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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260802
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260803
DTSTAMP:20260802T110938Z
CREATED:20260802T110938Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260802T110938Z
UID:15320-1785628800-1785715199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 18th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST EPHREM THE SYRIAN \n◊◊◊ \nOur Lord in a desert place changed a few loaves into many\, and at Cana \nturned water into wine. Thus before the time came to give men and women his \nown body and blood to feed on\, he accustomed their palates to his bread and \nwine\, giving them a taste of transitory bread and wine to teach them to delight in \nhis life-giving body and blood. He gave them things of little value for nothing to \nmake them understand that his supreme gift would be given yet more freely. He \ngave them for nothing what they would have bought from him\, what in fact they \nwanted to buy to teach them that he asked them for no payment. When it was \nnot permitted them to give him the price of bread and wine\, which they could \nhave done\, they certainly could not pay him for his body and blood. \nMoreover\, as well as giving freely he lovingly cajoled us\, offering us these \nsmall things without charge to attract us and cause us to go and receive \nsomething greater and beyond all price. He awakened our desire by things \npleasing to the palate in order to draw us to that which gives life to the soul. He \ngave a sweet taste to the wine he created to show how great is the treasure \nhidden in his life-giving blood. \nConsider how his creative power penetrates everything. Our Lord took a \nlittle bread\, and in the twinkling of an eye multiplied it. Work that would take us \nten months to accomplish he did with his ten fingers in a moment. His hands \nwere as earth beneath the bread and his voice was as thunder above it. The \nmovement of his lips acted as dew\, the breath of his mouth as sunlight\, and in a \nbrief moment he accomplished what normally takes much time. Thus the \nshortage was forgotten\, many loaves came from few as in the first blessing: Be \nfruitful and multiply and fill the earth. \nThe Lord also showed to those to whom he gave his precepts the power of \nhis holy word\, and how swiftly he would reward those who accepted it. \nNevertheless\, he did not increase the number of loaves as much as he could have \ndone\, but only enough to satisfy those who were to eat them. His power was not \nthe measure of his miracle\, but the people’s hunger. Had his miracle been \nmeasured by his power it would have been a victory beyond all measure. \nMeasured by the hunger of thousands\, there was a surplus of twelve baskets full. \nHumans who practice any craft always fall short of their customer’s desires – \nthey are unable to meet their requirements; but what God does goes beyond \nanyone’s desire. The Lord said: Gather up what remains so that nothing is \nwasted because he wanted to be sure they would not think they had seen a \nvision. When the fragments had been kept for a day or two they would believe \nthat the Lord had really done this\, and they had not just imagined it.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-18th-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260803
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260804
DTSTAMP:20260802T111137Z
CREATED:20260802T111137Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260802T111137Z
UID:15322-1785715200-1785801599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from the encyclical “Ut Unum Sint” by \nPOPE ST JOHN PAUL II \n◊◊◊ \nThe Catholic Church affirms that during the two thousand years of her \nhistory she has been preserved in unity\, with all the means with which God \nwishes to endow His Church\, and this despite the often grave crises which have \nshaken her\, the infidelity of some of her ministers\, and the faults into which her \nmembers daily fall. The Catholic Church knows that\, by virtue of the strength \nwhich comes to her from the spirit\, the weaknesses\, mediocrity\, sins and at \ntimes the betrayals of some of her children cannot destroy what God has \nbestowed on her as part of his plan of grace. \nMoreover\, “the powers of death shall not prevail against it”. Even so\, the \nCatholic Church does not forget that many among her members cause God’s \nplan to be discernible only with difficulty. Speaking of the lack of unity among \nChristians\, the Decree on Ecumenism does not ignore the fact that “people of \nboth sides were to blame”\, and acknowledge that responsibility cannot be \nattributed only to the “other side”. By God’s grace\, however\, neither what \nbelongs to the structure of the Church of Christ nor that communion which still \nexists with the other Churches and Ecclesial Communities has been destroyed. \nIndeed the elements of sanctification and truth present in the other \nChristian Communities\, in a degree which varies from one to the other\, \nconstitute the objective basis of the communion\, albeit imperfect\, which exists \nbetween them and the Catholic Church. \nTo the extent that these elements are found in other Christian \nCommunities\, the one Church of Christ is effectively present in them. For this \nreason the Second Vatican Council speaks of a certain\, though imperfect \ncommunion… The Catholic Church “recognizes that in many ways she is linked” \nwith these Communities by a true union in the spirit… \nFor there are many who honor Sacred scripture\, taking it as a norm of \nbelief and of action\, and who show a true religious zeal. They lovingly believe in \nGod the Father almighty and in Christ\, Son of God and Savior. They are \nconsecrated by Baptism\, through which they are united with Christ. They also \nrecognize and receive other sacraments within their own Churches or Ecclesial \nCommunities. Many of them rejoice in the episcopate\, celebrate the Holy \nEucharist\, and cultivate devotion toward the Virgin Mother of God. They also \nshare with us in prayer and other spiritual benefits. \nLikewise we can say that in some real way they are joined with us in the \nHoly spirit\, for to them also He gives His gifts and graces\, and is thereby \noperative among them with his sanctifying power. Some indeed he has \nstrengthened to the extent of shedding their blood. In all of Christ’s disciples the \nspirit arouses the desire to be peacefully united\, in the manner determined by \nChrist\, as one flock under one shepherd… \nAll of these elements bear within themselves a tendency toward unity\, \nhaving their fullness in that unity. Ecumenism is directed precisely to making \nthe partial communion existing between Christians grow toward full \ncommunion in truth and charity.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-454/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260804
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260805
DTSTAMP:20260802T111258Z
CREATED:20260802T111258Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260802T111258Z
UID:15324-1785801600-1785887999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St John Vianney
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST JOHN VIANNEY \n◊◊◊ \nMy dear brethren\, not only is prayer very efficacious\, but\, even more\, it is \nof the utmost necessity for overcoming the enemies of our salvation. Look at all \nthe saints: they were not content with watching and fighting to overcome the \nenemies of their salvation and with keeping well away from all that could offer \ntemptation to them. They passed their whole lives in prayer\, not only the day\, \nbut very often the whole night. Yes\, my dear children\, we will watch over \nourselves and all the motions of our hearts in vain\, in vain will we avoid \ntemptation if we do not pray; if we do not have continual recourse to prayer\, all \nour other ways will be of no use at all to us and we shall be overcome. We can see \nplainly that in the world there are a great many occasions when we cannot run \naway; for example\, a child cannot run away from the society of his parents \nbecause of their bad example. But he can pray\, and his prayer will sustain him. \nEven supposing that we could run away from people who give us bad \nexample\, we cannot run away from ourselves\, who are our biggest enemy. If our \nLord does not watch over our preservation\, all of our efforts will come to \nnothing. No\, my [brethren]\, we shall not find any sinner who may be converted \nwho has not recourse to prayer\, not one who will persevere without having very \ngreat recourse to prayer\, and we shall never find a Christian damned whose \ndownfall did not commence with a lack of prayer. We can see too haw much the \nDevil fears those who pray\, since there is no moment of the day when he tempts \nus more than at prayer. He does everything he possibly can to prevent us from \npraying. When the Devil wants to make someone lose his soul\, he starts out by \ninspiring in him a profound distaste for prayer. However good a Christian he \nmay be\, if the Devil succeeds in making him either say his prayers badly or \nneglect them altogether\, he is certain to have him for himself. \nIf you wish to understand this even better\, consider [the times] when you \nhave been unable to resist whatever temptations [are] put in your way\, and [the \ntime] when you have left the door of your hearts open to the four winds—is it not \nsince you began to get careless with your prayers\, or have been saying them \nfrom habit\, by routine only\, or just to get rid of them\, and not to please God? \nYes\, my dear brethren\, from the moment that we neglect them\, we move with \nbig steps towards Hell: we shall never return to God if we do not have recourse \nto prayer. Yes\, my [brethren]\, with a prayer well said\, we can command Heaven \nand earth\, and all will obey us.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-john-vianney-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260805
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260806
DTSTAMP:20260802T111409Z
CREATED:20260802T111409Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260802T111409Z
UID:15326-1785888000-1785974399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nHANS URS VON BALTHASAR \n◊◊◊ \nThe Church lives in an incomprehensible place between earth and \nheaven\, between death and eternal life\, between the old world that is passing \naway and the new and incorruptible world. The Christian has died with Christ in \nbaptism but has also (as St Paul assures him) risen up with Christ and ascended \nwith him into heaven\, and he lives in time on the basis of eternal life and \noriented toward eternal life. As he follows Christ\, he goes toward suffering and \ndeath\, and yet he lives out of the real power of the risen Christ. \nThus Christian existence embraces the span between penitence and \nfeast. We are reminded of this by the Church year with its seasons of Advent and \nLent and yet with its unbroken succession of feasts great and small. This \nsequence gives us a symbol of something that\, on a deeper level\, is a mutual \ncompenetration\, a third paradox of our Christian existence. But just as heaven is \nvictorious over earth\, and resurrection over death\, so for the Christian must \neven penitence\, suffering\, and death be lived out of a disposition of the \ncelebration of a feast: the feast of the wedding of God with his redeemed world. \nIt is well known that the solemnities of the Old Testament all grew out of \nthanksgiving feasts for harvest. Where the earth bears fruit and holds feast\, man \nholds a feast with it in thankfulness… Everywhere the joy at harvest shimmers \nthrough the Mazzoth feast of unleavened bread\, the Pentecost feast of the \nfirstfruits of the wheat harvest\, and the feast of booths in the plucking of fruit \nand grapes\, when people slept in booths in the open fields and beside the \nvineyard: and perhaps no one even today can celebrate a religious feast with \nsuch a natural joy and cheerfulness as the Jews. \nThere are prayers\, but there are also songs and dances as a means of \ngiving thanks to God. Has this cheerfulness remained anywhere on the faces of \nthe Christians who celebrate a feast? It is true that the mystery that they \ncelebrate lies on a deeper level – but is it not also greater? Ought not the joy too \nbe a much deeper joy? What are religious harvest thanksgiving festivals\, even \nindeed when they are concerned with the rescuing of Israel\, compared with the \nunforeseeable harvest of bread and wine in the New and eternal Covenant? The \nwhole earth is now bread and wine. Must not the genuinely human joy be \npermitted to break through at this point? Would not a song by thousands of \nvoices…be the expression of what the Apostle says: “Rejoice in the Lord always; \nagain I say rejoice…” \nIt is not a worldly enthusiasm that we are to draw forth from the feast but \na strength that comes from the insight into the essence of God’s love. And it is \nnot herself that the Church celebrates; she is not enthusiastic about herself but \nonly about her Head and Lord. It is not the emotional atmosphere that is \nimportant but the matter itself. And this is God\, who becomes man among us in \norder to die for us… \nThe object of our celebration is Jesus Christ in his love that goes until the \nend\, in his power to lay down his life and to take it up again\, in his creative might \nto make the gift of himself to us in the forms of bread and wine\, in order to be \ninconceivably one with humanity.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-455/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260806
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260807
DTSTAMP:20260802T111556Z
CREATED:20260802T111556Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260802T111556Z
UID:15328-1785974400-1786060799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Transfiguration of the Lord
DESCRIPTION:A reading from the last “Angelus” message of \nPOPE ST PAUL VI \n◊◊◊ \nThe Transfiguration of Our Lord\, recalled by the liturgy of today’s \nsolemnity throws a dazzling light on our daily life\, and makes us turn our mind \nto the immortal destiny which that fact foreshadows. On Mount Tabor\, Christ \nreveals for a few moments the splendor of his dignity\, and he manifests himself \nto chosen witnesses as he really is\, the Son of God\, “the glory of God and the \nvery stamp of his nature”. But it also shows the transcendent destiny of our \nhuman nature\, which he assumed in order to save us\, and which is destined – \nbecause redeemed by his sacrifice of irrevocable love – to participate in the \nfullness of life\, “in the inheritance of the saints in light”. \nThat body\, which is transfigured before the astonished eyes of the \napostles\, is the body of Christ our brother\, but it is also our body called to glory. \nThat light\, which bathes it\, is and also will be our share of inheritance and of \nsplendor. We are called to share such great glory because we are “partakers of \nthe divine nature”. And incomparable destiny awaits us if we honor our \nChristian vocation\, if we live a life that is logically consistent in word and deed \nwith the commitments that our baptism imposes on us…
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-transfiguration-of-the-lord-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260807
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260808
DTSTAMP:20260802T111728Z
CREATED:20260802T111728Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260802T111728Z
UID:15330-1786060800-1786147199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Cajetan
DESCRIPTION:A reading from Butler’s Lives of the Saints \nST CAJETAN \n◊◊◊ \nSt Cajetan was son of Caspar\, Count of Thiene\, of the nobility of Vicenza\, \nwhere he was born in 1480. Two years later his father was killed\, fighting for the \nVenetians against King Ferdinand of Naples. Cajetan went for four years to \nPadua University\, where he distinguished himself in theology\, and took the \ndegree of doctor in civil and canon law in 1504. He then returned to his native \ntown\, of which he was made senator. In pursuance of his resolve to serve God as \na priest he received the tonsure. In 1506 he went to Rome. Soon after his arrival \nPope Julius II conferred on him the office of protonotary… On the death of \nJulius Cajetan refused his successor’s request to continue in that office\, and \ndevoted three years to preparing himself for the priesthood. He was ordained in \n1516\, being thirty-three years old\, and returned to Vicenza in 1518. \nCajetan had re-founded a confraternity in Rome called “The Oratory of \nthe Divine Love”\, which was an association of zealous and devout clerics who \ndevoted themselves to labor with all their power to promote God’s honor and \nthe welfare of souls… but consisted only of men in the lowest station of life. This \ncircumstance gave great offense to his friends\, who thought it a reflection on the \nhonor of his family. He persisted\, however\, and sought out the sick and the poor \nthroughout the whole town\, served them and cared for those who suffered from \nthe most loathsome diseases in the hospital of the incurables. He founded a \nsimilar oratory at Verona and then went in 1520 to Venice where he took up his \nlodgings in the new hospital of that city… He introduced exposition of the \nBlessed Sacrament in that city\, as well as continuing the promotion of frequent \ncommunion. \nThe state of Christendom at this time shocked and distressed Cajetan\, and \nin 1523 he went back to Rome to confer with his friends of the Oratory of Divine \nLove. They agreed that little could be done other than by reviving in the clergy \nthe spirit and zeal of those holy pastors who first planted the faith\, and a plan \nwas formed for instituting an order of regular clergy upon the model of the lives \nof the Apostles. The first associates of Cajetan were John Peter Caraffa\, who \nlater became pope under the name of Paul IV. The institute was approved by \nClement VII\, and Caraffa was chosen as the first provost general. From the \nname of his episcopal see of Theatensis these clerks regular came to be \ndistinguished from others as Theatines… \nIn 1527\, when it still numbered only a dozen members\, the army of \nEmperor Charles V sacked Rome. The Theatines house was demolished and the \nmembers had to escape to Venice. Cajetan was sent to Verona\, where both the \nclergy and the laity were opposing the reformation of discipline\, which their \nbishop was endeavoring to introduce among them. A general improvement was \nthe fruit of his example\, preaching and labors. \nWorn out with trying to appease civil strife in Naples\, and disappointed at \nthe suspension of the Council of Trent\, from which he hoped so much for the \nChurch’s good\, Cajetan had to take to his bed in the summer of 1547. The end \ncame on Sunday\, August 7. Many miracles wrought by his intercession were \napproved at Rome after rigorous scrutiny\, and he was canonized in 1671.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-cajetan-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260808
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260809
DTSTAMP:20260802T111833Z
CREATED:20260802T111833Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260802T111833Z
UID:15332-1786147200-1786233599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Dominic
DESCRIPTION:A reading on the prayer of \nST DOMINIC \n◊◊◊ \nThe holy father Dominic also had another beautiful way of praying\, full of \ndevotion and grace. After the canonical Hours and the grace which is said in \ncommon after meals\, the father would go off quickly on his own to a cell or \nsomewhere\, sober and alert and anointed with a spirit of devotion which he had \ndrawn from the divine words which had been sung in choir or during the meal; \nthere he would sit down to read or pray\, recollecting himself in himself and \nfixing himself in the presence of God. \nSitting there quietly he would open some book before him\, arming \nhimself first with the sign of the cross\, and then he would read. And he would be \nmoved in his mind as delightfully as if he heard the Lord speaking to him. As the \nPsalm says\, “I will hear what the Lord God is saying in me.” It was as if he were \narguing with a friend; at one moment he would appear to be feeling impatient\, \nnodding his head energetically\, then he would seem to be listening quietly\, then \nyou would see him disputing and struggling\, and laughing and weeping all at \nonce\, fixing his gaze\, submitting\, then again speaking quietly and beating his \nbreast. \nIf anyone was inquisitive enough to want to spy on him secretly\, he would \nfind that the holy father Dominic was like Moses\, who went into the innermost \ndesert and saw the burning bush and the Lord speaking and calling to him to \nhumble himself. The man of God had a prophetic way of passing quickly from \nreading to prayer and from meditation to contemplation. \nWhen he was reading like this on his own\, he used to venerate the book \nand bow to it and sometimes kiss it\, particularly if it was a book of the gospels or \nif he was reading the words which Christ had spoken with his own lips. And \nsometimes he used to hide his face and turn it aside\, or he would bury his face in \nhis hands and hide it a little in his scapular. And then he would also become \nanxious and full of yearning\, and he would also rise a little\, respectfully\, and \nbow as if he were thanking some very special person for favors he has bestowed. \nThen\, quite refreshed and at peace in himself\, he would continue reading his \nbook.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-dominic-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260808T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260808T120000
DTSTAMP:20260707T145855Z
CREATED:20260707T145855Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260707T145855Z
UID:15159-1786179600-1786190400@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Chicago Zoom 9:00 am CDT
DESCRIPTION:All are welcome to join our August meeting at Zoom: \nJoin Zoom Meeting \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/86028356465 \nMeeting ID: 860 2835 6465 \nOne tap mobile \n+13126266799\,\,86028356465# US (Chicago) \n+13092053325\,\,86028356465# USC \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/chicago-zoom-900-am-cdt/
CATEGORIES:LCG Local Community Meetings,LCG open events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260809
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260810
DTSTAMP:20260809T104458Z
CREATED:20260809T104458Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T104458Z
UID:15345-1786233600-1786319999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading-19th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST AUGUSTINE \n◊◊◊ \nThe gospel tells us how Christ the Lord walked upon the waters of the sea\, \nand how the apostle Peter did the same until fear made him falter and lose \nconfidence. Then he began to sink and emerged from the water only after \ncalling on the Lord with renewed faith. \nNow we must regard the sea as a symbol of the present world\, and the \napostle Peter as a symbol of the one and only Church. For Peter\, who ranked \nfirst among the apostles and was always the most ready to declare his love for \nChrist\, often acted as a spokesman for them all. For instance\, when the Lord \nJesus asked who people thought he was and the other disciples had cited various \nopinions\, it was Peter who responded to the Lord’s further question\, But who do \nyou say that I am? With the affirmation: You are the Christ\, the Son of the \nliving God. One replied for all because all were united. \nWhen we consider Peter as a representative member of the Church we \nshould distinguish between what was due to God’s action in him and what was \nattributable to himself. Then we ourselves shall not falter\, then we shall be \nfounded upon the rock and remain firm and unmoved in the face of the wind\, \nrain\, and floods\, which are the trials and temptations of this present world. \nLook at Peter\, who in this episode is an image of ourselves; at the moment he is \nall confidence\, at the next all uncertainty and doubt; now he professes faith in \nthe immortal One\, now he fears for his life. \nLord\, if it is you\, bid me come to you upon the water. When the Lord \nsaid: “Come”\, Peter climbed out of the boat and began to walk on the water. \nThis is what he could do through the power of the Lord; what by himself? \nRealizing how violently the wind was blowing\, he lost his nerve and as he \nbegan to sink he called out: “Lord\, I am drowning\, save me. When he counted \non the Lord’s help it enabled him to walk on the water; when human frailty \nmade him falter he turned once more to the Lord\, who immediately stretched \nout his hand to help him\, raised him up as he was sinking\, and rebuked him for \nhis lack of faith. \nThink\, then\, of this world as a sea\, whipped up to tempestuous heights by \nviolent winds. A person’s own private tempest will be his or her unruly desires. \nIf you love God you will have the power to walk upon the waters\, and all the \nworld’s swell and turmoil will remain beneath your feet. But if you love the \nworld it will surely engulf you\, for it always devours its lovers\, never sustains \nthem. If you feel your foot slipping beneath you\, if you become a prey to doubt or \nrealize that you are losing control\, if\, in a word\, you begin to sink\, say: Lord\, I \nam drowning\, save me! Only he who for your sake died in your fallen nature \ncan save you from a death inherent in that fallen nature.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-19th-sunday-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260809
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260810
DTSTAMP:20260809T104303Z
CREATED:20260809T104303Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T104303Z
UID:15343-1786233600-1786319999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n19th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nAugust9 – 15\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n9\nMon\n10\nTue\n11\nWed\n12\nThu\n13\nFri\n14\nSat\n15\n\n\nOffice\n19th Sunday\nSt Lawrence\nSt Clare\nOffice for the Dead\nWeekday\nSt Maximilian Kolbe\nAssumption of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\n1 Mac 6:42-63\nExodus 18:13-26\n1 Mac 7:1-25\n1 Mac 7:26-50\n1 Mac 8:1-16\n1 Mac 8: 17-32\nSir 24:1-16\n\n\nLauds\nJoel 2:18-22\nTobit 4:5-11\nJoel 2:23-27\nJoel 3:1-5\nJoel 4:1-8\nJoel 4: 9-16\n1 Chron 15:1-4\, 14-16\, 25-28; 16:1-2;\n\n\nMass\n115\n618\n414\n415\n416\n417\n622\n\n\n1st\n1 Kgs 19:9a\, 11-13a\n2 Cor 9:6-10\nEzek 2:8-3:4\nEzek 9:1-7; 10:18-22\nEzek 12:1-12\nEzek 16:1-15\, 60\, 63\nRev 11:19a; 12:1-6a; 10ab\n\n\n2nd\nRom 9:1-5\n\n\n\n\n\n1 Cor 15:20-27\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 14:22-33\nJohn 12:24-26\nMatt 18:1-5\, 10\, 12-14\nMatt 18:15-20\nMatt 18:21-19:1\nMatt 19:3-12\nLuke 1:39-56\n\n\nVespers\n2 Tim 3:1-9\nRev 6:7-11\n2 Tim 3:10-17\n2 Tim 4:1-8\n2 Tim 4:9-15\nEph 2:1-10\nRom 8:28-39
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-163/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260810
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260811
DTSTAMP:20260809T104610Z
CREATED:20260809T104610Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T104610Z
UID:15348-1786320000-1786406399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Lawrence
DESCRIPTION:A reading by St Augustine on the feast of \nST LAWRENCE \n◊◊◊ \nThe Roman Church commends to us today the anniversary of the triumph \nof St Lawrence. For on this day he trod the furious pagan world underfoot and \nflung aside its allurements\, and so gained victory over Satan’s attack on his \nfaith. As you have often heard\, Lawrence was a deacon of the Church at Rome. \nThere he ministered the sacred blood of Christ; there for the sake of Christ’s \nname he poured out his own blood. \nSt John the Apostle was evidently teaching us about the mystery of the \nLord’s supper when he wrote: Just as Christ laid down his life for us\, so we \nought to lay down our lives for the brethren. My brethren\, Lawrence \nunderstood this and\, understanding\, he acted on it. Just as he had partaken of a \ngift of self at the table of the Lord\, so he prepared to offer such a gift. In his life he \nloved Christ; in his death he followed in his footsteps. \nWe too must imitate Christ if we truly love him. We shall not be able to \nrender better return on that love than by modeling our lives on his. Christ \nsuffered for us\, leaving us an example\, that we should follow in his steps. In \nsaying this\, the Apostle Peter seems to have understood that Christ suffered \nonly for those who follow in his steps\, in the sense that Christ’s passion is of no \navail to those who do not. The holy martyrs followed Christ even to the shedding \nof their life’s blood\, even to reproducing the very likeness of his passion. They \nfollowed him\, but not they alone. It is not true that the bridge was broken after \nthe martyrs crossed; nor is it true that after they had drunk from it\, the fountain \nof eternal life dried up. \nI tell you again and again…that in the Lord’s garden are to be found not \nonly the roses of his martyrs. In it there are also the lilies of the virgins\, the ivy of \nwedded couples\, and the violets of widows. On no account may any class of \npeople despair\, thinking that Christ has not called them. Christ suffered for all. \nWhat the Scriptures say of him is true: He desires all to be saved and to come to \nknowledge of the truth. \nLet us understand\, then\, how a Christian must follow Christ even though \nhe does not shed his blood for him\, and his faith is not called upon to undergo \nthe great test of the martyr’s sufferings. The apostle Paul says of Christ our Lord: \nThough he was in the form of God he did not consider equality with God a prize \nto be clung to. How unrivaled his majesty! But he emptied himself\, taking on \nthe form of a slave\, made in human likeness\, and presenting himself in human \nform. How deep his humility! \nChrist humbled himself. Christian\, that is what you must make your own. \nChrist became obedient. How is it that you are proud? When this humbling \nexperience was completed and death itself lay conquered\, Christ ascended into \nheaven. Let us follow him there\, for we hear Paul saying: If you have been \nraised with Christ\, you must lift your thoughts on high\, where Christ now sits \nat the right hand of God.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-lawrence-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260811
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260812
DTSTAMP:20260809T104718Z
CREATED:20260809T104718Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T104718Z
UID:15350-1786406400-1786492799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Clare
DESCRIPTION:A reading from The Life and Writing of \nST CLARE \n◊◊◊ \nAmong the many graces which we have received and continue daily to \nreceive from the liberality of the Father of mercies\, and for which we must give \ndeepest thanks to our glorious God\, our vocation holds first place. Indeed\, \nbecause it is the more perfect and the greater among these graces\, so much the \nmore does it claim our gratitude. Therefore the Apostle says: “Know your \nvocation”. \nThe Son of God became for us the Way; and that Way our Blessed Father \nFrancis\, His true lover and imitator\, has shown and taught us by word and \nexample. For when the Saint as yet had neither Friars nor companions and\, \nshortly after his conversion\, was repairing the Church of San Damiano and \nthere\, filled completely with divine consolation\, was led to abandon the world \nwholly and forever\, in great joy and in the illumination of the Holy Spirit he \nprophesied concerning us what the Lord later fulfilled. For at that time he \nmounted the wall of the church and cried with a loud voice… “Come and help me \nin building the Monastery of San Damiano; for here will dwell Ladies whose \ngood name and holy life will glorify our Heavenly Father throughout His holy \nChurch.” \nIn this therefore we can behold the great kindness of God toward us\, who \nof the abundance of His mercy and love deigned to speak thus through His Saint \nof our vocation and election. And it was not of us alone that our most blessed \nFather prophesied these things\, but of all others likewise who were to enter the \nholy calling to which God has called us. With what solicitude\, therefore\, and \nfervor of mind and body must we not observe the commandments of God and of \nour Father\, that with the help of God we may return to Him with increase the \ntalent He has given us! For the Lord has placed us as an example and mirror not \nonly for other men\, but also for our Sisters whom God has called to our way of \nlife\, that they in turn should be a mirror and an example to those living in the \nworld. \nSince therefore the Lord has called us to such heights of holiness that in u \ns our other Sisters may behold themselves who are to be an example to mankind \n\, we are truly bound to bless the Lord and praise Him and to be strengthened in \nHim more and more to do good. Wherefore if we live according to the pattern \ngiven us\, we shall leave others a noble example and after life’s short labor gain \nthe prize of eternal happiness.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-clare-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260812
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260813
DTSTAMP:20260809T104824Z
CREATED:20260809T104824Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T104824Z
UID:15352-1786492800-1786579199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nFR KARL RAHNER \n◊◊◊ \nThe real miracle of Christ’s death resides precisely in this: death\, which \ncan be experienced only as the advent of emptiness\, as the dead-end of sin\, as \nthe darkness of eternal night (especially since the supernatural order is the real \norder in which there should be no death)\, and which could be suffered\, even by \nChrist himself\, only as a state of being abandoned by God\, now\, through being \nembraced by the obedient “yes” of the Son\, while losing nothing of the horror of \ndivine abandonment native to death\, is transformed into something completely \ndifferent: into the advent of God in the midst of that empty loneliness\, into the \nmanifestation of a complete\, obedient surrender of the whole person to the Holy \nGod at the very moment when the person seems lost and far removed from God. \nThrough the fact of Christ’s death\, the justifying grace of God illustrates \nand confirms something which previously was not shown but was hidden from \nus\, namely\, that at the very moment in which sin reaches the fullest measure of \nits power\, the grace of God increases in its power to conquer sin. And through \nthe death of Christ\, when he surrendered himself to this innermost part of the \nworld (hell)\, this grace became ours. What he really accomplished in his death\, \nand what his death really is\, may be stated thus: his death\, as an act of grace\, \nhelped to offer to God the “flesh of sin” – which death really is – transforming it \ninto a flesh of grace; so that we now can\, through his grace\, belong to God and to \nChrist in death\, despite the fact that death\, in itself\, means remoteness from \nGod. \nThese considerations may make it possible to understand just what the \nChristian\, in death\, achieves through the grace of Christ (in the death which \ntranspires throughout one’s life); the person experiences life falling into the \nemptiness and powerlessness of death as remoteness from God\, as the \nbitterness of guilt (one’s own and that of the human race)\, while believing in the \nmercy of God\, hoping for life in God and yet loving this God so far removed from \none’s self. This Faith\, Hope and Charity are not\, however\, mere feelings \naccompanying the brutal reality of death\, lasting only until death really occurs\, \npersisting powerlessly beside the hard reality which is death. They are\, rather\, \nbecause transformed by grace\, the true reality which transforms death but \nwhich\, in order that faith should be preserved\, transforms it in such a way that \ndeath is still encountered as the wages of sin. \nThe trinity of Faith\, Hope and Charity makes death itself the highest act of \nbelieving\, hoping\, loving\, the very death which seems to be absolute darkness\, \ndespair\, coldness itself. These three fundamental powers of Christian existence \n(together with grace\, of which they are the personal realization)\, entering death\, \ntransform it into an act of resigning obedience: faith in darkness\, hope against \nhope\, love of God who appears only as Lord and as inexorable justice. In so far \nas these fundamental acts become constituents of death as a human act\, death \nitself is changed; the dreadful falling into the hands of the living God\, which \ndeath must appear as a manifestation of sin\, becomes in reality: “Into thy hands \nI commend my spirit.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-28/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260813
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260814
DTSTAMP:20260809T104927Z
CREATED:20260809T104927Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T104927Z
UID:15354-1786579200-1786665599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nFR KARL RAHNER \n◊◊◊ \nWe are all the work that God the Father has begun in his grace through \nChrist Jesus in the Holy Ghost. He has begun the good work in us\, we have not. \nBut he has begun it through our freedom\, and it is always questionable\, as it \nwere – it is always the one great all-embracing question\, comprehending time \nand eternity – whether the work that has been begun will be brought to \ncompletion. And when the Apostle asks this question\, when he asks whether \nwhat he has begun with words and tears\, with penance\, anguish\, and all the \npower of his apostolic work and suffering\, will really be brought to completion \nor whether it will run down and atrophy – when he asks whether these people \nwho have now made a start will one day enter the glory of divine light as children \nof the light\, asks with fear and trembling because no one is certain of his \nsalvation – then he lifts up his eyes to God\, his heart is filled with confidence\, \nand he says: I am sure that God\, who has begun this work\, will bring it to \ncompletion. \nAnd we too may say this\, frail and helpless as we are\, we whose \nChristianity is always running down and atrophying\, we whom the stream of \ndaily life is always threatening to swallow up\, extinguishing whatever light and \npower\, life and glory\, has begun to emerge in our Christianity. Instead of \nstudying ourselves we ought to say: God who has begun this work – and it is not \nwe who have begun it\, not we in our weakness\, even in our freedom – God\, in the \nglorious power of grace\, will bring it to completion. And that is our bold \nassurance\, our splendid sovereign confidence. \nSt Paul says: It is right for me to feel thus about you all\, because\, he says – \nand here something entirely personal and genuinely human comes into the \npower and grandeur of God’s work – because I hold you in my heart\, for you are \nall partakers with me of grace\, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and \nconfirmation of the gospel.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-456/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260814
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260815
DTSTAMP:20260809T105039Z
CREATED:20260809T105039Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T105039Z
UID:15356-1786665600-1786751999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Maximilian Kolbe
DESCRIPTION:A reading from Pope St John Paul II on the martyrdom of \nST MAXIMILIAN KOLBE \n◊◊◊ \nThe figure of Maximilian [Kolbe] remains as a testimony of the age and \nbelongs to the “signs of the times.” This difficult and tragic epoch\, stigmatized \nby horrible debasement of human dignity\, has brought about at Oswiecim the \nbirth of its salvific sign. Love has shown itself more powerful than death\, more \npowerful than anti-human systems. Love for the person has achieved its victory \nthere where hatred and scorn for human beings seemed to triumph. In this \nvictory of love…the victory of Golgotha presented itself in a particular way. \nMany saw the death of their prison companion not as still another defeat for \nhuman beings\, but a saving sign – the sign of our time\, of our age. \nThe Church is rereading the meaning of such signs. It is in this that its \nlink with the history of humanity\, of peoples and of nations\, consists. Yesterday \nshe reread to the very end the meaning of the sign…that Maximilian Kolbe \nestablished by his martyr’s death. The Church has reread this sign with \nprofound veneration and emotion in proclaiming the holiness of the Martyr of \nOswiecim. The Saints are in history in order to establish permanent points of \nreference as a background for the future of humankind and the world. That \nwhich shows through in them is lasting and unfailing. It bears witness to \neternity. From this testimony we always draw a renewed awareness of our \nvocation and renewed assurance of all that awaits us. This is the direction in \nwhich the Saints guide the Church and humanity. \nAmong these spiritual guides we include today St Maximilian\, our fellow \ncountryman. In him the man of our times discovers a wonderful “synthesis” of \nthe sufferings and the hopes of our age. But in this synthesis there is also a \nprophetic warning. It is a cry addressed to all\, to society\, to humanity\, to the \nsystems responsible for our life and our societies. This modern-day Saint has \ncome forth from the very center of human beings humiliated by human beings\, \nof the humiliation of one’s dignity\, of cruelty and of slaughter. This Saint cries \nout therefore with all the synthesis of his martyrdom for a consistent respect for \nthe rights of all and also of nations since in fact he is the son of a nation whose \nrights have been terribly violated.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-maximilian-kolbe-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260815
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260816
DTSTAMP:20260809T105145Z
CREATED:20260809T105145Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T105145Z
UID:15358-1786752000-1786838399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Assumption of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST AELRED OF RIEVAULX \n◊◊◊ \nAmong all those who are Christ’s\, she who tastes his goodness more \nintimately and more delicately is of greater excellence\, more blessed\, and more \nattractive. She is to him not only a creature\, a handmaid\, a friend\, and a \ndaughter\, but also a mother. So\, then it is only right that we welcome her feast \nwith greater delight and gladness. But today even more we should rejoice with \nher because today her joy was completely fulfilled. Great was her joy when the \nangel greeted her. Great was her joy when she felt the coming of the Holy Spirit\, \nwhen that marvelous fusion of the Son of God with her flesh took place in her \nwomb\, so that he\, one and the same\, was the Son of God and her Son. Great was \nher joy when she held such a Son in her arms\, when she listened to his words\, \nwhen she saw his miracles. And because her sorrow was so great at the Passion\, \nshe took wondrous joy again in his resurrection and greater still at his \nascension. But all these joys were surpassed by the joy which she receives today. \nUp to this day…Mary\, the blessed Mother of God\, knew her dearest Son in \nthe flesh. Although she fastened all her desires and all her love there\, where he \nwas\, after her dearest Son and Lord ascended into heaven\, so long as she \nremained in this corruptible flesh\, what she had seen of him in the flesh could \nnot fade from her memory. For his deeds and words were always coming to her \nmind and above all there lingered in her heart the features of his exquisite face. \nToday\, however\, she passed from this world and went up to the heavenly \nkingdom. There she began to contemplate his brightness\, power\, and divinity\, \nand her joy and her longing were fulfilled. So with good reason could she say: “I \nhave found him whom my soul loves”. She holds him and she does not let him \ngo… Today she has found him whom her soul loves\, she has found him in spirit\, \nshe loves him in spirit\, she holds him in spirit and therefore she will never again \nlose him… \nToday the Blessed Virgin went up into heaven and went round the whole \nof that heavenly city in the full natural vigor of her mind. Today she entered that \nheavenly court. She saw the white robes of the virgins\, the ruddy crowns of the \nmartyrs\, the thrones of the apostles\, and in the midst of them she found her Son \nreigning. Ascending higher than the very highest of the saints\, she has arrived at \nsuch knowledge of the divinity that she then glories in having found him for the \nfirst time… She holds him in the embraces of an utterly perfect love and she can \nnever lose him because she can never love him any less. \nLet us lift up our hearts therefore…to Our Lady\, our Advocate. Let us \nreflect on how much hope we have in her. Just as she surpasses every creature in \nexcellence\, so also she is more merciful and kinder than any creature. Let us \nthen confidently entreat her who can by her excellence assist us and by her \nmercy chooses to do so\, that she may implore her Son for us so that as he \ndeigned to be born of her for us\, he may through her deign to have mercy on us.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-assumption-of-the-bvm-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260816
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260817
DTSTAMP:20260815T213652Z
CREATED:20260815T213652Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260815T213652Z
UID:15367-1786838400-1786924799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n20th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nAugust 16 – 22\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n16\nMon\n17\nTue\n18\nWed\n19\nThu\n20\nFri\n21\nSat\n22\n\n\nOffice\n20th Sunday\nWeekday\nBl Martyrs of Rochefort\nBl Guerric\nSt Bernard\nSt Pius X\nQueenship of Mary\n\n\nVigils\n1 Mac 9:1-22\n1 Mac 9:23-42\n1 Mac 9;43-70\n1 Mac 10:1-21\nSir 50:5-20\n1 Mac 10:22-45\n1 Mac 10:46-66\n\n\nLauds\nJoel 4:17-21\nObadiah 1-7\nObad 8-14\nObad 15-18\nWis 8:2-13\nMicah 1:1-9\nMic 1:10-16\n\n\nMass\n118\n419\n420\n421\n641\, 660\, 574\n423\n424\, 627\n\n\n1st\nIsa 56:1\, 6-7\nEzek 24:15-23\nEzek 28:1-10\nEzek 34:1-11\nWis 7:7-10\, 15-16\nEzek 37:1-14\nEzek 43:1-7ab\n\n\n2nd\nRom 11:13-15\, 29-32\n\n\n\nPhil 3:17-4:1\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 15:21-28\nMatt 19:16-22\nMatt 19:23-30\nMatt 20:1-16\nMatt 5:13-19\nMatt 22:34-40\nLuke 1:26-38\n\n\nVespers\n2 Tim 4:16-22\nTitus 1:1-9\nTitus 1:10-16\n1 Jn 3:19-24\n1 Jn 4:7-16\nTitus 2:1-10\nTitus 2:11-15
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-164/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260816
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260817
DTSTAMP:20260815T213816Z
CREATED:20260815T213816Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260815T213816Z
UID:15369-1786838400-1786924799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 20th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM \n◊◊◊ \nThe Canaanite woman whose daughter was tormented by a devil came to \nChrist begging his help. Most urgently she cried out: Lord\, have pity on me. My \ndaughter is grievously tormented by a devil. Notice that the woman was a \nforeigner\, a gentile\, a person from outside the Jewish community. What was she \nthen but a dog\, unworthy to obtain her request? It is not fair said the Lord\, to \ntake the children’s bread and give it to the dogs. Nevertheless\, by perseverance \nshe became worthy; for Christ not only admitted her to the same noble rank as \nthe children\, dog though she was\, but he also sent her away with high praise\, \nsaying: Woman\, you have great faith; let it be as you desire. Now when Christ \nsays: you have great faith\, you need seek no further proof of the woman’s \ngreatness of soul. You see that an unworthy woman became worthy by \nperseverance. \nNow would you like proof that we shall gain more by praying ourselves \nthan by asking others to pray for us? The woman cries out and the disciples went \nto Christ and said: Give her what she wants – she is shouting after us. And he \nsaid to them: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But when \nthe woman herself\, still crying out\, came to him and said: That is true\, sir\, and \nyet the dogs eat what falls from their master’s table\, then he granted her \nrequest\, saying: Let it be as you desire. \nHave you understood? When the disciples entreated him the Lord put \nthem off\, but when the woman herself cried out begging for this favor\, he \ngranted it. And at the beginning\, when she first made her request\, he did not \nanswer\, but after she had come to him once\, twice\, and a third time. He gave her \nwhat she desired. By this he was teaching us that he had withheld the gift not to \ndrive her away\, but to make that woman’s patience an example for all of us. \nNow that we have learned these lessons\, let us not despair even if we are \nguilty of sin and unworthy of any favor. We know that we can make ourselves \nworthy by perseverance.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-20th-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260817
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260818
DTSTAMP:20260815T214016Z
CREATED:20260815T214016Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260815T214016Z
UID:15371-1786924800-1787011199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nJOHN OF FORD \n◊◊◊ \nThe way the dawn rises seems a very apt symbol of the speed\, eagerness \nand greatness of the faith of the Gentiles in Jesus Christ. It awoke from a sleep \nwhose heaviness had been so long and so profound\, and at the very first light of \nthe Lord’s birth\, it sped towards him\, like ‘the rising dawn’\, It broke free form \nthe darkness of such a great want of faith to forestall\, with eager devotion\, the \nSun of justice. I say “forestall’ because it did not wait for the Wisdom of God to \ncome and discuss with it the sublimities he had seen and heard when he spoke at \nhome with this Father… \n[Nor did it] await his dazzling display of miracles and virtues and his \ngiving commands to sickness and health\, to wind and sea\, to every angelic and \nhuman spirit\, even to the demons themselves. On the contrary\, [this gentile \nfaith] would not allow even the time of his infancy to escape it\, but in the lowly \nbeginnings of that infancy\, it sought out and recognized its creator. And so the \nfaith of the gentile nations was swift in its speed\, eager in its rejoicing\, wise in its \nsearch\, resolute in its finding\, faithful in its adoration\, generous in its gift of \nitself… \nThink of the faith of the centurion\, at which scripture tells us that Jesus \nmarveled. In fact\, he went so far as to say that he had not found faith as great in \nIsrael. That he was here commending the faith of the gentiles is clear enough \nfrom what he said to those who were following him. ‘I tell you most solemnly\, \nthat many will come from the east and from the west\, and sit down with \nAbraham and Isaac and Jacob; but the children of the kingdom will be cast out \ninto the exterior darkness .̓ \nThen we have the Canaanite woman who interceded for her daughter\, and \nwhen she was refused\, persisted\, and by the great noise she made\, battered at \nthe silence of Jesus. When he turned away from her\, she followed him without \napology; she humbly adored him when he rejected her; she listened patiently to \nhis reproaches\, and so\, in the end\, she brought forth ‘honey from the rock\, and \noil from the flinty stone I repeat\, in the person of this woman\, the church of the .̓ \ngentiles deserved to hear the Lord Jesus say: ‘O woman\, great is your faith!’ \nThen there was the woman of Samaria\, who found the God of Jacob \nbeside Jacob’s well\, and in place of the water that does not quench our thirst\, \ndrew for herself ‘the fount of living water’\, so as never to know thirst again. She \ntoo is a figure of the faith of the gentiles\, and she was commended by the very \nauthor of faith when he said to the disciples who were asking him to eat\, ‘I have \nfood to eat that you know nothing about He added\, ‘Lift up your eyes and see .̓ \nthe fields\, that they are white for the harvest Here he was making unmistakable .̓ \nreference to the ripeness and zealous eagerness of the gentile faith\, which he \nconsidered food that he hungered after and would eat in the near future.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-457/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260818
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260819
DTSTAMP:20260815T214407Z
CREATED:20260815T214407Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260815T214407Z
UID:15373-1787011200-1787097599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Bl Martyrs of Rochefort
DESCRIPTION:A reading from the encyclical “Salvifici Doloris” by \nPOPE ST JOHN PAUL II \n◊◊◊ \nThe Cross of Christ throws salvific light\, in a most penetrating way\, on \nman’s life and in particular on his suffering. For through faith the Cross reaches \nman together with the Resurrection: the mystery of the Passion is contained in \nthe Paschal Mystery. The witnesses of Christ’s Passion are at the same time \nwitnesses of his Resurrection. Paul writes: “That I may know him (Christ) and \nthe power of his Resurrection\, and may share his sufferings\, becoming like him \nin his death\, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead”. Truly\, \nthe Apostle first experienced the “power of the Resurrection” of Christ\, on the \nroad to Damascus\, and only later\, in this paschal light\, reached that ” sharing in \nhis sufferings”… \nThe witnesses of the Cross and Resurrection were convinced that \n“through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God”… Thus to share \nin the sufferings of Christ is\, at the same time\, to suffer for the Kingdom of God. \nIn the eyes of the just God\, before his judgment\, those who share in the suffering \nof Christ become worthy of this Kingdom. Through their sufferings…they repay \nthe infinite price of the Passion and death of Christ\, which became the price of \nour Redemption: at this price the Kingdom of God has been consolidated anew \nin human history\, becoming the definitive prospect of man’s earthly existence. \nChrist has led us into this Kingdom through his suffering… To the prospect of \nthe Kingdom of God is linked hope in that glory which has its beginning in the \nCross of Christ… \nIf\, in fact\, the Cross was to human eyes Christ’s emptying of himself\, at \nthe same time it was in the eyes of God his being lifted up. On the Cross\, Christ \nattained and fully accomplished his mission: by fulfilling the will of the Father\, \nhe at the same time fully realized himself. In weakness he manifested \nhis power\, and in humiliation he manifested all his messianic greatness. Are \nnot all the words he uttered during his agony on Golgotha a proof of this \ngreatness\, and especially his words concerning the perpetrators of his \ncrucifixion: “Father\, forgive them for they know not what they do”? To those \nwho share in Christ’s sufferings these words present themselves with the power \nof a supreme example… \nIn the Paschal Mystery Christ began the union with man in the \ncommunity of the Church. The mystery of the Church is expressed in this: that \nalready in the act of Baptism\, which brings about a configuration with Christ\, \nand then through his Sacrifice — sacramentally through the Eucharist—the \nChurch is continually being built up spiritually as the Body of Christ. In this \nBody\, Christ wishes to be united with every individual\, and in a special way he is \nunited with those who suffer… Christ has in a sense opened his own redemptive \nsuffering to all human suffering. In so far as man becomes a sharer in Christ’s \nsufferings—in any part of the world and at any time in history—to that extent he \nin his own way completes the suffering through which Christ accomplished the \nRedemption of the world… Only within this radius and dimension of the Church \nas the Body of Christ\, which continually develops in space and time\, can one \nthink and speak of “what is lacking” in the sufferings of Christ.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-bl-martyrs-of-rochefort/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260819
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260820
DTSTAMP:20260815T214509Z
CREATED:20260815T214509Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260815T214509Z
UID:15375-1787097600-1787183999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Bl Guerric
DESCRIPTION:A reading on \nBLESSED GUERRIC OF IGNY \n◊◊◊ \nIt is difficult to know from a man’s writings what he was like to meet and \nlive with. Guerric regularly protests his own incapacity and even directs his \ncriticisms of contemporary monastic life against himself. This is\, of course\, the \nkind of convention which is most frequent in introductory passages\, and it is \ndifficult to believe that anyone would take it by itself as a guarantee of true \nhumility. What is more compelling is the restraint and balance of judgment \nwhich appear on every page. One can hardly think that the sermons were \nwritten by a man who had it in him to be unbalanced or aggressive. Certainly \nthey come from someone who grasped thoroughly the nature and purpose of the \nmonastic life\, who surveyed and presumably himself traveled the way to union \nwith God. \nThere is a charming reflection of his humility in the story of the deathbed \nrepentance\, as it is told in the Exordium Magnum. \nThe General Chapter had issued this decree: “On the lawfulness of \ndictating new books. No abbot\, monk or novice shall be allowed to compile new \nbooks unless permission has been given for a particular case in the abbots’ \nGeneral Chapter”. We have no evidence for the existence of this decree before a \ncollection of 1151\, when most of Guerric’s sermons may have been committed to \nwriting; but it is likely that it was known earlier. Neighboring abbots\, including \nBernard himself\, by this time four years dead\, must have known something of \nGuerric’s literary activities\, but no complaint had ever been made. The story \nmakes it clear that the abbot’s conscience had never been troubled about his \nsermons before this time. \nBut he would not be satisfied until the brethren had brought his book of \nsermons and burnt it. He was an old man and may perhaps have been too much \nout of touch with things to know that there were other copies. In his dying \ncondition it is unlikely that he could see what was being burnt. Whatever exactly \nhappened – and of course the story may have been made up to excuse the \nexistence of his sermons for a later generation – we still have Guerric’s work. \n“This was how God arranged things for our good. He would not have his Holy \nChurch\, least of all the Cistercian Order\, deprived of the grace which was to \ncome to it from such a wealth of learning”.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-bl-guerric-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260820
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260821
DTSTAMP:20260815T214629Z
CREATED:20260815T214629Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260815T214629Z
UID:15377-1787184000-1787270399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Bernard
DESCRIPTION:A reading from a letter by \nPOPE JOHN PAUL THE FIRST \n◊◊◊ \nYou were a great monk and\, in quite an original way\, a great statesman. \nThere was a moment when Clairvaux was more important than Rome: \nemperors and popes turned to you\, kings\, feudal lords\, vassals. You initiated a \nCrusade: an action much debated today\, but then part of the system. \nOn the other hand\, in your outspoken defense of the Jews\, you were\, \nprophetically\, opposed to the anti-Semitism of the time. You did not mince \nwords! To a pope you wrote: “For you I do not fear the sword or poison\, but the \npride of ruling.” And to the king of France\, who named an abbot to the post of \nseneschal (that is to say generalissimo)\, you wrote: “Now what will happen? \nWill the new seneschal say Mass with helmet…or will he lead the troops wearing \nsurplice and stole?” \nOthers in the Middle Ages had led Europe by wielding a sword. You\, by \nwielding your pen\, with letters that were sent off in all directions and of which\, \nunfortunately\, only a part survive today: about five hundred. \nMost of these deal with ascetic matters. But there is one\, the twenty- \nfourth in the Collected Letters\, which contains a synthesis of your Christian \nview of government; this letter became a classic under extraordinary \ncircumstances. \nThere was a Conclave in progress. The cardinals were vacillating among \nthree candidates\, one favored because of his holiness\, the second because of his \ngreat learning\, the third because of his practical sense. \nOne cardinal put an end to the indecision\, quoting\, in fact\, your letter. “It \nis futile to hesitate any more\,” he said; “our situation is already contemplated in \nthe twenty-forth letter of the Doctor Mellifluous. We have only to apply it and \neverything will proceed as smooth as silk. Is the first candidate saintly? Very \nwell… let him say some Paternosters for us poor sinners. Is the second \ncandidate learned? This delights us… Let him write some erudite book. Is the \nthird prudent?… Let him govern us\, let him become Pope.” \nIn view of all this\, dear abbot\, why not resume your old profession and \nwrite some letters\, with the charity of useful advice\, to me\, a poor bishop\, and to \nother Christians who face numerous difficulties in serving the public? A monk’s \nvoice\, from the depths of the Middle Ages\, resounding in the complicated \ndynamism of modern life! It is a possibility of doing good. Exploit it\, please\, \nFather Abbot!
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-bernard-5/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260821
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260822
DTSTAMP:20260815T214730Z
CREATED:20260815T214730Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260815T214730Z
UID:15379-1787270400-1787356799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Pius X
DESCRIPTION:A reading from Leonard von Matt on \nTHE SANCTITY OF ST PIUS X \n◊◊◊ \nPius X\, the canonized Pope\, holds a special place in the hearts of the \nfaithful. But this devotion of the faithful did not begin only at his canonization\, \nwhen the Church publicly proclaimed the holiness of his life: it began from the \nmoment when he ascended the papal throne. At once there grew up an \nunderstanding between the Shepherd and his flock. The first to understand him \nwere the simple\, humble people\, who recognized him for what he was. \nThe obvious quality which led to his canonization was his outstanding \nholiness. With Pius X\, sanctity seemed to be the most natural thing in the \nworld. It quietly enlivened all that he said or did. Yet it would seem that \nGiuseppe Sarto’s natural temperament inclined to a certain violence\, easily \ninflamed\, and no one will ever know how much struggle it cost him to achieve \nthat gentleness and unruffled goodness for which he was so renowned. We can \nfollow him on the narrow path which he set himself as church-student\, curate\, \nparish-priest\, bishop\, cardinal and Pope; but the moment of his vocation to the \npriesthood and the beginning of his heroic sanctity are secrets known to God \nalone. \nA certain holiness seems to have been his from the beginning: his striving \nafter a virtuous life seems never to have been interrupted\, his charity never \ndiminished. But it was when he began what he called the Ascent of Mount \nCalvary\, when he became Pope\, that his great sanctity became evident. It was \nhis conscientiousness that turned the enormous responsibility of the office into \na crucifixion: he gave himself unstintingly to the service of the Church\, and \nspent himself without reserve for the love of God and everyone. His sanctity lay \nin this total dedication: it was thus an inner and in a great measure a hidden \nsanctity: there were no spectacular penances\, no remarkable practices beyond \nthose of a normal\, good Christian. It might almost be said that Pius X became a \nsaint in spite of himself by sanctifying himself and his nature and by not \nresisting God’s grace that drew him on.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-pius-x-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260822
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260823
DTSTAMP:20260815T214839Z
CREATED:20260815T214839Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260815T214839Z
UID:15381-1787356800-1787443199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Queenship of Mary
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX \n◊◊◊ \nIt is the time for all flesh to speak when the Mother of the Incarnate Word \nis taken up into heaven\, nor ought human mortality cease to give praise when \nthe nature of man is in the Virgin exalted above the immortal spirits. But neither \ndoes our devotion allow us to be silent\, nor can our sterile thought conceive\, nor \nour unlearned speech give forth\, anything worthy concerning her glory. Hence it \nis that those princes of the heavenly court in the consideration of such an \nunheard-of thing cry out with admiration: “Who is she who ascends from the \ndesert abounding with delights?” \nAs though they said more manifestly: “How great is she\, or whence is she\, \nascending indeed from the desert\, so abounding in delights?” For delights are \nnot found equal in us whom the impetus of the river rejoices in the City of the \nLord\, who are given to drink by the countenance of your glory from the torrent \nof pleasure. Who is she who ascends from under the sun\, where there is nothing \nbut suffering and sadness and affliction of spirit\, abounding in spiritual \ndelights? Why should I not call delights the glory of virginity with the gift of \nfecundity\, and ensign of humility distilling the honeycomb of charity\, the \nbowels of mercy\, the plenitude of grace\, the prerogative of a singular glory? \nAscending\, therefore\, from the desert the Queen of the world\, as the \nChurch sings\, was made beautiful even to the holy angels and sweet in her \ndelights. But let them cease to wonder at the delights of this desert\, for the Lord \nhas given goodness and our earth has yielded its fruit. Why do they wonder that \nMary ascends from the desert of the earth abounding with delights? Let them \nwonder rather at Christ\, being poor\, descending from the plenitude of the \nheavenly Kingdom\, for it seems by far a greater miracle that the Son of God \ndeigned to be made a little less than the angels than that the Mother of God \nshould be exalted above the angels. Indeed\, his humiliation has been made our \nexaltation; his miseries are the delights of the world. Finally\, being rich\, he was \nmade poor on account of us\, that he might enrich us by his poverty.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-queenship-of-mary-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260823
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260824
DTSTAMP:20260823T130212Z
CREATED:20260823T130212Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T130212Z
UID:15391-1787443200-1787529599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n21st Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nAugust 23 – 29\, 2026\n\n\n\nSun\n23\nMon\n24\nTue\n25\nWed\n26\nThu\n27\nFri\n28\nSat\n29\n\n\nOffice\n21st Sunday\nSt Bartholomew\nWeekday\nOffice for Vocations\nSt Monica\nSt Augustine\nMartyrdom of St John the Baptist\n\n\nVigils\n1 Mac 10:67-89\nGen 28:10-22\n1 Mac 11:1-19\n1 Mac 11:20-40\n1 Mac 11:41-53\n1 Mac 11:54-74\nJem 37:12-38:6\n\n\nLauds\nMic 2:1-7\nDeut 18:15-19\nMic 2:8-13\nMic 3:1-4\nMic 3:5-8\nMic 3:9-12\nWis 3:1-9\n\n\nMass\n121\n629\n426\n427\n428\n429\n634\n\n\n1st\nIsa 22:19-23\nRev 21:9b-14\n2 Thess 2:1-3a\, 14-17\n2 Thess 3:6-10\, 16-18\n1 Cor 1:1-9\n1 Cor 1:17-25\nJerm 1:17-19\n\n\n2nd\nRom 11:33-36\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 16:13-20\nJn 1:45-51\nMatt 23:23-26\nMatt 23:27-32\nMatt 24:42-51\nMatt 25:1-13\nMark 6:17-29\n\n\nVespers\nTitus 3:1-9\n1 Peter 5:1-11\nTitus 3:11-15\nPhilemon 1-11\nPhilemon 12-25\nJames 1:1-11\nJas 1:12-18
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-165/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260823
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260824
DTSTAMP:20260823T131825Z
CREATED:20260823T130323Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T131825Z
UID:15393-1787443200-1787529599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 21st Sunday
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM \n◊◊◊ \nPeter was to be entrusted with the keys of the Church\, or rather\, he was \nentrusted with the keys of heaven; to him would be committed the whole people \nof God. The Lord told him: Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in \nheaven\, and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Now Peter \nwas inclined to be severe\, so if he had been impeccable what forbearance would \nhe have shown toward those he instructed? His falling into sin was thus a \nprovidential grace to teach him from experience to deal kindly with others. \nJust think who it was whom God permitted to fall into sin – Peter himself\, \nthe head of the apostles\, the firm foundation\, the unbreakable rock\, the most \nimportant member of the Church\, the safe harbor\, the strong tower; Peter who \nhad said to Christ\, Even if I have to die with you I will never deny you; Peter\, \nwho by divine revelation had confessed the truth: You are the Christ\, the Son of \nthe living God. \nThe gospel relates that on the night that Christ was betrayed Peter went \nindoors and was standing by the fire warming himself when a girl accosted him: \nYou too were with that man yesterday\, she said. But Peter answered: I do not \nknow the man. Just now you said: Even if I have to die with you\, and now you \ndeny him and say: I do not know the man. Oh Peter\, is this what you promised? \nYou were not tortured or scourged; at the words of a mere slip of a girl you took \nrefuge in denial! Again the girl said to him: You too were with that man \nyesterday. Again he answered: I have no idea what man you mean. \nWho was it that spoke to you\, causing you to make this denial? Not some \nimportant person but…a doorkeeper\, an outcast\, a slave\, someone of no account \nwhatever. She spoke to you and you answered with a denial. What a strange \nthing – a girl\, a prostitute\, accosted Peter himself and disturbed his faith! Peter\, \nthe pillar\, the rampart\, could not bear the threat of a girl! She had but to speak \nand the pillar swayed\, the rampart itself was shaken! \nA third time she repeated: You too were with that man yesterday\, but a \nthird time he denied it. Finally Jesus looked at him\, reminding him of his \nprevious assertion. Peter understood\, repented of his sin\, and began to weep. \nMercifully\, however\, Jesus forgave him his sin\, because he knew that Peter\, \nbeing a man\, was subject to human frailty. \nNow\, as I said before\, the reason God’s plan permitted Peter to sin was \nbecause he was to be entrusted with the whole people of God\, and sinlessness \nadded to his severity might have made him unforgiving toward his brothers and \nsisters. He fell into sin so that remembering his own fault and the Lord’s \nforgiveness\, he might also forgive others out of love for them. This was God’s \nprovidential dispensation. He to whom the Church was to be entrusted\, he\, the \npillar of the churches\, the harbor of faith\, was allowed to sin; Peter\, the teacher \nof the world\, was permitted to sin\, so that having been forgiven himself he \nwould be merciful to others.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-21st-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260824
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260825
DTSTAMP:20260823T130627Z
CREATED:20260823T130438Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T130627Z
UID:15395-1787529600-1787615999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Bartholomew
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST JOHN HENRY NEWMAN \n◊◊◊ \nIt is not only among the poor and lowly that the blessed character of \nguilelessness is found to exist. Secular learning and dignity have doubtless in \ntheir respective ways a powerful tendency to rob the heart of its brightness and \npurity; yet even in kings’ courts\, and the schools of philosophy\, Bartholomew \nmay be discovered. Nay\, like the Apostles\, they have been subjected to the \nworld’s buffets\, they have been thwarted in their day\, lived in anxiety\, and \nseemingly lost by their honesty\, yet without being foiled either of its present \ncomfort or its ultimate fruit. \nI have in these remarks spoken of guileless persons as members of society\, \nbecause I wished to show that\, even in that respect in which they seem deficient\, \nthey possess a hidden strength\, and unconscious wisdom\, which makes them \nlive above the world\, and sooner or later triumph over it. The weapons of their \nwarfare are not carnal; and they are fitted to be Apostles\, though they seem to be \nordinary people. Such is the blessedness of the innocent\, that is\, of those who \nhave never given way to evil\, or formed themselves to habits of sin; who in \nconsequence literally do not know its power of its misery who have thoughts of \ntruth and peace ever before them\, and are able to discern at once the right and \nwrong in conduct\, as by some delicate instrument which tells truly because it \nhas never been ill-treated. Nay\, such may be the portion (through God’s mercy) \neven of those who have at one time departed from Him\, and then repented; in \nproportion as they have learned to love God\, and have purified themselves\, not \nonly from sin\, but from the recollections of it. \nLastly\, more is requisite for the Christian\, even than guilelessness such as \nBartholomew’s. When Christ sent forth him and his brethren into the world\, He \nsaid\, “Behold\, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore \nwise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Innocence must be joined to \nprudence\, discretion\, self-command\, gravity\, patience\, perseverance in well- \ndoing\, as Bartholomew doubtless learned in due season under his Lord’s \nteaching; but innocence is the beginning. \nLet us then pray God to fulfill in us “all the good pleasure of His goodness\, \nand the work of faith with power;” that if it should please Him suddenly to bring \nus forward to great trials\, as He did His Apostles\, we may not be taken by \nsurprise\, but be found to have made a private or domestic life a preparation for \nthe achievements of Confessor and Martyrs.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-458/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260825
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260826
DTSTAMP:20260823T130808Z
CREATED:20260823T130808Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T130808Z
UID:15399-1787616000-1787702399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nISAAC OF STELLA \n◊◊◊ \n“Happy are the meek\, they shall possess the earth.” The disease \nof desire for gain closely accompanies the vice of pride. For the wisdom that is \nnot from above is earthly\, sensual\, of the devil\, full of jealousy and contention. It \nequates domination with happiness and buys a farm so that it can dominate \nothers and quarrel endlessly. This wisdom is truly of the devil\, it is the firstborn \nof him who sought to set his throne above the other stars. But the disciples\, \nleaving behind that disordered and disordering wisdom together with the \ncrowd\, were privileged to hear the words: “Happy are the meek\, they shall \npossess the earth.” \nHe does not say this or that or any section of earth\, however large\, but \nsimply “the earth.” Did ever a man\, for all his sweat and toil\, his money and his \nfists\, gain more than a part of the earth? Even in this\, few have succeeded and \nmany failed. And who has been able to keep possession of what he has won? \nWhat profit is there in working hard and long to gain something that of \nnecessity must quickly be lost? Heaven is for the poor\, the earth for the meek\, \nwhat is left for the contentious? What else do they want\, in their desire of riches? \nIf heaven and earth do not suffice them\, what then?… Earthly dominion is \nbut an illusion of power\, dignity and happiness. Why be content with only a \npart? Why covet so little and aim so low? The whole is promised and the way is \nshown. By voluntary poverty we go and by meekness we move still more \nspeedily. The truly poor man has the happiness of heaven\, the meek man the \nhappiness of earth. \nWhat remains then for those restless with ambition except the misery of \nhell? You who are wealthy and powerful\, what will you do? Think carefully. You \nhave wealth on the one hand and meekness on the other and a thief is \napproaching. If you defend your property\, you will lose your meekness. If you \nhold fast to meekness\, you will be throwing away your money. I am caught on \neither side\, for at one and the same time the thief may take my money and the \ndevil my patience. \nIndeed\, would that money had never existed\, for in these evil times it \ncannot be possessed together with meekness\, nor may it be carried on the road \nby the disciples of Jesus. Perhaps that is why the Wisdom which is from above \nand is pure and peaceable\, instructed us to carry neither purse nor money on the \njourney\, to go to law with no one\, to give even more than what is robbed\, and not \nto ask for the return of what has been taken; in short\, to hold fast to meekness \nwhich is the way to happiness. The Apostle praises this when he says: “You \ngladly bear with fools\, being wise yourselves. Why\, you let others prey upon you\, \ntake advantage of you!” \nLord Jesus\, is there anyone today “who believes what we have heard?” Is \nthere anyone to whom your way is revealed in the way he lives? How very \nnarrow is your way and how few tread it! this was “your way through the mighty \nsea” of this present world\, but in our times “your footprints are unheeded.” the \nApostle [Paul] named your way “wisdom” but today it is called the greatest folly\, \nidleness\, inertia. Alas\, these footprints are read of everywhere\, but how often \ndisregarde
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-459/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260826
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260827
DTSTAMP:20260823T130915Z
CREATED:20260823T130915Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T130915Z
UID:15401-1787702400-1787788799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nST AUGUSTINE \n◊◊◊ \nConcern with my charge as a bishop has unceasingly preoccupied me \nsince I have had placed upon my shoulders this burden of which I have \nrigorously to give account. But what is there to fear in this gift of being a bishop? \nIt is that I may be carried away by the perilous honor that it comprises for us\, \nrather than by the fruitful salvation which it brings to you. Come to my aid\, then\, \nwith your prayers\, so that he who did not disdain to confer my burden upon me \nmay deign to bear it with me. \nNow\, when you offer this prayer\, it is for yourselves that you are praying. \nFor\, this burden of mine of which I speak\, what else is it\, if it is not you? Pray \nthat I may be strong\, as I\, for my part\, pray that you may not be heavy. Our Lord \nJesus Christ would never\, indeed\, have called his burden light if he were not \ncarrying it with the bearer. And you\, also must uphold me\, so that\, in accordance \nwith the command of the Apostle\, we may bear one another’s burdens\, and so \nfulfill the law of Christ. If he does not bear it with us\, we succumb; if he does not \nbear us\, we fall. \nIf what I am on your behalf terrifies me\, what I am with you reassures me. \nFor you\, indeed\, I am the bishop; with you I am a Christian. Bishop\, that is the \ntitle of a charge which one assumes; Christian\, that is the name of the grace \nwhich one receives. A perilous title; a saving name. In any event\, we are tossed \nabout in the whirlwind of this activity as though in an immense sea. \nBut\, remembering with what blood we have been redeemed\, and rendered \ntranquil by this thought\, we come as though into a sure haven; toiling at a \ncharge which is personal to us\, we find rest in the blessedness that is common to \nall. If it is more pleasing to me to be redeemed with you that to be your head\, I \nshall be more fully your servant\, as the Lord ordains. And so\, may I never be in \ndebt for the price\, thanks to which I have succeeded in becoming your fellow- \nservant. \nI must indeed love my Redeemer\, and I know what he says to Peter: \n“Peter\, do you love me? Feed my sheep.” He says it once\, twice\, three times. He \nquestions Peter on love\, he prescribes the work to be done\, for the greater the \nlove\, the less the toil. “What shall I render the Lord for all his bounty to me?” \nShould I dare to say that I will repay him by leading his sheep to pasture? I do so\, \nto be sure\, but not I; it is the “grace of God towards me.” Where\, then shall I find \nwhat is my due\, if from every direction he forestalls me? One could in fact ask no \npayment of one whom one loves freely\, if the payment were not the very person \nwhom one loves.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-30/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260827
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260828
DTSTAMP:20260823T131017Z
CREATED:20260823T131017Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T131017Z
UID:15403-1787788800-1787875199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Monica
DESCRIPTION:A reading from the“Confessions” of \nST AUGUSTINE \n◊◊◊ \nWe were alone\, my mother and I\, we stood leaning in a certain window \nfrom which the garden of the house we occupied at Ostia could be seen. Here in \nthis place\, removed from the crowd\, we were resting ourselves for the voyage \nafter the fatigues of a long journey. We were conversing alone\, very pleasantly \nand “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” \nWe were in the present — and in the presence of Truth\, which God is — \ndiscussing together what is the nature of the eternal life of the saints: “What no \neye has seen\, nor ear heard\, nor the heart of man conceived…” \nWhat we said went something like this: “If to anyone the tumult of the \nflesh were silenced; and the phantoms of earth and waters and air were \nsilenced; and the poles were silent as well; indeed\, if the very soul grew silent to \nherself\, and went beyond herself by not thinking of herself; if fancies and \nimaginary revelations were silenced; if every tongue and every sign and every \ntransient thing—for actually if anyone could hear them\, all these would say\, ‘We \ndid not create ourselves\, but were created by Him who abides forever’. And if\, \nhaving uttered this\, they too should be silent\, having stirred our ears to hear \nHim who created them; and if then He alone spoke\, not through them but by \nHimself\, that we might hear His word\, not in fleshly tongue or angelic voice\, nor \nsound of thunder\, nor the obscurity of a parable\, but might hear Him\, Him for \nwhose sake we love these things—if we could hear Him without these\, as we two \nnow strained ourselves to do\, we then with rapid thought might touch on that \nEternal Wisdom which abides over all. \nAnd if this could be sustained\, and other visions of a far different kind be \ntaken away\, and this one should so ravish and absorb and envelop its beholder \nin these inward joys that his life might be eternally like that one moment of \nknowledge which we now sighed after—would not this be the reality of the \nsaying\, “Enter into the joy of your Lord”? But when shall such a thing be? Shall \nit not be “when we shall all rise again\,” and shall it not be that “we shall all be \nchanged”? \nThen my mother said\, “Son\, for myself I have no longer any pleasure in \nanything in this life. Now that my hopes in this world are satisfied\, I do not know \nwhat more I want here or why I am here. There was indeed one thing for which I \nwished to tarry a little in this life\, and that was that I might see you a Catholic \nChristian before I died. My God has answered this more than abundantly\, \ninasmuch as I see you now\, having spurned earthly felicity\, become His servant. \nWhat more am I to do here?”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-monica-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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