virtue has grown and where the tree of Life has flourished.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-the-bvm-12/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260703
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260704
DTSTAMP:20260628T115115Z
CREATED:20260628T115115Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260628T115115Z
UID:15128-1783036800-1783123199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Thomas
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST PETER CHRYSOLOGUS \n◊◊◊ \nWhen Thomas heard from his fellow disciples that they had seen the \nLord\, he answered: Unless I see the wounds made by the nails and put my \nhand into his side\, I will not believe. Why did Thomas thus demand proof before \nbelieving? Why was he so devout toward the suffering Christ\, but so resistant to \nthe risen Christ? Why did a pious hand open again the wounds made by a \nwicked hand? Why did the hand of a follower strive to plunge anew into the side \nopened by the spear of a wicked soldier?… \nWhen the Lord died\, the devil’s power collapsed\, the prison of hell was \nthrown open\, the fetters of the dead were broken\, tombs were destroyed; when \nthe Lord rose again death’s nature was completely changed. The stone before \nthe Lord’s most holy sepulcher was rolled away\, and the linen cloths were \nloosened; at his rising in glory death took to flight and life returned; his body \narose never to die again. Why then\, Thomas\, were you the only one to make such \na shrewd inquiry\, demanding that the Lord’s wounds be shown as the only way \nto convince you? Suppose those wounds had vanished with all the other marks \nof suffering – what danger to your faith would not your curiosity have \nengendered? \nMy brothers and sisters\, piety made this search and devotion these \ndemands to ensure that impiety should not thereafter raise doubts about the \nLord’s resurrection. It was not only the doubts in his own heart that Thomas was \nhealing\, but everyone else’s as well; and as he was to proclaim these things to the \nnations\, this energetic advocate was diligently trying to discover how he could \nsupport the profession of so great a faith. Beyond question his spirit of prophecy \nwas greater than his doubt. For why should he have made such a request unless \nhe had learned from the Lord by prophetic inspiration that these wounds alone \nwere to be retained as proof of the resurrection? \nFurthermore\, the Lord of his own accord had shown the others what this \nman subsequently demanded. The text says: Jesus came and stood in their \nmidst and showed them his hands and his side. For he who had entered through \nclosed doors and was with good reason thought by the disciples to be a ghost \ncould not prove himself to their doubting minds except by the wounds that told \nof his passion. Then he came and said to Thomas: Put your finger here\, and see \nmy hands\, and put out your hand and put it into my side\, and be not faithless \nbut believing. Do this so that when you reopen these wounds which have \nalready poured forth water and blood to cleanse and ransom all humankind\, \nfaith may pour out over the whole world. Thomas answered: My Lord and my \nGod! \nSee how scripture shows not only a human body but also\, through the \nsuffering this body endured\, that Christ is\, as Thomas acclaims him\, God and \nLord. Truly he is God who lives again after being dead\, who rose after suffering a \nmortal wound; for although he endured so much suffering and received such \ngreat wounds\, he lives and reigns as God for countless ages.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-thomas-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260702
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260703
DTSTAMP:20260628T115000Z
CREATED:20260628T115000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260628T115000Z
UID:15126-1782950400-1783036799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nWILLIAM OF ST THIERRY \n◊◊◊ \nIn order that your solitude may not appall you and that you may dwell the \nmore safely in your cell three guardians have been assigned to you: God\, your \nconscience and your spiritual father. To God you owe devotion and the entire \ngift of yourself; to your conscience the respect which will make you ashamed to \nsin in its presence; to your spiritual father the obedience of charity and recourse \nin everything. \nIn addition\, to make you grateful to me\, I will add a fourth and provide \nyou with a monitor for as long as you are small and have not learned to keep the \npresence of God before your mind. \nIf you will take my advice\, you will choose for yourself a man whose life is \nsuch that it will serve as a model to impress upon your heart\, one whom you will \nso revere that whenever you think of him you will rise up because of the respect \nyou feel for him and put yourself in order. Think of him as if he were present and \nlet the charity you feel for one another act in you to correct all that needs to be \ncorrected\, while your solitude suffers no infringement of its secret. Let him be \npresent to you whenever you wish and let him come sometimes when you would \nhave preferred him to stay away. The thought of his holy severity will make it \nseem as if he were rebuking you; the thought of his kindness and goodness will \nbring you consolation; the purity and sanctity of his life will set you a good \nexample. \nFor you will be driven to correct even all your thoughts\, as if they were \nopen to his gaze and visited by his rebuke\, when you consider that he is \nwatching. So\, as the Apostle bids: “Keep guard on yourself” with the greatest \ncare and\, in order to have your eyes always on yourself\, turn your gaze away \nfrom all else. The eye is a remarkable instrument of the body – if only it could \nsee itself as it sees other things. Now the inner eye is enabled to do this. If then it \nfollows the example of the outward eye and neglects itself\, giving its attention to \nthe affairs of others\, it will not be able to return to itself\, however much it may \nwish to do so. \nGive your attention to yourself; you yourself constitute abundant matter \nfor solicitude for yourself. Shut out also from your outward eyes what you have \ngrown unaccustomed to see\, from your inner eyes what you no longer love\, since \nnothing so easily reasserts its claims as love\, especially in younger and more \ntender souls. \nMake bold also to be wise at times and desire the better gifts. Be yourself a \nparable of edification for yourself. You have one cell outwardly\, another within \nyou. The outward cell is the house in which your soul dwells together with your \nbody; the inner cell is your conscience and in that it is God who should dwell \nwith your spirit\, he who is more interior to you than all else that is within you. \nThe door of the outward enclosure is a sign of the guarded door within you\, so \nthat as the bodily senses are prevented from wandering abroad by the outward \nenclosure\, so the inner senses are kept always within their own domain. \n  \nThe Golden Epistle – William of St Thierry – Cistercian Fathers Series #12 – Kalamazoo\, MI – 1971 – pg 45.11 \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-442/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260701
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260702
DTSTAMP:20260628T114814Z
CREATED:20260628T114814Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260628T114814Z
UID:15124-1782864000-1782950399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM \n◊◊◊ \nSuppose a pagan should say: “Where is your proof that Christ is God?” I \nmust first lay this proof as a foundation since everything follows from it. But I \nshall not draw my demonstration from heaven or any such divine source. For if \nI say that God created heaven\, earth and sea\, no pagan will stand for this as \nproof nor will he believe me; if I say that Christ raised the dead\, cured the blind\, \nand drove out demons\, no pagan will accept that either; if I say that he promised \na kingdom and ineffable blessings\, if I talk about the resurrection\, the pagan will \nnot only reject my arguments but he will laugh at them as well. \nHow shall I persuade him\, especially if he is ignorant and ill-informed? \nWhat source of proof can I use other than one on which we both together agree\, \none which is undeniable and admits no doubt? If I base my argument on the fact \nthat he created heaven and the other things of which I spoke\, the pagan would \nnot find it easy to believe me. What is there which even the pagan admits that \nChrist has done and which not even he would deny? \nThe pagan must admit that from Christ came the family of Christians. He \nmust admit that Christ founded the Churches everywhere throughout the world. \nFrom these facts I shall furnish proof of Christ’s power; I shall show that Christ \nis God; I shall maintain that it is not the mark of a mere man to bring under his \nsway so much land and sea in so short a time; I shall make clear that it is not the \nmark of a mere human to call men to such lofty deeds\, especially men who were \npreoccupied with such strange customs or\, rather men who were caught in the \ntrap of such an evil way of life. \nAnd still Christ had the power to set the human race free from all these \nevils – not only the Romans\, but the Persians\, and simply every race of \nbarbarians. And he succeeded in doing this with no force of arms\, nor \nexpenditure of money\, nor by starting wars of conquest\, nor by inflaming men \nto battle. He had only eleven men to start with\, men who were undistinguished\, \nwithout learning\, ill-informed\, destitute\, poorly clad\, without weapons\, or \nsandals\, men who had but a single tunic to wear. \nWhy do I say that he succeeded in doing this? He was able to persuade so \nmany nations of men to pursue the true doctrine\, not only in what concerns the \npresent life but also the life hereafter. He succeeded in winning over these men \nto drag down their ancestral laws\, to tear out their ancient customs\, long and \ndeeply rooted as they were\, and to plant in their place other ways\, which led \nthem from the easygoing life to his own program of austerity. And he succeeded \nin doing this when the whole world was waging war against him\, when they \njeered at him and forced him to endure the most shameful death of the cross. \nThe pagans will not deny that the Jews crucified him and subjected him to \ncountless tortures; they will not deny that he still preaches his message every \nday. And this message flourishes not only here but also among the Persians\, \nwho even today are still waging war against him. For among the Persians\, at this \nvery hour\, there are multitudes of martyrs. Men who were more savage than \nwolves hear his message\, become more gentle than sheep\, and accept the true \ndoctrine on immortality\, the resurrection\, and the ineffable blessings of the \nmysteries.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-441/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260630
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260701
DTSTAMP:20260628T114654Z
CREATED:20260628T114654Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260628T114654Z
UID:15122-1782777600-1782863999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nHANS URS VON BALTHASAR \n◊◊◊ \nThe Apostles are the founders of the Church\, officially chosen and called \nby the Lord\, whose first function will be to be eyewitnesses. They are drawn into \nliving community with the Messiah\, a relationship in which they will enjoy with \nthis man\, who is ‘God among us’\, a commerce that is fully human\, that engages \nboth their senses and their spirit. They are ‘those with him’\, ‘those who \naccompany him’\, and ‘those around him’. This is what they are\, and they will \ngrow more and more into this way of life in the course of Jesus’ life. They \nconstitute the original cell of God’s community with us\, which had been \npromised and is now being realized. \nAll those coming after them who wish to have community with God must \nbecome a part of this original cell. There are many others who come to the Lord\, \nonly to go away again\, many others who stay with him a while only then to leave \nhim\, or simply others who have a loose connection with him without any \nparticular calling. By contrast\, the Apostles enjoy a community with Jesus \nwhich has precise contours\, a community which he has consciously established \nand maintained\, which is founded on the definitive life-long renunciation of all \nelse: it is something wholly formed\, distinctive in shape. And yet it is not \nsomething magical imposed from above\, since the son of perdition will indeed \nfall away; rather\, it is the realization of the covenant-partnership between God \nand ourselves. \nEyewitness\, in turn\, is an association with the Lord in his public life\, in his \nPassion\, and in his death which is the communal\, human\, and realistic \nexperience of God which continues and fulfills the Old Testament’s promise of \nan earthly God-with-us. But this phase comes to an end with Jesus’ death; the \nApostles’ senses\, accustomed to his existence\, now fall into the void; there is no \nlonger anything there to see\, to hear\, to touch; the Apostles’ whole human \nexperience breaks off with the three-days-in-death\, then to resume anew\, \nwithout any traceable continuity\, with Christ’s Resurrection\, at a place whose \ndistance from the point of disruption can be known and measured only by God; \nand now\, during the forty days\, the association with the Lord will be \nexperienced with wholly new senses. \nThe eyewitness of the Apostles draws all its force from this last phase\, to \nbe sure; otherwise they could hardly bear witness to anything more than an \nextraordinary man who was prophetically gifted and who performed miracles. \nBut it draws its force not\, indeed\, solely from the witness of the Resurrection\, \nbut from the fact that the man who appeared to them was the same whom they \nhad known previously from long association and whom they had seen suffer and \ndie. Seeing him\, hearing him\, touching him\, observing how he eats\, the proof of \nthe wounds; all of this receives its full significance only in that light.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-440/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260629
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260630
DTSTAMP:20260628T114549Z
CREATED:20260628T114549Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260628T114549Z
UID:15120-1782691200-1782777599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Peter & Paul
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST AELRED OF RIEVAULX \n◊◊◊ \nThough the earth and all who dwell in it may rock\, it is I who uphold its pillars. \nThe pillars of the earth\, my brothers\, are the holy apostles\, especially \nthese two whose feast we celebrate today. They are the pillars who support holy \nChurch through their doctrine\, their prayers\, and through the example of their \npatience. These are the pillars our Lord upholds. Previously\, they were very \nweak and unable to support themselves or others. Yet this was a great \ndispensation of the Lord. For if they had always been strong\, someone could \nthink that they had always had this strength from themselves. For that reason \nour Lord wished to show first what they were of themselves\, and then \nafterwards to uphold them\, so that all might know that all their strength was \nfrom God… \nFor these pillars were very weak: obviously saint Peter was weak\, for \nexample\, when the voice of one maidservant cast him down. Afterward\, the \nLord upheld that pillar: first\, when He asked him three times\, Peter\, do you love \nMe? and three times Peter answered\, I do love you. For as Peter diminished that \nlove of our Lord in himself when he denied Him three times\, and therefore this \npillar failed and was broken; so through Peter’s confessing his love three times\, \nthis pillar was upheld. \nThat other pillar\, Paul\, was undoubtedly weak\, too… When he was \nprostrate and blind and led into the city; when Ananias came to him and \ninstructed him\, then he was weak. But hear how strong he was afterwards: I am \ncertain\, he says\, that neither death\, nor life\, nor angels\, nor any other creature \ncan separate me from the Love of God. \nAnd note that when Peter answered\, I do love you\, the Lord immediately \nsaid to him Feed My sheep; as if to say: Show me the love you have for Me in this \nway: by feeding My sheep. Therefore\, my brothers\, he who does not wish to feed \nChrist’s sheep\, falsely says that he loves God… \nIn each soul our Lord also has some sheep\, that is\, some virtues which he \nwho loves Christ must feed. These sheep are: charity\, humility\, spiritual joy\, \nand the like. We feed these sheep when we do works that make these virtues \ngrow in us. And each one of us must also feed these sheep\, these virtues\, in the \nothers. We do this if we so conduct ourselves before our brothers that their \ncharity\, their joy\, their humility and patience grow by our example. For how do I \nfeed humility in my brother\, if I am proud before him\, if I speak proudly\, answer \nhim proudly\, walk proudly? How do I feed obedience in my brother\, if he sees \nme contrary and disobedient? How do I feed his patience if I grumble\, am \nirascible\, or speak or make signs harshly before him? \nTherefore if you love Christ\, my brothers\, feed Christ’s sheep\, and you will \nbelong to these pillars which are upheld by Christ’s love. And let us place before \nour eyes the life and death of these saints and their reward; let us think that if we \nimitate their sufferings as we can\, without doubt we will be joined to their lot.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-peter-paul-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260628
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260629
DTSTAMP:20260628T115740Z
CREATED:20260628T114338Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260628T115740Z
UID:15117-1782604800-1782691199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 13th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST HILARY OF POITIERS \n◊◊◊ \nChrist commanded the apostles to leave everything in the world \nthat they held most dear\, adding: Whoever does not take up his cross and \nfollow me is not worthy of me. For those who belong to Christ have crucified \ntheir lower nature with its sinful passions and desires. No one is worthy of him \nwho refuses to take up his cross\, that is to say\, to share the Lord’s passion\, death\, \nburial\, and resurrection\, and to follow him by living out the mystery of faith in \nthe newly received grace of the Spirit. \nWhoever finds his life will lose it\, and whoever loses his life for my sake \nwill find it. This means that thanks to the power of the word and the \nrenunciation of past sins\, temporal gains are death to the soul\, and temporal \nlosses are salvation. Apostles must therefore take death into their new life and nail \ntheir sins to the Lord’s cross. They must confront their persecutors with \ncontempt for things present\, holding fast to their freedom by a glorious \nconfession of faith\, and shunning any gain that would harm their souls. They \nshould know that no power over their souls has been given to anyone\, and that \nby suffering loss in this short life they will achieve immortality. \nWhoever receives you receives me\, and whoever receives me receives the \none who sent me. Christ gives us all a love for his teaching and a disposition to \ntreat our teachers with courtesy. Earlier he had shown the danger facing those \nwho refused to receive the apostles by requiring these to shake the dust off their \nfeet as a testimony against them; now he commends those who do receive the \napostles\, assuring them of a greater recompense than they might have expected \nfor their hospitality\, and he teaches that since he still acts as mediator\, when we \nreceive him God enters us through him because he comes from God. \nThus whoever receives the apostles receives Christ\, and whoever receives \nChrist receives God the Father\, since what is received in the apostles is nothing \nelse than what is received in Christ; nor is there anything in Christ but what is in \nGod. Through this disposition of graces to receive the apostles is to receive God\, \nbecause Christ is in them and God is in Christ.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/15117/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260628
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260629
DTSTAMP:20260628T115323Z
CREATED:20260628T114226Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260628T115323Z
UID:15115-1782604800-1782691199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n13th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nJune 28 – July 4\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n28\nMon\n29\nTue\n30\nWed\n1\nThu\n2\nFri\n3\nSat\n4\n\n\nOffice\n13th Sunday\nSS Peter & Paul\nWeekday\nWeekday\nWeekday\nSt Thomas\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nJud 2:1-13\nGal 1:11-2:10\nJud 2:14-28\nJud 3:1-10\nJud 4:1-15\nJob 23:1-12\nJud 5:1-24\n\n\nLauds\nEccles 12:1-8\nIsa 49:1-6\nEccles 12:9-14\nHosea 1:1-9\nHos 2:1-6\nIsa 43:8-13\nHos 2:7-12\n\n\nMass\n97\n591\n378\n379\n380\n593\n382\n\n\n1st\n2 Kgs 4:8-11\, 14-16a\nActs 12:1-11\nAmos 3:1-8; 4:11-12\nAmos 5:14-15\, 21-24\nAmos 7:10-17\nEph 2:19-22\nAmos 9:11-15\n\n\n2nd\nRom 6:3-4\, 8-11\n2 Tim 4:6-8\, 17-18\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 10:37-42\nMatt 16:13-19\nMatt 8:23-27\nMatt 8:28-34\nMatt 9:1-8\nJohn 20:24-29\nMatt 9:14-17\n\n\nVespers\nActs 3:1-10\n1 Peter 4:12-19\nEph 4:7-16\nEph 4:17-24\nEph 4:25-32\n1 Pet 1:3-9\nEph 5:1-5
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/15115/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260627
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260628
DTSTAMP:20260620T214322Z
CREATED:20260620T214322Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260620T214322Z
UID:15105-1782518400-1782604799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:A reading from “The Divine Motherhood” by \nANSCAR VONIER \n◊◊◊ \nLet us always bear in mind the great truth that the Blessed Virgin’s \nmaternity was a most natural maternity in the sense that she fully responded to \nit\, was not overwhelmed by it\, that there was no separation between her and her \noffspring; Christ came from her as her own dear child\, the fruit of her own \nblessed womb. I am right\, therefore\, in asserting that Mary’s maternal function \nin the conception of Christ was raised to an incredibly high plane of vitality so as \nto make her maternity not only an instrumental\, but a natural maternity. \nIf Mary’s mission had been merely to minister the human element to the \nWord when he became flesh\, her maternity would have been just instrumental; \nit would have existed only to serve a higher purpose. But Mary’s role is more \nthan that; she is permanently the Mother of God; her maternity is not a \ntransient ministration\, but an abiding dignity that makes her share with God the \nFather\, in literal truth\, the parenthood of Jesus Christ. \nA threefold hypothesis may make this point clearer still. We can think of a \nwoman being made a mother by the direct productive act of God; in that case the \noffspring of that mother would not be divine\, but human. Then there can be the \nconception in a woman’s womb of a divine person\, as happened in the \nincarnation\, but the woman being merely instrumental to the production of the \nbody; in such a case it would be divine maternity in the most restricted \nphysiological sense. Thirdly\, there is the glorious possibility of perfect divine \nmaternity with all the graces and privileges\, with all the rights and splendors\, of \none who shares to the full\, with God the Father\, the parenthood of the God \nIncarnate. Such is Mary’s maternity; such is the meaning of Elizabeth’s \nsalutation\, or rather the salutation of the Holy Spirit through the mouth of \nElizabeth\, when full of the divine Spirit she cried with a loud voice: Blessed are \nyou among women\, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And whence is this to \nme\, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? \nElizabeth was the first creature to call Mary “the Mother of God”; she gave \nus the grandest title of our Lady: “Mother of God.” The archangel\, indeed\, had \nsaid as much\, but only by implication; Elizabeth\, the happiest of human \nmothers\, has the privilege of having spoken for the first time the words “Mother \nof God.” When\, moreover\, in the same breath she calls blessed the Mother and \nthe fruit of her womb\, bestowing the same encomium on the two lives which \nwere not yet disjoined\, she gives us an additional reason for saying that Mary’s \nmaternity had been raised to the divine plane of dignity and perfection\, where \none and the same blessedness holds mother and offspring wrapped in a \nmatchless sanctity.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-the-bvm-11/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260626
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260627
DTSTAMP:20260620T214145Z
CREATED:20260620T214145Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260620T214145Z
UID:15103-1782432000-1782518399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nBALDWIN OF FORD \n◊◊◊ \nA person who is tempted by the flesh\, and who yields to this temptation\, \nhowever\, is someone who feels his passions and gives them his full consent. The \nmore carnal he is\, the more provision he makes for the flesh in gratifying its \ndesires. He does not give his consent to the spirit against the flesh but allies \nhimself with the flesh\, whose desires are opposed to the spirit. \nSuch a person loves wine and good things\, ease and security and plenty. \n[He loves] to be clothed in purple and fine linen and to feast sumptuously every \nday. Nor does he refuse his eyes whatever they desire. He allays all his desires \nimpulsively and willingly\, and whatever does not serve the delights of flesh he \nregards as vain. He reckons that the best thing for him is to enjoy good things in \nhis lifetime\, and he gains nothing more than this by all the toil at which he toils \nunder the sun. The end that carnal man will come to is shown in the gospel \nparable of the rich man and the poor man\, where it says\, “The rich man died and \nwas buried in hell.” And of Babylon it is written\, “As she exalted herself and lived \nin her delights\, so give her a like measure of torment and sorrow!” \nIt is better for us\, then\, to deliver such a man to death for the destruction \nof the flesh than to be drawn with him into the pit of destruction. Our flesh\, \ntherefore\, should be mortified and crucified\, so that the body of sin may be \ndestroyed. Such is in accord with the voice of the prophet speaking to the Lord: \n‘Pierce my flesh with your fear’. \nBecause it is said to carnal man\, ‘You have hated discipline\, If we can find \nno better cross on which to crucify carnal man than the austerity of regular \ndiscipline\, for the discipline which he hates is a torment to him. Regular \ndiscipline is a cross\, and the two pieces of wood from which it is built symbolize \nthe laws of abstinence and continence. Abstinence tempers gluttony\, and the \nlaw of continence restrains excess in all the senses of mind and body: and it is \nprecisely these things which are characteristic of the carnal man.’
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-439/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260625
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260626
DTSTAMP:20260620T214020Z
CREATED:20260620T214020Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260620T214020Z
UID:15101-1782345600-1782431999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nFRANCOIS MAURIAC \n◊◊◊ \nIt sometimes happens that I feel all the nearer to a believer\, to someone \ndevout\, the further away the person is from my own Church. This is a paradox \nonly in appearance. Faced with a Muslim or a Jew\, if they are devout\, I know in \nadvance\, even before they have spoken a word\, what it is that separates me from \nthem. The abyss that lies between us is\, in a way\, familiar to me. It could \ncontain nothing to surprise me. But what is unfamiliar to me\, and what I love to \ndiscover\, is this word of adoration which I suddenly recognize\, this prayer which \ncould have sprung from my own heart\, this love of the Father who is in heaven\, \nand sometimes\, even among certain Jews\, this attraction to Christ. \nI remember\, one day\, finding myself at table beside a young Jewish \nwoman\, and we spoke of these problems; she told me that she could not believe \nin the divinity of Christ; and suddenly her voice changed and she said in a \nmoving tone\, ‘But I love him’. \nOn the all too rare occasions when I am privileged to meet a true Israelite \nor a Muslim who is a mystic\, I think of all the many rooms that are in the \nFather’s House. And what I feel as regards a son of Israel\, or a son of the \nProphet\, I feel still more\, needless to say\, with Christians who belong to \ndifferent confessions but who live in Christ\, with those of my separated brethren \nwho have a living faith. \nI feel it again\, with certain souls who belong to no definite confession and \nwho live\, as Simone Weil lived\, on the borders of the Church; and the light \nwhich comes across to them and which those souls refract\, perhaps because it \ndoes not find expression in traditional forms\, is all the more enlightening to me. \nGrace here appears in its natural state\, outside all the means which are its usual \nchannel to us. It is rather like discovering that strangers know and love a secret \nplace in the forest which was the objective of our solitary walks. We wonder how \nthey came there by paths unknown to us.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-28/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260624
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260625
DTSTAMP:20260620T213846Z
CREATED:20260620T213809Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260620T213846Z
UID:15099-1782259200-1782345599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Nativity of St John the Baptist
DESCRIPTION:A reading by Johannes Tauler on \nTHE NATIVITY OF \nJOHN THE BAPTIST \n◊◊◊ \nWhen the Baptist said: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness\, make \nstraight the way of the Lord\,” he refers to the path of the virtues. This path is very \nstraight. And again he says that he is to prepare the Lord’s paths. Footpaths reach \nthe goal faster than public roads. The shortcut across the fields is indeed rougher \nand may lead one astray; and yet it is more direct than the open road. \nBeloved! Whoever would discover the paths leading to the ground\, he \nwould take the shortest and most direct way\, keeping all his energies to himself so \nas to be very attentive. For these paths are rugged\, dark\, and alien to our nature\, \nand only those who are sufficiently skilled can take them. If they are aware of this\, \nthey will not be put off by hurdles and hindrances or any other human anguish. \nQuite the opposite: Everything will point to the ground\, beckon\, and draw them \nthere. \nIn the same manner we should straighten the paths within ourselves\, the \npaths which lead our spirit to God\, and God to us. These relations also require \nskill\, and their difficulties are of a hidden nature. At this point many give up and \nbegin to run after exterior devotions and activities. They are like people starting \nfor Rome and taking the road to Holland. The more they advance\, the farther they \nget away from their destination. And when they return\, they are old and spent and \nno longer up to the tempestuous work of love. \nBeloved\, when we find ourselves in the tempests of love\, we should not \ndwell on our sins and failings. Our only concern should be that love’s work be \naccomplished. We can be overcome by this tempest even when our hearts appear \ncold\, disinterested and hard. Now more than ever we must adhere to love\, \nclinging to it in perfect faith\, freed and stripped of everything that is not love. \nConstantly long for it\, put your whole trust in it\, cleave to it\, and your experience \nwill be as powerful and overwhelming as is possible in this life. If your faith in love \nis imperfect\, your desire will fade away. Love will be extinguished\, and nothing \nwill come of it all. \nThis may seem very hard to you. The devil will allow you all the marks of a \nspiritual life\, but he will do everything in his power to deprive you of love’s true \nwitness. He will leave you with all kinds of treacherous love which many will \nmistake for the real thing. If they looked deeply into their ground\, they would see \nwhether their love was true or false. The one thing necessary is to give access to \nthe ground in order to be able to enter its depth. There you would find that grace \nwhich would incessantly raise you up. \nBut we often resist that voice until we make ourselves unworthy to ever \nreceive it again. This is due to complacency. If only we would respond to the \nglance of grace\, it would lead us to find such union with God that we would \nexperience in time the joy that will be ours in eternity\, as some have done before \nus. May God grant that we may all experience this…
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-nativity-of-st-john-the-baptist-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260623
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260624
DTSTAMP:20260620T213540Z
CREATED:20260620T213540Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260620T213540Z
UID:15097-1782172800-1782259199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from “The Mirror of Charity” by \nST AELRED OF RIEVAULX \n◊◊◊ \nNow let us examine quite carefully the measure to be observed in natural \nattachments. Just as it is clearly impossible not to allow this attachment\, so not \nto follow it is the summit of virtue. No one has ever hated himself\, and yet\, \n“anyone who comes to me”\, said the Savior\, “and does not hate his own life \ncannot be my disciple”. Likewise\, “anyone who comes to me and does not hate \nhis father and mother cannot be my disciple”. \nThe apostle\, on the other hand\, says: anyone who does not provide for his \nrelatives\, especially if they live with him\, has disowned the faith and is worse \nthan an unbeliever. What then? Should master and disciple\, servant and Lord\, \nvery Truth and Truth’s friend\, be thought to have had contrary points of view? \nFar from it! \nBetween these two loves about which we have spoken above\, a distinction \nmust be made: the one is according to attachment; the other according to \nreason. It is natural for a person to have an attachment for himself and his own \nrelatives\, but one ought not form his love according to attachment. It ought \nrather to be according to reason. This attachment was meant when the apostle \nsaid\, “no one has ever hated his own flesh”. Yet love according to attachment is \nforbidden on the authority of the Savior himself\, who said\, “anyone who comes \nto me and does not hate his father and mother\, yes\, and even his own life\, cannot \nhe my disciple”. Love according to reason was indicated when the apostle said\, \n“anyone who does not provide for his relatives\, especially if they live with him\, \nhas disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever”. \nLove according to attachment was denounced when Paul\, foretelling ills \nto come\, said among other things: There will be persons who will love \nthemselves. The following words teach us that here he understood this as love \naccording to attachment: For there will be persons who love themselves\, who \nwill be avaricious\, proud\, who will love pleasure rather than God. Attachment \nalways suggests things that are pleasant and soft. It willingly embraces what is \ndelightful and tender\, what is pleasurable and delicate. But anything arduous \nand harsh\, anything that goes against self-will\, it flees in utter dread and avoids. \nHence\, following this attachment through is perverse love; it strips a \nperson of his humanness and vests him in animal form\, destroying in a way and \nhiding every trace of reason\, of integrity\, and ultimately\, of usefulness. This love \nis characteristic of beasts\, and excusable in children\, because reason has not \nbeen bestowed on the former and is dormant in the latter.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-438/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260622
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260623
DTSTAMP:20260620T213423Z
CREATED:20260620T213423Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260620T213423Z
UID:15095-1782086400-1782172799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nFR KARL RAHNER \n◊◊◊ \nThe doctrine of the Church of sinners is found explicitly or implicitly in \nother documents of the Second Vatican Council. In the Decree on Ecumenism it \nis admitted that for the separated brethren and for the world the face of the \nChurch is “less” resplendent because of the lack of Christian zeal and so the \ngrowth of God’s kingdom is retarded. The Church must everyday be ‘purified \nand renewed’ until she can present herself to Christ as the end ‘glorious and \nwithout spot or wrinkle’. \nTherefore there is no hesitation in addressing the church herself as the \nsubject of purification and renewal\, even if that from which she must be purified \nis indicated in somewhat too careful and mild a way (as a want of that ‘fervor’ \nwhich gives rise to the duty of striving after ‘perfectio christiana‘). But…an \nindication is also given that the want of ‘zeal’ and the necessity to strive after \n‘perfection’ have as their reason the sin within the Church. This becomes all the \nclearer when it is emphasized in this decree that this reformation must begin \nwith the ‘inner conversion’ to a ‘new mentality’. \nIt is true that a certain timidity becomes evident when the decree \nexplicitly speaks of the sins against unity and of the prayers for forgiveness\, \nwhere the subject of the sin and of the prayer for forgiveness is ‘we’ (no longer \nthe Church!). Similarly… the decree only speaks of the fact that the separations \nfrom the Catholic Church took place ‘not without the fault of men on either side’. \nHence there is fault also on the Catholic side\, but it is expressly laid at the door \nonly of her ‘men’\, which does not of course exclude a fault on the part of the \nChurch herself\, particularly since the persons immediately concerned in this \nfault are the officials of the Church who act juridically in the name of the \nChurch\, so that their fault affects the Church as such in a very palpable way. \nThe Church is indefectibly holy and therefore is repeatedly called with the \nCreed simply ‘Holy Church’. It is stated that the Church on earth has a true \nholiness though imperfect. One could be led from this into thinking simply that \nthe same is true of her holiness as is true of the holiness of the justified \nindividual: he is truly holy through the grace of justification but his holiness is \nstill in danger and has still to find its fulfillment and perfection. This holiness \nmust still be “actualized”. One could add that the decree furthermore explicitly \npresupposes that there are in the Church as a matter of fact such justified \npersons\, even persons in a state of great perfection.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-437/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260621
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260622
DTSTAMP:20260620T213309Z
CREATED:20260620T213309Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260620T213309Z
UID:15093-1782000000-1782086399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 12th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST AUGUSTINE \n◊◊◊ \nThanks be to that grain of wheat who freely chose to die and so be \nmultiplied! Thanks be to God’s only Son\, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ\, for \nwhom the enduring of our human death was not a thing to be scorned if it would \nmake us worthy of his life! Mark how alone he was before his passing: his is the \nvoice of the psalmist who said\, I am all alone until I depart from this place – a \nsolitary grain that nevertheless contained an immense fruitfulness\, a capacity to \nbe multiplied beyond measure. \nHow many other grains of wheat imitating the Lord’s passion do we find \nto gladden our hearts when we celebrate the anniversaries of the martyrs! Many \nmembers has that one grain\, all united by bonds of peace and charity under \ntheir one head\, our Savior himself\, and\, as you know from having heard it so \noften\, all of them form one single body. Their many voices can often be heard \npraying in the psalms through the voice of a single speaker calling on God as if \nall were calling together\, because all are one in him. \nLet us listen to their cry. In it we can hear the words of the martyrs who \nfound themselves hard pressed\, beset by danger from violent storms of hatred \nin this world\, a danger not so much to their bodies which\, after all\, they would \nhave to part with sometime\, but rather to their faith. If they were to give way\, if \nthey should succumb either to the harsh tortures of their persecutors or to love \nof this present life\, they would forfeit the reward promised them by the God who \nhad taken away all ground for fear. \nNot only had he said: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are \nunable to kill the soul; he had also left them his own example. The precept he \nhad enjoined on them he personally carried out\, without attempting to evade \nthe hands of those who scourged him\, the blows of those who struck him\, or the \nspittle of those who spat on him. Neither the crown of thorns pressed into his h \nead nor the cross to which the soldiers nailed him encountered any resistance \nfrom him. None of these torments did he try to avoid. Though he himself was \nunder no obligation to suffer them\, he endured them for those who were\, \nmaking his own person a remedy for the sick. And so the martyrs suffered\, but \nthey would certainly have failed the test without the presence of him who said: \nKnow that I am with you always\, until the end of time.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-12th-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260621
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260622
DTSTAMP:20260620T213156Z
CREATED:20260620T213156Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260620T213156Z
UID:15091-1782000000-1782086399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n12th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nJune 21 – 27\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n21\nMon\n22\nTue\n23\nWed\n24\nThu\n25\nFri\n26\nSat\n27\n\n\nOffice\n12th Sunday\nWeekday\nWeekday\nNativity of St John the Baptist\nOffice for Vocations\nWeekday\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nTob 11:1-18\nTob 12:1-22\nTob 13:1-18\nJerm 1:4-19\nTob 14:1-7\nTob 14:8-15\nJudith 1:1-16\n\n\nLauds\nEccles 8:14-17\nEccles 9:1-10\nEccles 9:11-18\nMalachi 3:19-24\nEccles 10:1-10\nEccles 10:11-20\nEccles 11:1-10\n\n\nMass\n94\n371\n372\n587\n374\n375\n376\n\n\n1st\nJer 20:10-13\n2 Kgs 17:5-8\, 13-15a\, 18\n2 Kgs 19:9b-11\, 14-21\, 31-35a\, 36\nIsa 49:1-6\n2 Kgs 24:8-17\n2 Kgs 25:1-12\nLam 2:2\, 10-14\, 18-19\n\n\n2nd\nRom 5:12-15\n\n\nActs 13:22-26\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 10:26-33\nMatt 7:1-5\nMatt 7:6\, 12-14\nLuke 1:57-66\, 80\nMatt 7:21-29\nMatt 8:1-4\nMatt 8:5-17\n\n\nVespers\nEph 2:11-22\nEph 3:1-7\nActs 13:15-26\n1 Jn 4:1-6\nEph 3:8-13\nEph 3:14-21\nEph 4:1-6
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-157/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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