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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250125
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250126
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250119T114828Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250119T114828Z
UID:13043-1737763200-1737849599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Conversion of St Paul
DESCRIPTION:THE BEARER OF A MISSION \nBy Fr Lucien Cerfaux \n◊◊◊ \nIn terms of today\, Paul passed from the Jewish religion to Christianity. He \nis the first of the great “converts” who distinguish the pages of Christian history \nand provide the apologists with proof of the supremacy of our religion. Yet he \nhimself would not have used the term “conversion” if this implied abandoning \none religion for another. For him Christianity was not a new religion\, distinct \nfrom Judaism. If it had been suggested to Paul that he was no longer a Jew\, he \nwould not have understood what was meant. The many protests in the epistles \ndo not apply to the past: Paul is and continues to be Hebrew and Jew\, in race \nand religion… \nWe can state definitely that St Paul interprets the event which took place \non the road to Damascus as a call from God\, a vocation to a mission which ranks \nhim with the prophets of the Old Testament. Like the prophets\, he has been \ngranted a vision; like them\, he has been given a mission\, and like them too\, he is \nconstrained to answer the call: his human resolve is endowed by grace to such \nan extent that it is God himself who carries out the work with which the Apostle \nis entrusted. \nThe book of Acts confirms these conclusions. Paul is the chosen instru- \nment to “carry” the name of Christ\, that is\, to bear witness\, in the midst of \npersecution\, before kings\, nations and Israel. The three accounts of the vision at \nDamascus agree with the Epistle to the Galatians; Paul changed abruptly from \nbeing an active persecutor of the church and submitted himself to the orders \ntransmitted by Christ… \nThere are two distinct aspects of his vocation. The first concerns salvation \nonly: the chosen are destined for the messianic era; they are called children of \nGod\, they receive the messianic graces. The summons to the messianic feast was \nknown to the rabbis from the first century and was used by Jesus. A second \nseries of texts reserves the call to outstanding leaders in the Old Testament such \nas Abraham\, Moses\, Joshua\, the prophets\, who were predestined before their \nbirth and “called” at the chosen moment by God. When he calls someone by \nname it is to entrust that one with a mission. \nSt Paul is called as the bearer of a mission. He is ranked on the same level \nas the spiritual leaders of Israel and shares their privileges. His mission is \naddressed to the gentiles\, to whom he will transmit the call to the messianic \ngraces.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-conversion-of-st-paul-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250126
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250127
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250126T112842Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250126T112842Z
UID:13061-1737849600-1737935999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n3rd Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nJan. 26 – Feb. 1\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n26\nMon\n27\nTue\n28\nWed\n29\nThu\n30\nFri\n31\nSat\n1\n\n\nOffice\nSS Robert\, Alberic\, & Stephen\nSS Timothy & Titus\nSt Thomas Aquinas\nOffice for the Dead\nWeekday\nWeekday\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nLev 26:3-13\n1 Kings 7:23-51\n1 Kings 8:1-21\n1 Kings 8:22-40\n1 Kings 8:41-53\n1 Kings 8:54-66\n1 Kings 9:1-14\n\n\nLauds\nSir 2:1-11\nAmos 1:1-5\nAmos 1:6-10\nAmos 1:11-15\nAmos 2:1-5\nAmos 2:6-16\nAmos 3:1-8\n\n\nMass\n606\, 322\, 815.8\n520\, 317\n318\n319\n320\n321\n322\n\n\n1st\nSir 44:1\,10-15\n2 Tim 1:1-8\nHeb 10:1-10\nHeb 10:11-18\nHeb 10:19-25\nHeb 10:32-39\nHeb 11:1-2\, 8-19\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 11:1-2\, 8-16\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 10:24b-30\nMark 3:22-30\nMark 3:31-35\nMark 4:1-20\nMark 4:21-25\nMark 4:26-34\nMark 4:35-41\n\n\nVespers\nEph 4:1-6\n1 Cor 4:14-21\n1 Cor 5:6-13\n1 Cor 6:1-11\n1 Cor 6:12-20\n1 Cor 7:17-24\nRom 12:1-5
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-102/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250126
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250127
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250126T113053Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250126T113053Z
UID:13063-1737849600-1737935999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Robert\, Alberic\, & Stephen
DESCRIPTION:THE BEGINNINGS OF THE \nCISTERCIAN ORDER \nA reading from the “Exordium Parvum” \n◊◊◊ \nWe Cistercians\, the first founders of this Church\, in this document hereby \nrelate to our successors how this Monastery and its way of life took its beginning \naccording to the Laws of Holy Mother the Church; by what authority it began\, \nand also by what persons and at what times; so that by the telling of the plain \nand unadulterated truth\, they may be moved to a deep love for this Monastery \nand for the observance of the Holy Rule of St Benedict which was begun in it by \nus through the Grace of God; and that they might pray for us who have borne the \nheat and the burden of the day without losing courage; that they might labor \nwith great fervor in the straight and narrow way which the Rule describes\, even \nunto complete union with God\, when\, having shed the garments of this flesh\, \nthey might happily rest in eternal peace. \nIn the year 1098\, Robert of blessed memory\, the first Abbot of the Church \nof Molesme founded in the Diocese of Langre\, together with some of the \nbrethren from the same Monastery\, came to the venerable Hugh\, who was at \nthat time the Legate of the Holy See and the Archbishop of the Church of Lyons\, \nstating that they desired to live their life under the guidance of the Holy Rule of \nFather Benedict\, and that in order that they might follow out these designs with \ngreater freedom and security\, they earnestly entreated him that he would bless \nand endorse their project with his Apostolic Authority. The Legate was happily \npleased with their desire\, and he laid the foundation of their beginnings by his \nLetter. \nAfter these affairs\, Robert and those who sided with him returned to \nMolesme and chose from that community of brethren those who wished to \nassociate with themselves\, brothers who had made their vows according to the \nRule; so that between those who had spoken to the Legate at Lyons and those \nwho had been chosen from the Monastery\, there were twenty-one monks. \nAccompanied by such a troop\, they made their way in all haste to the desert \nwhich was called Citeaux… Because of the thickness of the woods and \nundergrowth\, it was very rarely visited by people and it was inhabited by \nnothing but wild animals. \nWhen they arrived there\, the men of God immediately conceived a great \nand holy reverence for the place\, for the more contemptible and inaccessible it \nwas to the people of the world\, the more they considered it fit for their life. This \nwas the very reason for which they had come there. Far away and hidden by the \ndensity of trees and undergrowth\, they began to construct a monastery there \nwith the help of the Bishop of Chalons-sur-Saone and the consent of the one \nwho owned the property. For these men\, while they were still at Molesme\, \ninspired by the grace of God\, had frequently spoken among themselves about \nthe transgressions of the Rule of Blessed Benedict\, Father of Monks. They had \nlamented and grown sad in spirit\, seeing that both they and the rest of the \nmonks who had promised by their Solemn Profession that they would observe \nthis Rule\, kept that promise to a very small degree. On account of this\, by the \nauthority of the Holy See\, they came to this solitude in order that they might \nfulfill their profession by the observance of the Holy Rule.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-robert-alberic-stephen-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250127
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250128
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250126T113430Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250126T113430Z
UID:13065-1737936000-1738022399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Timothy & Titus
DESCRIPTION:THE VIRTUE OF ST TIMOTHY \nAS A PATTERN FOR CHRISTIANS \nFrom a sermon by St John Henry Newman \n◊◊◊ \n“Drink no longer water\, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and \nfor your other infirmities”. This is a remarkable verse\, because it accidentally tells \nus so much. It is addressed to Timothy\, St Paul’s companion\, the first Bishop of \nEphesus. Of Timothy we know very little\, except that he did minister to St Paul\, \nand hence we might have inferred that he was a man of very saintly character; but \nwe know little or nothing of him\, except that he had been from a child a careful \nreader of Scripture… \nTimothy…had so read the Old Testament\, and had so heard from St Paul the \nNew\, that he was a true follower of the Apostle\, as the Apostle was of Christ. St Paul \naccordingly calls him “my own son”\, or “my true son in the faith”. And elsewhere \nhe says to the Philippians that he has “no man like-minded to Timothy\, who would \nnaturally” or truly “care for their state”… St Paul does not expressly tell us that he \nwas a man of mortified habits; but he reveals the fact indirectly by cautioning him \nagainst an excess of mortification. “Drink no longer water\,” he says\, “but use a little \nwine.” It should be observed that wine\, in the southern countries\, is the ordinary \nbeverage; it is nothing strong or costly. Yet even from such as this\, Timothy was in \nthe habit of abstaining\, and restricting himself to water; and\, as the Apostle \nthought\, imprudently\, to the increase of his “frequent infirmities.” \nThere is something very striking in this accidental mention of the private \nways of this Apostolic Bishop. We know indeed from history the doctrine and the \nlife of the great saints\, who lived some time after the Apostles’ age; but we are \nnaturally anxious to know something more of the Apostles themselves and their \nassociates. We say\, “Oh that we could speak to St Paul – that we could see him in his \ndaily walk\, and hear his…teaching! – that we could ask him what he meant by this \nexpression in his Epistles\, or what he thought of this or the other doctrine.” This is \nnot given to us. God might give us greater light than He does; but it is His gracious \nwill to give us the less. Yet perhaps much more has been given us in Scripture\, as it \nhas come to us\, than we think\, if our eyes were enlightened to discern it there. Such\, \nfor instance\, is this text; it is a sudden revelation\, a glimpse of the personal \ncharacter of Apostolic Christians; it is a hint which we may follow out. For no one \nwill deny that a very great deal of doctrine\, and a very great deal of precept\, goes \nwith such a fact as this: namely\, that this holy man\, without impiously disparaging \nGod’s creation\, and thanklessly rejecting God’s gifts\, yet\, on the whole\, lived a life \nof abstinence. \nI cannot understand why such a life is not excellent in a Christian now\, if it \nwas the characteristic of Apostles and friends of Apostles then. I really do not see \nwhy the trials and persecutions\, which surrounded them from Jews and Gentiles\, \ntheir forlorn despised state\, and their necessary discomforts\, should not even have \nexempted them from voluntary sufferings in addition\, unless such self-imposed \nhardships were pleasing to Christ. Such were the holy men of old. How far are we \nbelow them! Alas for our easy sensual life\, our cowardice\, our sloth! Is this the way \nby which the kingdom of God is won?
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-timothy-titus-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250128
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250129
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250126T113603Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250126T113603Z
UID:13067-1738022400-1738108799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Thomas Aquinas
DESCRIPTION:THE ATTITUDE OF ST THOMAS \nAQUINAS BEFORE THE TRUTH \nBy Josef Pieper \n◊◊◊ \nIn considering the teaching of St Thomas\, we should not understand it \nmerely as the material substance of an explicitly formulated set of doctrines. \nMuch too rarely does one remember that the substance of the content [of his \nwritings] has its origin in a very special attitude of St Thomas\, human as well as \nintellectual\, not only in the sense that this attitude colors the work with its \nparticular emphasis\, but also in the sense that without this special human \nattitude\, what has been written might never have been written at all. \nShould we therefore not consider this attitude\, this temper of mind – \nthough Thomas himself never expressly formulated it – as part and parcel of the \nspirit of the ratio of the Universal Doctor of Christendom – the bold intrepidity \nwhich impelled and enabled the young mendicant friar at the University of Paris \nto “re-cognize” the truth of the Aristotelian worldview\, to re-integrate it as an \nessential part into the intellectual heritage of the Christian West\, undaunted by \nthe opposition of the defenders of traditional doctrine. And should we not see in \nthe personal “style” of this bold recognition of truth and reality likewise an \nelement of “timeliness\,” in the sense of an exemplary attitude?… \nIn times such as these it is imperative to call to mind the qualities which \nmake Thomas what he was: the all-inclusive\, fearless strength of his \naffirmation\, his generous acceptance of the whole of reality\, the trustful \nmagnanimity of his thought. And we find occasion\, also\, to remember: The \nformal and theoretical justification for this attitude is found precisely in \nThomas’s doctrine of the infinitely many-sided truth of things. Truth cannot be \nexhausted by any (human) knowledge; it remains therefore always open to new \nformulation. \nOn the other hand\, what we call here the “Thomist attitude” would have to \ninclude\, in order to remain true to its master\, the resolution not to relinquish a \nsingle particle of the heritage of truth; for it is the hallmark of the “modernity” of \nAlbert and Thomas that both refused to disrupt and abandon\, for the sake of new \nideas\, the realm of tradition. They relinquished neither the Bible nor Augustine \n(nor\, consequently\, Plato) for the sake of Aristotle. The new territory which awaits \nconquest today…is of virtually immeasurable scope… Thomas Aquinas might \nattain to a new timeliness\, both affirmative and corrective.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-thomas-aquinas-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250129
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250130
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250126T113722Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250126T113722Z
UID:13069-1738108800-1738195199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN \nFrom a letter by St Alphonsus Liguori \n◊◊◊ \nWhile we remain on earth\, it is difficult\, if not impossible\, to understand \nor describe the happiness of heaven. One reason for this is that we think and \nimagine only in terms of earthly enjoyments. If a horse were made capable of \nreasoning and then were promised a rich feast from its owner\, the animal would \nenvision a meal made up of the choicest hay and oats. Our concept of heaven is \nformed under the same limitations. In heaven we will be totally enthralled with \na beauty far surpassing anything we have experienced here on earth. In heaven \nwe will be sure that we love God and he loves us. \nWhat is more\, this love of ours will be constantly extended by the ever \nincreasing knowledge that we will gain of the magnitude of God’s love for us. We \nwill see how God showed this love\, for example\, by becoming man and dying on \nthe cross for us and by giving us himself in the holy Eucharist. \nAlso\, we will see how many graces God gave us in our lifetime; how he \ndelivered us from so may temptations; how much patience he showed by \nenduring our many weaknesses and sins; how merciful he was to us in giving us \nso many lights\, so many chances\, so much love. \nIn heaven we will forever enjoy a kind of happiness which\, even as eternity \nprogresses\, will always be as new as at the first moment we began to enjoy it. We \nshall be always satisfied\, yet always craving. We will be forever hungry\, yet always \nsated with infinite delights\, because desires in heaven produce no pain\, and \npleasure in heaven never becomes boring.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-16/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250130
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250131
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250126T113823Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250126T113823Z
UID:13071-1738195200-1738281599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE FIRE OF LOVE \nBy John of Ford \n◊◊◊ \n‘May your will’\, Lord Jesus\, ‘be done on earth as it is in heaven for you\,̓ \nsaid that it was your will that fire be enkindled on this earth\, the fire you came to \nsend upon it. What you desired has happened. The furnace that is in Jerusalem \nhas enkindled a furnace on earth. Here on earth\, just as in heaven\, you have \nmade your ministers flames of fire\, and like a devouring fire\, they devour to the \nright and to the left. \nIndeed\, love is never satisfied. It feels distaste for nothing\, it does not \nthink anything should be rejected. It issues its call equally to the good and to the \nbad\, receiving them indiscriminately and making no distinction in favor of one \nrather than the other. The only distinction\, perhaps\, is that it usually overflows \nmore copiously for those in whom sin has abounded. It is characteristic of love \nthat\, like fire\, it burns more fiercely where it finds sturdier tinder\, and the \nquality and quantity of what instigates it\, makes its flame grow ever stronger. \nJesus makes this crystal clear in his parable of the two debtors; it is the one who \nis forgiven most who loves most). He loves more\, says Jesus\, to whom more is \ngiven; he loves more\, meaning that he is urged by the debt and the material is \nthere to prompt him to greater love. \nIn my opinion\, this is why Zechariah said those words I quoted above\, that he \nwould make ‘the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood\, like a \nflaming torch among the sheaves Obviously\, because wood is harder than hay\, it is.̓ \nbetter material for fires\, and the more difficult it is to set it burning\, the more it \nblazes up once it has begun. It seems to change into the very substance of fire\, \ntaking on its color as well as its heat. The sheaves\, on the other hand\, are those \nwhose sins are venial\, and the flaming torch\, that is\, the opportunity to be forgiven \nand receive unmerited grace\, consumes them with a spark. Yet it is not a fiery spark \nthat touches the wood\, but a furnace\, so that\, in some wonderful way\, the wood \nitself becomes fire by the intensity of the heat. And the wood takes to itself not only \nthe ability to burn\, but also to enkindle.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-259/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250131
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250201
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250126T113938Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250126T113938Z
UID:13073-1738281600-1738367999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:SIMPLICITY AND OPENNESS \nFrom the Collected Works of Saint Rafael Arnaiz \n◊◊◊ \nOne must walk so many tortured paths to arrive at simplicity. Complication \nis such an uncomfortable thing…and we human beings like to complicate \neverything for ourselves. Often\, if we fail to practice virtue\, it’s because our \ncomplicated nature rejects what is simple. Often\, we fail to appreciate the \nmagnificence hidden within an act of simplicity\, because we look for greatness in \ncomplicated things; we judge the magnificence of things based on their difficulty… \nI clearly see that what seemed dark and complicated to me before is actually \nrather simple and straightforward. Virtue…God…the interior life\, how difficult I \nthought it was to live that! It’s not that I’m virtuous now\, or that I have a \ncompletely clear knowledge of God and spiritual life\, but I’ve realized that you get \nthere without complications or complexities\, without clever philosophy\, without \ntechnical challenges. I’ve come to see that you reach God in precisely the opposite \nmanner. You come to know Him through simplicity of heart and being \nuncomplicated. There’s nothing difficult about acts of love… What’s truly difficult \nis wanting to know God by searching out His mysteries. The former leads us to \nGod\, and the latter does not… \nSo\, then\, why do we lack virtue at times? Because we aren’t simple; because \nwe complicate our desires; because everything we want is made difficult by our \nweak will\, which gets carried away by whatever is pleasing\, comfortable\, and \nunnecessary\, and often by its passions. We lack virtue not because it is difficult\, but \nbecause we don’t want it. We lack patience…because we don’t want it. We lack \ntemperance…because we don’t want it. We lack chastity…for the same reason. We \nwould be saints if we wanted to be…it’s much harder to become an engineer than it \nis to become a saint. If only we had faith! \nThe interior life…the spiritual life\, a life of prayer. “My God! That must be \ndifficult!” But it’s not at all. Get rid of everything in your heart that’s in the way\, \nand you’ll find God there. That’s it. Often we look for things that aren’t there\, and \non the other hand we’ll walk right by a treasure without seeing it…We look for Him \nin a whole tangled mess of things\, and to us\, the more complicated they are\, the \nbetter. And all the while\, we are carrying God around inside of us\, yet we don’t look \nfor Him there. Collect yourself within…gaze upon your nothingness\, gaze upon the \nnothingness of the world\, place yourself at the foot of the cross\, and if you are \nsimple\, you will see God… All we have to do is want Him\, and God will fill the soul \nagain in such a way that you’d have to be blind not to see it. \nIf a soul wants to live according to God’s ways…it must be rid of everything \nthat is not Him…and that is it. It’s quite easy. If we wanted to\, and if we asked God \nwith simplicity\, we would make great progress in the spiritual life. If we wanted to \nbe saints\, we would be… But we’re such fools that we don’t want to…We prefer to \nwaste time on stupid vanities. We’ll regret that someday. \nBut I am very happy\, because I have come to see that everything is simple \nand straightforward…and this is within my reach.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-260/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250201
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250202
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250126T114043Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250126T114043Z
UID:13075-1738368000-1738454399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:SHE HEARD THE WORD OF GOD \nAND KEPT IT \nBy Fr Hans Urs von Balthasar \n◊◊◊ \nMary is a “prototype of the church\,” and this for two reasons: she is the \nplace of the real and bodily indwelling of the Word in the most intimate union of \nMother and Child sharing the same flesh; and\, in the spiritual sphere\, she is – \nand to this the former is due – a servant\, in her entire person\, body and soul\, one \nwho knows no law of her own\, but only conformity to the Word of God. Because \nshe was a virgin\, which means a pure\, exclusive hearer of the word\, she became \nmother\, the place of the incarnation of the Word. Her womb was blessed\, only \nbecause she “heard the word of God and kept it”\, because she “kept all these \nwords and pondered them in her heart”. She is the model which should govern \ncontemplation\, if it is to keep clear of two dangers: one\, that of seeing the word \nonly as something external\, instead of the profoundest mystery within our own \nbeing\, that in which we live\, move and are: the other\, that of regarding the word \nas so interior to us that we confuse it with our own being\, with a natural wisdom \ngiven us once and for all\, and ours to use as we will…. \nThe hearer par excellence is the virgin who became pregnant with the \nWord\, and bore him as her own and the Father’s son. She herself\, even when \nmother\, remained a servant; the Father alone is the Master\, together with the \nSon\, who is her life and who molds her life. She lives wholly for the fruit of her \nwomb. Even after she has given him birth\, she continues to carry him within \nher; she only needs to look into her heart to find him. But she does not omit\, on \nthat account\, to turn her gaze uninterruptedly upon the child growing up by her \nside\, upon the youth and the man\, whose ideas and actions seem to her ever \nmore unpredictable and astonishing. \nMore and more she “understood not” what he meant – when he stayed \nbehind in the Temple without telling her\, when he failed to receive her\, when\, in \nhis public life\, he concealed his power and spent himself in vain and\, in the end\, \ndetached himself from her as she stood at the foot of the cross\, substituting for \nhimself a stranger\, John\, to be her son. With all the force of her body\, she obeys \nthe word that resounds ever more strongly and divinely but seems more and \nmore alien and almost tears her asunder\, although\, in spite of all\, she has given \nherself to it wholly and radically in advance. She lets herself be led whither she \n“knows not”; so far is the word she follows from being her own wisdom. Yet she \nis wholly in accord with its leading\, so surely is the word she loves “engrafted” in \nher heart.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-the-bvm-7/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250202
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250203
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250202T012541Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250202T012541Z
UID:13085-1738454400-1738540799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n4th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nFebruary 2 – 8\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n2\nMon\n3\nTue\n4\nWed\n5\nThu\n6\nFri\n7\nSat\n8\n\n\nOffice\nPresentation of the Lord\nWeekday\nWeekday\nSt Agatha\nSt Paul Miki & Comp\nWeekday\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nExod 13:1-16\n1 Kings 9:15-28\n1 Kings 10:1-13\n1 Kings 10:14-29\n1 Kings 11:1-13\n1 Kings 11:14-25\n1 Kings 11:26-40\n\n\nLauds\nIsa 42:1-7\nAmos 3:9-12\nAmos 3:13-15\nAmos 4:1-5\nAmos 4:6-10\nAmos 4:11-13\nAmos 5:1-6\, 8-9\n\n\nMass\n524\n323\n324\n325\n326\n327\n328\n\n\n1st\nMal 3:1-4\nHeb 11:32-40\nHeb 12:1-4\nHeb 12:4-7\, 11-15\nHeb 12:18-19\, 21-24\nHeb 13:1-8\nHeb 13:15-17\, 20-21\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 2:14-18\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 2:22-40\nMark 5:1-20\nMark 5:21-43\nMark 6:1-6\nMark 6:7-13\nMark 6:14-29\nMark 6:30-34\n\n\nVespers\n1 Jn 3:1-8\n1 Cor 8:4-13\n1 Cor 9:1-12a\n1 Cor 9:12b-18\n1 Cor 9:19-27\n1 Cor 10:1-13\n1 Cor 10:14-22
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-103/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250202
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250203
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250202T012710Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250202T012710Z
UID:13087-1738454400-1738540799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Presentation of the Lord
DESCRIPTION:THE PASCHAL SIGNIFICANCE \nOF JESUS’ PRESENTATION \nFrom “Sign of Contradiction” by Pope St John Paul II \n◊◊◊ \nForty days after the nativity the Church celebrates an event full of \nspiritual significance. On that day the Son of God\, as a tiny child of poor parents\, \nborn in a rough stable in Bethlehem\, was carried to the temple in Jerusalem. \nThis was his own temple\, the temple of the living God\, but he came to it not as \nthe Lord but as one under the law. For the poor the law prescribed that forty \ndays after the birth of the firstborn two turtle-doves or two young pigeons must \nbe offered in sacrifice\, as a sign that the child was consecrated to the Lord. \nThe message which the Spirit of God allowed the old man Simeon to sense \nand express so wonderfully was implicitly in the event itself\, in this first \nencounter between the Messiah and his temple. On seeing the child\, Simeon \nbegins to utter words that are not of human provenance. He prophesies\, \nprompted by the Holy Spirit; he speaks with the voice of God\, the God for whom \nthe temple was built and who is its rightful master. \nSimeon’s words begin\, in what the liturgy calls the Song\, by bearing \nwitness to the light… They end…by bearing witness to the cross\, in which \ncontradiction of Jesus\, the Christ\, is to find tangible expression. The cost of the \ncross was shared by the mother\, whose soul — according to Simeon’s words — \nwas to be pierced by a sword\, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be laid \nbare. \nChronologically the presentation of Jesus in the temple is linked with the \nnativity\, but in its significance it belongs with the mystery of the pasch. It is the \nfirst of the events which clearly reveal the messianic status of the newborn child. \nWith him are linked the fall and the rising of many in the old Israel and also the \nnew. On him the future of humankind depends. It is he who is the true Lord of \nthe ages to come. His reign begins when the temple sacrifice is offered in \naccordance with the law\, and it attains full realization through the sacrifice on \nthe cross\, offered in accordance with an eternal plan of love.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-presentation-of-the-lord-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250203
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250204
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250202T012816Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250202T012816Z
UID:13089-1738540800-1738627199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE EYEWITNESS OF THE APOSTLES \nBy Fr Hans Urs von Balthasar \n◊◊◊ \nThe Apostles are the founders of the Church\, officially chosen and called \nby the Lord\, whose first function will be to be eyewitnesses. They are drawn into \nliving community with the Messiah\, a relationship in which they will enjoy with \nthis man\, who is ‘God among us’\, a commerce that is fully human\, that engages \nboth their senses and their spirit. They are ‘those with him’\, ‘those who \naccompany him’\, and ‘those around him’. This is what they are\, and they will \ngrow more and more into this way of life in the course of Jesus’ life. They \nconstitute the original cell of God’s community with us\, which had been \npromised and is now being realized. All those coming after them who wish to \nhave community with God must become a part of this original cell. There are \nmany others who come to the Lord\, only to go away again\, many others who stay \nwith him a while only then to leave him\, or simply others who have a loose \nconnection with him without any particular calling. \nBy contrast\, the Apostles enjoy a community with Jesus which has precise \ncontours\, a community which he has consciously established and maintained\, \nwhich is founded on the definitive life-long renunciation of all else: it is \nsomething wholly formed\, distinctive in shape. And yet it is not something \nmagical imposed from above\, since the son of perdition will indeed fall away; \nrather\, it is the realization of the covenant-partnership between God and \nourselves. \nEyewitness\, in turn\, is an association with the Lord in his public life\, in his \nPassion\, and in his death which is the communal\, human\, and realistic \nexperience of God which continues and fulfills the Old Testament’s promise of \nan earthly God-with-us. But this phase comes to an end with Jesus’ death. The \nApostles’ senses\, accustomed to his existence\, now fall into the void. There is no \nlonger anything there to see\, to hear\, to touch. The Apostles’ whole human \nexperience breaks off with the three days in death\, then to resume anew\, \nwithout any traceable continuity\, with Christ’s Resurrection\, at a place whose \ndistance from the point of disruption can be known and measured only by God. \nAnd now\, during the forty days\, the association with the Lord will be \nexperienced with wholly new senses. \nThe eyewitness of the Apostles draws all its force from this last phase\, to \nbe sure; otherwise they could hardly bear witness to anything more than an \nextraordinary man who was prophetically gifted and who performed miracles. \nBut it draws its force not\, indeed\, solely from the witness of the Resurrection\, \nbut from the fact that the man who appeared to them was the same whom they \nhad known previously from long association and whom they had seen suffer and \ndie. Seeing him\, hearing him\, touching him\, observing how he eats\, the proof of \nthe wounds” all of this receives its full significance only in that light.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-261/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250204
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250205
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250202T012925Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250202T012925Z
UID:13091-1738627200-1738713599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:ON PREACHING CHRIST \nBy St Albert the Great \n◊◊◊ \nJust as the body is borne about on legs\, so Christ is borne about by \npreachers. Professional preachers have the gospel in their heart through love and \nunderstanding\, in their lips through their preaching and doctrine\, and in their \nhand through the accomplishment of their work. \nGregory says: “The preacher’s tongue works to no avail unless there is the \ngrace of redemption at work within.” Hence\, the office of preaching must not be \nentrusted to those who lead a shady life and perform works of darkness. The \npreacher must put off the old association with sin. The word of the Lord must \nproceed maturely and orderly\, as befits the word of God and as it proceeds from \nthe mouth of God. \nThus preaching requires instruction\, and study\, and meditation. Just as \nthe eagle has a more sublime flight\, so must the preacher soar by means of \ncontemplation. For a sermon which proceeds from a preacher’s innermost being \nwarms and gladdens the heart like wine and is often brought back to the mind \nand pondered. \nThe things to be preached are those above nature which our intelligence \ncan only understand through faith. Especially to be preached are those things \nthat must be believed\, which works are to be avoided and which to be \naccomplished. Preaching should summon sinners to repentance\, strengthen the \nweak\, warn of the punishment for sinners\, and promise glory. Preachers must \noffer not their own teaching of truth but the teaching of the one who sent them. \nThey must lead an exemplary life as well. \nPreachers who are sent\, going out from their comfort into the field to sow \nthe word of God\, will find the Church of believers to be united with themselves in \na spiritual marriage. Just as the sight of open fields will impel a horse to run\, \nwhich is one of its skills\, so the sight of a place filled with people eager to listen \nwill inspire a preacher to preach. Preachers will thus proceed to insure their own \nspiritual growth\, that by contemplating they might imbibe the truth which by \npreaching they give forth; they are converted from an external work\, which they \ndirected toward their neighbor\, to familiar conversation with God in the secret of \ntheir own conscience. \nThe scribe is the Holy Spirit\, and the preacher’s tongue is the pen by which \nthe Holy Spirit speaks. And just as we do not praise the pen for fine writing but \nrather the writer\, so the preacher should not be praised for good preaching but \nthe Holy Spirit. \nThe word of God is to be preached to everyone without respect to persons. \nIt must be taught in a human way and inserted into the human heart by the finger \nof God. It should be taught to the unlearned by the examples of corporal things \nthrough the bodily examples with which they are acquainted and by which they \ncan in some way understand heavenly things.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-262/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250205
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250206
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250202T013023Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250202T013023Z
UID:13093-1738713600-1738799999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Agatha
DESCRIPTION:ST AGATHA \nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints \n◊◊◊ \nSt Agatha has retained her place in the Universal Calendar following the \nreforms of 1969\, even though nothing that can be called historical fact is known \nof her life. There is\, however\, good evidence of an early cult\, with many versions \nof her legend recorded in both Greek and Latin\, the Greek being the earlier\, with \nthe Latin dating from the sixth century. This means that however fictitious the \ndetails of her Acts\, she cannot be dismissed as a mere fiction altogether. Her \nActs\, though\, are more of an indication of the type of woman held up for \nveneration as a saint in the early centuries than anything else. \nShe is described as a wealthy woman who had dedicated her virginity to \nChrist. This\, then\, rather than her life\, is the most precious thing she has to \noffer. Her birthplace is assigned to either Palermo or Catania in Sicily\, and she is \nsaid to have died at Catania\, which has the stronger historical claim to be her \nbirthplace. Among those who try to take the precious gift she has vowed to \nChrist from her is a consul named Quintianus. He used the imperial edict \nagainst Christians to have her brought before him\, then placed in a brothel run \nby a woman with the appropriate name of “Aphrodisia” and her assistants\, \nreferred to as her daughters. All tricks\, assaults and threats to make her yield \nher virginity fail\, and so she stands as an example of “virginity as a sacred power\, \na concrete realization within this world of the divine spirit”. \nQuintianus then handed her over to be tortured\, and her Acts dwell on the \ntortures inflicted on her\, culminating in the cutting off of her breasts\, which \nwere placed on a platter. Perhaps because further details of her tortures involve \nher being rolled over live coals\, she is invoked against fire in general. This may\, \nthough\, be an extension of her protection against eruptions from Mount Etna\,9 \nbecause she is associated with Sicily\, and her legend states that after her death a \nflow of lava from Mount Etna was miraculously diverted by her silken veil held \nup on a staff. This is last recorded as happening in the 1840s\, and her veil is still \ncarried in solemn procession on her feast day in Catania. By extension she \nprotects against earthquakes everywhere. She is also patron saint of bell- \nfounders. The association is ancient and certain\, but the reason has not been \ndetermined. It may be that it derives from her protection against volcanic \neruptions and fire\, as bells were rung to warn of both. Another explanation \ngiven is that the molten metal involved in casting bells suggests the flow of \nmolten lava. Her breasts also brought a more appropriate patronage\, as she is \ninvoked against diseases of the breast. Her breasts on a dish were often \nmistaken for loaves in the Middle ages\, from which arose the custom of blessing \nbread on a dish at her altar on her feast day. \nPope Damasus I composed a hymn in her honor. Two churches were \ndedicated to her in the sixth century. Pope St Gregory the Great had rich shrines \nmade for some of her relics in Rome\, then moved them to the monastery of San \nStefano on the island of Capri. Other relics remained in Catania until 1840\, \nwhen they were moved to Constantinople. \nWhatever the facts behind her legend\, Agatha remains one of the best- \nloved and most invoked saints in the Christian devotional life.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-agatha-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250206
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250207
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250202T013235Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250202T013235Z
UID:13095-1738800000-1738886399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Paul Miki & Comp
DESCRIPTION:THE MARTYRDOM OF ST PAUL MIKI \nAND HIS COMPANIONS \nBy a contemporary writer \n◊◊◊ \nThe crosses were set in place. Fr Pasio and Fr Rodriguez took turns \nencouraging the victims. Their steadfast behavior was wonderful to see. The \nFather Bursar stood motionless\, his eyes turned heavenward. Brother Martin \ngave thanks to God’s goodness by singing psalms. Again and again he repeated: \n“Into your hands\, Lord\, I entrust my life.” Brother Francis Branco also thanked \nGod in a loud voice. Brother Gonsalvo in a very loud voice kept saying the Our \nFather and Hail Mary. \nOur brother\, Paul Miki\, saw himself now standing in the noblest pulpit he \nhad ever filled. To his “congregation” he began by proclaiming himself a \nJapanese and a Jesuit. He was dying for the Gospel he preached. He gave thanks \nto God for this wonderful blessing and he ended his “sermon” with these words: \n“As I come to this supreme moment of my life\, I am sure none of you would \nsuppose I want to deceive you. And so I tell you plainly: there is no way to be \nsaved except the Christian way. My religion teaches me to pardon my enemies \nand all who have offended me. I do gladly pardon the Emperor and all who have \nsought my death. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves.” \nThen he looked at his comrades and began to encourage them in their \nfinal struggle. Joy glowed in all their faces\, and in Louis’ most of all. When a \nChristian in the crowd cried out to him that he would soon be in heaven\, his \nhands\, his whole body strained upward with such joy that every eye was fixed on \nhim. \nAnthony\, hanging at Louis’ side\, looked toward heaven and called upon \nthe holy names – “Jesus\, Mary!” He began to sing a psalm: “praise the Lord\, you \nchildren!”… Others kept repeating “Jesus\, Mary!” Their faces were serene. Some \nof them even took to urging the people standing by to live worthy Christian lives. \nIn these and other ways they showed their readiness to die. \nThen\, according to Japanese custom\, the four executioners began to \nunsheathe their spears. At this dreadful sight\, all the Christians cried out\, \n“Jesus\, Mary!” And the storm of anguished weeping then rose to batter the very \nskies. The executioners killed them one by one. One thrust of the spear\, then a \nsecond blow. It was over in a very short time.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-paul-miki-comp/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250207
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250208
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250202T013340Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250202T013340Z
UID:13097-1738886400-1738972799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE WATERS OF REGENERATION \nFrom a sermon by St Ambrose \n◊◊◊ \nWhat is regeneration? You can read in the Acts of the Apostles a verse \nwhich is cited from the second psalm: “You are my son\, I have begotten you \ntoday”. The words seem to refer to the resurrection. Indeed\, the holy apostle \nPeter interprets them in this way in the Acts of the Apostles: when the Son rose \nfrom the dead the Father’s voice was heard proclaiming: “You are my son\, I have \nbegotten you today.” That is why he is also called “the first-born from the dead. \nFor what is resurrection except that we rise from death to life? So it is in baptism\, \nwhich is an image of death: when you are immersed and rise up again\, there\, \ncertainly\, is an image of the resurrection. And as Christ’s resurrection\, according \nto the right interpretation of the apostle Peter\, is a regeneration\, so also this \nresurrection here is a regeneration. \nBut what conclusions do you draw from the fact that it is in water that you \nare immersed. Are you a little lost here? Does some doubt creep in. We read: \n“Let the earth produce for herself fruits which germinate.” You have read the \nsame about the waters: “Let the waters produce living things; and living things \nwere born”. These were born in the beginning\, at the creation; but this gift was \nkept for you: that the waters should regenerate you in grace\, even as those other \nwaters generated into life. Imitate the fish; it received a lesser grace than you\, but \nyou should still consider it a marvel. It is in the sea and the waves. It is in the sea \nand swims on the waves. On the sea the tempest rages\, violent winds blow; but \nthe fish swims on. It does not drown because it is used to swimming. In the same \nway this world is the sea for you. It has various currents\, huge waves\, fierce \nstorms. You too\, must be a fish\, so that the waves of this world do not drown you. \nThose are lovely words of the Father: “I have begotten you today.” It means \n“when you have redeemed the world\, when you have summoned hearts to the \nkingdom of heaven\, when you have fulfilled my will\, you have proved that you are \nmy son.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-263/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250208
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250209
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250202T013530Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250202T013530Z
UID:13099-1738972800-1739059199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:MARY\, THE MOTHER OF JESUS \nBy St Thérèse of Lisieux \n◊◊◊ \nIn speaking of our Lady\, we ought not to make improbable assertions \nabout matters that are beyond our knowledge\, for example\, that when she \nwas a small child she went up to the Temple to offer herself to God with \nextraordinary fervor and a heart on fire with love. For all we know\, she went \nsimply in obedience to her parents. \nIf a sermon on the Blessed Virgin is to bear fruit\, it must describe her \nreal life\, such as the Gospel gives us a glimpse of\, and not her fancied life. \nAnd we perceive clearly that her real life at Nazareth and later on must have \nbeen quite ordinary…”He was subject to them”. How simple it all is! \nSometimes the Blessed Virgin is represented as being quite \nunapproachable. Instead\, we ought to show that she was imitable in her \npractice of hidden virtues; we ought to point out that she lived a life of faith\, \njust as we do. \nWe know well that the Blessed Virgin is queen of heaven and earth; but \nshe is more of a mother than a queen\, and we ought not to give out the idea\, \nas I have heard it done more than once\, that because of her prerogatives she \neclipses the glory of all the saints\, just as the sun\, rising in brilliance\, makes \nthe stars disappear. My God\, what a strange thing to say! A mother who \nmakes the glory of her children disappear! For my part\, I believe just the \nopposite; I think that she will greatly increase the splendor of the elect. \nWe do well to speak of her prerogatives. But we should not stop there. \nWe should make her loved. If\, when we hear a sermon on the Blessed Virgin\, \nthe preacher tries to do nothing from beginning to end but call forth our \nadmiration\, we become bored\, and that does not lead to love and imitation. \nWho knows but what some souls will not experience a certain sense of \nestrangement from a creature so lofty?
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-13/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250209
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250210
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250208T223419Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250208T223419Z
UID:13105-1739059200-1739145599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:skema: 5th Week in Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n5th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nFebruary 9 – 15\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n9\nMon\n10\nTue\n11\nWed\n12\nThu\n13\nFri\n14\nSat\n15\n\n\nOffice\n5th Sunday\nSt Scholastica\nSt Benedict Aniane\nBl Humbeline\nWeekday\nSS Cyril & Methodius\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\n1 Kings 11:41-12:16\n1 Kings 12:17-31\n1 Kings 12:32-13:10\n1 Kings 13:11-34\n1 Kings 14:1-20\n1 Kings 14:21-31\n1 Kings 15:1-15\n\n\nLauds\nAmos 5:7\, 10-15\nAmos 5:16-20\nAmos 5:21-27\nAmos 6:1-7\nAmos 6:8-14\nAmos 7:1-6\nAmos 7:7-9\n\n\nMass\n75\n329\n330\n331\n332\n333\n334\n\n\n1st\nIsa 6:1-2a\, 3-8\nGen 1:1-19\nGen 1:20-2:4a\nGen 2:4b-9\, 15-17\nGen 2:18-25\nGen 3:1-8\nGen 3:9-24\n\n\n2nd\n1 Cor 15:1-11\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 5:1-11\nMark 6:53-56\nMark 7:1-13\nMark 7:14-23\nMark 7:24-30\nMark 7:31-37\nMark 8:1-10\n\n\nVespers\n1 Cor 10:23-11:1\n1 Cor 11:17-22\n1 Cor 11:23-27\n1 Cor 11:28-34\n1 Cor 12:1-11\n1 Cor 12:12-18\n1 Cor 12:19-26
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-5th-week-in-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250209
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250210
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250208T224112Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250208T224112Z
UID:13107-1739059200-1739145599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:PROPHECY AND CONFIRMATION\nFrom a commentary by St Augustine of Hippo 1\n◊◊◊\nWhile he was on the mountain with Christ the Lord in company with the\ntwo other disciples James and John\, the blessed apostle Peter heard a voice\nfrom heaven saying: This is my beloved Son\, in whom I am well pleased. Listen\nto him. The apostle remembered this and made it known in his letter. We heard\na voice coming from heaven\, when we were with him on the holy mountain;\nand he added: so we have confirmation of what was prophesied. A voice came\nfrom heaven\, and prophecy was confirmed. \nHow great was Christ’s courtesy! This Peter who spoke these words was\nonce a fisherman\, and in our day a public speaker deserves high praise if he is\nable to converse with a fisherman! Addressing the first Christians the apostle\nPaul says: Brothers and sisters\, remember what you were when you were\ncalled. Not many of you were wise according to human standards; not many\nof you were influential or of noble birth. But God chose what the world regards\nas weak in order to disconcert the strong; God chose what the world regards\nas foolish in order to abash the wise; God chose what the world regards as\ncommon and contemptible\, of no account whatever\, in order to overthrow the\nexisting order. \nIf Christ has first chosen a man skilled in public speaking\, such a man\nmight well have said: “I have been chosen on account of my eloquence.” If he\nhad chosen a senator\, the senator might have said: “I have been chosen because\nof my rank.” If his first choice had been an emperor\, the emperor surely might\nhave said: “I have been chosen for the sake of the power I have at my disposal.”\nLet these worthies keep quiet and defer to others; let them hold their peace for a\nwhile. I am not saying that they should be passed over or despised; I am simply\nasking all those who can find any grounds for pride in what they are to give way\nto others just a little. \nChrist says: Give me this fisherman\, this man without education or\nexperience\, this man to whom no senator would deign to speak\, not even if he\nwere buying fish. Yes\, give me him; once I have taken possession of him it will be\nobvious that it is I who am at work in him. Although I mean to include senators\,\norators and emperors among my recruits\, even when I have won over the\nsenator I shall still be surer of the fisherman. The senator can always take pride\nin what he is; so can the orator and the emperor\, but the fisherman can glory in\nnothing except Christ alone. Any of these other men may come and take lessons\nfrom me in the importance of humility for salvation\, but let the fisherman come\nfirst. He is the best person to win over an emperor. \nRemember this fisherman\, then. This holy\, just\, good\, Christ-filled\nfisherman. In his nets cast throughout the world he has the task of catching this\nnation as well as others. So remember that claim of his: We have confirmation\nof what was prophesied. \n1\nJourney with the Fathers – Year C – New City Press – 1994 – pg 78.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/5th-sunday-in-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250210
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250211
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250208T224919Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250208T224919Z
UID:13110-1739145600-1739231999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:ST. Scholastica
DESCRIPTION:THE LIFE OF ST SCHOLASTICA\nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints 2\n◊◊◊\nSt Scholastica\, who was St Benedict’s sister\, traditionally his twin\,\nconsecrated herself to God from her earliest years\, as we learn from St Gregory.\nIt is not known where she lived\, whether at home or in a community\, but after\nher brother had moved to Monte Cassino\, she settled at Plombariola in that\nsame neighborhood\, probably founding and ruling a nunnery about five miles to\nthe south of St Benedict’s monastery. St Gregory tells us that St. Benedict\ngoverned the nuns as well as the monks\, and it seems clear that St Scholastica\nmust have been their Abbess\, under his direction. She used to visit her brother\nonce a year and\, since she was not allowed to enter his monastery\, he used to go\nwith some monks to meet her at a house a little way off. They spent these visits\nin praising God and in conferring together on spiritual matters. \nSt Gregory gives a remarkable description of the last of these visits. After\nthey had passed the day as usual they sat down in the evening to have supper.\nWhen it was finished\, Scholastica\, possibly foreseeing that it would be their last\nvisit in this world\, begged her brother to delay his return till the next day that\nthey might spend the time discoursing of the joys of Heaven. Benedict\, who was\nunwilling to transgress his rule\, told her that he could not pass a night away\nfrom the monastery. When Scholastica found that she could not move him\, she\nlaid her head upon her hands which were clasped together on the table and\nbesought God to interpose on her behalf. Her prayer was scarcely ended when\nthere arose such a violent storm of rain that St Benedict and his companions\nwere unable to set foot outside the door. He exclaimed\, “God forgive you sister;\nwhat have you done?” Whereupon she answered\, “I asked a favor of you and you\nrefused it. I asked it of God\, and He has granted it.” Benedict was therefore\nforced to comply with her request\, and they spent the night talking about holy\nthings. The next morning they parted\, and three days later St Benedict saw the\nsoul of his sister rising to heaven like a dove. \n2\nButler’s Lives of the Saints\, pg 42\, edited by Michael Walsh – revised version\, Harper Collins\, San Francisco\,\n1991.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/st-scholastica/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250212
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250208T225434Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250208T225434Z
UID:13112-1739232000-1739318399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:St. Benedict Aniane
DESCRIPTION:ST BENEDICT OF ANIANE\nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints 3\n◊◊◊\nBenedict was the son of Aigulf of Maguelone and served King Pepin and\nhis son\, Charlemagne\, as cupbearer. At the age of twenty he made a resolution\nto seek the kingdom of God with his whole heart. He took part in the campaign\nin Lombardy\, but\, after having been nearly drowned in the river Tesino\, near\nPavia\, in endeavoring to save his brother\, he made a vow to quit the world\nentirely. Upon his return to Languedoc he was confirmed in this determination\nby the advice of a hermit called Widmar\, and he went to the abbey of SaintSeine\, \nfifteen miles from Dijon\, where he was admitted as a monk. He spent two \nand a half years here learning the monastic life and bringing himself under\ncontrol by severe austerities. Not satisfied with observing the rule of St\nBenedict\, he practiced those other points of perfection which he found\nprescribed in the Rules of St Pachomius and St Basil. When the abbot died\, the\nbrethren were disposed to elect him to fill the post\, but he was unwilling to\naccept the charge because he knew that the monks were opposed to anything in\nthe shape of systematic reform. \nBenedict accordingly quitted Saint-Seine and\, returning to Languedoc\,\nbuilt a small hermitage beside the brook Aniane upon his own estate. Here he\nlived for some years in self-imposed destitution\, praying continually that God\nwould teach him to do His will. Some solitaries\, of whom the holy man Widmar\nwas one\, placed themselves under his direction\, and they earned their livelihood\nby manual labor\, living on bread and water except on Sundays and great\nfestivals when they added a little wine or milk if it was given them in alms. The\nsuperior worked with them in the fields and sometimes spent his time in\ncopying books. When the number of his disciples increased\, Benedict left to\nbuild a monastery in a more spacious place. In a short time he had many\nreligious under his direction\, and at the same time exercised a general\ninspection over all the monasteries of Provence\, Languedoc and Gascony\,\nbecoming eventually the director and overseer of all the monasteries in the\nempire; he reformed many with little or no opposition. \nIn order to have him close at hand\, the Emperor Louis the Pious obliged\nBenedict to dwell first at the abbey of Maurmünster in Alsace and then\, as he\nwanted him yet nearer\, he built a monastery upon the Inde\, later known as\nCornelimünster\, near Aachen\, the residence of the emperor and court. Benedict\nlived in the monaster yet continued to help in the restoration of monastic\nobservance throughout France and Germany. He was the chief instrument in\ndrawing up the canons for the reformation of monks at the council of Aachen in\n817\, and presided in the same year over the assembly of abbots to enforce the\nrestoration of discipline… Benedict also wrote the Codex Regularum (Codex of\nRules)\, a collection of all the monastic regulations which he found extant; he\nlikewise compiled a book of homilies for the use of monks\, collected from the\nworks of the fathers; but his most important work was the Concordia\nRegularum\, the Concord of Rules\, in which he gives those of St Benedict of\nNursia in combination with those of other patriarchs of monastic observance to\nshow their similarity. \nThis great restorer of monasticism in the West\, worn out by\nmortifications and fatigues\, suffered much from continual sickness in the latter\npart of his days. He died at Inde with great tranquility in 821\, being then\nseventy one years of age. \n3\nLives of the Saints. Butler\, Harper San Francisco\, 1991\, pp. 43-44.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/st-benedict-aniane/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250208T230024Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250208T230024Z
UID:13114-1739318400-1739404799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Bl Humbeline
DESCRIPTION:BLESSED HUMBELINE\nFrom the Life of St Bernard 4\n◊◊◊\nFrom earliest childhood Humbeline and Bernard had been drawn together\nby a special bond of affection and sympathy… After her marriage\, forgetful of her\nmother’s example and exhortations\, she began to follow the fashions of the world.\nIn 1117 she came to Clairvaux surrounded with all the splendor of dress and\nattendants that unlimited wealth could bestow\, thinking\, so it seems\, that she was\ndoing her brother honor. Her brother Andrew\, the porter\, in announcing her\narrival\, did not omit to describe to his Abbot the pomp and ceremony that attended\nher. It grieved Bernard to hear that his beloved sister had become a worshiper at\nthe shrine of vanity. He refused to see her himself\, nor would he allow any of his\nbrothers to see her\, but told Andrew to tell her…that with these worldly ornaments\nshe was making herself the devil’s instrument for the ruin of immortal souls.\nAndrew delivered the message\, adding on his own: “Why so much solicitude to\nembellish a body destined for worms and rottenness\, while the soul that now\nanimates it is burning in everlasting flames?” \nHumbeline burst into tears\, crying out: “I deserve it all because I am a\nsinner. Yet it is for such as I that Christ suffered on the Cross. Indeed it is because of\nmy sinfulness that I seek counsel and encouragement from the saints. If my brother\nBernard\, who is the servant of God\, despises my body\, let him at least have pity on\nmy soul. Let him come; let him command; and whatever he thinks proper to enjoin\nI am prepared to carry out.” There was no resisting such an appeal. Bernard and\nhis brothers hastened to meet her and to confirm her in these good dispositions. It\nwas the holy Abbot’s desire that she should enter religion; but as this was unlawful\nwithout her husband’s consent\, he recommended her to live as much as possible\nlike a recluse in the world\, shunning ostentation and all kinds of vanity\, and \ndevoting herself\, after her mother’s example\, to the service of God and the poor.\nShe promised to do so. \nFive years later\, in 1122\, having obtained after much resistance her\nhusband’s consent\, she left the world altogether and entered the convent of Jully\nwhere Elizabeth\, her sister-in-law\, was superioress. When the latter went forth\nabout 1130 to found a new convent in the neighborhood of Dijon\, Humbeline was\nappointed to succeed her. Under her direction the house flourished greatly; the\nnoblest ladies of the land sought admission in such numbers that she was forced to\nmake about a dozen new foundations. She rivaled Bernard himself in her love of\nthe Cross. Of food and sleep she allowed herself much less than the minimum\nwhich nature demands; her clothes were the meanest she could find\, and it was her\nhappiness to be employed in the humblest occupations. When her nuns begged her\nto be more careful of her health\, which seemed in danger of breaking down under\nsuch austere practices\, she replied: “For you\, my dear sisters\, whose lives have been\nconsecrated to the service of God\, this is an excellent counsel. But for me\, who have\nlived so long amidst worldly vanities\, no kind of penance can be excessive.”… \nHer last hours were consoled by the presence of three of her brothers\,\nBernard\, Andrew and Nivard… When about to breathe her last she looked with a\nradiant smile at Bernard and said: “Oh\, how happy I am to have followed your\ncounsel and consecrated myself to God! And what a beautiful reward I expect to\nreceive for the love I have entertained for you in this life! It is to that love that I owe\nthe joy and glory awaiting me in the homeland.” Then turning to the others she\ncried out: “I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: we shall go into the house of\nthe Lord.” With these words\, she gave up her spirit. \n4\nLife and Teaching of St Bernard by Ailbe J. Luddy\, O. Cist.\, pg. 68-69\, M.H. Gill & Son\, Dublin\, 1937.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/bl-humbeline/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250213
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250214
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250208T230244Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250208T230244Z
UID:13116-1739404800-1739491199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Weekday
DESCRIPTION:THE MEANING OF SUFFERING IN THE\nLIGHT OF THE MIRACLES AT\nLOURDES\nBy Pope St John Paul II 5\n◊◊◊\nThe reality of faith\, of hope and of charity\, the reality of suffering\nsanctified and sanctifying. The reality of the presence of the Mother of God in\nthe mystery of Christ and His Church on earth: a presence which is particularly\nalive in that elect portion of the church which consists of the sick and the\nsuffering. \nThese persons\, if animated by faith\, turn to Lourdes. Why? Because they\nknow that there\, as at Cana\, “There is the Mother of Jesus” and where She is\,\nHer Son cannot be absent. Sick of all sorts go on pilgrimage to Lourdes\, born up\nby hope that\, through Mary\, Christ’s saving power – reveals itself in the\nspiritual sphere above all. \nIt is in the hearts of the sick that Mary makes Her Son’s wonderworking\nvoice heard\, a voice which prodigiously resolves the rigidity of sourness of heart\nand rebellion and gives the soul back eyes with which to see the world\, others\,\none’s own destiny in a new light. \nAt Lourdes the sick discover the inestimable value of their suffering – the\nmeaning that pain may have in their lives\, when interiorly renewed by that\nflame which consumes and transforms in the life of the Church. \nUpright by the Cross of Her Son on Calvary\, the Most Holy Virgin\ncourageously shared in His Passion and knows how to convince ever fresh souls\nto unite their sufferings with Christ’s sacrifice\, in a joint “offertory\,” which\nsurpasses time and space and embraces the whole of mankind and saves it. \n5\nfrom Prayers and Devotions from John Paul II; the K. S. Gininger Company\, Inc.\, 1984.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/weekday-16/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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CREATED:20250208T230806Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250208T230806Z
UID:13118-1739491200-1739577599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:SS Cyril & Methodius
DESCRIPTION:SAINTS CYRIL AND METHODIUS\nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints 6\n◊◊◊\nIn 862 there arrived in Constantinople an ambassador charged by\nRostislav\, prince of Moravia\, to ask if the emperor would send him missionaries\ncapable of teaching his people in their own language. Photius\, now patriarch of\nConstantinople\, decided that Cyril and Methodius were most suitable for the\nwork; they were learned men\, who knew Slavonic. \nIn 863 the two brothers set out with a number of assistants and came to\nthe court of Rostislav. The new missionaries made free use of the vernacular in\ntheir preaching and ministrations\, and this made immediate appeal to the local\npeople. To the German clergy this was objectionable\, and their opposition was\nstrengthened when the Emperor Louis forced Rostislav to take an oath of fealty\nto him. The Byzantine missionaries\, armed with their pericopes from the\nScriptures and liturgical hymns in Slavonic\, pursued their way with much\nsuccess\, but were soon handicapped by their lack of a bishop to ordain more\npriests. The German prelate\, the bishop of Passau\, would not do it\, and Cyril\ntherefore determined to seek help elsewhere\, presumably from Constantinople\nwhence he came. \nOn their way the brothers arrived in Venice. It was at a bad moment.\nPhotius at Constantinople had incurred excommunication; the proteges of the\nEastern emperor and their liturgical use of a new tongue were vehemently\ncriticized. They came to Rome bringing with them alleged relics of Pope St\nClement\, which St Cyril had recovered when in the Crimea on his way back from\nthe Khazars. Adrian II warmly welcomed the bearers of so great a gift. He\nexamined their cause\, and he gave judgment: Cyril and Methodius were to\nreceived episcopal consecration\, their neophytes were to be ordained\, and the\nuse of the liturgy in Slavonic was approved. \nWhile still in Rome Cyril died\, on February 14\, 869. He was buried with\ngreat pomp in the church of San Clemente on the Coelian\, where the relics of St\nClement had been enshrined. St Methodius now took up his brother’s\nleadership. Having been consecrated bishop he returned\, bearing a letter from\nthe Holy See recommending him as a man of “exact understanding and\northodoxy”. Kosel\, prince of Pannonia\, asked that the ancient archdiocese of\nSirmium (now Mitrovitsa) be revived. Methodius was made metropolitan and\nthe boundaries of his charge extended to the borders of Bulgaria. \n6\nButler’s Lives of the Saints\, edited by M. Walsh\, New York: HarperCollins\, 1991\, pp. 46-47.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/ss-cyril-methodius/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250215
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250216
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250208T231117Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250208T231117Z
UID:13120-1739577600-1739663999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Memorial of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:MARY AND THE FRUITFULNESS\nOF VIRGINITY\nFrom “The Seat of Wisdom” by Fr Louis Bouyer 7\n◊◊◊\nVirginity consecrated to God in Christ has its justification in that it is a\nmeans for engendering offspring without number; and therein lies the real\nnature of its sacrifice. This is the supreme truth revealed to us by Mary’s virginal\nmotherhood\, and\, at the same time\, its supreme justification. By her\nrenunciation in a spirit of perfect faith\, of the very possibility of generation on\nthe earthly plane\, that of the first creation\, she lent herself to be used to generate\nthe human body of the Son of God. And\, since he is\, in himself\, not only the\norigin but the whole of the new creation\, she also brought this to birth in bearing\nhim. The sacrifice inherent in her chosen virginity was fulfilled in that the “Holy\nOne” born of her was the Son of God\, since this made him\, the fruit of her own\nlife\, the absolute Stranger to her. though belonging wholly to her as to no one\nelse\, Christ could not but be the one who was apart from her from the very\nmoment of his birth\, more so than any other child from its parents. At the same\ntime\, her virginity was justified in that it made a birth of the kind possible. And\nall the hopes of renewal that this birth held out to mankind\, in the state it then\nwas in\, justified the seeming refusal of human love by the one most worthy of\nloving and being loved that had been seen on earth since Eve. \nThe counterpart of this is that it is by their participation in Mary’s destiny\nthat\, henceforth\, those vowed to virginity will see and fulfill the purpose of their\nown sacrifice. They renounce all possibility of prolonging and continuing the\npresent order of creation in order to dedicate themselves wholly to engendering\nthe new order which is to redeem the old. Such entire devotion to bringing about\nthe new birth of a humanity regenerated in Christ makes of their virginity\, not a\nnegation of love\, but an act of love of the most exalted kind. \n7\nNew York\, 1962\, p. 98.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/memorial-of-the-bvm-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250216
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250217
DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250216T141934Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250216T141934Z
UID:13129-1739664000-1739750399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n6th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nFebruary 16 – 22\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n16\nMon\n17\nTue\n18\nWed\n19\nThu\n20\nFri\n21\nSat\n22\n\n\nOffice\n6th Sunday\nWeekday\nWeekday\nOffice for the Dead\nWeekday\nSt Peter Damien\nChair of St Peter\n\n\nVigils\n1 Kings 15:16-32\n1 Kings 15:33-16:14\n1 Kings 16:15-34\n1 Kings 17:1-24\n1 Kings 18:1-16\n1 Kings 18:17-40\nEzek 3:1-11\, 22-27\n\n\nLauds\nAmos 7:10-17\nAmos 8:1-8\nAmos 8:9-14\nAmos 9:1-6\nAmos 9:7-10\nAmos 9:11-15\nEzek 34:11-16\n\n\nMass\n78\n335\n336\n337\n338\n339\n535\n\n\n1st\nJer 17:5-8\nGen 4:1-15\, 25\nGen 6:5-8; 7:1-5\, 10\nGen 8:6-13\, 20-22\nGen 9:1-13\nGen 11:1-9\n1 Pet 5:1-4\n\n\n2nd\n1 Cor 15:12\, 16-20\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 6:17\, 20-26\nMark 8:11-13\nMark 8:14-21\nMark 8:22-26\nMark 8:27-33\nMark 8:34-9:1\nMatt 16:13-19\n\n\nVespers\n1 Cor 12:27-13:3\n1 Cor 13:4-13\n1 Cor 14:1-5\n1 Cor 14:6-12\n1 Cor 14:13-19\n1 Cor 14:20-25\n1 Cor 15:1-11
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-104/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250216T142254Z
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UID:13131-1739664000-1739750399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 6th Sun Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:THE CROWNS OF VICTORY \nFrom a commentary by St John Chrysostom1 \n◊◊◊ \nOnly Christians have a true sense of values\, their joys and sorrows are not \nthe same as other people’s. The sight of a wounded boxer wearing a victor’s \ncrown would make someone ignorant of the games think only of the boxer’s \nwounds and how painful they must be. Such a person would know nothing of the \nhappiness the crown gives. And it is the same when people see the things we \nsuffer without knowing why we do so. It naturally seems to them to be suffering \npure and simple. They see us struggling and facing danger\, but beyond their \nvision are the rewards\, the crowns of victory – all we hope to gain through the \ncontest! \nWhen Paul said. We possess nothing\, and yet we have everything\, what \ndid he mean by “everything”? Wealth of both the earthly and the spiritual order. \nDid he not possess every earthly gift when whole cities received him as an angel\, \nwhen people were ready to pluck out their eyes for him\, or bare their neck to the \nsword? But if you would think of spiritual blessings\, you will see that it was in \nthese above all that he was rich. The King of the universe and Lord of angels \nloved him so much that he shared his secrets with him. Did he not surpass all \nothers in wealth then? Did he not possess all things? Had it been otherwise\, \ndemons would not have been subject to him\, nor sickness and suffering put to \nflight by his presence. \nWe too\, then. when we suffer anything for Christ’s sake\, should do so not \nonly with courage\, but even with joy. If we have to go hungry\, let us be glad as if \nwe were at a banquet. If we are insulted\, let us be elated as though we had been \nshowered with praises. If we lose all we possess\, let us consider ourselves the \ngainers. If we provide for the poor\, let us regard ourselves as the recipients. \nAnyone who does not give in this way will find it difficult to give at all. So when \nyou wish to distribute alms. Do not think only of what you are giving away; think \nrather of what you are gaining\, for your gain will exceed your loss. \nAnd not only in the matter of almsgiving\, but also with every virtue you \npractice: do not think of the painful effort involved\, but of the sweetness of the \nreward; and above all remember that your struggles are for the sake of our Lord \nJesus Christ. Then you will easily rise above them\, and live out your whole \nlifetime in happiness; for nothing brings more happiness than a good \nconscience.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-6th-sun-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250217
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250218
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CREATED:20250216T142409Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250216T142409Z
UID:13133-1739750400-1739836799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE BEGINNING OF \nCHRIST’S PUBLIC MINISTRY \nFrom “The Lord” by Fr Romano Guardini \n◊◊◊ \nWhat a privilege it must have been to see the Lord at the beginning of his \npublic ministry as he carried holiness into the crowds. How clearly he spoke to \nthe souls of men! Pressed forward by the elan of the Spirit\, he reached out to \npeople with both hands. The Holy Spirit swept the kingdom of God forward and \nthe human spirit was shaken to its foundations. The accounts of these first \nevents are vibrant with spiritual power. Thus Saint Mark: And they were \nastonished at his teaching\, for he was teaching them as one having authority\, \nand not as the scribes. They were astonished\, literally shaken out of themselves. \nSuch was the divine power that poured from his words. Jesus’ sentences were \nnot merely correct as were those of the scribes\, they were the words of one \nhaving authority. His speech stirred\, it tore the spirit from its security\, the heart \nfrom its rest; it commanded and created. It was impossible to hear and ignore. \nSaint Mark’s account continues with a description of the casting out of an \nunclean spirit. Obviously we have here a case of “possession.” The Lord’s \nacceptance of the inevitable struggle with satanic powers belongs to the kernel \nof his messianic consciousness. He knows that he has been sent not only to bear \nwitness to the truth\, to establish contact between God and man\, but also to \nbreak the power of those forces which oppose the divine will. He is to penetrate \nSatan’s artificial darkness with the ray of God’s truth\, to dispel the cramp of \negoism and the brittleness of hate with God’s love\, to conquer evil’s \ndestructiveness with God’s constructive strength. The murkiness and confusion \nwhich Satan creates in people’s groping hearts are to be clarified by the holy \npurity of the Most High. Thus Jesus stands squarely against the powers of \ndarkness; he strives to enter into the ensnared human souls – to bring light to \ntheir consciences\, quicken their hearts\, and liberate their powers for good.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-264/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250216T142526Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250216T142526Z
UID:13135-1739836800-1739923199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE MISSIONARY LIFE \nOF THE CHURCH \nBy Fr Jean Danielou \n◊◊◊ \nThe mission of today is\, first of all\, a mystery of unity. The Apostles were \nsent to the ends of the earth to teach all nations\, because Christ\, having risen to \nheaven\, must be present in all creation. It is no more a question\, as at the time of \nthe old covenant\, of God’s taking one people in particular under his protection. \nThe new mission\, determined upon by God from all eternity\, is to reconcile all \nthings by Christ’s blood “and to restore all things in him.” This mystery involves \nall mankind\, and more than mankind\, the whole spiritual universe. \nIn the second place\, the mystery of the mission is the mystery of the \nmissionary. Christ entrusted the spreading of his Kingdom to the Apostles\, to \nthose he had chosen as his tools in the work of evangelizing. This vocation is a \ngreat mystery. It is clear that God could have communicated directly with each \nindividual\, yet he wanted his word to be handed on and his Kingdom to be \nspread by human intermediaries. He wanted us to have a share in saving the \nworld and converting the nations\, and the Apostles’ mission is a direct \ncontinuation of the mission of the Word and the mission of the Holy Spirit. The \nmission of the Apostles is at once a single thing and a very diverse one… Some \nare to be apostles\, some prophets\, evangelists or teachers. The forms of the \napostolate are many\, but they are all one\, because all get life from the same \nSpirit\, all seek the same end. \nThis unity in the diversity of functions is something St Paul insists on as of \nvital importance. Even then he felt the danger of a possible loss of charity \nthreatening the work of the missions. We must\, said St Bernard\, put all the force \nof our action into our own vocation\, but our charity must cover the whole \nworld… He explains that in the order of action we must put our particular duty \nbefore everything else – do not let the contemplative try to do the apostle’s \nwork\, nor the teacher try to care for the sick – but\, he adds\, “in our prayers we \nmust put first what is most excellent in itself.” We must pray more for the most \nimportant interests of the Kingdom\, even if they are not the ones we ourselves \nare engaged in. Charity will then become perfect in us\, for it is proportioned to \nthe reality of things\, not to our personal point of view; selfishness will then be \novercome at every moment. Outwardly we go humbly about our work\, inwardly \nwe are working out the salvation of the whole world. We must be ready to be at \nonce limited in our work and unlimited in the interior order of charity.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-265/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260403T134804
CREATED:20250216T142642Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250216T142642Z
UID:13137-1739923200-1740009599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:ETERNAL LIFE \nAND ITS DIFFERENCE \nFrom a sermon by Monsignor Ronald Knox \n◊◊◊ \nThe mistake we are tempted to make\, do make in our moments of idle \nthinking\, is to suppose that eternal life merely means going on living. That\, \nnaturally enough\, was what the pagans thought\, when they dreamed that there \nwas some possibility of a life after death. There is an epigram in the Greek \nAnthology\, often quoted for its beauty\, in which the poet says to his dead friend\, \n“Once\, a morning star\, you shone among the living; now you shine\, an evening \nstar\, among the dead.”… So\, in Virgil’s Aeneid\, the heroes of Elysium are found \nlooking after their horses and chariots: “The same grateful task that was ever \ntheirs\, to feed their sleek horses\, is theirs still\, now that earth has covered them.” \nDo we\, children of a later age\, look forward to an eternity spent in washing down \nthe car? But it is the same mistake we are making\, if we think of eternal life as \nthe mere continuation of living. \nWe unconsciously compare the experience of a future life to that of \nwaking up after an operation; waking up to breakfast and the morning paper. \nAnd\, of course\, if we think of survival after death in those terms\, it becomes an \nopen question for some of us whether we want to survive or not. The unpleasant \nthing is the experience of dying; if we could avoid that\, many of us would be \ncontent to go on living\, even in an atomic age. But when we have once been put \nto all this inconvenience\, would we be sure that we wanted to come back again \nand go on living\, more or less as before?… \nEternal life is not that sort of thing at all. When our Lord said he had come \nthat we might have life\, and might have it more abundantly\, he clearly did not \nmean that he was going to introduce\, into our humdrum\, day-to-day existence\, \nmore joie de vivre. The “life” which he came to bring – we have to call it “life”\, \nbecause that is the nearest thing to it we know – belongs to a different order of \nexistence. It has its own avenues of experience\, its own range of faculties\, its \nown proper activities. And it will find its true medium only in heaven. True\, \nthat life is in us now\, implanted by baptism. But we are not yet in a position to \nenjoy it\, in the sense of savouring its possibilities. We are\, if I may put it so\, \nembryonic citizens of heaven\, borne at present in the womb of matter and of \ntime. And that is why we are foolish if we try to project our present experience \ninto a future life… To wake up after death is not like waking up\, after an \noperation\, from the life of today to the life of tomorrow. It is like waking up from \na dream world into a world\, hitherto unexperienced\, of realities.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-17/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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