Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey

Vigils Reading - St Martin de Porres
2022-11-03
A reading about the early life of St. Martin de Porres,
from a book by J. C. Kearns. 1

Martin de Porres was born in the royal city of Lima, Peru, South America, on December 9th, 1579. His father was a Spanish nobleman, a native of Burgos and a knight of the Order of Alcántara, who like so many of the conquistadores had come to America to advance his fortunes, spurred on by the almost unbelievable stories of the fabulous wealth of the Indies. His name was Don Juan, and in his travels in the New World he had met a beautiful Negro woman in Panama, names Ana Velázquez. She was the mother of Martin. The child definitely inherited the dark skin and features of his mother=s race, which quickly displeased the Spanish cavalier, Y and the proud father felt that the dignity of his family had been impaired and he lost much of the affection he had entertained for the child=s mother. YDon Juan finally deserted Ana after the birth of another child, a daughter named JuanaY.

Little Martin endured all the pangs and sorrows of being an unwanted childY and he was little given to play or to a manifestation of interest in childish trifles. He was deeply religious, finding a refuge from the unfavorable environment of his childhood at devotions in the neighboring church. The boy was especially generous to the poor, often distributing to beggars the basket of provisions which he had purchased in the market for his mother. When he returned home with an empty basket, his mother would scold and chastise him, but soon this unique little boy became the object of admiration in the section of the city where he dwelt.

At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to a barber. In those days a barber did much more than cut hair and trim beards. He was also a surgeon, a physician, a druggist. Little Martin was delighted, for now he could learn to be of real service to his beloved friends, the poor. He learned with great eagerness how do bind up wounds, to allay fevers, how to brew soothing drugs form herbs, how to set broken limbs, to make poultices, and generally, all the medical knowledge of that era for the relief of the diseases and ailments of humanity.Y

Martin was deeply appreciative of the helpful interest which the barber-surgeon who was his teacher manifested towards him, and his teacher in turn seemed to realize the great good that his young apprentice was destined to accomplish in the future. Through study and practical experience Martin learned from him all about the materia medica of those days. In his charity, the young man practiced his profession gratuitously; any fees which were voluntarily given to him he soon distributed to the indigent. His own needs were very few; he led a life of unselfish zeal in behalf of his beloved poor and sick.

The fame of this youthful doctor soon became a topic of conversation throughout all Lima. His skill as a physician, his evident self-forgetfulness, his intense interest in the welfare of his patients, the all-encompassing nature of his charity, his patent personal holiness, and manifold miraculous cures gave him a reputation from which in his modesty he naturally shrank. However, Martin=s success made him all the more grateful to Almighty God for thus giving him the opportunity of doing good to so many. Yet he sensed the need of a higher sanction for the program of his Christian social service,Y which he was [eventually] to find in all its fullness as a member of the Order founded by St. Dominic.

1
The Life of Blessed Martin de Porres, New York: P. J. Kenedy, 1937, pp. 12-17.

Vigils Reading - Memorial B.V.M.
2022-11-05
Mary as Star of the Sea – From a Homily by St. Bernard of Clairvaux [1]

“And the Virgin’s name was Mary”. Let us now say a few words about this name, which means ‘star of the sea’ and is so becoming to the Virgin Mother. Surely she is very fittingly likened to a star. The star sends forth its ray without harm to itself. In the same way the Virgin brought forth her son with no injury to herself. The ray no more diminishes the star’s brightness than does the son his mother’s integrity. She is indeed that noble star risen out of Jacob whose beam enlightens this earthly globe. She it is whose brightness both shines in the highest heaven and pierces the pit of hell, and is shed upon the earth, warming our hearts far more than our bodies, fostering virtue and cauterizing vice.

O you, whoever you are, who feel that in the tidal wave of this world you are nearer to being tossed about among the squalls and gales than treading on dry land, if you do not want to founder in this tempest, do not avert your eyes from the brightness of this star. When the wind of temptation blows up within you, when you strike upon the rock of tribulation, gaze up at this star, call out to Mary. Whether you are being tossed about by the waves of pride or ambition or slander or jealousy, gaze up at this star, call out to Mary. When rage or greed or fleshly desires are battering the skiff of your soul, gaze up at Mary. When the immensity of your sins weighs you down and you are bewildered by the loathsomeness of your conscience, when the terrifying thought of judgment appalls you and you begin to founder in the gulf of sadness and despair, think of Mary. In dangers, in hardships, in every doubt, think of Mary, call out to Mary. Keep her in your mouth, keep her in your heart. Follow the example of her life and you will obtain the favor of her prayer. Following her you will never go astray. Asking her help, you will never despair. Keeping her in your thoughts, you will never wander away. With your hand in hers, you will not be afraid. With her leading you, you will never tire. Her kindness will see you through to the end. Then you will know by your own experience how true it is that “the Virgin’s name was Mary”.

[1] Magnificat – Homilies in Praise of the Virgin Mary – Cistercian Fathers Series #18 – Cistercian Publications – Kalamazoo, MI – 1979 – p 30

Skema
2022-11-06
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
32nd Week in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (II)
November 6 – 12, 2022

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

Office
32nd Sunday
Weekday
St Elizabeth of the Trinity
Lateran Basilica
St Leo the Great
St Martin of Tours
Memorial of the BVM

Vigils
Ezra 1:1-10; 2:68-70
Ezra 3:1-13
Ezra 4:1-24
Exodus 40:1-34
Ezra 5:1-17
Ezra 6:1-12
Ezra 6:13-22

Lauds
Zeph 1:1-6
Zeph 1:7-13
Zeph 1:14-18
1 Macc 4:52-59
Zeph 2:1-7
Isa 58:6-12
Zeph 2:8-15

Mass
156
491
492
671
494
495
496

1st
2 Macc 7:1-2, 9-14
Titus 1:1-9
Titus 2:1-8, 11-14
Ezek 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
Phlm 7-20
2 John 4-9
3 John 5-8

2nd
2 Thess 2:16-3:5

1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17

Gospel
Luke 20:27-38
Luke 17:1-6
Luke 17:7-10
John 2:13-22
Luke 17:20-25
Luke 17:26-37
Luke 18:1-8

Vespers
1 Pet 4:7-11
1 Pet 4:12-19
1 Pet 5:1-7
Heb 10:19-25
1 Pet 5:8-14
Gal 6:1-5
Jude 1-7

Vigils Reading - 32nd Sun ORD
2022-11-06
Commentary on the Gospel of Luke by St. John Henry Newman 1
God spoke to Moses in the burning bush, and called himself the God of Abraham; and Christ tells us that in this simple announcement was contained the promise that Abraham should rise again from the dead. In truth, if we may say it with reverence, the all-wise, all-knowing God cannot speak without meaning many things at once. He sees the end from the beginning; he understands the numberless connections and relations of all things one with another. Look at Christ’s words, and this same character of them will strike you; whatever he says is fruitful in meaning, and refers to many things. It is well to keep this in mind when we read the scripture.
When God called himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He implied that these holy patriarchs were still alive, though they were no more seen on earth. This may seem evident at first sight; but it may be asked how the text proves that their bodies would live; for, if their souls were still living, that would be enough to account for their being still called in the Book of Exodus servants of God. Our Blessed Lord seems to tell us that in some sense or other Abraham’s body might be considered still alive as a pledge of his resurrection, though it was dead in the common sense in which we apply the word. His announcement is, Abraham shall rise from the dead, because in truth he is still alive. He cannot in the end be held under the power of the grave, any more than a sleeping man can be kept from waking. Abraham is still alive in the dust, though not risen thence. He is alive because all God’s saints live in him, though they seem to perish.
We are apt to talk about our bodies as if we knew how or what they really were; whereas we only know what our eyes tell us. They seem to grow, to come to maturity, to decay; but after all we know no more about them than meets our senses. We have no direct cognizance of what may be called the substantive existence of the body, only of its accidents. Again, we are apt to speak of soul and body, as if we could distinguish between them, and knew much about them; but for the most part we use words without meaning. It is useful to make the distinction, and scripture makes it; but after all scripture speaks of our nature, in a religious sense, as one. Soul and body make up one person, which is born once and never dies. Philosophers of old time thought the soul indeed might live forever, but that the body perished at death; but Christ tells us otherwise. He tells us the body will live forever. In the text he seems to intimate that it never really dies; that we lose sight indeed of what we are accustomed to see, but that God still sees the elements of it which are not exposed to our senses.
God graciously called himself the God of Abraham. He did not say the God of Abraham’s soul, but simply of “Abraham”. He blest Abraham and gave him eternal life; not to his soul only, without his body, but to Abraham as one man.
1Journey with the Fathers – Year C – New City Press – N.Y. – 1997 – pg 132

Vigils Reading
2022-11-07
A READING ABOUT THE RETURN FROM EXILE AND THE
REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE, from a Commentary on the Book of Ezra by St Bede the Venerable[1]

Those who united their efforts to rebuild the temple, worked with such unanimity, says holy scripture, they “worked as one man”. May we be always able to imitate such noble conduct, each in his or her order, while building holy Church. Note, and carefully remember, how much good the exile brought to the people: never before had they shown such eagerness in the accomplishment of their religious duties as they manifested on their return. And today many who live negligently in the peace of the Church suddenly err and commit some shameful deed; but it turns out for their good because after their fall they repent and begin to serve God more vigilantly.

Therefore all the people returning from Babylon to Jerusalem worked diligently at the restoration of the temple, especially the Levites and the tribe of Juda. Thus it was the tribe of the priests and that of the king who played the principal part in the construction of the temple: a beautiful image of the double dignity, royal and sacerdotal, of the Church.

“So at last the masons laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple. There stood the priests in full array with their trumpets; there stood the Levites and the whole people raised a great shout thanking the Lord. Among the priests and Levites and chiefs of clans there were many older persons who had seen the earlier temple when it stood built there, and they cried aloud in lament, while these others shouted aloud with joy.” (Ezra 9:10-12) What joy indeed to see the temple, which had been destroyed, now being rebuilt! What tears, what sorrow to see how the rising walls differed from the magnificence of the first temple which witnessed to the power of Solomon. It is true that the prophet said: “Bright this new temple shall be, he tells you, as never the first was” (Ag 2:9), but this superiority did not lie in the size or the adorning of the building; it lay deeper, because it was a greater miracle and evidence of the divine power, that a few captives, despite the opposition of their enemies, could carry out such a work, while the opulent king Solomon who had no adversaries and enjoyed the help of the rich and powerful king of Tyre and the services of skilled workers, had only to command and his wishes were carried out.

“Nothing would serve the neighboring folk after that but they must thwart Juda’s purpose and interfere, as best they could, with the enterprise”. (Ezra 4:4-5) It is easy for anyone to see that this applies allegorically to the Church: disbelievers seize every opportunity of hurting her, both by false accusations and by force of arms; they do not scruple even to secure the support of non-Christian powers against her.

“But the God of Israel had still the prophets, Aggaeus, and Zacharias son of Addo, to give his message to the Jews, now that they had returned to their own country and city. With these prophets to aid them, Zorobabel son of Salathiel and Josua son of Josedec did set about providing the Lord with a sacred temple at Jerusalem”.(Ezra 5:1-2) Let us admire the spirit of these prophets, who commanded the temple to be rebuilt against the orders of the king, against the Samaitans, against all the people round about who tried to hinder the building. But also admire Zorobabel and the people with him, who showed no less faith in listening rather to the commands of the prophets, than to the interdict of the king.
[1]From the Expostion of Esdras & Nehemias–Trans. from Lectionary & Martyrology, ed. Encalcat Abbey, Dourgne-Tarn 1956, 408-409.

Vigils Reading - St Elizabeth of the Trinity
2022-11-08
Writings from the Journal of St Elizabeth of the Trinity [1]

It seems to me that the soul that is aware of its greatness enters into that “holy freedom of the children of God” of which the apostle speaks, that is, it transcends all things, including self/ The freest soul, I think, is the one most forgetful of self. If anyone were to ask me the secret of happiness, I would say it is no longer to think of self, to deny oneself always. That is a good way to destroy pride: let it starve to death! You see, pride is a love of ourselves; well, love of God must be so strong that it extinguishes all our self-love. St. Augustine says that we have two cities within us, the city of God and the city of SELF. To the extent that the first increases, the second will be destroyed. A soul that lives by faith in God’s presence, that has this “single eye” that Christ speaks of in the gospel, that is, a purity of intention that seeks only God; this soul, it seems to me, would also live in humility: it would recognize His gifts to it – for “humility is truth: – but it would attribute nothing to itself, referring all to God as the Blessed Virgin did.
All the movements of pride that you feel within yourself only become faults when the will takes part in them! Without that, although you may suffer much, you are not offending God. Doubtless self-love is at the bottom of those faults which you commit without thinking, but that ism in a way part of us. What God asks of you is never to entertain deliberately any thought of pride, and never to act on the inspiration of pride, for this is wrong. And yet, if you find yourself doing either of these, you must not become discouraged, for again, it is pride that is irritated. You must “display your misery” like Magdalene at the Master’s feet, and ask Him to set you free. He loves to see a soul recognize its weakness. Thejn, as a great saint said, “The abyss of God’s immensity encounters the abyss of the creature’s nothingness” and God embraces this nothingness.
[1] The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity – vol one – ICS Puublications – 1984 – pg 124

Vigils Reading - Lateran Basilica
2022-11-09
A reading about the origins of the Basilica of Saint John the Baptist,
commonly known as the Lateran. 1

The blessed Pope Sylvester I instituted the rites which the Roman Church observes in consecrating churches and altars. For although from the ages of the apostles places had been dedicated to God where assemblies were held every Sabbath, yet those places had not been consecrated by a solemn rite before this. Up to the time of Sylvester an altar was not erected under title, which, anointed with chrism, symbolizes our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Altar, our Victim, our Priest.

But when the Emperor Constantine obtained health and salvation through the sacrament of Baptism, then for the first time, by an edict published by him, the Christians throughout the world were permitted to build churches; he himself encouraged this holy building by his own example, as well as by this edict. For in his own Lateran palace he dedicated a church to the Savior and founded adjacent to it a Basilica, under the tile of St. John the Baptist, on the very spot where he had been baptized by St. Sylvester and cleansed from the leprosy of unbelief. This basilica the same Pope consecrated on November 9, and the memory of this consecration is celebrated today, when, for the first time, a church was publicly consecrated at Rome, and there appeared to the Roman people an image of the Savior depicted on the wall.

Although later on St. Sylvester decreed that from that time forward all altars should be built of stone, yet the altar of the Lateran Basilica was built of wood. This is not surprising. For since, from St. Peter down to Sylvester, because of persecutions, the Pontiffs could not dwell in any fixed abode, they offered the Holy Sacrifice [of the Mass] wherever necessity compelled them, whether in crypts or in cemeteries, or in the homes of the faithful, upon a wooden altar which was hollow like a chest.

When this altar had been placed in the first church, the Lateran, St. Sylvester decreed that from that time on, no one except the Roman Pontiff should celebrate Mass upon it, in honor of the Prince of the Apostles and of the rest of the Popes who had been accustomed to use it. This same church, having been destroyed by fires, pillaging, and earthquakes, and repaired by the laborious effort of the Supreme Pontiffs, was afterwards rebuilt anew. Pope Benedict XIII, a Dominican, consecrated it on April 28, 1726, by a solemn rite.
1
adapted from The Lessons of the Temporal Cycle and the Principal feasts of the Sanctoral Cycle According to the Monastic Breviary, compiled and adapted for the Office of the Brothers of St. Meinrad=s Abbey, St. Meinrad, IN, 1943, pp. 508-509.

Vigils Reading - St Leo the Great
2022-11-10
A Reading from a Sermon on Christian Sharing, by St. Leo the Great.[1]

It is a great and very precious thing, beloved, in the Lord’s sight, when Christ’s whole people engage together in the same duties, and all ranks and degrees of either sex co-operate with the same intent: when one purpose animates all alike of declining from evil and doing good; when God is glorified in the works of God’s servants, and the Author of all godliness[2] is blessed in unstinted giving of thanks.
The hungry are nourished, the naked are clothed, the sick are visited, and people seek not their own but “that which is another’s,” so long as in relieving the misery of others each one makes the most of one’s own means; and it is easy to find “a cheerful giver,” where one’s performances are only limited by the extent of one’s power.
By this grace of God, “which works all in all,” the benefits and the deserts of the faithful are both enjoyed in common. For they, whose income is not like, can yet think alike, and when one rejoices over another’s bounty, his feelings put him on the same level with him whose powers of spending are on a different level.
In such a community there is no disorder nor diversity, for all the members of the whole body agree in one strong purpose of godliness, and one who glories in the wealth of others is not put to shame by personal poverty. For the excellence of each portion is the glory of the whole body, and when we are all led by God’s Spirit, not only are the things we do ourselves our own but those of others also over the doing of which we rejoice…
But because we possess this greatness of heart, and yet it is truly a pious thing for each one not to forsake the care of one’s own, we, without prejudice to the more perfect sort, lay down for you this general rule and exhort you to perform God’s bidding according to the measure of your ability.
For cheerfulness becomes one who is benevolent, who should so manage liberality that while the poor rejoice over the help supplied, home needs may not suffer. “And he who ministers seed to the sower shall provide bread to be eaten and multiply your seed and increase the fruits of your righteousness.”[3]
[1]Sermon 78, 4-5. cf. Christian Readings II p.311
[2]Totius pietatis auctori: cf. Collect for 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, which is based on that in the Gregorian Sacramentary.
[3]2Cor 9:10

Vigils Reading - St Martin of Tours
2022-11-11
A Reading About St. Martin of Tours,
from a letter of St. Pope John 23rd.[1]

If St. Martin was a bishop and a zealous pastor who can well be imitated in the practice of charity, he was also and first of all a monk. You might even say that the only reason he was such a marvelous man of action was that he was first of all a man of prayer. And from this point of view too, he has a great lesson to give to the Christians of today.
Eager for solitude and union with God, this giant of the apostolate lived in constant prayer: “he never turned his mind away from prayer,” according to the expression -later picked up by the liturgy- of his contemporary and first biographer Sulpicius Severus, who adds that once he was elevated to the episcopacy, the servant of God “remained what he had been before and bore the dignity of bishop without abandoning the design of life and the virtue of a monk.”[2]
Was not his principal means of evangelization to found churches and monasteries everywhere?…And thus it was that, thanks to him, monasticism was introduced into France.
Throwing light on this side of the activity of the great convert-maker is a way of reminding us of the immense benefits that the monks brought to their country; it is a way of drawing their attention, which is so easily distracted at the present time by the agitated pace of modern life, back to the lasting greatness and beauties of monastic life; it is a way of inviting them to hold this form of life, and, in general, the grace of a religious vocation, high in their esteem…
The example of St. Martin, which has been confirmed by the experience of centuries, shows what invaluable instruments for spiritual elevation cloisters are in Christian society and what an effective contribution they make to the apostolate of the Church….
May the great Bishop, model of the monk and the pastor, succeed in stirring up a new spirit of fervor for the service of God.
[1]Letter to the Archbp. of Tours on the occasion of the French “Martin of Tours Year,” Dec. 10, 1960. Cf. Christian Readings II, p.312.
[2]PL 20, 166.

Vigils Reading - B.V.M.
2022-11-12
A Reading about the Mary, the Model of Christian Death & Resurrection, from a book by Fr Hans Urs von Balthasar.[1]

Just as Mary was redeemed in advance so that the Word could become Flesh, so too–now that heaven is accessible to us through Christ’s death and resurrection–the holy City, the universal Church, the Communion of Saints is there already in full perfection, so that those who are sanctified can be incorporated into it. All of this results from an in-depth meditation on the biblical texts if they are seen alongside each other and if their interior consequences are thought through. It is not of moment that the insight into this perfecting of Mary cannot be traced back to the very earliest Christian centuries: the thorough reflection on revelation and its deeper implications requires a certain span of time. And the hidden truth concerning Mary-the Church entered very early as an essential aspect of the truth about the Son of the Father and the conditions for his incarnation not only into the consciousness of isolated theologians, but of the Christian people which has the instinct for the faith.

Surely it cannot be doubted that Mary really died a human death; she did not simply pass from an earthly into a heavenly state. Even if death, as we know it today, “came into the world through sin”, nevertheless Christ took precisely this death of sin upon himself in order to expiate it from within and transform it into an act of free self-surrender to the Father.

If we learn to die from her who learned to die in the manner of her Son, then we need not be worried about what will become of our human totality after our death. It will be God’s business that we reach him not as mere halves of ourselves, but as whole persons. With Christ and with Mary the created world has already been taken up into transformation and transfiguration, and the Last Day has already begun. World history does indeed continue still, but in eternal life there is no time that corresponds to historical time. We cannot, of course, plumb the mystery of our bodily resurrection; it is quite enough for us to know that the heavenly City–Christ, Head and Body, Christ, Bridegroom and Bride–will be there corporeally when we make our crossing to take us up into itself. And just as this Christ in heaven is, at the same time, the Christ who distributes himself eucharistically on earth and thus builds up the earthly Church, so even our heavenly joy will in part consist in our working with Christ in the perfecting of our earthly brothers and sisters and in our being connecting links between earth and heaven.

[1]“The Threefold Garland”, San Francisco, 1982, 129-132.

SKEMA
2022-11-13
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
33rd Week in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (II)
November 13 – 19, 2022

Sun
13
Mon
14
Tue
15
Wed
16
Thu
17
Fri
18
Sat
19

Office
33rd Sunday
Weekday
Gethsemani Church
St Gertrude the Great
Weekday
Office for Vocations
Memorial of the BVM

Vigils
Ezra 7:11-28
Ezra 8:21-36
Rev 21:9-22:5
Ezra 9:1-15
Ezra 10:1-17
Song 1:1-17
Song 2:1-17

Lauds
Zeph 3:1-7
Zeph 3:8-13
Ezek 37:21-28
Zeph 3:14-20
Mal 1:1-5
Mal 1:6-10
Mal 1:11-14

Mass
159
497
701.2, 704.2, 706.4
499
500
501
502

1st
Mal 3:19-20a
Rev 1:1-4; 2:1-5
2 Chron 5:6-10, 13-6:2
Rev 4:1-11
Rev 5:1-10
Rev 10:8-11
Rev 11:4-12

2nd
2 Thess 3:7-12

Eph 2:19-22

Gospel
Luke 21:5-19
Luke 18:35-43
John 4:19-24
Luke 19:11-28
Luke 19:41-44
Luke 19:45-48
Luke 20:27-40

Vespers
Jude 8-16
2 Cor 6:14-7:1
Heb 3:1-6
Jude 17-25
1 Cor 15:1-11
1 Cor 15:12-19
Rev 3:14-22

Vigils Reading - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
2022-11-13
NT-LK34
11.13.22
A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke by Nilus of Ancyra 1
In time of trial it is of great profit to us patiently to endure for God’s sake, for the Lord says: By patient endurance you will win life for yourselves. He did not say by your fasting, or your solitude or silence, or your singing of psalms, although all these are helpful in saving your soul. But he said: By patient endurance in every trial that overtakes you, and in every affliction, whether this be insolent and contemptuous treatment, or any kind of disgrace, either small or great; whether it be bodily weakness, or the belligerent attacks of Satan, or any trial whatsoever caused either by other people or by evil spirits.
By patient endurance you will win life for yourselves, although to this must be added wholehearted thanksgiving and prayer, and humility. For you must be ready to bless and praise your benefactor, God the Savior of the world, who disposes all things, good or otherwise, for your benefit.
The apostle writes: With patient endurance we run the race of faith set before us. For what has more power than virtue? What more firmness or strength than patient endurance? Endurance, that is, for God’s sake. This is the queen of virtues, the foundation of virtue, a haven of tranquility. It is peace in time of war, calm in rough waters, safety amidst treachery and danger. It makes those who practice it stronger than steel. No weapons or brandished bows, no turbulent troops or advancing siege engines, no flying spears or arrows can shake it. Not even the host of evil spirits, nor the dark array of hostile powers, nor the devil himself standing by with all his armies and devices will have power to injure the man or woman who has acquired this virtue through Christ.
1Journey with the Fathers – Year C – New City Press – NY – 1997 – pg 134

Vigils Reading - Weekday
2022-11-14
OT-EZRA02
11.14.22
A Commentary on the Book of Ezra by St Bede [1]

The mystery of the unfinished stones is undoubtedly plain, since we have seen that God’s church is built not only by those who by repenting regain their senses and return to the life of holiness that they had previously squandered by sinning, but also from those who have recently been called to the faith, arranged by the instruction of teachers as though with the measuring rod of builders and so inserted into the edifice of the Lord’s house in a place appropriate to themselves. Yet the fact that the temple was built from both old and new stones, that is, both from stones that had been finished long previously and from those that had remained unfinished for longer, can also be rightly interpreted as corresponding to the fact that the church of Christ is assembled from both peoples, namely Jews and Gentiles – the Jews who long since had been as though finished through knowledge and mindfulness of God’s law, the Gentiles who, being enslaved to idolatry had not by any industry of spiritual architects or any cultivation of piety divested themselves of the ugliness of a rustic and earthly mind.
Since the rebuilding of the house after their captivity, as has often been said, designates the correction of those who through sin have wandered from the path of truth that they had only just set out on, it is fitting that when the temple has been restored in this way it is dedicated by the priests and Levites and the rest of the descendants of the exiles with joy. For when those who have sinned are set straight, there is great joy in heaven in the presence of the angels of God; there is joy also for the teachers who have labored for the salvation of those who go astray, and there is joy for all those who have migrated in their thoughts and deeds from Babylon – i.e. from the confusion of sinners to the citadel of the virtues , which is truly the promised land. So both the priests and the Levites and all the people rejoice in the dedication of the Lord’s restored house because all the orders of holy Church must share in the rejoicing when those who have sinned are reconciled by repenting. They offer victims for this dedication when they bring vows of thanks to God for the efforts of sinners to lead a holy life and when many observing their life devoted to God, are themselves spurred on to works of greater virtue.
[1] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture – Old Testament – V = OnterVarsity Press – Downers Grove, IL – 2008 = pg 317

Vigils Reading - Dedication Gethsemani Basilica
2022-11-15
11SN1603
11/15/22
FROM THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ST. GERTRUDE THE GREAT[1]

O love, the fruition of you is that worthiest coupling of your Word and the soul which is brought about by perfect union with God. To use you is to become intertwined in God. To enjoy you is to be one with God. You are that peace which surpasses all understanding and you are the road by which one comes to the inner chamber.
Oh, if only it happened to me, too, miserable as I am, to repose for a moment under your dearest cloak of cherishing-love so that my heart might be emboldened by one consolatory utterance of your living Word, or that my soul might hear this good and pleasant word from your mouth: ‘I am your salvation; behold, now the bedchamber of my heart is open to you.’
Why, then, O love so unwavering, have you deeply loved someone so foul, so ugly, if not to make her beautiful in you? Your loving-kind charity attracts and allures me, O tender flower of the virgin Mary.
Let me not be confounded in my expectation but grant me to find rest for my soul in you. I have found nothing more desirable, I have judged nothing more lovable, I have wished for nothing more dear than to be held tight, O love, in your embraces, to rest under the wings of my Jesus, and to dwell in the tabernacle of divine charity.
O love, O radiant noonday, I would die a thousand times to be at rest in you. If only you would bend to me your face of such beautiful cherishing-love, O dearest one.
Oh, if I were granted to come exceedingly close to you so that I might now find myself not only next to you but within you. Then, through you, sun of justice, flowers of all the virtues might arise in me, who am dust and ashes. With you as a husband, my Lord, such fecundity might enter my soul that the renowned offspring of total perfection would be born in me. Then, having been snatched from the valley of this misery, I might be able to glory in you forever in the presence of your desirable face; for you, mirror without spot, have not scorned to be, in truth, coupled with a sinner like me.

[1]SPIRITUAL EXERCISES, by St Gertrude the Great, Trans. by G. J. Lewis & J. Lewis (Cistercian Publications Kalamazoo 1989) pp. 78-79.

Rule of Benedict: Reflection 7 pm CT
2022-11-15 19:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
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Chapter 37: On the Old and Children
Although human nature itself is drawn to special kindness towards these times of life, that is towards the old and children, still the authority of the Rule should also provide for them. Let their weakness be always taken into account, and let them by no means be held to the rigor of the Rule with regard to food. On the contrary, let a kind consideration be shown to them, and let them eat before the regular hours.

Vigils Reading - St Gertrude the Great
2022-11-16
11SN1603
11/16/22

FROM THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ST. GERTRUDE THE GREAT[1]

O love, the fruition of you is that worthiest coupling of your Word and the soul which is brought about by perfect union with God. To use you is to become intertwined in God. To enjoy you is to be one with God. You are that peace which surpasses all understanding and you are the road by which one comes to the inner chamber.
Oh, if only it happened to me, too, miserable as I am, to repose for a moment under your dearest cloak of cherishing-love so that my heart might be emboldened by one consolatory utterance of your living Word, or that my soul might hear this good and pleasant word from your mouth: ‘I am your salvation; behold, now the bedchamber of my heart is open to you.’
Why, then, O love so unwavering, have you deeply loved someone so foul, so ugly, if not to make her beautiful in you? Your loving-kind charity attracts and allures me, O tender flower of the virgin Mary.
Let me not be confounded in my expectation but grant me to find rest for my soul in you. I have found nothing more desirable, I have judged nothing more lovable, I have wished for nothing more dear than to be held tight, O love, in your embraces, to rest under the wings of my Jesus, and to dwell in the tabernacle of divine charity.
O love, O radiant noonday, I would die a thousand times to be at rest in you. If only you would bend to me your face of such beautiful cherishing-love, O dearest one.
Oh, if I were granted to come exceedingly close to you so that I might now find myself not only next to you but within you. Then, through you, sun of justice, flowers of all the virtues might arise in me, who am dust and ashes. With you as a husband, my Lord, such fecundity might enter my soul that the renowned offspring of total perfection would be born in me. Then, having been snatched from the valley of this misery, I might be able to glory in you forever in the presence of your desirable face; for you, mirror without spot, have not scorned to be, in truth, coupled with a sinner like me.
[1]SPIRITUAL EXERCISES, by St Gertrude the Great, Trans. by G. J. Lewis & J. Lewis (Cistercian Publications Kalamazoo 1989) pp. 78-79.

Vigils Reading - Weekday
2022-11-17
Ot-EZRA03
11,17.22

A Commentary on the Book of Ezra by St Bede [1]

One should note the devotion of the people reformed after he captivity; when the feast that had been determined by the Lord’s law had been duly completed, they immediately came together of their own accord with fasting and with repentance, and they diligently carried out what on the days of sacred readings and rejoicing they had heard must be done by separating themselves in mind and body from fellowship of those who were proven to be alienated from the Lord and his worship, lest through the association and examples of the wicked they should again fall into the evils of captivity and hardship that, they discerned, they had just at that time barely escaped after long revolutions of times and ages. And what are we tp reflect on mystically about these matters except that, following the examples of such people, whatever we have learned in a public meeting or reading should be done, we should reflect on again with mutual discussion among ourselves. And we should stretch out with careful scrutiny the ways we can fulfill each day with the reproof of our heart and body.
And they rose up to stand, and they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God four times a day and four times a night they confessed and prayed to the Lord their Hod. For who would not be amazed that such a great people had such extraordinary concern for devotion that four times a day – that is, at the first hour of the morning, the third, the sixth and the ninth, when time was to be made for prayer and psalmody – they gave themselves over to ,listening to the divine law in order to renew their mind in God and come back purer and more devout for imploring his mercy but also four times a night they should shake off their sleepiness and get up in order to confess their sins and to beg pardon. From this example, I think, a most beautiful custom has developed in the church, namely, that through each hour of daily psalmody a passage from the Old or New Testament is recited by heart for all to hear, and thus strengthened by the words of the apostles or prophets, they bend their knees to perseverance in prayer, but also at night when people cease from the labors of doing good works, they turn willing ears to listen to divine readings.
And Ezra said, “You yourself, O Lord, you alone made the heaven, the heaven of heavens, and all their host, the earth and all that is in it,” and so on up until the end of his prayer or confession. It was said above they were confessing their sins and the sins of their ancestors; here, when Ezra prays, it is shown more fully how this was done. But whereas he says at the end, “Because of all this, therefore we ourselves are making a covenant and writing it down, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are signing it. : and so on; it is shown more clearly with what gracious devotion all the various persons made a new assembly after the feast of the Tabernacles, namely, so that after purging themselves with resolved purpose from the contagions of their wrongdoings, they might unite themselves to the divine covenant and confirm its terms in word and writing. Thus separated from association of the ungodly, they would more confidently complete the word they began long ago, that is, to choose citizens from among the devout who were suitable to rebuild the city.
[1] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture – Old Testament – vol. V – InterVarsity Press –Downers Grove, IL – 2008 – pg 359

Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
2022-11-18
CF41~156.wpd
11.18.2022

From Tractate 15 on the Cenobitic or Common Life, by Baldwin of Ford (CF 41:156-157)

It is by no slight or mean or ordinary authority that the institution of the common life is supported and sustained. The primitive Church was built on the common life, and the infancy of the newborn Church began with the common life. It is from the Apostles themselves that the common life has received its form and expression, its title of honor, the privilege of its high position, the testimony of its authority, the protection which defends it, and the foundation of its hope.
It was the Apostles who were established by God as princes over all the earth; princes of the people, gathered together with the God of Abraham; strong gods of the earth who are exceedingly exalted; friends of God, who are greatly honored and whose principality is greatly strengthened; nobles of heaven, judges of the earth, to whom was made the promise that they should sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel; members of the [celestial] senate, who receive swords in their hands to execute vengeance upon the nations and chastisements upon the people, to bind their kings with fetters and their nobles with manacles of iron, to execute upon them the prescribed judgement.
Such men as these, so powerful and so noble, were clothed in virtue from above, and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit they undertook to observe the common life. They confirmed it by their example, sanctioned it by their conduct, and handed it down to us so that we might also keep it. Thus, through the common life, we who are set upon the earth can begin to be fashioned in the likeness of the angels of God, for in the eternal life to come, we shall be united with them as their like and their equal. The common life was instituted by celestial models; it was brought down from heaven and adopted by us from the heavenly way of life of the holy angels.
If the fact that the common life came down from the angels of God to the Apostles and from the Apostles to us is still not sufficient to recommend it to you, then there is a further factor which we can add, something beyond all praise: the common life flowed out from the Fount of Life itself. I am speaking now of that fount of which it is written, With you is the fount of life, and in your light we shall see light. The common life, then, is a sort of radiance from the eternal light, a sort of emanation from the eternal life, a sort of effluence from the everlasting fountain, from which flow living waters, springing up into eternal life.

Vigils Reading - Memorial B.V.M.
2022-11-19
MY63
11.19.22
From a Letter by St. Athanasius, Bishop[1]
The Apostle tells us: the Word took to himself the children of Abraham, and so had to be like his brothers and sisters in all things. He had then taken a body like ours. This explains the fact of Mary’s presence: she is to provide him with a body of his own, to be offered for our sake. Scripture records her giving birth, and says: She wrapped him in swaddling clothes. Her breasts, which fed him, were called blessed. Sacrifice was offered because the child was her firstborn. Gabriel used careful and prudent language when he announced his birth. He did not speak of “what will be born in you” to avoid the impression that a body would be introduced into her womb from outside; he spoke of “what will be born from you,” so that we might know by faith that her child originated within her and from her.
By taking our nature and offering it in sacrifice, the Word was to destroy it completely and then to invest it with his own nature, and so prompt the Apostle to say: This corruptible body must put on incorruption; this mortal body must put on immortality.
This was not done in outward show only, as some have imagined. This is not so. Our Savior truly became human, and from this has followed the salvation of humanity as a whole. Our salvation is in no way fictitious, nor does it apply only to the body. The salvation of the whole person, that is, of soul and body, has really been achieved in the Word himself.
What was born of Mary was therefore human by nature, in accordance with the inspired Scriptures, and the body of the Lord was a true body: It was a true body because it was the same as ours. Mary, you see, is our sister, for we are all born from Adam.
The words of St. John: The Word was made flesh, bear the same meaning, as we can see from a similar phrase in Saint Paul: Christ was made a curse for our sake. The human body has acquired something great through its communion and union with the Word. From being mortal it has been made immortal; though it was a living body, it has become a spiritual one; though it was made from the earth it has passed through the gates of heaven.
Even when the Word takes a body from Mary, the Trinity remains a Trinity, with neither increase nor decrease. It is forever perfect. In the Trinity we acknowledge one Godhead, and thus one God, the Father of the Word, is proclaimed in the Church.
[1]Liturgy of the Hours I, St. Athanasius, Catholic Book Publ., 1975,p484

Skema: Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
2022-11-20
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
34th Week in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (II)
November 20 – 26, 2022

Sun
20
Mon
21
Tue
22
Wed
23
Thu
24
Fri
25
Sat
26

Office
Christ the King
Presentation of the BVM
St Cecilia
St Columban
St Andrew & Companions
Thanksgiving
Weekday
Weekday

Vigils
Ezek 34:11-31
Song 3:1-11
Song 4:1-5:1
Song 5:2-6:3
Song 6:4-7:6
Song 7:7-8:4
Song 8:5-14

Lauds
Jerm 10:1-10
Mal 2:1-9
Mal 2:10-16
Mal 2:17-3:5
Mal 3:6-12
Mal 3:13-18
Mal 3:19-24

Mass
162
503
504
505
943.3, 944.3, 947.6
507
508

1st
2 Sam 5:1-3
Rev 14:1-3, 4b-5
Rev 14:14-19
Rev 15:1-4
Isa 63:7-9
Rev 20:1-4, 11-21:2
Rev 22:1-7

2nd
Col 1:12-20

Col 3:12-17

Gospel
Luke 23:35-43
Luke 21:1-4
Luke 21:5-11
Luke 21:12-19
Luke 17:11-19
Luke 21:29-33
Luke 21:34-36

Vespers
Eph 1:15-23
1 Cor 15:20-28
1 Cor 15:29-34
1 Cor 15:35-41
1 Cor 15:42-49
1 Cor 15:50-58
Rev 1:1-8

Vigils Reading: Christ the King
2022-11-20
A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke by St Bernard of Clairvaux 1
The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. These are the angel’s words to the Virgin concerning the son he had announced, promising that he would succeed to the kingdom of David. No one questions the origin of our Lord Jesus from the line of David, but how, I wonder, will God give him the throne of David, since Jesus never reigned in Jerusalem and would not consent to the crowds who would make him king – he even protested before Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world. Besides, what importance could be attached to his sitting on the throne of David his father when he was already seated on the cherubim, on a throne high and lifted up, as the prophet says? But we know that another Jerusalem is meant, different from the present one where David once reigned, a city much nobler and richer. God will indeed give him the throne of his father David when he has established him as king over Zion, his holy mountain – he will give him not a symbolic but a real throne, not a temporal but an eternal throne, not an earthly but a heavenly throne.
He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Again, if we take this in a temporal sense, how is it that Christ will reign for ever over something not eternal in itself? We must look, then, for a house of Jacob that is eternal, over which he will reign for ever. Are there any among us who, in accordance with the meaning of the name Jacob (supplanter), will supplant the devil in their hearts, struggle against their vices and desires, so that sin will not reign in their bodies, but Jesus only, through grace now, through glory for all eternity? Blessed are they in whom Jesus will reign for ever, for they shall reign with him, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Oh how glorious is that kingdom where kings are gathered together to give united praise and honor to the King of kings and Lord of lords, in the contemplation of whose splendor the just shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father. Oh that Jesus, out of the love he has for his people, may remember me, a sinner, when he comes into his kingdom! Oh that he may deign to come and save me on that day when he delivers up his kingdom to his God and Father, so that I may see the joy of his chosen ones and rejoice in the gladness of his people. Then I too shall be able to praise him together with his inheritance.
And now, Lord Jesus, come and remove the stumbling blocks within the kingdom which is my soul, so that you who ought to may reign in it. Greed comes along and claims its throne in me; arrogance would dominate me; pride would be my king. Comfort and pleasure say: “We shall reign!” Ambition, detraction, envy, anger fight within me for supremacy, and seem to have me entirely in their power. But I resist insofar as I can; I struggle against them insofar as I receive your help. I protest that Jesus is my Lord. I keep myself for him since I acknowledge his rights over me. To me he is God, to me he is Lord, and I declare: I will have no king but the Lord Jesus! Come then, Lord, rout them by your power and you will reign in me, for you are my king and my God, who grant victories to Jacob.
1Journey with the Fathers – Year C – New City Press – NY – 1997 – pg 136

Compline
2022-11-20 19:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
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Vigils Reading: Presentation B.V.M.
2022-11-21
The Virgin Mary and the Temple, by Fr. Yves Congar[1]
The only occasion on which the Gospels expressly mention the Virgin Mary in connection with the Temple are in the account of her Purification and of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (LK 2:23-38) and the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple after four days’ absence on his part and three anxious searching by his parents (LK 2:42-50). To these very brief indications, the piety of Christians very soon added the idea of the presentation of Mary in the Temple at the age of three to be consecrated to the service of God. We are dealing here with a symbolical representation of a profound spiritual reality about which the tradition and the doctrine of the Church provide us with valid information. Mary, predestined to be the Mother of Jesus, true God and true man, and to be worthy of her vocation, was prepared by the gift of exceptional graces and lived with unfailing fidelity a most pure life of inner consecration to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As the type of all faithful souls and of the Church herself, Mary expressed spiritually and supremely in her life the “presentation” which, for each one of us, is to begin by the service of faith and to be consummated in heaven.
It is obvious that the tradition and doctrine of the Church may, without falling prey to the imaginary productions of the apocrypha, propound statements concerning the status of the Mother of God in relation either to the Jewish messianic temple going far beyond what we are explicitly told in the three short passages from the Gospel which narrate the incidents mentioned above. If Mary is the Mother of God, she has a special relation to the body of Christ which is the true temple–to his physical body and doubtless also, in a certain sense, to his body the Church. She is herself a temple of God in a quite specific and sublime way, both because Christ was within her from the moment of his conception until that of his birth, and because of the exceptional spiritual gifts she received in preparation for her divine motherhood and as a reward for her free acceptance of this vocation (LK 1:38), not only after the Annunciation but during the whole of her life. Hence the liturgy–the Oriental liturgy in particular–shows a profound understanding of the mystery of Mary when it constantly uses the texts concerning the Temple and the tabernacle in order to express it.
[1]The Mystery of the Temple,Westminster(Maryland) 1962, p.254-255.

Vigils Reading: St. Cecilia
2022-11-22
A reading on St. Cecilia, from a homily by Ronald Knox. 1
The legends of the early Roman saints, among whom St. Cecilia is numbered, do not always command great attention from the critically minded historian. But whether the story of St. Cecilia as it is told in her acts is all true or only partly true, there is a simplicity about the whole story and a simplicity about St. Cecilia’s character in the story which demands a retelling. Let me remind you in the most general way of her story: how she was married to a young pagan called Valerian, but persuaded him to respect her vow of virginity, because her guardian angel would make him sorry for it if he did otherwise; how Valerian wanted to see this guardian angel, but Cecilia, with her innocent craft, said he could not do that unless he was baptized first; how he was baptized, and saw the angel at her side as she prayed; how he made a convert of his brother Tiburtius, and how first the two brothers, and then Cecilia herself were punished with death for professing the Christian religion. It is an old story, and a familiar one: and while we do all homage to other great saints for their public witness to Christ, we shall always need St. Cecilia as well, quietly working at home for the conversion of her own husband and his family.
Not that St. Cecilia herself was in the position of a modern wife. Like so many Christian ladies of her time, she had taken, in imitation of our blessed Lady, a vow of perpetual virginity. These virgin martyrs were martyrs because they were virgins: it was because they insisted on keeping their vow when their parents wished them to marry that the secret of their attachment to the Christian faith was discovered; and it was their persistency in maintaining it that led to their martyrdom. It would be hard to estimate, I think, how much the unpopularity in Roman society of the Christian faith owed to its tradition of virginity. Virginity is an ideal which the pagan had no right to misunderstand. For, in theory, they, too, honored it; and it should have commended itself to their heathen instinct for sacrifice. For the point of a sacrifice is that the victim should be spotless, the best of its kind. You must offer not what you can well afford to spare, but what will cost you something. That is the pagan idea of sacrifice; and the Christian idea of sacrifice is based on the same principle. In order to give up something to God, we forgo, not the sinful pleasures which we have no right to in any case, but the lawful pleasures which he has given us to enjoy if we will. So, let St. Cecilia’s feast remind us to take our Christian vocation seriously, to follow out in our lives the words we profess with our lips. And may this Roman maiden pray for us who worship here and for those who minister to us, that when Christ, the Master she served, comes again in judgment, we may be found blameless before almighty God.
1
ASt. Cecilia@, in Occasional Sermons, ed. by Philip Caraman, SJ; New York: Sheed and Ward, 1960, pp. 6-10.

Vigils Reading: St. Columban
2022-11-23
On Discretion. From the Rule of St. Columban for Monks.[1]
How necessary discretion is for monks is shown by the mistake of many, and indicated by the downfall of some, who beginning without discretion and passing their time without a sobering knowledge, have been unable to complete a praiseworthy life; since, just as error overtakes those who proceed without a path, so for those who live without discretion intemperance is at hand, and this is always the opposite of virtues which are placed in the mean between each extreme. Therefore we must pray God continually that He would bestow the light of true discretion to illumine this way, surrounded on every side by the world’s thickest darkness, so that His true worshippers may be able to cross this darkness without error to Himself. So discretion has got its name from discerning, for the reason that it discerns in us between good and evil, and also between the moderate and the complete. For from the beginning either class has been divided like light and darkness, that is, good and evil, after evil began through the devil’s agency to exist by the corruption of good, but through God’s agency Who first illumines and then divides.
What things then are good? Doubtless those which are untouched, and have remained in the undefiled state of their creation; which God alone created and prepared, according to the Apostle, that we should walk in them; which are the good works in which in Christ Jesus we were created, namely goodness, innocence, righteousness, justice, truth, pity, love, saving peace, spiritual joy, together with the fruit of the Spirit – all these with their fruits are good. Since this is so, the good must be firmly held by those that have God’s help, which is ever to be prayed for in prosperity and in adversity, lest either in prosperity we be lifted up to pride, or in adversity be cast down to despair. Thus we must always restrain ourselves from either danger, that is, from all excess by a splendid temperance and true discretion, which cleaves to Christian lowliness and opens the way of perfection to Christ’s true soldiers, namely by ever discerning rightly in doubtful cases.
Thus between the little and the excessive there is a reasonable measure in the midst, which ever recalls us from every superfluity on either side, and in every case provides what is universally fixed by human need, and spurns the unreasonable demand of superfluous desire. And this measure of true discretion, weighing all our actions in the scales of justice, in no way allows us to err from what is just, or to suffer a mistake, if we ever follow straight behind it as our leader. For while we must always restrain ourselves from either side, according to that saying: “Keep yourselves from the right and from the left,” we must ever proceed straight forward by discretion, that is, by the light of God, while very often we say and sing the victorious psalmist’s verse: “My God, enlighten my darkness, since in You I am rescued from temptation. For temptation is the life of humans on earth.”
[1] Sancti Columbani Opera. edited by G.S.M. Walker. The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. 1957. p.135.

Vigils Reading: St. Andrew & Companions--Thanksgiving
2022-11-24
The martyrs’ share in Christ’s victory,
from a letter of St Paul Le-Bao-Tinh. [1]
I, Paul, in chains for the name of Christ, wish to relate to you the trials besetting me daily, in order that you may be inflamed with love for God and join with me in his praises, “for his mercy is for ever.” The prison here is a true image of everlasting hell: to cruel tortures of every kind (shackles, iron chains, manacles) are added hatred, vengeance, calumnies, obscene speech, quarrels, evil acts, swearing, curses, as well as anguish and grief. But the God who once freed the three children from the fiery furnace is with me always; he has delivered me from these tribulations and made them sweet, “for his mercy is for ever.”
In the midst of these torments, which usually terrify others, I am, by the grace of God, full of joy and gladness, because I am not alone: Christ is with me. Our Master bears the whole weight of the cross, leaving me only the tiniest, last bit. He is not a mere onlooker in my struggle, but a contestant and the victor and champion in the whole battle. Therefore upon his head is placed the crown of victory, and his members also share in his glory.
How am I to bear with the spectacle, as each day I see emperors, mandarins, and their retinue blaspheming your holy name, O Lord, “who are enthroned above the Cherubim and Seraphim”? Behold, the pagans have trodden your cross underfoot! Where is your glory? As I see all this, I would, in the ardent love I have for you, prefer to be torn limb from limb and to die as a witness to your love. O Lord, show your power, save me, sustain me, that in my infirmity your power may be shown and may be glorified before the nations: grant that I may not grow weak along the way, and so allow your enemies to hold their heads up in pride.
Beloved brothers, as you hear all these things may you give endless thanks in joy to God, from whom every good proceeds; bless the Lord with me, “for his mercy is for ever.” “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor” on his lowly servant and from this day all generations will call me blessed, “for his mercy is for ever.”
“O praise the Lord, all you nations, acclaim him, all you peoples,” for “God chose what is weak in the world to confound the strong, God chose what is low and despised” to confound the noble. Through my mouth he has confused the philosophers who are disciples of the wise of this world, “for his mercy is for ever.” I write these things to you in order that your faith and mine may be united. In the midst of this storm I cast my anchor toward the throne of God, the anchor that is the lively hope in my heart.
Beloved brothers, for your part “so run that you may attain the crown,” put on the “breastplate of faith” and take up “the weapons” of Christ “for the right hand and for the left,” as my patron Saint Paul has taught us. “It is better for you to enter life with one eye or crippled” than, with all your members intact, to be cast away. Come to my aid with your prayers, that I may have the strength to fight according to the law, and indeed “to fight the good fight” and to fight until the end and so finish the race. We may not again see each other in this life, but we will have the happiness of seeing each other again in the world to come, when, standing at the throne of the spotless Lamb, we will together join in singing his praises and exult for ever in the joy of our triumph.
[1] Le Clerge Tonkinois et Ses Pretres Martyrs, A. Launay (Paris: Paris Foreign Mission Society, 1925), pp. 80-83.

Vigils Reading: Weekday
2022-11-25
A Reading from a Sermon on the Song of Songs, by Bernard of Clairvaux.[1]
What does [the bride] mean then by saying: “I am beautiful like the curtains of Solomon”? I feel that here we have a great and wonderful mystery, provided that we apply the words, not to the Solomon of this Song, but to him who said of himself: “What is here is greater than Solomon.” This Solomon to whom I refer is so great a Solomon that he is called not only Peaceful─which is the meaning of the word Solomon─but Peace itself; for Paul proclaims that “He is our Peace.”
The bride’s form must be understood in a spiritual sense, her beauty as something that is grasped by the intellect; it is eternal because it is an image of eternity. Her gracefulness consists of love, and you have read that “love never ends.” It consists of justice, for “her justice endures forever.” It consists of patience, and Scripture tells you “the patience of the poor shall not perish forever.” What shall I say of voluntary poverty? Of humility? To the former an eternal kingdom is promised, to the latter an eternal exaltation. To these must be added the holy fear of the Lord that endures forever and ever; prudence too, and temperance and fortitude and all the other virtues; what are they but the pearls in the jewelled raiment of the bride, shining with unceasing radiance?
How lowly! Yet how sublime! At the same time tent of Kedar and sanctuary of God; an earthly tent and a heavenly palace; a mud hut and a royal apartment; a body doomed to death and a temple bright with light; an object of contempt to the proud, yet the bride of Christ. She is black but beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem: for though the hardship and sorrow of prolonged exile darkens her complexion, a heavenly loveliness shines through it, the curtains of Solomon enhance it…Indeed you must note the prudence, the great wisdom, the amount of discretion and sense of fittingness generated in the bride by that controlled interplay of lowliness and exaltation according as occasion demands, so that amid the ups and downs of this world her sublime gifts sustain her lowliness lest she succumb to adversity; while her lowliness curbs her exaltation or good fortune will bring it toppling down. These poles of her life act so harmoniously. Though of their nature opposites they will work with equal effectiveness for the good of the bride. They subserve her spiritual welfare.
[1]Sermon 27 in On the Song of Songs II, The Works of Bernard of Clairvaux vol. 3, Cistercian Fathers Series no. 7. Kalamazoo MI 1976. pp.75-76.86.

Vigils Reading: Weekday
2022-11-26
A Reading from a Sermon on the Song of Songs by St Bernard[1]
This is the title: “The Beginning of the Song of Songs of Solomon.” Observe first the name of the Peacemaker, “Solomon”; that is appropriate at the beginning of a book which opens with the sign of peace, the kiss. And note, too, that only minds at peace are invited by this kind of opening to understand the Scriptures, minds which master the disturbances caused by the vices and the tumults of care within themselves.
Again, the title says not simply “Song,” but “Song of Songs.” Do not think that that is unimportant. I have read many songs in Scripture, and I do not remember any with that title. Israel sang a song to the Lord because he had escaped the sword and yoke of Pharaoh, and the twofold miracle of the Red Sea both freed and avenged him. The song he sang is not called “The Song of Songs,” but, if I remember correctly, Scripture says, “Israel sang this song to the Lord”.
Deborah sang and Judith sang, and the mother of Samuel sang, and some of the prophets sang too. And none of them is said to have called his song the “Song of Songs.” You will find, if I am not mistaken, that each sang in gratitude for himself or on behalf of his own people, for a victory, for example, for escape from danger, or for something longed-for which had been given. And so then many have sung, each for his own reason, so that they should not be found ungrateful for God’s goodness to them, as in “He gives thanks to you, O God, for blessing him” (Ps 48:19).
But King Solomon, singular in wisdom, sublime in glory, rich in possessions, secure in peace, is not known to have been in need of any benefit for whose granting he would have sung this song. Nor does Scripture itself anywhere say that he did. And so, divinely inspired, he sang the praises of Christ and the Church, of the gift of holy love and the mystery of eternal union with God. And at the same time he expressed the longing of the holy soul, its wedding song; and exulting in the Spirit, he composed a joyful song.
Yet it is in figurative language. It is not surprising that he veiled his face like Moses. It must have shone no less than Moses’ face did when he met God face to face, for in those days there was no one, or almost no one, who could bear the glory of the face of God unveiled. Therefore I think this wedding song is given its title because it is excellent, and that is why it alone is deservedly called “The Song of Songs,” just as he in whose honor it is sung is alone called “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (1 Tm 6:15).
[1]Bernard of Clairvaux, Trans. G R Evans in Classics of Western Spirituality, (Paulist Press NY, 1987) pp. 212-213.

Skema
2022-11-27
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
1st Week of Advent

Mass Readings: Sunday (A), Weekdays (I)
November 27 – December 3, 2022

Sun
27
Mon
28
Tue
29
Wed
30
Thu
1
Fri
2
Sat
3

Office
1st Sunday of Advent
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday
St. Andrew
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday
St Francis Xavier

Vigils
Isa 1:1-18
Isa 1:21-2:5
Isa 2:6-22
1 Cor 1:18-2:5
Isa 10:5-21
Isa 19:11-25
Isa 21:1-12

Lauds
Micah 7:14-20
Isa 6:1-7
Isa 6:8-13
Deut 30:8-14
Isa 7:10-16
Isa 5:1-7
Isa 5:15-25

Mass
1
175
176
684
178
179
180

1st
Isa 2:1-5
Isa 4:2-6
Isa 11:1-10
Rom 10:9-18
Isa 26:1-6
Isa 29:17-24
Isa 30:19-21, 23-26

2nd
Rom 13:11-14

Gospel
Matt 24:37-44
Matt 8:5-11
Luke 10:21-24
Matt 4:18-22
Matt 7:21, 24-27
Matt 9:27-31
Matt 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8

Vespers
Rev 22:12-21
Rom 1:1-12
Rom 1:13-17
1 Thess 2:8-13
Rom 2:12-16
Rom 2:17-24
Rom 3:21-26

Vigils Reading - 1st Sun Advent
2022-11-27
A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew
by Paschasius Radbertus[1]

Watch, for you do not know the day or the hour. Like many other scriptural texts, the admonition is addressed to all of us, though it is formulated in such a way that it would seem to concern only Christ’s immediate audience. We can all apply it to ourselves because the Last Day and the end of the world will come for each of us on the day we depart this present life. This means we must make sure we die in the state in which we wish to appear on the Day of Judgment. Bearing this in mind each of us should guard against being led astray and failing to keep watch, otherwise the day of the Lord’s return may take us unawares. If the last day of our life finds us unprepared, then we shall be unprepared on that day also.

I do not for a moment believe the apostles expected the Lord to return in judgment during their own lifetime. All the same there can be no doubt that they took every care not to be drawn from the right path. They kept watch, observing the universal precepts their master had given to his disciples so as to be ready when he came again.

Consequently we must always be on the lookout for Christ’s twofold coming, the one when we shall have to give an account of everything we have done, and the other when he comes day after day to stir our consciences. He comes to us now in order that his future coming may find us prepared. If my conscience is burdened with sin what good will it do me to know when the Day of Judgment will be? Unless the Lord comes to my soul beforehand and makes his home with me, unless Christ lives in me and speaks his word in my heart, it is useless for me to know if and when his coming will take place. Only if Christ is already living in me and I in him will it go well with me when he comes in judgment. If I have already died to the world and am able to say, The world is crucified to me, and I to the world, then, in a sense, his final coming is already present to me.

Consider also our Lord’s warning: Many will come in my name. It is only the Antichrist and his members who, albeit falsely, claim the name of Christ, though they lack his works and his true doctrine and wisdom. You will never find the Lord in Scripture actually declaring, “I am the Christ.” His teaching and miracles revealed it clearly enough, for the Father was at work in him. Louder than a thousand acclamations his teaching and mighty works proclaimed: “I am the Christ.” And so whether or not you find him describing himself in so many words, the works of the Father and his own message of love declared what he was, whereas the false christs who possessed neither godly deeds nor holy doctrine loudly claimed to be what they were not.

[1] Journey with the Fathers – Year A – New City Press – New York – 1992 – pg 16
