Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2nd
2 Thess 3:7-12

Eph 2:19-22

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mass
156
491
492
671
494
495
496

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

2nd
2 Thess 2:16-3:5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vigils Reading - All Souls
2022-11-02
From Purgation and Purgatory by St. Catherine of Genoa 1
The souls in purgatory cannot think, “I am here, and justly so because of my sins,” or “I wish I had never committed such sins for now I would be in paradise,” or “That person there is leaving before me,” or “I will leave before that one.” They cannot remember the good or evil in their past nor that of others.
Such is their joy in God’s will, in his pleasure, that they have no concern for themselves but dwell only in their joy in God’s ordinance. They see only the goodness of God, his mercy toward all. Should they be aware of other good or evil, theirs would not be perfect charity. Only once do they understand the reason for their purgatory: the moment in which they leave this life. After this moment, that knowledge disappears. Immersed in charity, incapable of deviating from it, they can only will or desire pure love. There is no joy save that in paradise to be compared with the joy of the souls in purgatory.
As the rust of sin is consumed the soul is more and more open to God’s love. Just as a covered object left out in the sun cannot be penetrated by the sun’s rays, in the same way, once the covering of the soul is removed, the soul opens itself fully to the rays of the sun. Having become one with God’s will, these souls, to the extent that he grants it to them, see into God.
Joy in God, oneness with him, is the end of these souls, an instinct implanted in them at their creation. All that I have said is nothing compared to what I feel within, the witnessed correspondence of love between God and the soul; for when God sees the soul pure as it was in its origins, he tugs at it with a glance, draws it and binds it to himself with a fiery love. God so transforms the soul into himself that it knows nothing other than God. He will not cease until he has brought the soul to its perfection.
That is why the soul seeks to cast off any and all impediments, so that it can be lifted up to God; and such impediments are the cause of the suffering of the souls in purgatory. Not that the souls dwell on their suffering; they dwell rather on the resistance they feel within themselves against the will of God, against his intense and pure love bent on nothing but drawing them up to him. And I see rays of lightning darting from that divine love to the creature, so intense and fiery as to annihilate not the body alone but, were it possible, the soul. The soul becomes like gold that becomes purer as it is fired, all dross being cast out.
The last stage of love is that which does its work without human doing. If humans were to be aware of the many hidden flaws in them, they would despair. These flaws are burned away in the last stage of love. God shows the soul its weakness, so that the soul may see the workings of God. If we are to become perfect, the change must be brought about in us and without us; that is, the change is to be the work not of human beings nut of God.
This, the last stage of love, is the pure and intense love of God alone. The overwhelming love of God gives the soul a joy beyond words. In purgatory great joy and great suffering do not exclude one another.
1A Word in Season – vol. IV – Sanctoral – Augustinian Press – 1991 – pg 215

Rule of Benedict: Reflection 7 pm CDT
2022-11-01 19:00 - 19:30
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Chapter 25: Serious Faults

A monk guilty of a serious fault is to be excluded from both the table and the oratory. No other monk should associate or converse with them at all. The monk will work alone at the tasks assigned to them, living continually in sorrow and penance, pondering that fearful judgement of the Apostle: “Such a man is handed over for the destruction of his flesh that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:5). Let them take their food alone in an amount and at a time the abbot considers appropriate for them. They should not be blessed by anyone passing by, nor should the food that is given them be blessed.

Vigils Reading - All Saints
2022-11-01
A Sermon by St. Aelred of Rievaulx 1

My brothers, if we are not qualified to speak of one of God’s saints and proclaim her glory, how qualified are we to give a sermon of all of the saints? It is all the more necessary that we bear ourselves in a way enabling us to come to share their glory. What then must we do? How can we attain these heights? Accordingly, brothers, let us listen to some wholesome advice. For whom should we be more ready to believe than someone who has already attained that glory? He certainly knows the way by which he went up. Let us listen then to one of the great friends of Jesus telling us: Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand that he may raise you up.

You know how today throughout the entire world everyone is praising God’s saints – the angels and archangels, the apostles, the martyrs, confessors, virgins. In their honor today in our holy Church there are canticles, hymns, torches and all the rest that goes with a feast. The canticles connote the everlasting celebration in which the saints live because of the inexpressible joy which is theirs in God. The hymns connote the inexpressible praise by which they are always praising God. So it is the Psalmist says: Blessed are those who dwell in your house, O Lord; they will praise you through all ages. The torches connote the everlasting light in which God’s saints live. This is why this past night you sang: Around you, Lord, is a light that will never fail where the souls of the saints find rest. Now brothers, ponder, if you can, how exalted in heaven are those who can be exalted and honored in this way on earth. Surelky, brothers, if we could behold all the glory of the world and all the praise of the world and all the joy of the world at the same time, in comparison with their joy it is nothing but absolute misery.

Therefore, brothers, you ought to know that we celebrate these feasts with torches, canticles and so on for only two reasons. (These things do not profit God’s saints. They take no delight from this earthly singing, nor do they glory in this earthly torches and trifles. Their praise is Christ and he is their light, who enlightens every person coming into this world.)

The first reason for these things is that by these reminders we may rouse ourselves to greater devotion; then the second, because of the connotations of which we have already spoken. We ought, then, to do as much as is adequate to these two reasons. They do not celebrate these feasts well who by excessive pomp and ceremony pursue these external glories and splendors – with the result that the outer self becomes so intent on the canticles, the ornaments, the torches and such lovely trappings that the mind is scarcely able to conceive of anything but what it sees with the eyes, hears with the ears, or perceives with the other senses.

As for us, brothers, who do not see these things, let us ponder and delight in the true loveliness in which the saints live free of corruption; in those spiritual ornaments that the saints possess in righteousness and holiness: in the hymns and praises with which they praise God without weariness; and in that light which they see in the face of God. And let us keep our feasts in such a way that our mind is not turned back to those earthly and perishable delights but rather is roused to those that are spiritual and eternal. And so let us reflect on their glory and exaltation. To enable us to reach this exaltation, let us listen to the advice of the Apostle: Humble yourselves beneath the mighty hand of God. The Apostle was very aware of the reason why we are cast down, why we have lost that exaltation in which we were created, why we were driven out into this unhappiness. What is this reason, brothers, if not pride? Therefore, to counteract this pride he taught humility. Humble yourselves, he says. But because he knew that not all those who humble themselves humble themselves wisely, he therefore added: under the mighty hand of God. Now let us notice who they are who are humbled beneath the glorious hand of God. They are the good angels who, after the blessed Mary Mother of God, are the focus of this feast. They doubtless humble themselves beneath the glorious hand of God for they look for nothing from his hand but his glory in which they are happy without end, each one according to the rank in which they were created. Therefore, brothers, let us humble ourselves beneath God’s mighty hand that he may lift us up at the time of his visitation. May he lift us up through good deeds and through holy desires, so that when he comes at that great visitation when he will demand from everyone an account of what they have done in this life, he may lift us up totally and we may hear that endearing voice saying: Come, you blessed of my Father. Receive the kingdom that has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world.

Aelred of Rievaulx – The Liturgical Sermons – Cistercian Fathers Series – #58 – Cistercian Publications – Kalamazoo – 2001 – pg 346

Vigils Reading
2022-10-31

Vigils Reading - 31st Sun ORD
2022-10-30
A Commentary on Luke by Philoxenus of Mabbug 1
All who were called by the Lord obeyed his summons at once, provided love of earthly things did not weigh them down. For worldly ties are a weight upon the mind and understanding, and for those bound by them it is difficult to hear the sound of God’s call.
But the apostles, and the righteous people and patriarchs before them, were not like this. They obeyed like people really alive, and set out lightly, because no worldly possessions held them bound as though by heavy fetters. Nothing can bind or impede the soul that senses God: it is open and ready, so that the light of the divine voice, each time it comes, finds the soul capable of receiving it.
Our Lord also called Zacchaeus from the sycamore he had climbed, and immediately Zacchaeus hastened to come down, and welcomed his disciple even before he was called. And that is a marvelous thing – our Lord had not spoken to him, and Zacchaeus had not seen the Lord with the eyes of the body, and yet he believed in him simply on the word of others. This was because in him faith had been preserved in its natural life and health. He showed his faith by believing in our Lord as soon as he heard he was coming; and the simplicity of his faith was seen when he promised to give half of his goods to the poor, and to restore fourfold what he had taken by fraud. For if Zacchaeus’ spirit had not been filled at that moment with the simplicity proper to faith, he would not have made this promise to Jesus, and he would not have given out and distributed, in a brief space of time, what his labors had amassed over many years. Simplicity scattered on all sides what had been accumulated by cunning; purity of soul dispersed what had been obtained by guile; faith made a public renunciation of what had been found and appropriated by unrighteousness. – over –
For faith’s only possession is God, and it refuses to own anything else besides him. Faith sets no store by possessions of any kind, apart from God, its one lasting possession. Faith has been implanted in us so that we may find God and possess nothing but him, and so that we may recognize that everything that exists is harmful to us apart from him.
1Journey with the Fathers – Year C – New City Press – NY – 1997 – pg 130

Skema
2022-10-30
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
31st Week in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (II)
September 30 – November 5, 2022

Sun
30
Mon
31
Tue
1
Wed
2
Thu
3
Fri
4
Sat
5

Office
31st Sunday
Weekday
All Saints
All Souls
St Martin de Porres
St Charles Borromeo
Memorial of the BVM

Vigils
Sir 30:14-25
Jon 1:1-16
Rev 5:1-14
Ezek 37:1-14
Jon 2:1-11
Jon 3:1-10
Jon 4:1-11

Lauds
Hag 1:9-15
Hag 2:1-9
Isa 65:17-25
Isa 38:9-20
Hag 2:10-14
Hag 2:15-19
Hag 2:20-23

Mass
153
485
667
668
488
489
490

1st
Wis 11:22-12:2
Phil 2:1-4
Rev 7:2-4, 9-14
Wis 3:1-9
Phil 3:3-8a
Phil 3:17-4:1
Phil 4:10-19

2nd
2 Thess 1:11-2:2

1 Jn 3:1-3
2 Cor 5:1, 6-10

Gospel
Luke 19:1-10
Luke 14:12-14
Matt 5:1-12a
John 11:17-27
Luke 15:1-10
Luke 16:1-8
Luke 16:9-15

Vespers
1 Pet 3:8-12
Heb 11:32-12:2
Rev 19:5-9
1 Thess 4:13-18
1 Pet 3:13-17
1 Pet 3:18-22
1 Pet 4:1-6

Vigils Reading - Memorial B.V.M.
2022-10-29
A reading about the silence and prayer of Mary,
from a book by Adrienne von Speyr. [1]

A life of faith is a life of silence. Mary’s existence as Mother is hidden in a great silence. All around and about her is silence. People knew nothing of her real life, of the mysteries of her virginity. Not even Joseph understood her. An angel had to enlighten him about her mystery. The silence that surrounds her is simply a reflection of her own silence. She did not become a subject of conversation, because she did not talk about herself. And in that way she safeguarded her secret. Later, too, when the Son appeared in public, she remained silent because it was not her task or mission to speak. But in her silence she participates in the dialogue between Father and Son which is the very substance of prayer. She remained silent out of respect, and in order not to drown the word of God with her own words.

Her silence also manifests her activity and her passivity, her strength and her weakness. Her activity and strength consist in her self-control, her weakness and passivity in allowing herself to be led. She is simply and solely the instrument of God. Strength and weakness, doing and suffering, all the tensions and stresses of life meet and join in her without occasioning the predominance of any one in particular. The priority is always decreed by the need of her mission. She did not cultivate, tend or encourage her good qualities for their goodness’ sake (in the way that people do when they are conscious of their own gentleness and are disposed to go further in the same direction). She did not practice her virtues with a definite end in view; on the contrary, she quite simply allowed God to decide everything, to decree everything in accordance with her mission–and this is where her silence is so profound–without losing or giving up any of her complementary qualities. In her, silence is both complete self-renunciation and complete indifference. – over –

All this co-exists in her with a perseverance that knows no limits, because her mission flows on accompanied by a parallel discretion that disturbs nothing. All her qualities participate to some extent in the glory of her conversation with the Angel: each decision is taken in the solitude and isolation imposed by the relation of her soul to God. Discretion, in this instance, is but another name for humility that asks no questions and never raises the dust. She asked the Angel of God one simple factual question, and with that she became the answer to all that God expected. Her life is therefore community in the Lord, solitude in God, and this communal solitude is called prayer.
[1] The Handmaid of the Lord, New York,1955, pp. 19-21.

Vigils Reading - SS Simon and Jude
2022-10-28
The zeal of the apostles:
a reading from a sermon on Sts Simon and Jude
by St. John Henry Newman. 1

The Apostles commemorated on this Festival direct our attention to the subject of Zeal. St. Simon is called Zelotes, which means the Zealous; a title given him (as is supposed) from his belonging before his conversion to the Jewish sect of Zealots, which professed extraordinary Zeal for the Law. Anyhow, the appellation marks him as distinguished for this particular Christian grace. St. Jude’s Epistle, which forms part of the service of the day, is almost wholly upon the duty of manifesting Zeal for Gospel Truth, and opens with a direct exhortation to contend earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints.
It will be a more simple account of Zeal, to call it the earnest desire for God’s honor, leading to strenuous and bold deeds in His behalf; and that in spite of all obstacles. Now Zeal is one of the elementary religious qualifications; that is, one of those which are essential in the very notion of a religious man. A man cannot be said to be in earnest in religion, till he magnifies his God and Savior; till he so far consecrates and exalts the thought of Him in his heart, as an object of praise, and adoration, and rejoicing, as to be pained and grieved at dishonor shown to Him, and eager to avenge Him. In a word, a religious temper is one of loyalty towards God; and we all know what is meant by being loyal from the experience of civil matters. To be loyal is not merely to obey; but to obey with promptitude, energetic dutifulness, disinterested devotion, disregard of consequences. And such is Zeal, except that it is ever attended with that reverential feeling which is due from a creature and a sinner towards his Maker, and towards Him alone. It is the main principle in all religious service to love God above all things; now, Zeal is to love Him above all other people, above our dearest and most intimate friends. This was the especial praise of the Levites, which gained for them the reward of the Priesthood, that is , their executing judgment on the people in the sin of the golden calf. Zeal is the very consecration of God=s Ministers to their office. Accordingly our Blessed Savior, the One Great High Priest, the Antitype of all Priests who went before Him and the Lord and Strength of all who come after, began His manifestation of Himself by two acts of Zeal. When twelve years old he deigned to put before us in representation the sacredness of this duty, when He remained in the Temple Awhile His father and mother sought Him sorrowing, and on their finding Him, returned answer, Do you not know that I must be about My Father’s business? And again, at the opening of His public ministry, He went into the Temple, and made a scourge of small cords, and drove out the sheep and oxen, and overthrew the changer’s tables that profaned it: thus fulfilling the prophecy contained in the text, Zeal for your house has eaten me up. Being thus consumed by Zeal Himself, no wonder He should choose His followers from among the Zealous.

1
“Christian Zeal,” in Parochial and Plain Sermons, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987, pp. 464 ff.

Vigils Reading
2022-10-27
TO COMPREHEND WITH THE SAINTS THE DEPTH OF GOD, from the Works of St Bernard[1]

[“That you may have the power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth..”(Eph 3:18) St Paul says] “comprehend” not “know” so that we should not be content to be curious for knowledge, but seek with all our power to comprehend. The reward lies not in knowing but in comprehending. To put it another way, as someone says, it is a sin for someone to know what is good and not to do it(Jas 4:17). And Paul himself says in another place, “So run that you may comprehend (1Cor 9:24).
What then is God? He is “length,” I say. What is that? Eternity. Eternity is so long that it has no end of place or time. He is also breadth. And what is that? Love. And who shall draw boundaries to God’s love, for he hates nothing that he has made? Indeed, he causes his sun to rise upon the good and the wicked and rain falls upon the just and the unjust. Therefore his bosom enfolds even his enemies. And not satisfied with that, it stretches to infinity. He goes beyond every bound not only of love but of knowledge, as the Apostle goes on to say, “And to know the love of Christ, which passes all understanding”(Eph 3:19). What more can I say? He is eternal, or perhaps even greater, eternity itself. Do you see that the width is as great as the length? Would that you could see not only what it is like but what it actually is! To be breadth is to be depth. The one no less than two; the two no more than one. God is eternity; “God is love” (1Jn 4:16). He is length without extension, breadth without distension. In both equally he exceeds local and temporal limits, but by the freedom of his nature, not by the vastness of his substance. He who made everything according to measure is immense in this way, and although he is immense, this is the measure of his immensity.
Again, what is God? “The height and the depth.” In one he is above all, in the other, he is within all. It is clear that nowhere in the Godhead is equality limited. It stands square on all sides and is utterly consistent. Consider his power as the height and his wisdom as the depth. They correspond to one another symmetrically, and while the height is beyond reach the depth is equally beyond seeing into. Paul wonders at it and exclaims, “O height of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how inscrutable are his judgments, and his ways are beyond searching out”(Rom 11:33). Let us exclaim with Paul, gazing upon the most simple unity of those attributes with God and in God. O powerful wisdom, reaching everywhere in strength. O wise power, disposing all things sweetly! One reality, many effects, different acts; And this one reality is length because it is eternity, breadth because it is love, height because it is majesty, depth because it is wisdom.
[1]BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX (Classics of Western Spirituality) Trans. by G R Evans (Paulist Press NY 1987) pp. 169-170.

Vigils Reading
2022-10-26
A Commentary on the Book of Sirach by Origen [1]

Take the whole number of the human race and pick out those who are faithful from all the nations: doubtless they will be fewer than the whole. Then select the better ones from the number of the faithful; it is certain that the number will be far smaller. And again from those you have chosen, select the more perfect ones: you will find even fewer. And the more you continue to make choices, the more you will find them to be scanty and very few, until you finally come to a certain one who confidently says: “U labored more than all of them”,
Thus “those who are more” will receive more land and more of a physical inheritance, but the few will attain to a small amount of land, since they have more in the Lord; but some will receive no earthly inheritance, if they become worthy to become priests and ministers of God; for “of these” the Lord will be their whole inheritance. And who is so blessed that among the few he receives either a small amount of land or that among the chosen priests and ministers he merits in the allotment of his inheritance to have room for the Lord alone? For granted they receive some land on account of their beasts of burden, yet it is from the land that borders on cities and attached to cities.
Yet these words that say that the inheritance is multiplied to those who are more can be understood in still another way as well. For one just person is considered as “more” in accordance with the fact that he is accepted by God. After all. It is even written: “Through one wise person a city will be considered but the tribes of the unjust will be desolated”. And one just person is reckoned for the whole world, but the unjust, even if they are many, are considered by God as scanty and as nothing.
So there is a praiseworthy multitude, as we see was said to Abraham as well, when “he led him outside and said to him: look at the sky if you are able to number the stars; thus will be your seed.” Consider here how the just person is interior and always abides in what is interior, since it is “inside” that he prays to the Father in secret, and all the glory of the king’s daughter, that is, of the royal soul, is within.” Nevertheless God “leads him outside,” when circumstances demand it and the rational order of visible things demands it. Therefore, even in this way, to the many who are “as stars of the heaven in multitude”, an inheritance is multiplied’ and to the scanty few, name;y. those who. Even if they are many in number, nevertheless are considered scanty due to the unworthiness of their life, a scanty inheritance is appointed.
[1] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture = Old Testament = vol. XV – InterVarsity Press – Downers Grove, IK – 2010 – pg 255

Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
2022-10-25
The narrow way to God,
a reading from a sermon by St. Aelred of Reivaulx (CSQ 4:80-81)

As Saint Gregory has said, this present life is nothing other than a way. He who lives well and praiseworthily passes to God, and to life eternal. But the man who lives an evil life is journeying towards hell and eternal death. This is the way of sinners. David speaks of it in the first psalm: “Happy the man who never follows the advice of the wicked, or loiters in the way of sinners”.
Very logically, indeed, he says the death of sinners is the worst because their way is evil. And as the Apostle says: “Evil men go from bad to worse; erring themselves, they lead others into error”. The death of sinners therefore is said to be the “worst”, because as long as they live they become more and more evil, until, having reached the depths, they merit to be cut off and thrown into the fire.

But our blessed Father Benedict did not follow this way. He did not lead an evil life but held fast to the way of which it is said : “The way of the just is straight”. Although narrow, it leads to life. For those who are beginning, it is indeed narrow, as it was for David when he said “Because of the words of your mouth I have followed difficult ways”. But did this prophet ever say that because he found it difficult in the beginning he left or he thought he should leave it? God forbid! Rather he held fast until he could make this very different statement: “I have run in the way of your commandments because you have enlarged my heart”. Saint Benedict also found the way narrow at the beginning of his conversion. But in the end he found it wide open. Was not the way difficult for him? As we read in his Life, in order not to consent to lust, he threw himself into a thorn bush. But when he found the way difficult, what did he do? He did not depart from it ; rather he held fast and manfully stood his ground. He first did what he later taught, so that he might teach his followers what he himself did. Thus Pope Saint Gregory said of him: “Just as he lived, so he taught. He could not teach other than he lived”. That he stood manfully in the way of God we can learn from his own words, since in his Rule he warns one shaken by fear not to depart from the way of salvation.
