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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260916
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260917
DTSTAMP:20260913T105948Z
CREATED:20260913T105948Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T105948Z
UID:15468-1789516800-1789603199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Cornelius & Cyprian
DESCRIPTION:A letter from St Cyprian to \nST CORNELIUS \n◊◊◊ \nCyprian sends greetings to his brother Cornelius. My very dear brother\, \nwe have heard of the glorious witness given by your courageous faith. On \nlearning of the honor you had won by your witness\, we were filled with such joy \nthat we felt ourselves sharers and companions in your praiseworthy \nachievements. After all\, we have the same Church\, the same mind. The same \nunbroken harmony. Why then should a priest not take pride in the praise given \nto a fellow priest as though it were given to him? What brotherhood fails to \nrejoice in the happiness of its brothers wherever they are? \nWords cannot express how great was the exaltation and delight here when \nwe heard of your good fortune and brave deeds: how you stood out as a leader of \nyour brothers in their declaration of faith\, while the leader’s confession was \nenhanced as they declared their faith. You led the way to glory\, but you gained \nmany companions in that glory; being foremost in your readiness to bear \nwitness on behalf of all\, you prevailed on your people to become a single \nwitness. We cannot decide which we ought to praise\, your own ready and \nunshaken faith or the love of your brothers who would not leave you. While the \ncourage of the bishop who thus led the way has been demonstrated\, at the same \ntime the unity of the brotherhood who followed has been manifested. Since you \nhave one heart and one voice\, it is the Roman Church as a whole that has thus \nborne witness. \nDearest brother\, bright and shining is the faith which the blessed Apostle \npraised in your community. He foresaw in the spirit the praise your courage \ndeserves and the strength that could not be broke; he was heralding the future \nwhen he testified to your achievements; his praise of the fathers was a challenge \nto the sons. Your unity\, your strength have become shining examples of these \nvirtues to the rest of the brethren. \nDivine providence has now prepared us. God’s merciful design has \nwarned us that the day of our own struggle\, our own contest\, is at hand. By that \nshared love which binds us closely together\, we are doing all we can to exhort \nour congregation\, to give ourselves unceasingly to fastings\, vigils and prayers in \ncommon. These are the heavenly weapons which give us strength to stand firm \nand endure; they are the spiritual defenses\, the God-given armaments that \nprotect us. \nLet us then remember one another\, united in mind and heart. Let us pray \nwithout ceasing\, you for us\, we for you; by the love we share we shall thus relieve \nthe strain of these great trials.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-cornelius-cyprian-5/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260917
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260918
DTSTAMP:20260913T110051Z
CREATED:20260913T110051Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T110051Z
UID:15470-1789603200-1789689599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from the Rule of \nST BENEDICT \n◊◊◊ \nIn choosing an abbot\, the guiding principle should always be that the man \nplaced in office be the one selected either by the whole community acting \nunanimously in the fear of God\, or by some part of the community\, no matter \nhow small\, which possesses sounder judgment. Goodness of life and wisdom in \nteaching must be the criteria for choosing the one to be made abbot even if he is \nthe last in community rank. \nMay God forbid that a whole community should conspire to elect a man \nwho goes along with its own evil ways. But if it does\, and if the bishop of the \ndiocese or the abbots or Christians in the area come to know of these evil ways to \nany extent\, they must block the success of this wicked conspiracy\, and set a \nworthy steward in charge of God’s house. They may be sure that they will receive \na generous reward for this\, if they do it with pure motives and zeal for God’s \nhonor. Conversely\, they may be equally sure that to neglect to do so is sinful. \nOnce in office\, the abbot must keep constantly in mind the nature of the \nburden he has received\, and remember to whom he will have to give an account \nof his stewardship. Let him recognize that his goal must be profit for the monks\, \nnot preeminence for himself. He ought\, therefore\, to be learned in divine law\, so \nthat he has a treasury of knowledge from which he can bring out what is new \nand what is old. He must be chaste\, temperate and merciful. He should always \nlet mercy triumph over judgment so that he too may win mercy. He must hate \nfaults but love the brothers. When he must punish them\, he should use \nprudence and avoid extremes; otherwise\, by rubbing too hard to remove the \nrust\, he may break the vessel. He is to distrust his own frailty and remember not \nto crush the bruised reed. By this we do not mean that he should allow faults to \nflourish\, but rather\, as we have already said\, he should prune them away with \nprudence and love as he see best for each individual. Let him strive to be love \nrather than feared. \nExcitable\, anxious\, extreme\, obstinate\, jealous or oversuspicious he must \nnot be. Such a man is never at rest. Instead\, he must show forethought and \nconsideration in his orders\, and whether the task he assigns concerns God or the \nworld\, he should be discerning and moderate\, bearing in mind the discretion of \nholy Jacob\, who said: If I drive my flocks too hard\, they will all die in a single \nday. Therefore\, drawing on this and other examples of discretion\, the mother of \nvirtues\, he must so arrange everything that the strong have something to yearn \nfor and the weak nothing to run from. \nHe must\, above all\, keep this rule in every particular\, so that when he has \nministered well he will hear from the Lord what that good servant heard who \ngave his fellow servants grain at the proper time: I tell you solemnly\, he said\, he \nsets him over all his possessions.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-466/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260918
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260919
DTSTAMP:20260913T110203Z
CREATED:20260913T110203Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T110203Z
UID:15472-1789689600-1789775999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from “Faith and Theology” by \nFR MARIE-DOMINIQUE CHENU \n◊◊◊ \nThe Christian is always haunted by the memory of the primitive Church \ncommunity in which “the multitude of the believers were of one heart and one \nsoul\, and not one of them said that anything he possessed was his own\, but \nthey had all things in common”. In this the Christian sees the ideal blueprint of \nthe Church\, the new-born foundation\, fresh from the breath of the Spirit in the \ncandid youth of a first love. \nDid the attempt fail? Some may believe so\, but I will not! That sacred fire \nwas never extinguished; throughout the centuries the Church has supported\, \nprotected and exalted those of her members who have practiced this ideal of \ncommon life and borne witness to the truth of its revelation. I believe this with \nall my heart\, for despite the many failures\, I see its success and I experience it \ndaily. The irrepressible leaven always makes the bread rise\, and the great stages \nof the Church\, her great successes – not her political or military victories for \nthese are not important and they are far from the spirit of the Gospel – her true \ntriumphs are characterized by revivals of this fraternity which blossoms amid \nthe thorns of conflict\, for it is in conflict\, by a divine paradox\, that this ideal finds \nits daring and its authenticity. \nA universal society? A chimera to the economist\, a dream to the politician\, \na mystical illusion to a reasonable person! And I would be inclined to \nagree…had not God one day become the first-born among brothers. \nWe retract nothing of this fraternal mystique\, and if there is folly in it\, we \nprefer its excess to the folly which in peoples\, nations\, races or classes\, \ncondemns humanity to falsehood\, hate and despair. But we believe that\, far \nfrom supplanting the structures and the solidarities which the economist\, the \nsociologist and the political scientist observe\, this fraternity requires them; we \nbelieve that this mystical fraternity\, if it is to be realized in practice\, must \npenetrate these social values and orders in their own autonomous reality. To \nfulfill its purpose this fraternity incarnates\, and is incarnated by\, the love of \nGod\, the prototype of its own universal love.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-467/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260919
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260920
DTSTAMP:20260913T110344Z
CREATED:20260913T110344Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T110344Z
UID:15474-1789776000-1789862399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX \n◊◊◊ \nDo you not see what heaven the Church possesses within her\, and that she \nherself\, in her universality\, is an immense heaven\, stretching out “from sea to \nsea\, and from the river to the ends of the earth?” Consider therefore\, to what \nyou may compare her in this respect\, provided you do not forget what I \nmentioned a short while ago concerning the heaven of heaven and heavens of \nheavens. Just like our mother above\, this one\, though still a pilgrim\, has her own \nheaven: spiritual men outstanding in their lives and reputations\, men of \ngenuine faith\, unshaken hope\, generous love\, men raised to the heights of \ncontemplation. \nThese men rain down God’s saving work like showers\, reprove with a \nvoice of thunder\, shine with a splendor of miracles. They proclaim the glory of \nGod\, and stretched out like curtains over the earth\, make known the law of life \nand knowledge written by God’s finger into their own lives\, “to give knowledge \nof salvation to his people.” They show forth the gospel of peace\, because they \nare the curtain of Solomon. In these curtains then we must discern the likeness \nof those heavenly figures whom we have just described as part of the \nBridegroom’s adornment. We must recognize too the queen standing at his \nright hand\, decked with ornaments similar\, though not equal\, to his. For \nalthough she is endowed with no small share of glory and beauty even where she \nsojourns as a pilgrim\, as well as in the day of her strength amid the splendors of \nthe saints\, yet the fullness and perfection of the glory of the blessed crowns her \nBridegroom in a way that is different. \nIf I do refer to the bride as perfect and blessed\, she is not wholly so. In part \nshe resembles the tents of Kedar; but she is also beautiful\, both in that part of \nher which already reigns in heaven\, and in those illustrious men whose wisdom \nand virtues grace her journey through the night\, like a heaven spangled with \nstars. Hence the Prophet’s words: “The wise leaders shall shine like the bright \nvault of heaven\, and those who have guided the people in the true path shall be \nlike stars for ever and ever.” \nHow lowly! Yet how sublime! At the same time tent of Kedar and \nsanctuary of God; an earthly tent and a heavenly palace; a mud hut and a royal \napartment; a body doomed to death and a temple bright with light; an object of \ncontempt to the proud\, yet the bride of Christ. She is black but beautiful\, \ndaughters of Jerusalem: for though the hardship and sorrow of prolonged exile \ndarkens her complexion\, a heavenly loveliness shines through it\, the curtains of \nSolomon enhance it. If the swarthy skin repels you\, you must still admire the \nbeauty; if you scorn what seems lowly\, you must look up with esteem to what is \nsublime. \nIndeed you must note the prudence\, the great wisdom\, the amount of \ndiscretion and sense of fittingness generated in the bride by that controlled \ninterplay of lowliness and exaltation according as occasion demands\, so that \namid the ups and downs of this world her sublime gifts sustain her lowliness lest \nshe succumb to adversity; while her lowliness curbs her exaltation\, or good \nfortune will bring it toppling down. These poles of her life act so harmoniously. \nThough of their nature opposites they will work with equal effectiveness for the \ngood of the bride. They subserve her spiritual welfare.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-468/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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