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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230619
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230620
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
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SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:LOVING YOUR ENEMIES \nA sermon by Reverend Martin Luther King\, Jr.2 ◊◊◊ \nI am certain that Jesus understood the difficulty inherent in the act of loving one’s enemy. He never joined the ranks of those who talk glibly about the easiness of the moral life. He realized that every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God. So when Jesus said “Love your enemy\,” he was not unmindful of its stringent qualities. Yet he meant every word of it. Our responsibility as Christians is to discover the meaning of this command and seek passionately to live it out in our daily lives. \nLet us be practical and ask the question\, how do we love our enemies? First\, we must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love… Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means\, rather\, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship. Forgiveness is a catalyst creating the atmosphere necessary for a fresh start and a new beginning. It is the lifting of a burden or the canceling of a debt. The words “I will forgive you\, but I’ll never forget what you’ve done” never explain the real nature of forgiveness. Certainly one can never forget\, if that means erasing it totally from his mind. But when we forgive\, we forget in the sense that the evil deed is no longer a mental block impeding a new relationship. Likewise\, we can never say\, “I will forgive you\, but I won’t have anything further to do with you.” Forgiveness means reconciliation\, a coming together again. Without this\, no man can love his enemies. The degree to which we are able to forgive determines the degree to which we are able to love our enemies. \nSecond\, we must recognize that the evil deed of the enemy- neighbor\, the thing that hurts\, never quite expresses all that he is. An element of goodness may be found even in our worst enemy. Each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality\, tragically divided against ourselves. A persistent civil war rages within all of our lives… to repeat with the Apostle Paul\, “The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not\, that I do.”… This simply means that there is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this\, we are less prone to hate our enemies… We recognize that his hate grows out of fear\, pride\, ignorance\, prejudice\, and misunderstanding\, but in spite of this\, we know God’s image is ineffably etched in his being. Then we love our enemies by realizing that they are not totally bad and that they are not beyond the reach of God’s redemptive love. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThird\, we must not seek to defeat or humiliate the enemy but to win his friendship and understanding. At times we are able to humiliate our worst enemy. Inevitably\, his weak moments come and we are able to thrust in his side the spear of defeat. But this we must not do. Every word and deed must contribute to an understanding with the enemy and release those vast reservoirs of goodwill which have been blocked by impenetrable walls of hate… \nWe should be happy that he did not say\, “Like your enemies.” It is almost impossible to like some people. “Like” is a sentimental and affectionate word. How can we be affectionate toward a person whose avowed aim is to crush our very being and place innumerable stumbling blocks in our path? How can we like a person who is threatening our children and bombing our homes? This is impossible. But Jesus recognized that love is greater than like. When Jesus bids us to love our enemies\, he is speaking neither of eros nor philia; he is speaking of agape\, understanding and creative\, redemptive goodwill for all men. Only by following this way and responding with this type of love are we able to be children of our Father who is in heaven \n\n\n  \n\n\n\n\n2 Martin Luther King\, Jr. Strength to Love. New York: Pocket Book\, Inc.\, 1964. 41-44. \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-90/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230620
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230621
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230617T134635Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230617T134635Z
UID:10639-1687219200-1687305599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:WHEN PRAYER PROCEEDS FROM PURE GRIEF FOR SOMEONE \nFrom a reflection by St Silouan the Athonite3 ◊◊◊ \nThe Lord would save all men\, and in His goodness He summons all the world to salvation. The Lord does not take a man’s will away from him but by His grace urges him towards goodness and draws him to His love. And when the Lord would have mercy on a man\, He inspires others with the desire to pray for him\, and helps them in their prayer. Therefore we must know that when we feel a wish to pray for someone\, it means that the Lord Himself wants to shew mercy on that soul and will graciously hear our prayers… \nWhen prayer proceeds from pure grief for someone\, whether among the living or the dead\, it holds no element of morbid attachment in it. The soul in her prayer grieves for the man and prays fervently\, and this is a sign of God’s mercy… Therefore\, if it befalls you to sorrow over anyone\, you must pray for that person\, because the Lord for your sake would be gracious unto him… \nWhen a mother knows that her children are in distress\, she suffers grievously and may even fall mortally ill. And I have myself experienced something of the kind. A tree that was being felled and stripped of its branches started crashing down on the man below. I saw what was happening but my distress was so great that it prevented me from shouting to him to get out of the way. My heart felt sick and it wept\, and the tree stopped in its course. I did not know the man but had it been my own flesh and blood\, I think I should have died… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nAn old priest-monk who dwelt on the upper slopes of Mt. Athos used to see the prayers of the monks rising to heaven\, and this does not surprise me. The same staretz\, when he was a little boy and saw his father’s distress over a serious drought which threatened the whole harvest\, went to the kitchen-garden where hemp was growing\, and started praying: ‘O Lord\, Thou art merciful\, Thou didst create us\, Thou dost feed and clothe all men. Thou seest\, O Lord\, how my father mourns because there is no rain. Do Thou send rain upon the earth.’ And the clouds gathered\, and the rain fell and drenched the earth. \nAnd another old monk\, who lived by the sea\, near the harbour\, told me:\n‘It was a dark night. The harbour was full of fishing-vessels. A storm blew up and quickly gathered force. The boats began to bump one against the other. The fishermen tried to tie them up but it was impossible in the darkness and the storm. Confusion reigned. The fishermen began to shout for all they were worth\, and it was dreadful to hear the shouts of the terrified men. I grieved for the people and prayed with tears: “Lord\, hush the storm\, and still the waves. Have pity and save Thine afflicted people.” ‘And soon the storm ceased\, the sea grew calm\, and the people\, their fears lifted\, gave thanks to God.’… \nIn their inexperience many people declare that such-and- such a saint performed a miracle\, but I know that it is the Holy Spirit living in man Who performs the miracles. The Lord would have all men find salvation and dwell eternally with Him\, and so He gives ear to the sinner’s prayer\, either for the good of others or for the good of him who prays \n\n\n3 Archimandrite Sophrony. St Silouan the Athonite. Trans. Rosemary Edmonds. Crestwood\, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press\, 1999. 491 \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-5/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230621
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230622
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230617T134816Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230617T134816Z
UID:10641-1687305600-1687391999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Aloysius Gonzaga
DESCRIPTION:FROM A LETTER TO HIS MOTHER \nby St Aloysius Gonzaga4 ◊◊◊ \nYour letter found me lingering still in this region of the dead\, but now I must rouse myself to make my way to heaven at last and to praise God for ever in the land of the living; indeed I had hoped that before this time my journey there would have been over. If charity\, as St. Paul says\, means to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who are glad\, then\, dearest mother\, you shall rejoice exceedingly that God in His grace and His love for you is showing me the path to true happiness\, and assuring me that I shall never lose Him. \nThe divine goodness… is a fathomless and shoreless ocean\, and I confess that when I plunge my mind into thought of this it is carried away by the immensity and feels quite lost and bewildered there. In return for my short and feeble labors\, God is calling me to eternal rest; His voice from heaven invites me to the infinite bliss I have sought so languidly\, and promises me this reward for the tears I have so seldom shed. \nTake care above all things… not to insult God’s boundless loving kindness; you should certainly do this if you mourned as dead one living face to face with God\, one whose prayers can bring you in your troubles more powerful aid than they ever could on earth. And our parting will not be for long; we shall see each other again in heaven; we shall be united with our Savior; there we shall praise him with heart and soul\, sing his mercies forever\, and enjoy eternal happiness. When He takes away what He has once lent us\, His purpose is to store our treasure elsewhere more safely and bestow on us those very blessings that we ourselves would most choose to have. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nI write all this with the one desire that you and all <the> family may consider my departure a joy and favor and that you especially may speed with a mother’s blessing my passage across the waters till I reach the shore to which all blessings belong. I write the more willingly because I have no clearer way of expressing the love and respect I owe you as your son \n\n\n8 \n\n\n \n\n\n4 The Liturgy of the Hours – vol. III – Catholic Book Publishing Co – New York – 1975 – pg 1475. \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-aloysius-gonzaga/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230622
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230623
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230617T135008Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230617T135008Z
UID:10643-1687392000-1687478399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS John Fisher & Thomas More
DESCRIPTION:FROM A LETTER WRITTEN IN PRISON TO HIS DAUGHTER\, MARGARET \nby St Thomas More5 ◊◊◊ \nAlthough I know well\, Margaret\, that because of my past wickedness I deserve to be abandoned by God\, I cannot but trust in his merciful goodness. His grace has strengthened me until now\, and made me content to lose goods\, land\, and life as well\, rather than to swear against my conscience. God’s grace has given the king a gracious frame of mind toward me\, so that as yet he has taken from me nothing but my liberty. In doing this His Majesty has done me such great good with respect to spiritual profit that I trust that among all the great benefits he has heaped so abundantly upon me I count my imprisonment the very greatest. I cannot\, therefore\, mistrust the grace of God. Either he will keep the king in that gracious frame of mind to continue to do me no harm\, or else\, if it be his pleasure that for my other sins I suffer in this case as I deserve\, then his grace shall give me the strength to bear it patiently\, and perhaps even gladly. \nBy the merits of his bitter passion joined to mine and far surpassing in merit for me all that I can suffer myself\, his bounteous goodness shall release me from the pains of purgatory and shall increase my reward in heaven besides. \nI shall not mistrust him… though I shall feel myself weakening and on the verge of being overcome with fear. I shall remember how St. Peter at a blast of wind began to sink because of his lack of faith\, and I shall do as he did: call upon Christ and pray to him for help. And then I trust he shall place his holy hand on me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnd if he permits me to play Saint Peter further and to fall to the ground and to swear and foreswear\, may God our Lord in his tender mercy keep me from this\, and let me lose if it so happen\, and never win thereby! Still\, if this should happen\, afterward I trust that in his goodness he will look on me with pity as he did upon Saint Peter\, and make me stand up again and confess the truth of my conscience afresh and endure here the shame and harm of my own fault. \nAnd finally… I know this well: that without my fault he will not let me be lost. I shall\, therefore\, with good hope commit myself wholly to him. And if he permits me to perish for my faults\, then I shall serve as praise for his justice. But in good faith…I trust that his tender pity shall keep my soul safe and make me commend his mercy. \nAnd therefore\, my own good daughter\, do not let your mind be troubled over anything that shall happen to me in this world. Nothing can come but what God wills. And I am very sure that whatever that be\, however bad it may seem\, it shall be the best \n\n\n  \n\n\n\n\n5 The Liturgy of the Hours – vol. III – Catholic Book Publishing Co – New York – 1975 – pg 1479. \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-john-fisher-thomas-more/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230623
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230624
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230617T135209Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230617T135209Z
UID:10645-1687478400-1687564799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:HOW NOAH\, DANIEL\, AND JOB CROSSED THE SEA \nA Sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux6 ◊◊◊ \nThis great and wide sea\, and it is certain that nothing else is signified by it but this present bitter and stormy age gives passage for three types of people to cross to freedom… the first crossed on a ship\, the second by a bridge\, and the third by the shallows. Now these three men signify three orders in the church: Noah steered the ark so that it did not perish in the deluge\, and in that I see the type of the rulers of the church. Daniel\, a man of dreams\,’ dedicated to abstinence and chastity and occupied only with God\, represents the order of those who are penitent and chaste. Job in marriage ordered well the good things of this world\, and he is the figure of the faithful people who lawfully possess the things of the world… \nThe continent are those who go by a bridge\, which is an easier and shorter way\, and everyone knows it is safer… Your path is straight\, my brothers\, and safer than that of married people\, but it is not completely safe. For there is a threefold danger to be feared\, namely\, if anyone should want to compare himself to another\, to look back\, or to stand or even sit down in the middle of the bridge. For the narrowness of the bridge does not allow for any of these three things\, and narrow is the way that leads to life. \nLet us then all pray against this danger with the prophet; let not the foot of pride come against us\, for they who work iniquity have fallen. For the one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back will certainly fall straightway\, and the waters will cover his head. But the one who wishes to stand\, not leaving the Order but pretending to advance in it\, must needs fall\, driven forth and tripped up by those who follow. For narrow is the way\, and that is a hindrance to those who would advance and travel along it. Thus they assert themselves and are censorious and cannot bear the inactivity of tepidity but drive themselves on as though by some goad and push themselves\, so that they must necessarily do one of two things\, either make some progress or give up entirely. It is not right\, then\, to halt one’s steps; likewise\, it is not profitable to look back or to compare oneself with others. Instead\, let us run with all humility and make haste\, so that we may not be far from him who goes forth as a giant to run a race. And if we are wise\, we shall keep him before our eyes and\, attracted by his aroma\, we shall run more easily and quickly. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nBut the pathway over the bridge will not be found too narrow for those who wish to walk along it. For it is made of three kinds of wood\, so that the foot of those who wish to rely on it entirely shall not slip on the path. These three are punishment of the body\,” poverty of worldly goods\, and the humility of obedience… When these things have been duly linked\, see if you have not passed over three perils of this sea: the lust of the flesh\, the lust of the eyes\, and the pride of life. Duly linked\, I say\, so that you are sure that there is not a trace of impatience in the penance\, a speck of desire in the poverty\, a stain of self-will in the obedience. For those who murmured perished by serpents\,’ and those who want to be rich–not those who are\, but those who want to be rich–fall into the snare of the devil… \nBut because\, according to the saying of the Savior\, by the measure with which we measure out it shall be measured to us again\, it is good for people to give in abundance\, so that they may be of the number of those to whose breast others shall give good measure\, pressed down\, shaken together\, and running over \n\n\n\n6 St Bernard of Clairvaux. Sermons for the Autumn Season. Trans. Irene Edmonds\, OCSO. Collegeville\, Minnesota: Cistercian Publications\, 2016. 85-88. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-91/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230624
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230625
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230617T135341Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230617T135341Z
UID:10647-1687564800-1687651199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Nativity of St John the Baptist
DESCRIPTION:MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD \nA homily by Johannes Tauler7 ◊◊◊ \nWhen the Baptist said: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness\, make straight the way of the Lord\,” he refers to the path of the virtues. This path is very straight. And again he says that he is to prepare the Lord’s paths. Footpaths reach the goal faster than public roads. The shortcut across the fields is indeed rougher and 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 would take the shortest and most direct way\, keeping all his energies to himself so as to be very attentive. For these paths are rugged\, dark\, and alien to our nature\, and only those who are sufficiently skilled can take them. If they are aware of this\, they will not be put off by hurdles and hindrances or any other human anguish. Quite the opposite: Everything will point to the ground\, beckon\, and draw them there. \nIn the same manner we should straighten the paths within ourselves\, the paths which lead our spirit to God\, and God to us. These relations also require skill\, and their difficulties are of a hidden nature. At this point many give up and begin to run after exterior devotions and activities. They are like people starting for Rome and taking the road to Holland. The more they advance\, the farther they get away from their destination. And when they return\, they are old and spent and no longer up to the tempestuous work of love. \nBeloved\, when we find ourselves in the tempests of love\, we should not dwell on our sins and failings. Our only concern should be that love’s work be accomplished. We can be overcome by this tempest even when our hearts appear cold\, disinterested and hard. Now more than ever we must adhere to love\, clinging to it in perfect faith\, freed and stripped of everything that is not love. Constantly long for it\, put your whole trust in it\, cleave to it. and your experience will be as powerful and overwhelming as is possible in this life. If your faith in love is imperfect\, your desire will fade away. Love will be extinguished\, and nothing will come of it all. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis may seem very hard to you. The devil will allow you all the marks of a spiritual life\, but he will do everything in his power to deprive you of love’s true witness. He will leave you with all kinds of treacherous love which many will mistake for the real thing. If they looked deeply into their ground\, they would see whether their love was true or false. The one thing necessary is to give access to the ground in order to be able to enter its depth. There you would find that grace which would incessantly raise you up. But we often resist that voice until we make ourselves unworthy to ever receive it again. This is due to complacency. If only we would respond to the glance of grace\, it would lead us to find such union with God that we would experience in time the joy that will be ours in eternity\, as some have done before us. May God grant that we may all experience this.. \n\n\n7 The Classics of Western Spirituality. Johannes Tauler\, “Sermon 44 – Feast of John the Baptist”. Paulist Press\, 1985\, pp. 151-152. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-nativity-of-st-john-the-baptist/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230625
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230626
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230624T125851Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230624T125851Z
UID:10654-1687651200-1687737599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n12th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (I)\nJune 25 – July 1\, 2023\n\n\n\nSun\n25\nMon\n26\nTue\n27\nWed\n28\nThu\n29\nFri\n30\nSat\n1\n\n\nOffice\n12th Sunday\nWeekday\nWeekday\nSt Ireneaus\nSS Peter & Paul\nWeekday\nMemorial of BVM\n\n\nVigils\nGen 21:1-19\nGen 21:20-34\nGen 22:1-24\nGen 23:1-20\nGal 1:11-2:10\nGen 24:1-27\nGen 24:28-49\n\n\nLauds\nProv 11:1-6\nProv 11:7-12\nProv 11:13-18\nProv 11:23-28\nIsa 49:1-6\nProv 12:5-9\nProv 12:13-19\n\n\nMass\n94\n371\n372\n373\n591\n375\n376\n\n\n1st\nJer 20:10-13\nGen 12:1-9\nGen 13:2\, 5-18\nGen 15:1-12\, 17-18\nActs 12:1-11\nGen 17:1\, 9-10\, 15-22\nGen 18:1-15\n\n\n2nd\nRom 5:12-15\n\n\n\n2 Tim 4:6-8\, 17-18\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 10:26-33\nMatt 7:1-5\nMatt 7:6\, 12-14\nMatt 7:15-20\nMatt 16:13-19\nMatt 8:1-4\nMatt 8:5-17\n\n\nVespers\nCol 1:9-14\nCol 1:15-23\nCol 1:24-29\nActs 3:1-10\n1 Peter 4:12-19\nCol 2:1-8\nCol 2:9-15
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-34/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230625
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230626
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230624T130058Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230624T130058Z
UID:10656-1687651200-1687737599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 12 th Sun ORD
DESCRIPTION:GRAINS OF WHEAT \nFrom a commentary by St Augustine1 ◊◊◊ \nThanks be to that grain of wheat who freely chose to die and so be multiplied! Thanks be to God’s only Son\, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ\, for whom the enduring of our human death was not a thing to be scorned if it would make us worthy of his life! Mark how alone he was before his passing: his is the voice of the psalmist who said\, I am all alone until I depart from this place — a solitary grain that nevertheless contained an immense fruitfulness\, a capacity to be multiplied beyond measure. \nHow many other grains of wheat imitating the Lord’s passion do we find to gladden our hearts when we celebrate the anniversaries of the martyrs! Many members has that one grain\, all united by bonds of peace and charity under their one head\, our Savior himself\, and\, as you know from having heard it so often\, all of them form one single body. Their many voices can often be heard praying in the psalms through the voice of a single speaker calling on God as if all 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 found themselves hard pressed\, beset by danger from violent storms of hatred in this world\, a danger not so much to their bodies which\, after all\, they would have to part with sometime\, but rather to their faith. If they were to give way\, if they should succumb either to the harsh tortures of their persecutors or to love of this present life\, they would forfeit the reward promised them by the God who had taken away all ground for fear. Not only had he said: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; he had also left them his own example. The precept he had enjoined on them he personally carried out\, without attempting to evade the hands of those who scourged him\, the blows of those who struck him\, or the spittle of those who spat on him. Neither the crown of thorns pressed into his head nor the cross to which the soldiers nailed him encountered any resistance from him. None of these torments did he try to avoid. Though he himself was under no obligation to suffer them\, he endured them for those who were\, making his own person a remedy for the sick. And so the martyrs suffered\, but they would certainly have failed the test without the presence of him who said: Know that I am with you always\, until the end of time \n\n\n1 Journey with the Fathers: Commentaries on the Sunday Gospels – Year A. Ed. Edith Barnecut\, OSB. New York: New City Press\, 1992. 100-101. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-12-th-sun-ord/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230626
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230627
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230624T130231Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230624T130231Z
UID:10658-1687737600-1687823999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:ON SLANDER AND JUDGING \nFrom a commentary by St John Climacus2 ◊◊◊ \nNo sensible person\, I think\, will dispute that slander is born of hatred and remembrance of wrongs… Slander is an offspring of hatred\, a subtle yet coarse disease\, a leech lurking unfelt\, wasting and draining the blood of love. It is simulation of love\, the patron of a heavy and unclean heart\, the ruin of chastity… I have heard people slandering\, and I have rebuked them. And these doers of evil replied in self- defense that they were doing so out of love and care for the person whom they were slandering. I said to them: ‘Stop that kind of love\, otherwise you will be condemning as a liar him who said: “Him that… talked against his neighbour\, did I drive away.” If you say you love\, then pray secretly\, and do not mock the man. For this is the kind of love that is acceptable to the Lord.’ But I will not hide this from you (and of course be careful\, lest you judge the offender): Judas was in the company of Christ’s disciples\, and the thief was in the company of murderers. Yet it is a wondrous thing\, how in a single instant\, they exchanged places. \nHe who wants to overcome the spirit of slander should not ascribe the blame to the person who falls\, but to the demon who suggests it. For no one really wants to sin against God\, even though we all sin without being forced to do so. I have known a man who sinned openly and repented secretly. I condemned him as a profligate\, but he was chaste before God\, having propitiated <God> by a genuine conversion. \nDo not regard the feelings of a person who speaks to you about his neighbour disparagingly\, but rather say to him… ‘I fall into graver sins every day\, so how can I criticize him?’ In this way you will achieve two things: you will heal yourself and your neighbour with one plaster. This is one of the shortest ways to the forgiveness of sins; I mean\, not to judge. ‘Judge not\, and ye shall not be judged.’ \n\n\n\n\n\n\nFire and water are incompatible; and so is judging others in one who wants to repent. If you see someone falling into sin at the very moment of his death\, even then do not judge him\, because the Divine judgment is hidden from men. Some have fallen openly into great sins\, but they have done greater good deeds in secret; so their critics were tricked\, getting smoke instead of the sun… \nIf it is true (as it really is true) that ‘with what judgment ye judge\, ye shall be judged\,’ then whatever sins we blame our neighbour for\, whether bodily or spiritual\, we shall fall into them ourselves. That is certain. Hasty and severe judges of the sins of their neighbour fall into this passion because they have not yet attained to a thorough and constant remembrance and concern for their own sins. For if anyone could see his own vices accurately without the veil of self-love\, he would worry about no one else in this life\, considering that he would not have time enough for mourning for himself\, even though he were to live a hundred years\, and even though he were to see a whole River Jordan of tears streaming from his eyes… \nThe demons\, murderers as they are\, push us into sin. Or if they fail to do this\, they get us to pass judgment on those who are sinning\, so that they may defile us with the stain which we ourselves are condemning in another… A good grape-picker\, who eats the ripe grapes\, will not start gathering unripe ones. A charitable and sensible mind takes careful note of whatever virtues it sees in anyone. But a fool looks for faults and defects. And of such it is said: “They have searched after iniquity\, and in searching they are grown weary of searching.’ Do not condemn\, even if you see with your eyes\, for they are often deceived \n\n\n2 St John Climacus. The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Boston: Holy Transfiguration Monastery\, 2001. 89- 91. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-92/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230624T130429Z
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UID:10660-1687824000-1687910399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE SECRET OF THE PSALTER \nFrom the writing of Dietrich Bonhoeffer3 ◊◊◊ \nThe Psalter occupies a unique place in the Holy Scriptures. It is God’s Word and\, with a few exceptions\, the prayer of men as well. How are we to understand this? How can God’s Word be at the same time prayer to God?… \nA psalm that we cannot utter as a prayer\, that makes us falter and horrifies us\, is a hint to us that here Someone else is praying\, not we; that the One who is here protesting his innocence\, who is invoking God’s judgment\, who has come to such infinite depths of suffering\, is none other than Jesus Christ himself. He it is who is praying here\, and not only here but in the whole Psalter… \nThe Man Jesus Christ\, to whom no affliction\, no ill\, no suffering is alien and who yet was the wholly innocent and righteous one\, is praying in the Psalter through the mouth of his Church… He prayed the Psalter and now it has become his prayer for all time… \nThe Psalter is the vicarious prayer of Christ for his Church… This prayer belongs\, not to the individual member\, but to the whole Body of Christ. Only in the whole Christ does the whole Psalter become a reality\, a whole which the individual can never fully comprehend and call his own. That is why the prayer of the psalms belongs in a peculiar way to the fellowship. Even if a verse or a psalm is not one’s own prayer\, it is nevertheless the prayer of another member of the fellowship; so it is quite certainly the prayer of the true Man Jesus Christ and his Body on earth… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn so far as Christ is in us\, the Christ who took all the vengeance of God upon himself\, who met God’s vengeance in our stead\, who thus – stricken by the wrath of God… could forgive his enemies\, who himself suffered the wrath that his enemies might go free – we\, too… can pray these psalms\, through Jesus Christ\, from the heart of Jesus Christ… In so far as “Christ’s blood and righteousness” has become “our beauty\, our glorious dress\,” we can… pray the psalms of innocence as Christ’s prayer for us and gift to us. These psalms\, too\, belong to us through him. \nAnd how shall we pray those psalms of unspeakable misery and suffering\, the meaning of which we have hardly begun to sense even remotely? We can and we should pray the psalms of suffering\, the psalms of the passion\, not in order to generate in ourselves what our hearts do not know of their own experience\, not to make our own laments\, but because all this suffering was real and actual in Jesus Christ\, because the Man Jesus Christ suffered sickness\, pain\, shame\, and death\, because in his suffering and death all flesh suffered and died. What happened to us on the Cross of Christ\, the death of our old man\, and what actually does happen and should happen to us ever since our baptism in the dying of our flesh\, this is what gives us the right to pray these prayers. Through the Cross of Christ these psalms have been bestowed upon his Body on earth as prayers that issue from his heart… The Body of Christ is praying\, and as an individual one acknowledges that his prayer is only a minute fragment of the whole prayer of the Church. He learns to pray the prayer of the Body of Christ. And that lifts him above his personal concerns and allows him to pray selflessly… \nIn all our praying there remains only the prayer of Jesus Christ; this alone has the promise of fulfillment.. \n\n\n3 Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Life Together. Trans. John W. Doberstein. New York: Harper & Row\, Publishers\, 1954. 44-50. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-93/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230624T130603Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230624T130603Z
UID:10662-1687910400-1687996799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Ireneaus
DESCRIPTION:PERFECT KNOWLEDGE CANNOT BE ATTAINED IN THE PRESENT LIFE \nFrom the writing of St Irenaeus of Lyons4 ◊◊◊ \nJust as the Apostle said\, when all other things have been destroyed\, these will continue\, namely: faith\, hope\, and love. For faith in our teacher continues firm\, assuring us that there is only one who is truly God and that we should really love God always\, since he alone is Father; and that consequently we should hope to receive something more and to learn from God that he is good and possesses unlimited riches\, an eternal kingdom\, and infinite knowledge. Thus\, through the many voices of the <Scriptures> there will be heard among us one harmonious melody that hymns praises to God who made all things. If\, for example\, anyone should ask us what God did before he created the world\, we reply that the answer to this is in God’s keeping. The Scriptures do teach us that this world was made complete by God when it began in time; but no Scripture reveals what God did before this. So the answer to this is in God’s keeping… \nSince\, however\, God is all Mind and all Word\, what he thinks he speaks\, and what he speaks he thinks… For his thought is his Word\, and his Word is his Mind; and the Mind that contains all things is the Father himself… The Lord\, God’s very Son\, admitted that the Father alone knows the very day of judgment and the hour. He said clearly: But about that day and hour no one knows… nor the Son\, but only the Father. So if the Son was not ashamed to refer the knowledge of that day to the Father\, but told the truth\, neither should we be ashamed to leave to God the more important questions we encounter. Really\, no one is above the teacher. \nIf\, then\, anyone asks the reason why the Father\, who has all things in common with the Son\, was manifested by the Lord as the only one who knew the hour and the day\, he will find no more fitting\, proper\, or safe answer in the present life than this\, namely\, that we might learn through the Lord\, who alone is the truthful teacher\, that the Father is above all things. Truly\, he said: The Father is greater than I. Thus\, Our Lord proclaimed that the Father excels in regard to knowledge\, so that we too\, as long as we live in the form of this world\, might leave perfect knowledge and such questions to God; and that we should not\, while investigating the depths of the Father\, fall into so great a danger as to question whether there is another god above the God \n\n\n4 St. Irenaeus of Lyons. Against the Heresies – Book 2. Trans. Dominic J. Unger\, OFM CAP. New York: The Newman Press\, 2012. 87-93. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-ireneaus/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:10664-1687996800-1688083199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Peter & Paul
DESCRIPTION:WHEN PRAYER BECOMES WONDER \nFrom the letters of John of Dalyatha5 ◊◊◊ \nUnderstand\, my brother\, Our Lord said to Simon\, chief of the Apostles: I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven\, that you may close and open to all whom you wish. And not only to Simon did he give this power\, but also to all lovers of the Truth. Now prayer consists in knocking at the door of the Giver; but the one who has entered the Kingdom and has taken possession of its treasures\, how can he knock at the door?… He enjoys the good things within and he is amazed and marvels at the beauty of the Good One. But it would be absurd to say that he is actually praying\, for he is utterly inebriated with the beauty of the most glorious Bridegroom… How can such a one prostrate at the door to beg like a wayfarer\, while in his hands are the keys of the treasury\, to take from and to give; to live and to give life? \nBut you will say: Why did Simon go up on the roof to pray\, and why does the great Paul say: Pray always? These Apostles\, my brothers\, use such things with us which\, insofar as they are known to us\, are ones which are suitable for us… It is the Spirit Himself who prays for us\, says St. Paul. This then is the working of the Spirit and not the stirrings of prayer. As he said: God has shone forth in our hearts\, and his Spirit searches His depths and reveals to us His mysteries. We may have wanted to make this prayer ourselves\, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit it because we have the mind of Christ to see the mysteries of the house of the Father. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nSo then they have gone into the place of wonder. They have gained power in the world of visions; the Spirit has united them to the wondrous beauty; they no longer get weary in prayer; they no longer weep at the door; no longer do they cry from afar: “Show us your beauty!” They no longer ask like beggars: “Share with us your riches!” They give because they have received; they share because they have grown rich; they give rest because they are given rest in the harbor of life; they rejoice and they give joy because they are drunk with the love of the Beautiful One. Streams of living waters flow from within him who believes in me… These waters give life to others and give drink to the thirsty… \nBut perhaps you will say: “You speak of wonder but I do not know the power of this wonder.” I offer as witness the word of a brother worthy of belief who says: “When the grace of my God is pleased with me and draws my intellect to astonishment at the vision of Him\, my intellect remains all the day without stirrings in the place of wonder and when it goes out from there\, it prays and earnestly entreats that the light of the concealed One\, which is hidden within him\, may shine out in the world full of wonder.” From this time forward\, it is no longer a place of words in which the pen is able to flow with ink; here a limit is set: silence. Only the mind is able to pass over and to see this resting-place of all the mysteries. The mind has power to go in and to marvel at the wonderful beauty which is above all and hidden within all. \nThus every prayer which is not transformed now and then into wonder at the mysteries\, has not yet arrived at perfection… To these things you will say: “Do not speak of things of which you are not capable; do not say what you have not experienced.” Truly\, I incline my head in shame\, I am silent and I take refuge in mercy. Help me by prayer \n\n\n5 John of Dalyatha. The Letters of John of Dalyatha. Trans. Mary T. Hansbury. Piscataway\, NJ: Gorgias Press\, 2006. 54-62. \n\n\n\n\n10 \n\n\n \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-peter-paul/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230624T130944Z
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UID:10666-1688083200-1688169599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:ON HESITATION IN PRAYER \nFrom “The Commendation of Faith” by Baldwin of Forde6 ◊◊◊ \nThe fact that the righteous are sometimes ignorant of what it is proper to ask for is clearly shown by what Paul says to the Romans: “The Spirit helps our infirmity\, for we do not know what it is proper to pray for. But the Spirit itself asks for us with ineffable groanings”… The righteous do not know what it is proper to pray for\, for when they ask to be relieved from need or tribulation or to have temptation removed\, they do not realize [what positive] fruits will come from need or tribulation\, or the result of temptation. They do not know what is more useful for them for salvation: whether to have or to lack the things they desire. \nNevertheless\, since they have two wills – one which is weak and the other powerful; one according to the flesh which lusts against the spirit and the other according to the spirit which lusts against the flesh – a particular form of prayer has been instituted in which they say to God: ‘Nevertheless\, not as I will\, but as you [will]. This powerful will\, which is according to the spirit\, and by which we wish to put the will of God before the will which is according to the flesh\, is what the Holy Spirit urges and brings about\,… inflames our hearts in the fervour of holy desire\, and makes us ask for those things that please him and which are beneficial for us… \nWhen we ask from God wisdom\, charity\, humility\, patience\, peace of mind – things we should certainly ask for – then even though we know what we seek\, we still do not know whether what we seek is the right thing for us to have or for him to give… In such a confusion of uncertainty and ignorance\, when the righteous do not know… for what they ought properly to ask\, when they have only the certainty of their own weakness and do not have full confidence in their own righteousness\, then\, even though they trust resolutely in the mercy of God\, they still tremble because of their frailty and they hesitate\, nor do they hope without fear\, just as they do not tremble without hope. But if they so fear\, how is it that they do not despair? If they so hope\, how is it that they do not relax through such a great [sense of] security? When they pray\, they are placed between hope and fear: how\, then\, do they ask in faith without hesitation? [The answer is that] they do not hesitate in that faith which\, in all things and through all things\, they do not doubt to be true… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nSomeone who doubts focusses a great deal of attention either on the power of God or on his will. The man who brought his son to Jesus seemed to doubt [God’s] power when\, according to Mark\, he says: ‘If you can do anything\, help us and have mercy on us.’ Jesus said to him: ‘If you can believe\, all things are possible for the one who believes. He said: ‘Lord\, I do believe: help my unbelief.”… The leper doubted his will but not his power\, when\, according to Matthew\, he said to Jesus: ‘Lord\, if you will\, you can make me clean’\, and at once he heard: ‘I will; be clean.’ Note that he who doubted only his will received the assurance of his will with the grace of a cure. But he who doubted his power and said ‘If you can’\, straightaway heard this said to him: ‘If you can believe\, all things are possible for the one who believes.’ In this way it is shown that the grace of the mercy he sought depended on his faith in the omnipotence of the one whom he had doubted could do anything in his particular case \n\n\n6 Baldwin of Forde. The Commendation of Faith. CF 65. Trans. Jane Patricia Freeland and David N. Bell. Kalamazoo\, MI: Cistercian Publications\, 2000. 64-70. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-94/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230624T131118Z
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UID:10668-1688169600-1688255999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial B.V.M.
DESCRIPTION:PARADISO \nAn excerpt of “The Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri7 ◊◊◊ \nI lifted up my eyes; and… I saw more than a thousand Angels making festival\, each one distinct in effulgence and in ministry. I saw there\, smiling to their sports and to their songs\, a beauty which was gladness in the eyes of all the other saints. And had I equal wealth in speech as in conception\, yet would I not dare to attempt the least of her delightfulness. Bernard\, when he saw my eyes fixed and intent on the object of his own burning glow\, turned his own with such affection to her\, that he made mine more ardent in their gazing. With his love fixed on his Delight\, that contemplator freely assumed the office of a teacher… And he began this holy prayer: \n“Virgin Mother\, daughter of thy Son\, humble and exalted more than any creature\, fixed goal of the eternal counsel\, thou art she who didst so enoble human nature that its Maker did not disdain to become its creature. In thy womb was rekindled the Love under whose warmth this flower in the eternal peace has thus unfolded. Here thou art for us the noonday torch of charity\, and below among mortals thou art the living fount of hope. Lady\, thou art so great and so availest\, that whoso would have grace and has not recourse to thee\, his desire seeks to fly without wings. Thy loving-kindness not only succors him who asks\, but oftentimes freely foreruns the asking. \nIn thee is mercy\, in thee pity\, in thee munificence\, in thee is found whatever of goodness is in any creature. Now this man\, who from the lowest pit of the universe even to here has seen one by one the spiritual lives\, implores thee of thy grace for power such that he may be able with his eyes to rise still higher toward the last salvation. And I\, who never for my own vision burned more than I do for his\, proffer to thee all my prayers\, and pray that they be not scant\, that with thy prayers thou wouldst dispel for him every cloud of his mortality\, so that the Supreme Pleasure may be disclosed to him… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe eyes beloved and reverenced by God\, fixed upon him who prayed\, showed us how greatly devout prayers do please her; then they were turned to the Eternal Light\, wherein we may not believe that any creature’s eye finds its way so clear. And I\, who was drawing near to the end of all desires\, raised to its utmost\, even as I ought\, the ardor of my longing. Bernard was signing to me with a smile to look upward\, but I was already of myself such as he wished; for my sight\, becoming pure\, was entering more and more through the beam of the lofty Light which in Itself is true… \nWithin the profound and shining subsistence of the lofty Light appeared to me three circles of three colors and one magnitude; and one seemed reflected by the other\, as rainbow by rainbow\, and the third seemed fire\, breathed forth equally from the one and the other… O Light Eternal\, who alone abidest in Thyself\, alone knowest Thyself\, and\, known to Thyself and knowing\, lovest and smilest on Thyself! That circling which\, thus begotten\, appeared in Thee as reflected light\, when my eyes had dwelt on it for a time\, seemed to me depicted with our image within itself and in its own color\, wherefore my sight was entirely set upon it. As is the geometer who wholly applies himself to measure the circle\, and finds not\, in pondering\, the principle of which he is in need\, such was I at that new sight. I wished to see how the image conformed to the circle and how it has its place therein; but my own wings were not sufficient for that\, save that my mind was smitten by a flash wherein its wish came to it. Here power failed the lofty phantasy; but already my desire and my will were revolved\, like a wheel that is evenly moved\, by the Love which moves the sun and the other stars \n\n\n7 Alighieri\, Dante. The Divine Comedy: Paradiso. Trans. Charles S. Singleton. Princeton\, New Jersey: Princeton University Press\, 1975. 355-381. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-b-v-m-7/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230701T121439Z
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UID:10743-1688256000-1688342399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n13th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (I)\nJuly 2 – 8\, 2023\n\n\n\nSun\n2\nMon\n3\nTue\n4\nWed\n5\nThu\n6\nFri\n7\nSat\n8\n\n\nOffice\n13th Sunday\nSt Thomas\nWeekday\nWeekday\nWeekday\nWeekday\nMemorial of BVM\n\n\nVigils\nGen 24:50-67\nActs 5:12-32\nGen 25:1-18\nGen 25:19-34\nGen 26:1-22\nGen 26:23-35\nGen 27:1-29\n\n\nLauds\nProv 12:25-28\nIsa 43:8-13\nProv 13:1-6\nProv 13:7-12\nProv 13:13-18\nProv 13:20-25\nProv 14:29-34\n\n\nMass\n97\n593\n378\n379\n380\n381\n382\n\n\n1st\n2 Kgs 4:8-11\, 14-16a\nEph 2:19-22\nGen 19:15-29\nGen 21:5\, 8-20a\nGen 22:1b-19\nGen 23:1-4\, 19; 24:1-8\, 62-67\nGen 27:1-5\, 15-29\n\n\n2nd\nRom 6:3-4\, 8-11\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 10:37-42\nJohn 20:24-29\nMatt 8:23-27\nMatt 8:28-34\nMatt 9:1-8\nMatt 9:9-13\nMatt 9:14-17\n\n\nVespers\nCol 2:16-23\n1 Pet 1:3-9\nCol 3:1-11\nCol 3:12-17\nCol 3:18-4:1\nCol 4:2-9\nCol 4:10-18
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-35/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230701T121628Z
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UID:10745-1688256000-1688342399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 13th Sunday ORD
DESCRIPTION:TAKE UP YOUR CROSS \nFrom a commentary by St Hilary of Poitiers1 ◊◊◊ \nThanks Christ commanded the apostles to leave everything in the world that they held most dear\, adding: Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. For those who belong to Christ have crucified their lower nature with its sinful passions and desires. No one is worthy of him who refuses to take up his cross\, that is to say\, to share the Lord’s passion\, death\, burial\, and resurrection\, and to follow him by living out the mystery of faith in the newly received grace of the Spirit. \nWhoever finds his life will lose it\, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. This means that thanks to the power of the word and the renunciation of past sins\, temporal gains are death to the soul\, and temporal losses salvation. Apostles must therefore take death into their new life and nail their sins to the Lord’s cross. They must confront their persecutors with contempt for things present\, holding fast to their freedom by a glorious confession of faith\, and shunning any gain that would harm their souls. They should know that no power over their souls has been given to anyone\, and that by suffering loss in this short life they will achieve immortality. \nWhoever receives you receives me\, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Christ gives us all a love for his teaching and a disposition to treat our teachers with courtesy. Earlier he had shown the danger facing those who refused to receive the apostles by requiring these to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against them; now he commends those who do receive the apostles\, assuring them of a greater recompense than they might have expected for their hospitality\, and he teaches that since he still acts as mediator\, when we receive him God enters us through him because he comes from God. Thus whoever receives the apostles receives Christ\, and whoever receives Christ receives God the Father\, since what is received in the apostles is nothing else than what is received in Christ; nor is there anything in Christ but what is in God. Through this disposition of graces to receive the apostles is to receive God\, because Christ is in them and God is in Christ \n\n\n1 Journey with the Fathers: Commentaries on the Sunday Gospels – Year A. Ed. Edith Barnecut\, OSB. New York: New City Press\, 1992. 102-103. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/13th-sunday-ord/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230704
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230701T121828Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230701T121828Z
UID:10747-1688342400-1688428799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading -St Thomas
DESCRIPTION:MY FAITH SEE YOU\, LORD \nFrom the writing of Bishop of Nikolai Velimirovich2 ◊◊◊ \nMy faith sees You\, Lord. It is the light and the farseeing vision of my eyes. It is the sensing of Your omnipresence. It pulls my knees to the ground and lifts my arms toward heaven. My faith is my soul’s contact with You. It prompts my heart to dance and my throat to sing. When a swallow draws near\, the baby swallows become excited in the nest. For even in the distance they sense the coming of their mother. My faith is my excitement\, for You are coming… If my friend is thinking of me while writing a letter in a distant city\, I also dismiss other thoughts and think of my friend. My faith is my thinking about You\, which prompts You\, all-encompassing Lord\, to think of me. When a lion is separated from his lioness\, the lion’s eyes are distraught with longing for the lioness. My faith is my longing for You\, when You are far from me\, my Beauty. \nWhen there is no sun\, the most terrifying storms lash the sea. My faith is the calming of the storm within my soul\, for Your light pours into me and pacifies me. My eyes said to me: “We do not see Him.” But I pacified them with the words: “The truth is\, that you were not created to see Him but to see what is His.” My ears said to me: “We do not hear Him.” But I brought them to their senses with the words: “The truth is\, that you were not created to hear Him but to hear what is His.” Nothing of all that is created can see or hear Him but only what is His. What is created sees and hears what is created. Only what is begotten of Him can see Him. And only what is begotten of Him can hear Him. A painting cannot see the painter\, but the son of a painter can see the painter. A bell cannot hear a bell-caster\, but the daughter of a bell-caster can hear her father. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe eye cannot see Him because it was not created for the purpose of seeing Him. The ear cannot hear Him\, because it was not created for the purpose of hearing Him. But vision can see Him\, and hearing can hear Him. My faith sees You\, Lord\, just as what is begotten sees its begetter. My faith hears You\, Lord\, just as what is begotten hears its begetter. The God within me sees and hears the God in You. And God is not created but begotten. My faith is like diving into the abyss of my soul and swimming out with You. My faith is my only genuine knowledge. Everything else is like the children collecting motley pebbles by the lake. \nMy faith is the only genuine interest of my life. Truly everything else is a comedy of the senses. When I say: “Give me more faith”–I am thinking: “Give my me more of Yourself\, O my Father and God. \n\n\n2 Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich. Prayers by the Lake. Trans. Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Todor Mika\, S.T.M. and Very Rev. Dr. Stevan Scott. Grayslake\, IL: The Serbian Orthodox Metropolitante of New Gracanica\, 1999. 56-59. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-thomas/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230705
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230701T122101Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230701T122101Z
UID:10750-1688428800-1688515199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:WHY ARE THEY AFRAID? \nA Sermon by Isaac of Stella3 ◊◊◊ \n“A great storm arose on the sea.” The wind that was against them is the hot north wind from which comes all evil. Well knowing its fury\, the soul banishes it by saying\, “North wind\, be off; wind of the south\, blow through this garden of mine\, and set its fragrance astir.” There can be no doubt that the contrary wind is the devil\, is Satan who stirs up the depths of the sea\, namely\, the children of this world\, and attempts by instigating frequent storms of opposition to shipwreck the Church. In his power he disturbs even the mountains because of the bitter trials that overtake them. Where now\, I ask\, is the Power of him whom they have followed on to the boat\, the power that made them boast in their confidence: “Not for us to be afraid\, though earth should tremble about us\, and the hills be carried away into the depth of the sea?” \nBy now the waters\, the mountainous waves of the deep\, rage and roar\, and those mountains of his Church or mountains of the little ship\, are in a proper panic over the force and fury of the elements. Why have they lost their bearings? Why are they afraid? Their strong Saviour is asleep. Where Christ their Strength sleeps their fear holds sway\, for then the sea’s fury rises and a man forgets his faith in Christ. \nWhile Christ’s power is inoperative it is a good thing that fear should dominate; it will in due time force the frightened and their slight and sleepy faith to seek safety with him with whom they should have kept their strength\, and far from being afraid could have claimed: “God is our refuge and strong hold amid the bitter trials that overtake us.” Instead\, they have to beg Christ to wake up and save them because if he sleeps on they will drown. The best thing the disciples could have done would have been to keep their Master from sleeping; they did the next best thing and woke him from sleep. In place of courage and glowing faith they had but fear and a confession of need. Love keeps Christ awake; necessity wakes him from sleep. What a good thing it is\, nonetheless\, to have to make a virtue of necessity! \n\n\n\n\n\n\nFor seeking counsel and help is indeed virtuous\, though not as virtuous as having the courage that prevents fear. So\, brothers\, whenever persecution rages against us\, let us\, after the holy Apostle’s example\, have recourse to Christ. Let us enliven our faith in Christ and awake the memory of his Passion\, that sleeping of his that this sleeping in the boat fittingly refers to. By ourselves we become either weak and fearful or indulge in foolhardy fortitude; in Christ we find the very pattern of patience and he endows us with… virtuous endurance teaching us true constancy. Separated from him we are forever failures; joined to him we are fit for anything; as the blessed Apostle says\, “Nothing is beyond my powers\, thanks to the strength he gives me.” \nHow true it is that the Lord’s eyelids appraise us! When he closes his eyes the sea rages\, everything becomes savagely difficult. May we not be broken! He opens his eyes\, all is calm\, it is all smooth sailing. May we not become proud! For when all is quiet\, all is safe\, may we not become lazy. In foul weather we must hope for fair and in fair weather we must beware of foul. Changes are always going on and one thing follows another. The truly wise man will be more anxious in prosperity than in adversity\, and in neither will such a person grow lazy and surrender to slumber; not for such to either despair or become complacent. So\, brothers\, with fear and hope for escort\, let us keep ever alive in us faith in our Lord Jesus Christ \n\n\n3 Isaac of Stella. Sermons on the Christian Year: Volume One. CF 11. Trans. Hugh McCaffery. Kalamazoo\, MI: Cistercian Publications\, 1979. 110-111. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-95/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230706
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230701T122235Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230701T122235Z
UID:10752-1688515200-1688601599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:BE FIRM\, STAND FIRM\, ACT BOLDY \nA letter from Henry Suso to a spiritual daughter4 ◊◊◊ \nDear daughter\, why do you give in to yourself? Why do you so turn your back on the well-intentioned instruction of your spiritual father that you begin again to surrender yourself to things from which I had just barely weaned you\, things that weakened you in soul\, body and honor. Do you now think you can go and do whatever you feel like? Do you now stand so firmly that you can allow yourself anything? Alas\, why don’t you think back on what God has forgiven you\, how you just barely got to where you are\, and that you are not yet anything at all?… Don’t you see the devil has wrapped a silk thread around your neck and would like to lead you off after him?… \n“Be brave…” When a respected knight first leads a squire into the tournament ring\, he says to him encouragingly\, “Now\, noble hero\, show what you are capable of today. Be bold and defend yourself keenly. Don’t lose heart… It is better to die with honor than to live in dishonor. Once the first contest has been gotten through\, it gets easier.”… This is what you need… that you stand firm and do not follow the evil counsels of the devil. You are now in the worst situation possible. If you can pass over this narrow stretch\, you shall quickly pass over into the beautiful and spacious meadow of a peaceful spiritual life. Would to God that I might stand in your place and fight\, taking for you the fierce blows that your besieged heart is now receiving. But this would be a shame because then you would not receive the green palm branch that you\, along with other special knights of God\, shall wear in your eternal glory if you conquer. For every arrow shot at you there shall be a ruby in your crown. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnd so\, my child\, be firm\, stand firm\, act boldly. What you suffer is short. What you look forward to is eternal. Act as though you can neither see nor hear until you have won the first contest of your spiritual beginning. After big storms there follow bright days… Do not give in out of indulgence to the sucking vipers of your heart… If you do not want them to return tomorrow\, tear their heads off. Do it quickly and thoroughly. If you only take them by the tail\, they will stick to you all the more and will bite you so much the worse. Say to them that have so clearly robbed your heart of peace with their guile: “I make no peace with you!” Flee to God. Let the silly fools call after you as much as they want. Never look back! Then you will have quickly conquered all your enemies and will easily be freed from your heavy shackles… \nCertainly it is not enough for you to bite daintily into the clover. You must attack your rebellious body\, curb your sharpened tongue\, recollect your distracted mind\, so that your heart is not like a public house\, a common wine cellar\, a tavern\, where anyone can come in and where everyone can do as he pleases. Drive them out\, drive out this low company or you can certainly never receive our gentle Lord. Remember that he has bidden you to be his bride. And so see to it that you don’t become a barmaid \n\n\n\n4 Henry Suso. The Exemplar\, with Two German Sermons. Trans. Frank Tobin. New York: Paulist Press\, 1989. 342-345. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-96/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230707
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230701T122403Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230701T122403Z
UID:10754-1688601600-1688687999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE SUSTAINER OF LIFE \nFrom the writing of Howard Thurman5 ◊◊◊ \nIt is of enormous reassurance to us\, our Father\, that Thou art the sustainer and the holder of life\, that despite all of our own limitations and finitudes\, despite all our weaknesses and failures\, despite all of the soarings of our minds and imaginations and our spirits\, always we come back to the deeply-lying assurance that Thou art the sustainer of life\, the holder of all creation\, and the guarantor of all our values. This is of such overwhelming reassurance to us that we celebrate in simple words of praise this almighty grace. \nWe offer on our part not merely the good deeds of which we are aware at times\, not merely the concerns for our fellows which sometimes lead us to simple deeds or glorious acts of self-sacrifice\, but we offer Thee the things that we might become – all of the possibilities of our lives\, the potentials not yet realized. We offer to Thee our failures also; those times when something breaks down and we do not know what… all that we might have been at a particular time and were not; all of the sense of conscience that disturbs and whips and tortures because we have not been in quality and in kind what we knew at the time we could have been in quality and kind. And beyond all of these expressions of ourselves\, our Father\, we offer to Thee ourselves. This is what we want to do\, and sometimes we are able to do it – just to say to Thee\, Father\, here am I. My life as it is at its depth I give to Thee. And I want Thee to hold it so that it is no longer my life to do with in accordance with my whims\, my impulses\, my desires\, or even my needs\, but to take my life and to hold it until it takes on Thy character\, Thy mind\, Thy purposes. If Thou wilt do this and if Thou wilt help me to do this\, then I can be in myself what is truest and surest in me. And this\, O God\, is all\, all\, all \n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n\n5 Thurman\, Howard. Essential Writings. Maryknoll\, NY: Orbis Books\, 2006. 135-136. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-97/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230708
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230701T122754Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230701T122754Z
UID:10757-1688688000-1688774399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:WHEN A PERSON’S MIND IS TOUCHED BY GOD \nFrom the mystical discourse between God and St Hildegard of Bingen6 ◊◊◊ \n…I admonish and exhort humanity\, and grant it pearls of goodness; when a person’s mind is touched by me\, I am his beginning. That is to say\, when a person understands my admonition with his sense of hearing\, and his senses consent to my touching his mind\, I initiate good in him. And it is needful that he begin thus\, with me helping him. Then a struggle follows: Will my gift attain its end or not? How? Understand thus. When I admonish a person\, so that he begins to lament and weep for his sins\, then if his will consents to my admonition – for he will feel the change in his mind\, and according to his mind’s desire he will raise his eyes to see and his ears to hear and his mouth to speak and his hands to touch and his feet to walk – his mind will raise itself to conquer his senses\, so that they will learn things their habits could not teach them… \nThere are many people who\, feeling my presence and understanding that my admonition has touched their minds\, fly from me by the evil ways of the sins they conceive\, which they have swallowed by their choice\, consent and deeds. And therefore they are to God as nothing\, with no being at all\, since they choose not to know what they can do when I touch them… They flee from the Grace of God; for they do not want to see or hear or think of what they should do when goodness admonishes them. They flee the good admonition like a worm burrowing into the earth. The worm hides itself from all the beauty of the world; and so do the wicked\, flying from the commands of God and wrapping themselves in ordure\, pollution and death\, and hiding in it\, afraid to come out of the stench of evil into the light. Such as these do not belong to me\, for I do not choose to be apportioned here and there amid the mire. How? I choose to be with those who understand me and repent in purity; and then I join myself to human corruption in order to purge it… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nI will polish and refine them without ceasing\, that they may rightly and fitly be placed in the heavenly Jerusalem… I often withdraw from them\, so that it seems to them that they are without help; this I do that their outer person may not be puffed up with pride. Then they weep aloud and lament\, thinking I am offended with them; but it is thus I scrutinize their faith. \nAnd I still hold them with a strong hand\, taking away their pride and forcing them to be ignorant of what they are in their secret good deeds; for thus I will to produce in them the fruits of grief and sorrow. And sometimes I let the Devil try to seduce them with the fiery arrows of impurity and burning fornication\, which wound their frail bodies; this I permit that they may be imbued with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit\, and so become great messengers\, glorious in virtue. They are tested like gold in the furnace\, tried by mockery and provocation and set at naught… But as sheep scattered by the wolf do not die\, so these people do not perish in soul but live more fully\, purified by their troubles… \nSo now\, my dearest children\, sweeter in fragrance to me than spices\, hear me admonishing you. While you have time to do good and evil\, worship your God with true devotion. Again\, O my dearest children\, who are rising like the dawn\, and who must burn in charity like the sun; run and make haste\, dearest ones\, in the way of truth\, which is the light of the world\, Jesus Christ\, the Son of God\, Who redeemed you in the last days by His blood so that when you die you may joyfully attain to Him \n\n\n6 Hildegard of Bingen. Scivias. Trans. Mother Columba Hart and Jane Bishop. New York: Paulist Press\, 1990. 428-433. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-98/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230708
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230709
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230701T122951Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230701T122951Z
UID:10759-1688774400-1688860799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of B.V.M.
DESCRIPTION:WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE HER? \nFrom “Revelations of Divine Love” by Julian of Norwich7 ◊◊◊ \nHe showed his sacred heart quite riven in two… And with this our good Lord said most blessedly\, ‘Look how much I loved you’; as if he had said\, ‘My darling\, look and see your Lord\, your God\, who is your maker and your eternal joy. See what pleasure and delight I take in your salvation\, and for my love rejoice with me now.’… Look and see that I loved you so much before I died for you that I was willing to die for you; and now I have died for you\, and willingly suffered as much as I can for you. And now all my bitter torment and painful hardship has changed into endless joy and bliss for me and for you. How could it now be that you could make any request that pleased me that I would not very gladly grant you? For my pleasure is your holiness and your endless joy and bliss with me.’… \nAnd with the same expression of mirth and joy our good Lord looked down to his right and brought to my mind the place where our Lady was standing during the time of his Passion; and he said\, ‘Would you like to see her?’ And with these sweet words it was as if he had said\, ‘I know very well that you long to see my blessed Mother\, for after myself she is the most supreme joy that I could reveal to you\, and that which most delights and honours me; and it is she that my blessed creatures most long to see.’ \nAnd because of the supreme\, marvellous\, singular love that he feels for this sweet Virgin\, his blessed Mother\, our Lady Saint Mary\, he showed her very joyful\, and that is what these sweet words mean\, as if he said\, ‘Do you want to see how I love her\, so that you can rejoice with me in the love that I have for her and she for me?’ And also\, to explain these sweet words more clearly\, our Lord God is speaking to all mankind who will be saved as though to one person\, as if he said\, ‘Would you like to see in her how you are loved? For love of you I made her so high\, so noble and so excellent; and this makes me glad\, and I want it to gladden you.’ For after himself\, she is the most blessed sight. But concerning this I am not taught to long to see her bodily presence while I am here on earth\, but the virtues of her blessed soul: her truth\, her wisdom\, her love\, so that through these I may learn to know myself and reverently fear my God. And when our good Lord had shown this and said these words\, ‘Would you like to see her?’\, I answered and said\, ‘Yes\, my good Lord\, thank you. Yes\, my good Lord\, if it is your will.’ \n\n\n\n\n\n\nI prayed for this repeatedly and I thought I would see her bodily presence\, but I did not do so. And with these words Jesus showed me a spiritual vision of her; just as I had seen her low and humble before\, he now showed her to me high\, noble and glorious\, and more pleasing to him than any other creature. And he wants it to be known that all those who rejoice in him should rejoice in her and in the joy that he has in her and she in him. And to make it clearer he gave this example: if a man loves someone uniquely\, more than all other creatures\, he wants to make all creatures love and rejoice in that person he loves so much. And these words that Jesus said\, ‘Would you like to see her?’\, seemed to me the most pleasing words about her that he could have given me with the spiritual vision of her; for our Lord gave me no special revelation except of our Lady Saint Mary\, and he showed her three times: the first when she conceived\, the second in her sorrow under the cross\, the third as she is now\, in delight\, honour and joy \n\n\n7 Julian of Norwich. Revelations of Divine Love. Trans. Elizabeth Spearing. London: Penguin Books\, 1998. 76-78. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-b-v-m-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230709
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230710
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230708T181134Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230708T181134Z
UID:10773-1688860800-1688947199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n14th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (I)\nJuly 9 – 15\, 2023\n\n\n\nSun\n9\nMon\n10\nTue\n11\nWed\n12\nThu\n13\nFri\n14\nSat\n15\n\n\nOffice\n14th Sunday\nWeekday\nSt Benedict\nWeekday\nOffice for the Dead\nSt Kateri Tekakwitha\nSt Bonaventure\n\n\nVigils\nGen 27:30-46\nGen 28:1-22\nExod 34:27-35; 35:20-29\nGen 29:1-30\nGen 29:31-30:24\nGen 30:25-43\nGen 31:1-24\n\n\nLauds\nProv 15:1-5\nProv 15:13-17\nSir 2:1-9\nProv 15:18-23\nProv 15:29-33\nProv 16:1-6\nProv 16:16-20\n\n\nMass\n100\n383\n597\, 477\, 810\n385\n386\n387\n388\n\n\n1st\nZech 9:9-10\nGen 28:10-22a\nProv 2:1-9\nGen 41:55-57; 42:5-7a\, 17-24a\nGen 44:18-21\, 23b-29; 45:1-5\nGen 46:1-7\, 28-30\nGen 49:29-32; 50:15-26a\n\n\n2nd\nRom 8:9\, 11-13\n\nEph 4:1-6\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 11:25-30\nMatt 9:18-26\nLuke 22:24-27\nMatt 10:1-7\nMatt 10:7-15\nMatt 10:16-23\nMatt 10:24-33\n\n\nVespers\n1 Thess 1:1-10\nGal 5:22-6:2\nCol 3:12-17\n1 Thess 2:1-8\n1 Thess 2:9-12\n1 Thess 2:13-16\n1 Thess 2:17-3:5Skem
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-36/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230709
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230710
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230708T181351Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230708T181351Z
UID:10775-1688860800-1688947199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 14th Sun ORD
DESCRIPTION:GENTLE AND HUMBLE OF HEART \nA commentary attributed to St John Chrysostom1 ◊◊◊ \nOur Master is always the same\, gentle and benevolent. In his constant concern for our salvation\, he says explicitly in the gospel: Come\, learn of me\, for I am gentle and humble of heart. \nWhat great condescension on the part of the Creator! And yet the creature feels no shame! Come\, learn from me. The Master came to console his fallen servants. This is how Christ treats us. He shows pity when a sinner deserves punishment. When the race that angers him deserves to be annihilated\, he addresses the guilty ones in the kindly words: Come\, learn from me\, for I am gentle and humble of heart. \nGod is humble\, and we are proud! The judge is gentle; the criminal arrogant! The potter speaks in lowered voice; the clay discourses in tones of a king! Come\, learn from me\, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Our master carries a whip not to wound \, but to heal us. Reflect upon his indescribable kindness. Who could fail to love a master who never strikes his servants? Who would not marvel at a judge who beseeches a condemned criminal? Surely the self-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 I have made. If I thought of my dignity\, I should not rescue fallen humankind. If I failed to treat its incurable sickness with fitting remedies\, it would never recover its strength. If I did not console it\, it would die. If I did nothing but threaten it\, it would perish. This is why I apply the salve of kindness to it where it lies. Compassionately I bend down very low in order to raise it up. No one standing erect can lift a fallen man without putting a hand down to him. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nCome learn from me\, for I am gentle and humble of heart. I do not make a show of words; I have left you the proof of my deeds. You can see that I am gentle and humble of heart from what I have become. Consider my nature\, reflect upon my dignity\, and marvel at the condescension I have shown you. Think of where I came from\, and of where I am as I speak to you. Heaven is my throne\, yet I talk to you standing on the earth! I am glorified on high\, but because I am long-suffering I am not angry with you\, for I am gentle and humble in heart \n\n\n  \n\n\n\n\n1 Journey with the Fathers – Year A – New City Press – NY – 1999 – pg 104 \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-14th-sun-ord/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230710
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230711
DTSTAMP:20260403T142907
CREATED:20230708T181519Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230708T181519Z
UID:10777-1688947200-1689033599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:RELIGION IN A FREE SOCIETY \nBy Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel2 ◊◊◊ \nLittle does contemporary religion ask of man. It is ready to offer comfort; it has no courage to challenge. It is ready to offer edification; it has no courage to break the idols\, to shatter callousness. The trouble is that religion has become… institution\, dogma\, ritual. It is no longer an event. Its acceptance involves neither risk nor strain. There is no substitute for faith\, no alternative for revelation\, no surrogate for commitment. We define self-reliance and call it faith\, shrewdness and call it wisdom\, anthropology and call it ethics\, literature and call it Bible\, inner security and call it religion\, conscience and call it God. However\, nothing counterfeit can endure forever… \nIt is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for the eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion for its own defeats. Religion declined not because it was refuted\, but because it became irrelevant\, dull\, oppressive\, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed\, worship by discipline\, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendor of the past; when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion\, its message becomes meaningless. The primary task of religious thinking is to rediscover the questions to which religion is an answer\, to develop a degree of sensitivity to the ultimate questions which its ideas and acts are trying to answer… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe most serious obstacle which modern men encounter in entering discussion about the ideas of the Bible\, is the absence from man’s consciousness of the problems to which the Bible refers. The Bible is an answer to the question\, What does God require of man? But to modern man\, this question is suppressed by another one\, namely\, What does man demand of God? Modern man continues to ponder: What will I get out of life? What escapes his attention is the fundamental\, yet often forgotten question\, What will life get out of me? \nAbsorbed in the struggle for the emancipation of the individual we have concentrated our attention upon the idea of human rights and overlooked the importance of human obligations… Oblivious to the fact of his receiving infinitely more than he is able to return\, man began to consider his self as the only end… We can ill afford to set up needs\, an unknown\, variable\, vacillating\, and eventually degrading factor\, as a universal standard\, as a supreme\, abiding rule or pattern for living. This\, indeed\, is the purpose of our religious traditions: to keep alive the higher Yes as well as the power of man to say\, “Here I am”; to teach our minds to understand the true demand and to teach our conscience to be present… It is an answer to the question: Who needs man? It is an awareness of being needed\, of man being a need of God. \nIt is an inherent weakness of religion not to take offense at the segregation of God\, to forget that the true sanctuary has no walls. Religion has suffered from the tendency to become an end in itself\, to seclude the holy\, to become parochial\, self-indulgent\, self-seeking; as if the task were not to ennoble human nature but to enhance the power and beauty of its institutions or to enlarge the body of doctrines. It has often done more to canonize prejudices that to wrestle for truth; to petrify the sacred than to sanctify the secular. Yet the task of religion is to challenge the stabilization of – values. Religion is not for religion’s sake but for God’s sake \n\n\n2 Excerpted and quoted from The Insecurity of Freedom (New York: Schocken Books\, 1959\, 1960\, 1963\, 1964\,1966)\, pp.1-23. Accessed online\, July 5\, 2023. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-99/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:10779-1689033600-1689119999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Benedict
DESCRIPTION:BENEDICT’S DISCIPLES ARE FOREWARNED OF HIS DEATH \nFrom “The Dialogues” of St Gregory the Great3 ◊◊◊ \nIn the year that was to be his last\, the man of God foretold the day of his holy death to a number of his disciples… Some others\, however\, who were stationed elsewhere he only informed of the special sign they would receive at the time of his death. Six days before he died he gave orders for his tomb to be opened. Almost immediately he was seized with a violent fever that rapidly wasted his remaining strength. Each day his condition grew worse until finally\, on the sixth day\, he had his disciples carry him into the chapel\, where he received the Body and Blood of our Lord to gain strength for his approaching end. Then\, supporting his weakened body on the arms of his brethren\, he stood with his hands raised to heaven and as he prayed breathed his last. \nThat day two monks\, one of them at the monastery\, the other some distance away\, received the very same revelation. They both saw a magnificent road covered with rich carpeting and glittering with thousands of lights. From his monastery it stretched eastward in a straight line until it reached up into heaven. And there in the brightness stood a man of majestic appearance\, who asked them\, ‘Do you know who passed this way?’ ‘No\,’ they replied. “This\,’ he told them\, ‘is the road taken by blessed Benedict\, the Lord’s beloved\, when he went to heaven.’ \nThus\, while the brethren who were with Benedict witnessed his death\, those who were absent knew about it through the sign he had promised them. His body was laid to rest in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist\, which he had built to replace the altar of Apollo… \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis holy man still works numerous miracles for people who turn to him with faith and confidence. The incident I am going to relate happened only recently. A woman who had completely lost her mind was roaming day and night over hills and valleys\, through forests and fields\, resting only when she was utterly exhausted. One day\, in the course of her aimless wanderings\, she strayed into the saint’s cave and rested there without the least idea of where she was. The next morning she woke up entirely cured and left the cave without even a trace of her former affliction. After that she remained free from it for the rest of her life… \nThere is no doubt… that the holy… can perform countless miracles where their bodies rest… In places where their bodies do not actually lie buried\, however\, there is danger that those whose faith is weak may doubt their presence and their power to answer prayers. Consequently\, it is in these places that they must perform still greater miracles. But one whose faith in God is strong earns all the more merit by his faith\, for he realizes that the <saints> are present to hear his prayers even though their bodies happen to be buried elsewhere. \nIt was precisely to increase the faith of His disciples that the eternal Truth told them\, ‘If I do not go\, the Advocate will not come to you.’… As long as the disciples could see our Lord in His human flesh they would want to keep on seeing Him with their bodily eyes. With good reason\, therefore\, did He tell them\, ‘If I do not go\, the Advocate will not come.’ What He really meant was\, ‘I cannot teach you spiritual love unless I remove my body from your sight; as long as you continue to see me with your bodily eyes you will never learn to love me spiritually. \n\n\n3 St Gregory the Great. Dialogues. Trans. Odo John Zimmerman\, O.S.B. New York: Fathers of the Church\, Inc.\, 1959. 107-110. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-benedict/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20230708T181807Z
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UID:10781-1689120000-1689206399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:HEAL THE SICK; CAST OUT THE DEMONS \nAn address by Paul Tillich to his graduating seminarians4 ◊◊◊ \nPeople often ask\, in passionate despair\, why the divine order of things includes sickness\, if sickness is one of the things to be healed by divine order. This very natural question\, which\, for many of us\, is the stumbling block of our faith\, points to the riddle of evil in the world of God… the mystery of evil. But… evil in the divine order is not only mystery; it is also revelation. It reveals the greatness and danger of life. He who can become sick is greater than he who cannot… He alone who is free is able to surrender to the demonic forces that turn his freedom into bondage. The gift of freedom implies the danger of servitude; and the abundance of life implies the danger of sickness… \nWhen Jesus asks the disciples to heal and to cast out demons\, he does not distinguish between bodily and mental or spiritual diseases. But every page of the gospels demonstrates that he means all of them\, and many stories show that he sees their interrelationship\, their unity. We see this unity today more clearly than many generations just behind us… Illness is a consequence of the estrangement of man’s spirit from the divine Spirit… No sickness can be healed nor any demon cast out without the reunion of the human spirit with the divine Spirit… the healing and demon-conquering power implied in the message of the Christ\, the message of forgiveness and of a new reality… \nCan you represent the Christian message?… Should you ask me–can we heal without being healed ourselves? —I would answer–you can! For neither the disciples nor you could ever say we are healed\, so let us heal others. He who would believe this of himself is least fit to heal others; for he would be separating himself from them. Show them whom you counsel that their predicament is also your predicament. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnd should you ask me–can we cast out demons without being liberated from demonic power ourselves? –I would answer–you can! Unless you are aware of the demonic possibility in yourselves\, you cannot recognize the demon in others\, and cannot do battle against it by knowing its name and thus depriving it of its power. And there will be no period in your life\, so long as it remains creative and has healing power\, in which demons will not split your souls and produce doubts about your faith\, your vocation\, your whole being. If they fail to succeed\, they may accomplish something else–self-assurance and pride with respect to your power to heal and to cast out demons. Against this pride Jesus warns–“Do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” And “written in heaven” means written in spite of what is written against you in the records of your life… \nThere is no greater vocation on earth than to be called to heal and to cast out demons. Be joyous in this vocation! Do not be depressed by its burden\, nor even by the burden of having to deal with those who do not want to be healed. Rejoice in your calling. In spite of your own sickness\, in spite of the demons working within you and your churches\, you have a glimpse of what can heal ultimately\, of him in Whom God made manifest His power over demons and disease\, of him who represents the healing power that is in the world\, and sustains the world and lifts it up to God. Rejoice that you are his messengers.. \n\n\n4 Tillich\, Paul. The Eternal Now. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons\, 1963. 58-65. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-100/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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UID:10783-1689206400-1689292799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:MAY THE VISION OF YOUR BEAUTY BE MY DEATH \nFrom the Spiritual Canticles of St John of the Cross5 ◊◊◊ \nThe soul is right in daring to say: “may the vision of Your beauty be my death”\, since she knows that at the instant she sees this beauty she will be carried away by it\, and absorbed in this very beauty\, and transformed in this same beauty\, and made beautiful like this beauty itself\, and enriched and provided for like this very beauty. \nDavid declares\, consequently\, that the death of the saints is precious in the sight of the Lord. This would not be true if they did not participate in His very grandeurs\, for in the sight of God nothing is precious but what God in Himself is. \nAccordingly\, the soul does not fear death when she loves\, rather she desires it. Yet sinners are always fearful of death. They foresee that death will take everything away and bring them all evils. As David says\, the death of sinners is very evil. And hence\, as the Wise Man says\, the remembrance of it is bitter. Since sinners love the life of this world intensely and have little love for that of the other\, they have an immense fear of death. \nThe soul that loves God lives more in the next life than in this\, for the soul lives where it loves more than where it gives life\, and thus has but little esteem for this temporal life. She says then\, “may the vision of Your beauty be my death. For the sickness of love is not cured except by your presence and image.” \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe reason love sickness has no other remedy than the presence and the image of the Beloved is that\, since this sickness differs from others\, its medicine also differs. In other sicknesses\, following sound philosophy\, contraries are cured by contraries\, but love is incurable except by what is in accord with love. The reason for this is that love of God is the soul’s health\, and the soul does not have full health until loves is complete. Sickness is nothing but a want of health\, and when the soul has not even a single degree of love\, she is dead. but when she possesses some degrees of love of God\, no matter how few\, she is then alive\, yet very weak and infirm because of her little love. In the measure that love increases she will be healthier\, and when love is perfect she will have full health. \nThe soul does well to call imperfect love “sickness.” For just as the sick is too weak for work\, so is the soul\, feeble in love\, too weak to practice heroic virtue. It is also noteworthy that the soul who feels the sickness of love\, a lack of love\, shows that she has some love\, because she is aware of what she lacks through what she has. The soul who does not feel this sickness shows that she either has no love or is perfect in love \n\n\n5 Collected Works of St. John of the Cross. ICS Publications\, 1979\, pp. 452-453. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-6/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20230708T182115Z
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UID:10785-1689292800-1689379199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Kateri Tekakwitha
DESCRIPTION:KATERI TEKAKWITHA \nThe Mohawk Saint6 ◊◊◊ \n\n\n\n\n12 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon\, just a few miles west of present-day Auriesville\, New York. Her Mohawk name\, Tekakwitha\, means “she who bumps into things.” Kateri was the daughter of Mohawk Chief Kenneronkwa. Her mother\, Tagaskouita\, was an Algonquian woman who was \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nadopted and assimilated by the Mohawk before her marriage… When Kateri was about four years old\, her parents and younger brother died in a smallpox outbreak. Kateri survived the illness\, but she was left with facial scars\, damaged eyesight\, and poor health. Kateri was adopted by her aunt… \nWhen Kateri was about 10 years old\, her village was attacked by the French. Kateri and her family were forced to flee into the woods. To end the fighting\, the Mohawk agreed to allow French Jesuit missionaries into their territory. The missionaries hoped to convert the Mohawk to Catholicism… Kateri’s older cousin had converted and moved away a few years prior\, so her uncle forbade her from speaking to the missionaries who visited their village. But Kateri’s uncle could not keep her away from the missionaries for long… \nIn the spring of 1674\, Kateri told a visiting priest that she wanted to learn more about his religion… Kateri was baptized in 1676\, at which time she took the name \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKateri in honor of Saint Catherine. After enduring six months of ridicule and accusations of witchcraft from neighbors in her village\, Kateri took the advice of her spiritual advisor and moved to the Jesuit settlement of Kahnawake… located just outside of Montreal… a safe haven and spiritual community for Native men and women who had converted to Catholicism… Maria-Thérèse was a young Native \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nconvert about the same age as Kateri\, and the two quickly became very close friends. They explored their new faith together\, and pushed each other to new extremes in their devotion. Claude Chauchetière was a Jesuit priest who had only just arrived from France… He became Kateri’s closest spiritual advisor. \nKateri\, Claude\, and Maria-Thérèse pushed their community to new spiritual heights. Claude instructed the two young women in every aspect of their faith\, and \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKateri and Maria-Thérèse lead their peers in the enthusiastic adoption of each new practice. They experimented with ritual fasting… self-mortification… and asceticism… all with the intention of bringing themselves closer to God. Kateri was always the most extreme adherent of their new practices\, and sometimes Claude had to step in to stop her before she did herself irreversible harm. When the young women learned about nuns\, Kateri declared her intention of founding a convent. Claude marveled at her willingness to completely abandon her former life\, and held her up as a model for the entire conversion mission in New France. \nThe extreme punishments Kateri inflicted on herself did not help her already poor health\, and within a few years\, Kateri’s body had been pushed to its limits. On August 17\, 1680\, Kateri died with the entire community of Kahnawake collected around her. Everyone who witnessed her death later swore that within minutes her smallpox scars disappeared\, and her skin became radiant. They interpreted this as a miracle and a sign that Kateri was a saint\, and built a chapel in her honor. Kateri’s story spread\, aided by a book of her life written and published by Claude\, and pilgrims \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nbegan to arrive to pray at her burial site. Some reported miraculous healings\, and Kateri’s community of followers grew…. She was officially canonized as the first Native American saint in 2012. Today Kateri’s legacy is divisive. Catholics laud her as a beacon of their religion’s power to transform lives\, while members of the Mohawk community see her as a victim of the forces of colonization. Regardless of the interpretation of her story\, her life demonstrates the way life changed for Native women after the arrival of European colonists \n\n\n\n6 Life Story: Kateri Tekakwitha. Women & the American Story. https://wams.nyhistory.org/early- encounters/french-colonies/kateri-tekakwitha/. Accessed: July 7\, 2023. \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-kateri-tekakwitha/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20230708T182245Z
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UID:10787-1689379200-1689465599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Bonaventure
DESCRIPTION:WHEN THROUGH ECSTASY OUR AFFECTION PASSES OVER ENTIRELY INTO GOD \nFrom the writings of St Bonaventure7 ◊◊◊ \nChrist is the way and the door; Christ is the ladder and the vehicle\, like the Mercy Seat placed above the ark of God and the mystery hidden from eternity. Whoever turns his face fully to the Mercy Seat and with faith\, hope and love\, devotion\, admiration\, exultation\, appreciation\, praise and joy beholds him hanging upon the cross\, such a one makes the Pasch\, that is\, the passover\, with Christ. By the staff of the cross he passes over the Red Sea\,” going from Egypt into the desert\, where he will taste the hidden manna; and with Christ he rests in the tomb\, as if dead to the outer world\, but experiencing\, as far as is possible in this wayfarer’s state\, what was said on the cross to the thief who adhered to Christ; Today you shall be with me in paradise. \nThis was shown also to blessed Francis\, when in ecstatic contemplation on the height of the mountain… there appeared to him a six-winged Seraph fastened to a cross… There he passed over into God in ecstatic contemplation and became an example of perfect contemplation as he had previously been of action\, like another Jacob and Israel\, so that through him\, more by example than by\nword\, God might invite all truly spiritual men to this kind of passing over and spiritual ecstasy. \nIn this passing over\, if it is to be perfect\, all intellectual activities must be left behind and the height of our affection must be totally transferred and transformed into God. This\, however\, is mystical and most secret\, which no one knows except him who receives it\, no one receives except him who desires it\, and no one desires except him who is inflamed in his very marrow by the fire of the Holy Spirit whom Christ sent into the world. And therefore the Apostle says \n\n\n\n\n\n\nthat this mystical wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit… \nBut if you wish to know how these things come about\, ask grace not instruction\, desire not understanding\, the groaning of prayer not diligent reading\, the Spouse not the teacher\, God not man\, darkness not clarity\, not light but the fire that totally inflames and carries us into God by ecstatic unctions and burning affections. This fire is God\, and his furnace is in Jerusalem; and Christ enkindles it in the heat of his burning passion\, which only he truly perceives who says: My soul chooses hanging and my bones death. \nWhoever loves this death can see God because it is true beyond doubt that man will not see me and live. Let us\, then\, die and enter into the darkness; let us impose silence upon our cares\, our desires and our imaginings. With Christ crucified let us pass out of this world to the Father so that when the Father is shown to us\, we may say with Philip: It is enough for us. Let us hear with\nPaul: My grace is sufficient for you. Let us rejoice with David saying: My flesh and my heart have grown faint; You are the God of my heart\, and the God that is my portion forever.. \n\n\n7 St Bonaventure. The Soul’s Journey into God – The Tree of Life – The Life of St. Francis. Trans. Ewert Cousins. New York: Paulist Press\, 1978. 111-116. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-bonaventure/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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