BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20261101T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250516 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250517 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250511T032149Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250511T032149Z UID:13426-1747353600-1747439999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigisl: Easter Weekday DESCRIPTION:THE LIGHT THAT IS LIFE\nBy Fr Gerald Vann 6\n◊◊◊\nThe tree of death is also the tree of life; the tomb of death is the womb of life; it is through going down with Christ into his death that we are to be ourselves reborn; the dry bones shall live again because the Lord will send his Spirit into the bones: the rebirth is made possible through water and the Holy Spirit. Life\, in other words\, must come from without\, from God; but at the same time we must be able to receive it: there are conditions to be fulfilled on our side and it is these that are expressed in terms of going down into the darkness\, into the dark waters\, into death. \nFor in death and darkness we can be freed from our pride and learn to be humble of heart: we can imitate the Word who ‘dispossessed himself and took the nature of a slave’ and then ‘lowered his own (human) dignity\, accepted an obedience which brought him to death\, death on a cross.’ And that is why\, St Paul goes on\, that is why ‘God has raised him to such a height\, given him a name which is greater than any other name’: that is why: because of his self-humbling even to death. \nEverywhere the spectacle confronts us of the destruction of what makes life worth living: our garden is laid waste\, the beauty we have made is ravaged\, the home is destroyed\, the hearth a heap of dead ashes; and these things are images of a much deeper tragedy\, the death of the soul. And the dry bones\, it is clear\, will never find life again of themselves\, from within themselves. A dead heart can live again only if the two conditions are fulfilled\, a dying world can live again only if the two conditions are fulfilled: if life is brought them from without\, and if they themselves are able to receive it. But to be able to receive it they must first admit their own death; and human nature finds that very difficult to do. People will sometimes say that God is dead; they will very seldom admit that they themselves are dead; and if they do\, it is all too often\, like Judas\, only with the sterile voice of despair. \nIn the Garden of Eden\, the symbol of the life we might have had\, the life we long for but have lost\, there is a tree of life and a tree of knowledge: but we would not receive life\, we wanted to seize it for ourselves\, dominate over it; we would not receive knowledge of the truth\, we wanted to fashion it for ourselves; and so the life is lost; we are expelled from the garden\, and the soul dies. The soul dies because we wanted in our pride to make ourselves God; we tried to take to ourselves a glory that was not ours. \nBut now there is hope for us again because the Son of God did exactly the opposite: he dispossessed himself of the glory that was his and became a slave; and so in him humanity was healed\, and in him we may each of us be healed\, provided only that we in our turn do the same thing\, reverse in the same way the primal sin\, become humble enough to admit the death that is in us\, the evil that is in us\, and so\, in that act of going down into the darkness where pride is killed\, find again the light that is life. \n6\nThe Water and the Fire\, Gerald Vann O.P. Collins 1953 p.181-2. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigisl-easter-weekday/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250517 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250518 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250511T032657Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250511T032657Z UID:13428-1747440000-1747526399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils: Easter Weekday DESCRIPTION:THE FRATERNAL\nCITY OF GOD\nBy Thierry Maertens & Jean Frisque 7\n◊◊◊\nFaith in the paschal mystery makes the world appear as an enormous edifice under construction! All are called\, in Jesus Christ\, to take their part in the building up of the fraternal city of God. This is a gigantic labour which demands the co-operation of all peoples and all cultures. Christ planted once and for all the seed of true salvation-history; this seed was his own life as human\, lived with perfect fidelity unto death on the cross\, a life whose significance is eternal because it was that of the Son. Beginning with this unique seed\, the process of growth must continue until the Body of Christ has attained its perfect stature. This slow growth of the Kingdom here on earth – where the Kingdom takes shape without manifesting itself as such – progressively concerns humanity and the entire creation. \nTo the degree to which he takes part in the mission\, the Christian will necessarily experience those “tribulations” of which St. Paul often speaks. How can they be avoided? The Kingdom is not constructed without a constant passage from death to life\, and this work of love inevitably provokes the fierce resistance of the wisdom of this world. But\, like St. Paul\, the Christian “is overjoyed amid all afflictions”\, because he knows that through them the final city is being built. \nChristian hope is no longer the hope of Judaic person. For Israel\, the Kingdom was not a thing to be built; it would appear fully achieved\, so to speak. The Christian lives a hope in the dynamism of a task to be accomplished: the mission. The accomplishment will not come until the gospel has been preached to all the nations. But what does such a proclamation involve? It is a matter of implanting the mystery of Christ in time and space so that the light of Easter may effectively illumine the spiritual journey of all the peoples and cultures of the earth. This is a very long enterprise\, because no sector of human life remains foreign to it. After twenty centuries\, we are only beginning to measure the very close connection that exists between the mission of the Church and the history of humanity. St. Paul believed that the universal mission was a task he could undertake himself – at least he thought so for a time! Today\, we have not finished discovering its whole amplitude. \n7\nGuide for the Christian Assembly. T. Maertens & J. Frisque. Biblica\, Belgium\, 1965\, pp. 119-120. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-easter-weekday-3/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250518 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250519 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250519T131656Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250519T131656Z UID:13433-1747526400-1747612799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Skema DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n5th Week of Easter\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nMay 18 – 24\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n18\nMon\n19\nTue\n20\nWed\n21\nThu\n22\nFri\n23\nSat\n24\n\n\nOffice\n5th Sunday of Easter\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nRev 18:21-19:10\nRev 19:11-21\nRev 20:1-15\nRev 21:1-8\nRev 21:9-27\nRev 22:1-9\nRev 22:10-21\n\n\nLauds\nCol 2:9-15\nCol 3:1-11\nCol 3:12-17\n1 Tim 1:1-7\n1 Tim 1:12-17\n1 Tim 2:1-7\n1 Tim 4:6-10\n\n\nMass\n54\n285\n286\n287\n288\n289\n290\n\n\n1st\nActs 14:21-27\nActs 14:5-18\nActs 14:19-28\nActs 15:1-6\nActs 15:7-21\nActs 15:22-31\nActs 16:1-10\n\n\n2nd\nRev 21:1-5a\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 13:31-33a\, 34-35\nJohn 14:21-26\nJohn 14:27-31a\nJohn 15:1-8\nJohn 15:9-11\nJohn 15:12-17\nJohn 15:18-21\n\n\nVespers\nActs 16:35-40\nActs 17:1-5a\nActs 17:10-15\nActs 17:16-23\nActs 18:18-23\nActs 19:8-12\nActs 19:13-20 URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-115/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250518 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250519 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250519T131850Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250519T131923Z UID:13435-1747526400-1747612799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 5th Sunday of Easter DESCRIPTION:A LOVE THAT \nTRANSCENDS THE LAW \nFrom a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria \n◊◊◊ \nI give you a new commandment\, said Jesus: Love one another. But how\, \nwe might ask\, could he call this commandment new? Through Moses\, he said to \nthe people of old: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with \nall your mind. And your neighbor as yourself. Notice what follows. He was not \ncontent simply to say\, I give you a new commandment: love one another. He \nshowed the novelty of his command and how far the love he enjoined surpassed \nthe old conception of mutual love by going on immediately to add: Love one \nanother as I have loved you. \nTo understand the full force of these words\, we have to consider how \nChrist loved us. Then it will be easy to see what is new and different in the \ncommandment we are now given. Paul tells us that although his nature was \ndivine\, he did not cling to his equality with God\, but stripped himself of all \nprivilege to assume the condition of a slave. He became as we are\, and \nappearing in human form humbled himself by being obedient even to the \nextent of dying on a cross. And elsewhere Paul writes: Though he was rich\, he \nbecame poor. \nDo you not see what is new in Christ’s love for us? The law commanded \npeople to love their brothers and sisters as they love themselves\, but our Lord \nJesus Christ loved us more than himself. He who was one in nature with God the \nFather and his equal would not have descended to our lowly state\, nor endured \nin his flesh such a bitter death for us\, nor submitted to the blows given him by \nhis enemies\, to the shame\, the derision\, and all the other sufferings that could \nnot possibly have been enumerated\, nor being rich\, would he have become poor\, \nhad he not loved us far more than himself. It was indeed something new for love \nto go as far as that. \nChrist commands us to love as he did\, putting neither reputation\, nor \nwealth nor anything whatever before love of our brothers and sisters. If need be\, \nwe must even be prepared to face death for our neighbor’s salvation as did our \nSavior’s blessed disciples and those who followed in their footsteps. To them\, \nthe salvation of others mattered more than their own lives and they were ready \nto do anything or to suffer anything to save souls that were perishing. I die daily \n\, said Paul. Who suffers weakness without my suffering too? Who is made to \nstumble without my heart blazing with indignation? \nThe Savior urged us to practice this love that transcends the law as the \nfoundation of true devotion to God. He knew that only in this way could we \nbecome pleasing in God’s eyes\, and that it was by seeking the beauty of the love \nimplanted in us by himself that we should attain to the higher blessings. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/13435/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250519 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250520 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250519T132027Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250519T132027Z UID:13438-1747612800-1747699199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:THE MANY SECRET \nRESURRECTIONS \nFrom “The Risen Christ” by Caryll Houselander \n◊◊◊ \nChrist seems to have fallen in love with our suffering\, so passionately has \nhe laid hold of it and made it his. He is known to the whole world as the Man of \nSorrows. Yet he came to give us life\, life full of joy. It was not with our suffering \nthat Christ fell in love\, but with us. He identified himself so wholly with our \nsuffering\, because our lives are necessarily made up of it. It is the inescapable \nconsequences of sin. No one can escape it; everyone must somehow either make \nfriends with suffering or be broken by it. No one can come close to another\, let \nalone love him\, without coming closer to his suffering. Christ did far more\, he \nwed himself to our suffering\, he made Death his bride\, and in the \nconsummation of his love\, he gave her his life. Christ has lived each of our lives\, \nhe has faced all our fears\, suffered all our griefs\, overcome all our temptations\, \nlabored in all our labors\, loved in all our loves\, died all our deaths. \nHe took our humanity\, just as it is\, with all its wretchedness and ugliness\, \nand gave it back to us just as his humanity is\, transfigured by the beauty of his \nliving\, filled full of his joy. He came back from the long journey through death\, \nto give us his Risen Life to be our life\, so that no matter what suffering we meet\, \nwe can meet it with the whole power of the love that has overcome the world. “I \nhave said this to you\, so that in me you may find peace. In the world\, you will \nonly find tribulation; but take courage\, I have overcome the world“. \nHe has come back as spring comes back out of the ground\, renewing the \nearth with life\, to be a continual renewing of life in our hearts\, that we may \ncontinually renew one another’s life in his love\, that we may be his Resurrection \nin the world. We are the resurrection\, going on always\, always giving back \nChrist’s life to the world. \nIn every life there are many secret resurrections. In our sin\, we are the \ntombs in which Christ lies dead\, but at the first movement of sorrow for sin he \nrises from the dead in us\, the life of the world is renewed by our sorrow\, the soul \nthat was in darkness radiates the morning light. In the moment that we are \nforgiven\, the world is flooded with forgiveness. No wonder that angels rejoice \nwhen one sinner does penance more than over the ninety-nine who need no \npenance\, for the resurrection in the soul of the sinner is complete. It is not just \nthe poor sinner licking his wounds and limping on\, crippled by the past; it is \nChrist risen\, alive\, whole. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-310/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250520 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250521 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250519T132126Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250519T132126Z UID:13440-1747699200-1747785599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:THE DAY OF THE LORD \nFrom a sermon by St John Henry Newman \n◊◊◊ \n“A little while\, and you shall not see me: and again\, a little while\, and \nyou shall see me\, because I go to the Father.“… Now observe what the promise \nis… A new era was to commence\, or what is called in Scripture “a day of the \nLord.” We know how much is said in Scripture about the awfulness and \ngraciousness of a day of the Lord\, which seems to be some special time of \nvisitation\, grace\, judgment\, restoration\, righteousness\, and glory. Much is said \nconcerning days of the Lord in the Old Testament… We read of those august \ndays \, seven in number\, each perfect\, perfect all together\, in \nwhich all things were created\, finished\, blessed\, acknowledged\, approved by \nAlmighty God. \nAnd all things will end with a day greater still\, which will open with the \ncoming of Christ from heaven\, and the judgment; this is especially the Day of \nthe Lord\, and will introduce an eternity of blessedness in God’s presence for all \nbelievers… Observe how solemn\, how high a day it is: this is his account of it\, “I \nwill see you again\, and your heart shall rejoice; your joy no one takes from \nyou… At that Day you shall ask in my Name\, and I do not say to you\, that I will \npray to the Father for you\, for the Father himself loves you\, because you have \nloved me\, and have believed that I came out from God.” \nThe Day\, then\, that dawned upon the Church at the Resurrection\, and \nbeamed forth in full splendour at the Ascension\, that Day which has no setting\, \nwhich will be\, not ended but absorbed in Christ’s glorious appearance from \nheaven to destroy sin and death; that Day in which we now are\, is described…as \na state of special Divine manifestation\, of special introduction into the presence \nof God. By Christ\, says the Apostle\, “we have the access by faith into this grace \nwherein we stand.” He “has raised us up together\, and made us sit together in \nheavenly places in Christ Jesus.“… \nThus we as Christians stand in the courts of God Most High\, and\, in one \nsense see his face; for he who once was on earth\, has now departed from this \nvisible scene of things in a mysterious\, twofold way\, both to his Father and into \nour hearts\, thus making the Creator and his creatures one; according to his own \nwords\, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while\, \nand the world sees me no more; but you see me: because I live\, you shall live \nalso. At that Day you shall know that I am in the Father\, and you in me\, and I \nin you.“ URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-311/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250521 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250522 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250519T132248Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250519T132248Z UID:13442-1747785600-1747871999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:THE NEW LIFE IN CHRIST \nBy Thomas Merton4 \n◊◊◊ \nThe “new life“\, the life of the Spirit\, life “in Christ“\, is communicated to \nthe human spirit by the invisible Mission of the Holy Spirit – a direct \nconsequence of the Resurrection of Jesus. Therefore the “new creation“ \ninstituted by the second Adam is in fact a prolongation of his Resurrection. The \nnew world which is called the Kingdom of God\, the world in which God reigns in \nus by his divine Spirit\, the world of the Second Adam is\, in fact\, the Eon of the \nresurrection – the new age that begins to dawn with the rising of Christ from the \ndead\, which reaches out to touch\, with the pure spiritual light of that dawning\, \neach soul newly incorporated into the Risen Christ\, until all the elect are \ngathered together in him… \n“If\,” says St Paul\, “by reason of the one man’s offense death reigned \nthrough the one man\, much more will they who receive the abundance of \ngrace…reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.” That is exactly the Pauline \nconcept of the Kingdom of God – a Kingdom of superabundant spiritual life\, in \nwhich the saints “reign in life through the one Christ.” \nTo reign in life…is to have and enjoy the sublime liberty of the children of \nGod\, the freedom of the Spirit by which Christ has come to make us free. The \nearly Church was entirely penetrated with this doctrine of liberation\, plenitude \nand life. Wherever the authentic Christian spirit has prevailed\, it has always \nbeen marked by this same perfect liberty and vitality in the Spirit. For always \nand everywhere the Spirit of Christ teaches this message to those who are his \nown: “For whoever are led by the Spirit of God\, they are the children of God.“ \nIn this view of Christ’s role as second Adam\, establishing the final victory \nof life over death\, we are still confronted with the ideas of death and life \ntogether. The liberation from sin and death is effected by the death of Christ. \nThe communication of life to our souls is effected by the resurrection of Christ. \n“Jesus…was delivered up for our sins\, and rose again for our justification.” We \nshall see that in order to enter fully into communion with the life brought to us \nby Christ we must in some sense – sacramentally\, ascetically\, mystically – die \nwith Christ and rise with him from the dead. The whole life of the Kingdom of \nGod consists then in the gradual extension of the spiritual effects of the death \nand resurrection of Jesus to one soul after another until Christ lives perfectly in \nall whom he has called to himself. \n4 THE NEW MAN\, Thomas Merton (Farrar\, Straus & Cudahy\, NY 1961) pp. 152-154.9 URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-312/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250522 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250523 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250519T132425Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250519T132425Z UID:13444-1747872000-1747958399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:LOVE ONE ANOTHER \nFrom a homily by St Gregory the Great \n◊◊◊ \nSince all of our Lord’s sacred utterances contain commandments\, why \ndoes he say about love as if it were a special commandment: This is my \ncommandment\, that you love one another? It is because every commandment \nis about love\, and they all add up to one commandment because whatever is \ncommanded is founded on love alone. As a tree’s many branches come from one \nroot\, so do many virtues come forth from love alone. The branch which is our \ngood works has no sap unless it remains attached to the root of love. Our Lord’s \ncommandments are then both many and one: many through the variety of the \nworks\, one in their root which is love. He himself instructs us to love our friends \nin him\, and our enemies for his sake. That person truly possesses love who loves \nhis friend in God and his enemy for God’s sake. \nThere are some people who love their neighbors\, drawn by blood \nrelationship or by natural affection\, and Scripture does not oppose this kind of \nlove. But what we give freely and naturally is one thing\, and the obedience we \nowe to the Lord’s commandments out of love is another. Those I’ve mentioned \nindisputably love their neighbors\, yet they don’t attain love’s sublime rewards \nsince their love does not come from spiritual but from natural motives. \nTherefore when the Lord said: This is my commandment\, that you love one \nanother\, he added immediately: Just as I have loved you\, meaning\, ‘You must \nlove for the same reason that I have loved you.’ \nDearly beloved\, we must consider this carefully. When our ancient enemy \ndraws our hearts to delight in temporal things\, he is stirring up a weaker \nneighbor against us. This neighbor may be plotting to take away the very things \nwe love. In doing this our ancient enemy is not concerned to do away with our \nearthly possessions; he wants to destroy our lives. Suddenly we are set on fire \nwith hatred\, and while we desire to be outwardly unconquerable\, inwardly we \nare gravely wounded. When we defend our small outer possession\, we lose our \ngreat inner one\, since when we love something temporal we lose our true love. \nEveryone who takes away our possessions is an enemy. But if we begin to hate \nour enemy\, our loss is of something internal. When then we suffer something \nexternal from a neighbor\, we must be on our guard against a hidden ravager \nwithin. This one is never better overcome then when we love the one who \nravages us from without. The unique\, the highest proof of love is this\, to love the \nperson who is against us. This is why Truth himself bore the suffering of the \ncross and yet bestowed his love on his persecutors\, saying: Father\, forgive them \nfor they know not what they do. \nWhy should we wonder that his living disciples loved their enemies\, when \ntheir dying master loved his. He expressed the depth of his love when he said: \nNo one has greater love than this\, than that he lay down his life for his friends. \nThe Lord had come to die even for his enemies\, and yet he said he would lay \ndown his life for his friends to show us that when we are able to win over our \nenemies by loving them even our persecutors are our friends. \nBut no one is persecuting us to the point of death. How then can we prove \nthat we love our friends?… John the Baptist says: Let him who has two tunics \ngive to him who has none. Will a person\, then\, who will not give up his tunic for \nthe sake of God during quiet times give up his life during a persecution? \nCultivate the virtue of love in tranquil times by showing mercy\, then\, so that it \nwill be unconquerable in times of disorder. Learn first to give up your \npossession for almighty God\, and then yourself. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-313/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250523 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250524 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250519T132532Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250519T132532Z UID:13446-1747958400-1748044799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:MY ALL IN ALL \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny \n◊◊◊ \nNow\, my brethren\, what witness to Christ’s love does the joy of your \nhearts give you? I venture to judge\, and rightly as you will see\, that if you have \never loved Jesus alive or dead or risen from the dead\, your heart rejoices within \nyou. As the tidings of his resurrection resound and re-echo again and again \nthrough the Church you will say to yourselves: “They have told me that Jesus \nmy God is still alive. On hearing it my spirit\, which was asleep through \nweariness\, languishing through tepidity\, disheartened through timidity\, has \nrevived.” For the joyful voice of this happy message raises even from death \nthose buried deep in sin. Otherwise\, if Christ\, coming up from hell\, left them \nthere in the depths\, there would certainly be no hope for them; their fate would \nbe buried in forgetfulness. By this token you may clearly know that your soul \nlives again fully in Christ if it echoes this sentiment: “It is enough for me that \nJesus is still alive.” \nHow faithful and worthy of a friend of Jesus is that voice\, how pure that \nact of love which says: “It is enough for me that Jesus is still alive. If he lives\, I \nlive\, for my spirit acts through his. Yes\, he is my life\, my all in all. For what \ncan I lack if Jesus is still alive? Rather everything else may be taken from me\, \nnothing else matters to me so long as he lives. If he wishes then\, let him take no \naccount of me. It is enough for me that he still lives even if he only lives for \nhimself.” When the love of Christ so absorbs all our affections that\, unmindful \nand forgetful of ourselves\, we have no feeling for anything but Jesus Christ and \nwhat pertains to him\, then\, I say\, love has been made perfect in us. To one who \nso loves\, poverty is no burden\, no hurt is felt\, insults are to be laughed at\, \nmisfortune disdained\, and death considered as gain. In fact one does not think \nin terms of death knowing that death is a passage to life. And one can \nconfidently assert: “I will go and see him before I die.” \nAlthough\, my brethren\, we have not been endowed with such a great \npurity of conscience\, let us\, nevertheless\, go to see Jesus journeying to the \nmountain of heavenly Galilee\, where he awaits us. On the way our love will \nincrease\, and on our arrival\, at least\, it will be perfected. On the way\, the road\, at \nfirst hard and difficult\, will grow easier\, and the strength of the weak will \nincrease. The flesh of Christ is our food for the journey\, his Spirit our means of \nconveyance. He himself is the food\, he himself is the chariot and charioteer of \nIsrael. When you arrive\, all the goods\, not of Egypt but of heaven\, will be yours. \nThere\, in the best place in the kingdom\, at the bidding of Christ you will take \nyour rest. “Come to me all you that labor and are burdened with hunger\, and I \nwill refresh you. Come\, you blessed of my Father\, possess the kingdom \nprepared for you.” May he who calls you lead you to where he lives and reigns \nwith the Father and the Holy Spirit\, through endless ages. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-314/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250524 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250525 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250519T132633Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250519T132633Z UID:13448-1748044800-1748131199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:WE ARE ALL WITNESSES \nBy Fr Paul Evdokimov \n◊◊◊ \nThere are no half measures\, no intermediary formulas. We are in the \npresence of the fundamental evidence of Jesus risen from the dead. A God who \ndoes not present his charter as lover of \, a God who is not love \ncrucified in order to radiate “life\, death of death“\, as St Augustine says\, is not \nreally God. In following St Paul’s thought to its conclusion\, we could say that all \nreligion exists only by the resurrection and mystically leans on this event. If \nChrist is risen\, this is of interest for all… If the Christian testimony to the risen \nLord is suppressed\, no religion will survive on the level of the modern world\, for \noutside the Gospel every religious message stops halfway. \nThe Gospel’s transcendent end is God become a risen . \nThis fact does not concern just a few witnesses only; the risen Christ in \nbecoming the contemporary of all means that every is \ncontemporary with the eternal Christ. This makes all the events of history \nessentially Christological. Christ is risen as head of the human body\, and now all \nreligions and all can and ought to seek their life in him. This \ntestimony alone determines the ecumenical mission of the Church in the midst \nof all religions and in the great meeting between East and West. History places \nthe Christian faith in the risen Christ as the crossing point of all ideologies that \nnow reformulate the only important question – that asked by Pilate – “What is \ntruth?” It obliges faith to say its yes\, going if need be as far as the confession of \nmartyrdom\, that unique answer that resounds universally. Christ is in agony\, \nand eternity is impatient to hear this answer. \nThe apostolic kerygma announces the event of Easter\, the intervention of \nGod raising up Jesus; this alone gives a definitive meaning to the existence of \n in history. The resurrection of Jesus is God’s “Amen” to his \npromise\, an “Amen” full of the Holy Spirit who manifests it. “Amen” comes from \nthe Hebrew heemin and it means an unshakable base of operations. Those who \nproclaim it—the apostles and martyrs—claim the right to proclaim the event \nbefore the magistrates of the earthly city. \nLikewise the Apologies of Justin\, Athenagoras\, and Aristides present to \nemperors the same decisive message and warn them of the imminent judgment. \nTheir kerygma is of interest to all . It is preached in the presence of \nangels and concerns all of creation: the kingdom of God has already arrived; we \nare contemporaries of the one who sits at the right hand of the Father. Here is \nthe lamb immolated and risen and here is his kingdom. He is here and it is the \nfullness of time. \nAll religions are ways by which seek God. They are numerous. \nHowever\, the Christian revelation is unique for it is God who finds . \nThe preaching of St Paul is of capital importance for the theology of religion. In \ndeciphering the monument to the unknown God and in giving it the name Jesus \nChrist\, the apostle integrated with Christ the religious aspiration of all times \nand gave it value in Christ. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-315/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250525 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250526 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250525T005942Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250525T005942Z UID:13450-1748131200-1748217599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Skema DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n6th Week of Easter\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nMay 25 – 31\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n25\nMon\n26\nTue\n27\nWed\n28\nThu\n29\nFri\n30\nSat\n31\n\n\nOffice\n6th Sunday of Easter\nEaster Weekday\nSt Augustine of Canterbury\nEaster Weekday\nSt Paul VI\nEaster Weekday\nVisitation of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\n1 Jn 1:1-10\n1 Jn 2:1-11\n1 Jn 2:12-17\n1 Jn 2:18-29\n1 Jn 3:1-10\n1 Jn 3:11-17\nGal 3:15-29\n\n\nLauds\n1 Tim 4:11-16\n1 Tim 6:11-16\n2 Tim 1:1-8\n2 Tim 1:9-14\n2 Tim 2:1-7\n2 Tim 2:8-13\nZech 2:10-17\n\n\nMass\n57\n291\n292\n293\n294\n295\n572\n\n\n1st\nActs 15:1-2\, 22-29\nActs 16:11-15\nActs 16:22-34\nActs 17:15\, 22-18:1\nActs 18:1-8\nActs 18:9-18\nZeph 3:14-18a\n\n\n2nd\nRev 21:10-14\, 22-23\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 14:23-29\nJohn 15:26-16:4a\nJohn 16:5-11\nJohn 16:12-15\nJohn 16:16-20\nJohn 16:20-23\nLuke 1:39-56\n\n\nVespers\nActs 19:23-30\nActs 20:7-12\nActs 21:7-14\nActs 21:27-34\nActs 22:23-30\nActs 23:12-16\nCol 3:1-11 URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-116/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250525 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250526 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250525T010111Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250525T010111Z UID:13452-1748131200-1748217599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 6th Sunday of Easter DESCRIPTION:CHRIST LIVES IN OUR HEARTS \nTHROUGH FAITH \nFrom a commentary by St Bernard of Clairvaux \n◊◊◊ \nMy Father and I will come to him – that is to say\, to the holy of heart – \nsays the Son of God\, and we will make our home with him. It seems to me that \nwhen the psalmist said to God: you make your dwelling in the holy place\, you \nwho are Israel’s praise\, he had no other heaven in mind than the hearts of the \nsaints. The apostle expresses it quite clearly: Christ lives in our hearts through \nfaith\, he tells us. \nSurely it is no wonder that the Lord Jesus gladly makes his home in such a \nheaven because\, unlike the other heavens\, he did not bring it into existence by a \nmere word of command. He descended into the arena to win it; he laid down his \nlife to redeem it. And so after the battle was won he solemnly declared: this is \nmy resting place for ever and ever; here I have chosen to dwell. Blessed indeed \nis the soul to whom the Lord says\, Come\, my chosen one\, I will set up my throne \nin you. \nWhy\, then\, are you sorrowful\, my soul\, and why are you troubled with \nme? Are you trying to find a place for the Lord within yourself? Who among us \ncan provide a fitting place for the Lord of glory\, a place worthy of his majesty! O \nthat I might be counted worthy to worship at his footstool\, that I might at least \ncling to the feet of some saintly soul whom the Lord has chosen to be his \ndwelling place! However\, the Lord has only to anoint my soul with the oil of his \nmercy for me in my turn to be able to say: I have run the way of your \ncommandments because you have enlarged my heart. Then perhaps\, even if I \ncannot usher him into a large and richly furnished room in my heart where he \nmay refresh himself with his disciples\, I shall at least be able to offer him a place \nto lay his head. \nIt is necessary for a soul to grow and be enlarged until it is capable of \ncontaining God within itself. But the dimensions of a soul are in proportion to \nits love\, as the apostle confirms when he urges the Corinthians to widen your \nhearts in love. Although the soul\, being spiritual\, cannot be measured \nphysically\, grace confers on it what nature does not bestow. It expands \nspiritually as it makes progress toward human perfection\, which is measured by \nnothing less than the full stature of Christ\, and so it grows into a temple sacred \nto the Lord. \nLove\, then\, is the measure of the soul. Souls are large that love much\, \nsmall that love little; while as to the soul that has no love at all\, such a soul is \nitself nothing. Without love\, says St Paul\, I am nothing. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-6th-sunday-of-easter-2/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250526 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250527 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250525T010359Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250525T010359Z UID:13454-1748217600-1748303999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:A COMMUNITY OF THE SPIRIT \nBy Fr Bede Griffiths \n◊◊◊ \nThe Church is the communion of those who are united by the love of the \nSpirit in the knowledge of the Word of God\, the Eternal Truth\, and through him \nreturn to the Father\, the Source\, the Origin and the Ground of all creation. But \nthe Church has also a beginning in time as a historical institution. When the \nHoly Spirit descended on the disciples at Pentecost\, the power of the Spirit \nwhich had transformed the body and soul of Christ at the Resurrection was \ncommunicated to his disciples. A new consciousness dawned\, a consciousness \nbeyond the ordinary rational consciousness\, which set the disciples free from \nthe limitations of our present mode of existence and consciousness and opened \nto them the new world of the Resurrection. \nThe Church is the community of those who experienced this new birth ‘in \nthe Spirit’ and whose lives were transformed by the experience. The effect of this \nwas seen in the fact that they were ‘all of one heart and mind‘\, and that they sold \nall that they possessed and ‘had everything in common’. The new life in the \nSpirit thus penetrated the economic and social order and brought a power to \ntransform human society\, but it remained essentially beyond our present \nhuman limitations. The Church was from the beginning a ‘charismatic‘ \ncommunity\, a community of the Spirit. \nYet it had also an elementary organization. Jesus left behind him twelve \n‘apostles‘\, whom he clearly intended to be the nucleus of the new Israel\, a new \n‘People of God’. There was also a ceremony of initiation into the new life and a \nmeal in common\, in which the new life with Christ was shared. This was \napparently all that he left by way of organization. In the course of time other \nceremonies were added and ‘elders‘ and ‘overseers‘ were appointed in the \ndifferent Churches\, but these seem to have been appointed as the need arose. \nThere was a reason for this. Jesus left his disciples with the expectation that he \nwould return again in their own lifetime and bring about the final ‘restoration \nof all things‘. This is the perspective of the New Testament. \nJesus was not concerned with the ‘history‘ of the Church as an institution\, \nbut with its transcendent Reality. Jesus himself enjoyed the new life of the \nResurrection\, and his disciples were called to share this new life with him. The \nhistorical development of the Church is secondary to this great reality of the \nexperience of the Spirit in the new life of the Resurrection. In this perspective \nthe time of the second coming is of little importance. As the second letter of \nPeter was to say\, when the time of his coming was questioned: ‘A thousand \nyears in his sight are but a day.’ \nIt would seem that the Christian Churches have to recover this \nperspective\, which is that of the New Testament\, if they are to recover their \nmeaning in the world today. The Church has its place in human history\, but for \nthe Church\, as for Christ himself\, history is subordinate to the transcendent \nreality of life in the Spirit. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-316/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250527 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250528 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250525T010500Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250525T010500Z UID:13456-1748304000-1748390399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Augustine of Canterbury DESCRIPTION:ST AUGUSTINE \nARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY \nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints \n◊◊◊ \nWhen Pope St Gregory the Great decided that the time had come for the \nevangelization of Anglo-Saxon England\, he chose as missionaries some thirty or \nmore monks from his monastery of St Andrew… As their leader he gave them \ntheir own prior\, Augustine. The party set out from Rome in the year 596; but no \nsooner had they arrived in Provence than they were assailed with warnings \nabout the ferocity of the Anglo-Saxons and the dangers of the Channel. Greatly \ndiscouraged\, they persuaded Augustine to return to Rome and obtain leave to \nabandon the enterprise. St Gregory\, however\, had received definite assurance \nthat the English were well disposed towards the Christian faith; he therefore \nsent Augustine back to his brethren with words of encouragement which gave \nthem heart to proceed on their way. \nThey landed in the Isle of Thanet in the territory of Ethelbert\, king of \nKent\, who was baptized at Pentecost 597. Almost immediately afterwards St \nAugustine paid a visit to France\, where he was consecrated bishop of the English \nby St Virgilius\, metropolitan of Arles. At Christmas of that same year\, many of \nEthelbert’s subjects were baptized… Augustine sent two of his monks\, Laurence \nand Peter\, to Rome to give a full report of his mission\, to ask for more helpers \nand obtain advice on various points. They came back bringing the pallium for \nAugustine and accompanied by a fresh band of missionaries\, amongst whom \nwere St Mellitus\, St Justus and St Paulinus. \nGregory outlined for Augustine the course he should take to develop a \nhierarchy for the whole country\, and both to him and to Mellitus gave very \npractical instructions on other points. Pagan temples were not to be destroyed\, \nbut were to be purified and consecrated for Christian worship. Local customs \nwere as far as possible to be retained\, days of dedication and feasts of martyrs \nbeing substituted for heathen festivals. In Canterbury itself St Augustine rebuilt \nan ancient church which\, with an old wooden house\, formed the nucleus for his \nmetropolitan basilica and for the later monastery of Christ Church. These \nbuildings stood on the site of the present cathedral begun by Lanfranc in 1070. \nOutside the walls of Canterbury he made a monastic foundation\, which he \ndedicated in honour of St Peter and St Paul. After his death this abbey became \nknown as St Augustine’s\, and was the burial place of the early archbishops. \nCut off from much communication with the outside world\, the British \nchurch clung to certain usages at variance with those of the Roman tradition. \nSt. Augustine invited the leading ecclesiastics to meet him at some place just on \nthe confines of Wessex\, still known in Bede’s day as Augustine’s Oak. There he \nurged them to comply with the practices of the rest of Western Christendom\, \nand more especially to co-operate with him in evangelizing the Anglo-Saxons. \nFidelity to their local traditions\, however\, made them unwilling. A second \nconference proved a failure. Because St Augustine failed to rise when they \narrived\, the British bishops decided that he was lacking in humility and would \nneither listen to him nor acknowledge him as their metropolitan. \nThe saint’s last years were spent in spreading and consolidating the faith \nthroughout Ethelbert’s realm\, and episcopal sees were established at London \nand Rochester. About seven years after his arrival in England\, St Augustine \npassed to his reward\, on May 26\, 605. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-augustine-of-canterbury-3/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250528 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250529 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250525T010605Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250525T010605Z UID:13458-1748390400-1748476799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:NO ONE CAN SERVE \nTWO MASTERS \nFrom a sermon by St Leo the Great \n◊◊◊ \nDuring Lent our aim was to experience some share in the sufferings of the \ncross and to enter into the mystery of the Lord’s passion by taking up our cross \nand following him along the way of his humiliation and endurance. Now\, during \nEastertide\, the accent is on sharing his resurrection. Not for any merit of our \nown\, but through the blood of Christ and the free gift of God’s grace\, we have \nbeen healed and set free. What the Lord asks of us now is not to try to earn this \nfreedom\, but to hold fast to what he has already given us and to guard it from the \ndevil’s envy. \nIn the Lord Jesus we have passed over from death to life\, but while we are \nstill on earth his Passover must be continually renewed in us. We have to be \ndead to Satan and alive to God; we have to abandon sin in order to rise to \nholiness. Jesus himself said: “No one can serve two masters”. Our business is to \nmake sure that the master we serve is the Lord who has raised up the fallen to \nglory\, not the one who brought the upright to ruin…. \nIt was his will to die for us\, but death could not keep him. The body that \nwas laid in the tomb and the soul that descended to the world of the departed \nwere the body and soul of the Son of God. Through his own will they were \nseparated when he bowed his head on the cross and gave up his spirit; through \nhis divine power they were reunited on the third day. The gospels tell us of the \nrolling away of the stone\, the empty tomb\, the linen cloths\, the angel witnesses\, \nand the Lord’s appearances to the women and to the apostles. All this evidence \nformed the basis for the preaching of the faith throughout the whole world. \nNot only did Jesus speak with his disciples\, but he ate with them\, allowing \nthem to touch him and to probe his wounds. He entered the upper room when \nthe doors were shut and greeted them with the words “Peace be with you”— \npeace to quiet their troubled hearts and to assure them of the unfailing \nconstancy of his love and forgiveness. To bring God’s love and forgiveness to the \nworld had been his mission from the Father; now he passed on that mission to \nhis apostles. “As the Father sent me\,” he told them\, “so I send you. Receive the \nHoly spirit. If you forgive men’s sins\, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive \nthem\, they are not forgiven”. \nPatiently he went through the scriptures with them to show them \neverything that had been written about him in the Old Testament\, how it had \nbeen ordained from the beginning that the Messiah should suffer and so enter \ninto his glory. After this he showed them the wound in his side and the marks of \nthe nails. By his own choice he had retained these scars in his body in order to \nheal the wounds of their unbelieving minds. Now they knew with absolute \ncertainty that the risen body\, radiantly alive in their midst\, was the same body \nthat had been born in Bethlehem and had suffered on the cross. From now on it \nwould be seated with God the Father on his heavenly throne. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-317/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250529 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250530 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250525T010724Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250525T010724Z UID:13460-1748476800-1748563199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Paul VI DESCRIPTION:ST PAUL VI \n◊◊◊ \nHe was born with the name of Giovanni Baptista Montini in September \n26\, 1897. His father\, Giorgio was a lawyer\, politician and member of the Italian \nChamber of Deputies. The young Montini was plagued with numerous physical \nailments. He was ordained at the age of 22 on May 29\, 1920. He was then sent to \nRome where he attended the Academy which was geared to the training of \ndiplomats. He began his service of thirty years in the Vatican Secretariat of \nState. During those years he was also active as a chaplain to the Catholic \nStudents at the University of Rome. \nHe was named Undersecretary of State in 1924. He served in that office \nfor thirty years. He was named Archbishop of Milan in 1954. He rebuilt \nchurches that had been destroyed during the war and made every effort to win \nback the working class from Communist influences. Devoted to the \ndisadvantaged\, he was a frequent visitor to hospitals\, orphanages\, homes of the \naged and prisons. \nAfter Pope John XXIII was elected and announced the Second Vatican \nCouncil\, he appointed Montini to the Central Preparatory Commission. He took \na very active part in the First Session of the Council in 1962. Pope John died in \n1963 and Montini was elected as his successor. It was felt that he would \ncontinue the process of the Council. He chose the name of Paul VI and was \ndetermined that\, like Paul the Apostle\, his pontificate would spread the Gospel \nto the entire world. In his first message as Pope he set forth his agenda: to \ncontinue Vatican II\, to revise Canon Law\, to work for peace and justice at all \nlevels\, and to seek Christian Unity. \nPaul was well equipped to deal with the Council because of his long \nexperience in the Secretariat of state. He knew the Curia thoroughly. Their \nactions may not have always pleased him\, but they rarely surprised him. He was \nactively involved in the three sessions of the Council over which he presided. He \nsuggested amendments to several of the documents: ecumenism\, missionary \nactivity\, revelation\, Eastern Catholic Churches and religious liberty. \nOne issue that he held back from the Council was that of Birth Control. He \nset up a Commission of Lay people to consider the issue. However eventually he \ncame to his own conclusion and issued the encyclical Humanae Vitae which \nforbade the use of artificial contraceptives. The encyclical created a crisis in the \nChurch. Paul himself came to refer to the document as “a painful document in \nour episcopacy”. The last ten years of his pontificate were difficult for Paul VI. \nHe was more withdrawn and troubled by the negative reaction to Humanae \nVitae\, the polarity between conservatives and liberals\, the massive departure \nfrom priestly and religious life\, and the lack of vocations. The Pope told Jean \nGuiton that Archbishop Lefebvre\, who defiantly opposed the liturgical reform \nwas “the greatest cross of my pontificate”. \nDebilitating arthritis and acute cystitis weakened him in the summer of \n1978. On August 6\, 1978 he died of a heart attack at Castel Gandolfo. He was \nbeatified by Pope Benedict XVI and canonized by Pope Francis. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-paul-vi-2/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250530 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250531 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250525T010842Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250525T010842Z UID:13462-1748563200-1748649599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:DEAD\, BURIED\, \nAND RISEN WITH CHRIST \nBy Hans Urs von Balthasar \n◊◊◊ \nHeaven\, then\, in which we can already participate\, informs our life on \nearth and gives it its meaning; and\, in like manner\, the resurrection determines \nour relation to the cross\, setting up a second and final “soteriological” tension. \nWe are Christians\, because the Lord has risen; if he had not\, our faith would be \nvain. Christ suffered for the sake of glorification and took on himself the cross\, \nthe confession of the cross\, that he might obtain absolution from the Father. We \nare not at first entitled to go with Christ on the way he walked; otherwise there \nwould be no qualitative difference between him and us; he would only be first \namong equals\, and we could be literally called co-redeemers. But “God \ncommends his charity towards us because when as yet we were sinners \naccording to the time Christ died for us… \nWhen we were enemies\, we were reconciled to God by the death of his \nSon”. If we walk with the Son\, it is because we are carried along by the grace of \nthe redemption accomplished by him. The sentence that decided our destiny in \nprinciple was pronounced on Christ as representing all sinners. In him we were \ncrucified and condemned to death; in him justified and accepted as children of \nGod. In him\, without any action on our part\, God’s wrath against us has \nchanged into solicitous love. so then we have to bring to full reality in our \ntemporal life on earth what is already true in Christ and through him in heaven \nwith the Father. \nIn the New Testament what we have to do follows from what we are. We \nare justified\, and must act accordingly. We are dead\, buried and risen with \nHans Uns von Balthasar\, Sheed and Ward 1961\, pp. 233-234.13 \nChrist\, and have to live our lives in view of this. We are no longer to live to sin; \nwe are henceforth to look on the “old self”\, who is dead as dead in fact\, daily \noppose his resistance to the sentence of death\, make him die daily. One might \nsay that in order to exalt the resurrection St. Paul upsets the equilibrium \nbetween the old and the new eon\, the old and the new Adam\, cross and \nresurrection\, fear and hope. From now on the first member of each pair of \nantitheses is comprised within the second; the cross\, in the Christian life\, is \nborne in the strength of the resurrection already accomplished. “In all things we \nsuffer tribulations but are not distressed. We are straitened\, but not destitute. \nWe suffer persecution\, but are not forsaken. We are cast down\, but we perish \nnot. Always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus\, that the life \nalso of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies….For which cause we faint \nnot; but though our outer nature is corrupted\, yet the inner nature is renewed \nday by day.” URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-318/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250531 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250601 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250525T010952Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250525T010952Z UID:13464-1748649600-1748735999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Visitation of the BVM DESCRIPTION:THE FULLNESS OF GRACE \nFrom the encyclical Redemptoris Mater by St John Paul II \n◊◊◊ \nImmediately after the narration of the Annunciation\, the Evangelist Luke \nguides us in the footsteps of the Virgin of Nazareth towards “a city of Judah” \n. \nMary arrived there “in haste”\, to visit Elizabeth her kinswoman. The reason for \nher visit is also to be found in the fact that at the Annunciation Gabriel had made \nspecial mention of Elizabeth\, who in her old age had conceived a son by her \nhusband Zechariah\, through the power of God… The divine messenger had \nspoken of what had been accomplished in Elizabeth in order to answer Mary’s \nquestion: “How shall this be\, since I have no husband?”. It is to come to pass \nprecisely through the “Power of the Most High”\, just as it happened in the case \nof Elizabeth\, and even more so. \nMoved by charity\, therefore\, Mary goes to the house of her kinswoman. \nWhen Mary enters\, Elizabeth replies to her greeting and feels the child leap in \nher womb\, and being “filled with the Holy Spirit” she greets Mary with a loud \ncry: “Blessed are you among women\, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” \n…. \nWhile every word of Elizabeth’s greeting is filled with meaning\, her final words\, \nwould seem to have fundamental importance: “And blessed is she who believed \nthat there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” \n. \nThese words can be linked with the title “full of grace” of the angel’s greeting. \nBoth of these texts reveal an essential Mariological content\, namely the truth \nabout Mary who has become really present in the mystery of Christ precisely \nbecause she “had believed”. The fullness of grace announced by the angel \nmeans the gift of God himself. Mary’s faith\, proclaimed by Elizabeth at the \nVisitation\, indicates how the Virgin of Nazareth responded to this gift… \nIndeed\, at the Annunciation Mary entrusted herself to God completely\, \nwith the “full submission of intellect and will”\, manifesting “the obedience of \nfaith” to him who spoke to her through his messenger. She responded\, \ntherefore\, with all her human and feminine “I”…. By accepting this \nannouncement\, Mary was to become the “Mother of the Lord\,” and the divine \nmystery of the Incarnation was to be accomplished in her… Mary uttered this \nfiat in faith. In faith she entrusted herself to God without reserve and devoted \nherself totally as the handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of her son. \nAnd this Son – as the Fathers of the Church teach – she conceived in her mind before she \nconceived him in her womb: precisely in faith! Rightly therefore does Elizabeth praise Mary: “And \nblessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the \nLord.” These words have already been fulfilled: Mary of Nazareth presents herself at the threshold \nof Elizabeth and Zechariah’s house as the Mother of the Son of God. This is Elizabeth’s joyful \ndiscovery: “The mother of my Lord comes to me”! URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-visitation-of-the-bvm/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250601 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250602 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250601T002426Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250601T002426Z UID:13467-1748736000-1748822399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Skema DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n7th Week of Easter\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nJune 1 – 7\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n1\nMon\n2\nTue\n3\nWed\n4\nThu\n5\nFri\n6\nSat\n7\n\n\nOffice\nAscension of the Lord\nEaster Weekday\nSt Charles Lwanga & Comp\nEaster Weekday\nSt Boniface\nEaster Weekday\nEaster Weekday\n\n\nVigils\n2 Kings 2:1-15\n1 Jn 4:1-10\n1 Jn 4:11-21\n1 Jn 5:1-12\n1 Jn 5:13-21\n2 Jn 1-13\n3 Jn 1-15\n\n\nLauds\nDan 7:9-14\n2 Tim 3:10-17\n2 Tim 4:1-5\n2 Tim 4:6-8\nTitus 1:1-9\nTitus 2:11-15\nTitus 3:1-8\n\n\nMass\n58\n297\n298\n299\n300\n301\n302\n\n\n1st\nActs 1:1-11\nActs 19:1-8\nActs 20:17-27\nActs 20:28-38\nActs 22:30; 23:6-11\nActs 25:13b-21\nActs 28:16-20\, 30-31\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 9:24-28; 10:19-23\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 24:46-53\nJohn 16:29-33\nJohn 17:1-11a\nJohn 17:11b-19\nJohn 17:20-26\nJohn 21:15-19\nJohn 21:20-25\n\n\nVespers\nEph 4:1-13\nActs 24:10-16\nActs 25:7-12\nActs 26:24-31\nActs 28:16-23\nActs 28:24-31\nRom 8:9:17 URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-117/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250601 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250602 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250601T002601Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250601T002721Z UID:13469-1748736000-1748822399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Ascension of the Lord DESCRIPTION:THE MYSTERIES OF GLORY \nBy Fr Jean Danielou \n◊◊◊ \nThe Apostles’ Creed contains a noteworthy passage in which\, \ngrammatically speaking\, we move from the past to the future: “He ascended \ninto the heavens\, to be seated at the right hand of God. He will come again to \njudge the living and the dead.” Thus the mysteries of Christ are not completed \nwith the ascension. There is still another mystery to come\, that of the Parousia. \nBetween these two there is a mystery which is\, in the present\, that of the session \nat the right hand. So there is a mystery of Christ with which we are \ncontemporary\, that corresponds to that moment of sacred history which \nbelongs to us\, which constitutes the present activity of the Word. \nHere we find\, in the mysteries of glory\, the order which we ascertained in \nthe mysteries of darkness. Through the ascension\, the humanity of Christ was \nexalted above every creature and was introduced by the Word into the \ninaccessible sanctuary of the Trinity. But the humanity of Christ tends to attract \neverything else to it. “If only I am lifted up from the earth\, I will attract all \npeoples to myself.” Christ has only entered the heavenly sanctuary as a \nforerunner. The presence of his humanity in the sphere of the Trinity is the \nguarantee of the possibility that is henceforth ours to attain. The impassible gulf \nis henceforth overcome\, the impossible has become possible. In a suitable \nimage\, the epistle to the Hebrews shows the humanity of Christ as cast like an \nanchor\, not into the depths of the sea\, but into the far places of heaven\, laying \nthe foundation of our hope that we shall in our turn attain to the anchorage \nbeyond the veil. \nThus there is\, henceforth\, in the heart of each person an ascensional \npower which lifts it up and draws it towards the Father\, that “gravity” of love of \nwhich Augustine spoke\, and which counteracts the “gravity” of the flesh. This is \nthe meaning of the era of the Church\, in which Christ\, having entered into the \nglory of the Father\, seeks to lift up humanity as a whole. By this means the \nmovement is completed which began at the Incarnation\, when the Word of God \ncame to seek for mankind\, but in order to lead it back to the Father. “This is why \nwe are told\, he has mounted up on high; he has captured his spoil; he has \nbrought gifts. And he who so went down is no other than he who has gone up\, \nhigh above all the heavens to fill creation with his presence.” And truly this \nhumanity is a mighty weight to raise. Its gravity resists grace. That is the whole \ndrama of the present period in sacred history. But the power of the Word is \ngreater than our resistance. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-7th-sunday-of-easter/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250602 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250603 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250601T002823Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250601T002823Z UID:13475-1748822400-1748908799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:THE WORLD’S RESURRECTION \nAND ASCENSION \nBy Hans Urs von Balthasar \n◊◊◊ \nThe masters of the contemplation of the ascending Word are the Greeks… \nThe idea of the “gardener” and the “do not hold me\,” as not holding on to the \nWord on earth\, but letting him ascend\, is charmingly and passionately worked \nout by them in variations. Augustine joins [to this] the idea of the completion of \nthe Ascension in one’s heart\, as a longing for the home where Christ lives: \nAs if the Lord\, he says\, were saying to the apostles: “You do not \nwant to let me go\, just as everyone likes to hold his friend back and \nsays to him\, as it were\, stay with us just a little longer\, our soul \ndelights in the sight of you – but it is better that you no longer see \nthis flesh and are mindful instead of the divine. I am removing \nmyself from you outwardly\, but I am filling you with myself from \nwithin.“ \nDoes Christ\, then\, enter the heart according to the flesh\, with the flesh? In \nhis divinity he possesses the heart. In his flesh he speaks to the heart by the \nsight of him\, and he exhorts us\, but inside us he takes up his dwelling place\, so \nthat we are converted and vivified inwardly by him and fashioned out of him\, \nthe uncreated model of all creation… \n[Thus we can say that] the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ is so united \nto his divinity that\, while still preserving the essence of the two natures\, they \nform a single unity. As his divinity transcends all reason\, so does his humanity\, \nwhich has been raised above all visible and spiritual creatures\, above all places \nand times\, above all description and definition… It has been raised\, as it were \nabove “Being\,” [and is now] ungraspable and indiscoverable by all creatures… \nThis transcendent position makes the Word the basis of all the world’s \nresurrection and ascension. His ascension\, he says\, takes place beyond all the \nmotions of this transient world and all the influence of the heavenly spheres\, for \nalthough he is omnipresent in his divinity\, his place is properly that where there \nis no change\, no suffering\, no grief\, as there is in the world of time. \nWe say that this place of eternal joy and eternal peace exists above the \nskies\, although it cannot be perceived\, described\, or defined in terms of place. \nThis place is the center and the inclusive periphery of all spiritual beings\, and it \nis above everything\, because the spiritual power of reason penetrates \neverything. Thus\, Christ has ascended above every place and every time\, since \nhe is truth itself and does not sit\, as it were\, at the edge of the cosmos\, but in the \ncenter – as he is the center of all spiritual\, reasonable beings – as their life. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-319/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250603 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250604 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250601T002948Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250601T002948Z UID:13477-1748908800-1748995199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Charles Lwanga & Companions DESCRIPTION:THE MARTYRS OF UGANDA \nFrom a homily by Pope St Paul VI \n◊◊◊ \nThe African martyrs add another page to the martyrology – the Church’s \nroll of honor – an occasion both of mourning and of joy. This is a page worthy in \nevery way of being added to the annals of that Africa of earlier times\, which we\, \nliving in this era and being people of little faith\, never expected to be repeated. \nIn earlier times there occurred those famous deeds\, so moving to the \nspirit\, of the martyrs of Scilli\, of Carthage\, and of that “white robed army” of \nUtica commemorated by Saint Augustine and Prudentius; of the martyrs of \nEgypt so highly praised by Saint John Chrysostom\, and of the martyrs of the \nVandal persecution. Who would have thought that in our days we should have \nwitnessed events as heroic and glorious? \nWho would have predicted to the famous African confessors and martyrs \nsuch as Cyprian\, Felicity\, Perpetua and – the greatest of all – Augustine\, that we \nwould one day add names so dear to us as Charles Lwanga and Matthias \nMulumba Kalemba and their twenty companions? Nor must we forget those \nmembers of the Anglican Church who also died in the name of Christ. These \nAfrican martyrs herald the dawn of a new age. If only the human mind might be \ndirected not toward persecutions and religious conflicts but toward a rebirth of \nChristianity and civilization! Africa has been washed by the blood of these latest \nmartyrs\, the first of this new age (and God willing\, let them be the last\, although \nsuch a holocaust is precious indeed). Africa is reborn free and independent. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-charles-lwanga-companions-3/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250604 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250605 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250601T003058Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250601T003058Z UID:13479-1748995200-1749081599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:THE LORD’S \nTWO DWELLING-PLACES \nFrom a sermon by Ogier of Locedio \n◊◊◊ \nLet us note the Lord’s two dwelling-places: the one along the way\, the \nother in his heavenly home; the one temporal\, when he dwelt with us in the \nflesh\, the other eternal\, where we shall dwell with him glorified in soul and in \nbody. Of the first he says\, ‘I have said these things to you while still with you – \npresent in the body. But a time is coming when I shall withdraw from you in my \nbodily presence and will thereafter speak to you through the spirit. The \nParaclete\, the Holy spirit\, whom the Father will send in my name\, will teach \nyou everything and remind you of all that I have said to you. He will teach you\,’ \nsays the Lord Jesus ‘what I have told you.’ \nNot that the Son says one thing and the Spirit teaches another\, for \nwhatever Christ says and teaches the Trinity says and teaches. Because God is \ntriune\, each person of the godhead must establish himself in our hearts. We \nshould hear each distinctly and understand them inseparably. Thus when we \nsay ‘the Father\, Son and Holy Spirit’\, we do not say these words simultaneously\, \nyet those whom we name are simultaneous and could not be otherwise. \nWhen the Lord speaks of the Comforter whom the Father will send\, we are \nto understand: ‘I am leaving you in my bodily presence but not in the presence \nof the Spirit. The body I received on earth I now raise up to heaven\, but through \nmy Spirit I will remain with you until the end of time. The Father sent me so that \nI might appear visible in the flesh\, but the hour has come for me to pay death’s \ndue\, and\, rising from the dead\, ascend to the Father\, and there be seated at his \nright hand. Henceforth the world will no longer see me in the mortal guise of the \nflesh. But the Paraclete\, the spirit whom the Father will send in my name\, will \ncomfort you in my bodily absence by the abundance of his sweetness. He will be \nyour teacher\, not noising his words abroad but teaching the heart within. He \nwill prompt you and teach you everything I have told you through him\, all that I \nwill have inspired in you. You will not be able to lament my bodily absence so \nlong as the spirit remains in your hearts.’ URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-320/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250605 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250606 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250601T003210Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250601T003210Z UID:13481-1749081600-1749167999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading -St Boniface DESCRIPTION:THE DESTRUCTION \nOF THE SAXON OAK \nBy Bishop Willibald of Eichstätt \n◊◊◊ \nMany of the people of Hesse were converted by Boniface to the Catholic \nfaith and confirmed by the grace of the spirit: and they received the laying on of \nhands. But some there were\, not yet strong of soul\, who refused to accept wholly \nthe teachings of the true faith. Some men sacrificed secretly\, some even openly\, \nto trees and springs. Some secretly practiced divining\, soothsaying\, and \nincantations\, and some openly. But others\, who were of sounder mind\, cast \naside all heathen profanation and did none of these things; and it was with the \nadvice and consent of these men that Boniface sought to fell a certain tree of \ngreat size at Geismar\, and called\, in the ancient speech of the region\, the oak of \nThor. \nThe man of God was surrounded by the servants of God. When he would \ncut down the tree\, behold a great throng of pagans who were there cursed him \nbitterly among themselves because he was the enemy of their gods. And when \nhe had cut into the trunk a little way\, a breeze sent by God stirred overhead\, and \nsuddenly the branching top of the tree was broken off\, and the oak in all its huge \nbulk fell to the ground. And it was broken into four parts\, as if by the divine will\, \nso that the trunk was divided into four huge sections without any effort of the \nbrethren who stood by. When the pagans who had cursed did see this\, they left \noff cursing and\, believing\, blessed God. Then the most holy priest took counsel \nwith the brethren: and he built from the wood of the tree an oratory\, and \ndedicated it to the holy apostle Peter. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-boniface-3/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250606 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250607 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250601T003323Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250601T003323Z UID:13483-1749168000-1749254399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:THE ASCENSION \nAND CHRISTIAN PRAYER \nBy Thomas Merton \n◊◊◊ \nAt the Ascension\, in the sight of the disciples\, “the nature of humankind \nsoared above the dignity of all the creatures of heaven” and “there was to be no \nlimit to the advancement of Christ’s humanity until\, seated together with the \neternal Father\, it might share enthroned the glory of Him whose nature it \nshared in the son.” And of course\, the Fathers never ceased to remind their \nhearers that this same humanity of Christ which was enthroned with the Father \nin the divine glory\, was to return and judge the world. “He set a limit to His \nbodily presence\, and would remain at the right hand of the Father until He \nshould return in the same flesh in which He had ascended.” Monastic prayer is \neschatological and is centered on the expectation of the Parousia\, the advent of \nthe “immortal and invisible King of ages” who is both “God alone” and the \nChrist\, our Redeemer and Liberator… \nSt Leo says that with Christ’s ascension into heaven we have recovered \npossession of paradise\, and not only that\, “we have even penetrated\, in Christ\, \ninto the height of heaven\,” we have been enthroned with Him because we are \n“one Body” with Him. This is the reason why we should rejoice at His going to \nthe Father… He is not separated from us unless we choose to remain bound to \nthe earth by our passions. In contemplation we experience\, at least obscurely\, \nsomething of this mystery of our union with Him now in heaven. \nThis has important implications for the life of prayer. The life of the monk\, \nbeing that of a Christian\, is a way of living in heaven. While living bodily in exile \nand in his earthly pilgrimage\, the monk is already spiritually in paradise and in \nheaven where he has ascended with Christ. That is to say\, although he is not \nphysically present in heaven\, he is free to come and go there as he pleases\, in \nspirit\, in prayer\, in faith\, in thanksgiving\, praise and love\, because he already \n“is” there mystically in Christ. “Let us therefore\, exult with a worthy and \nspiritual joy\, happy before God in thanksgiving\, and let us lift up the free eyes \nof our heart to that height where Christ is.”… \nChrist has made us His friends by making known to us “the joys of interior \ncharity and the festival of the heavenly country which He daily makes present \nin our minds by the desire of love.” And St Gregory explains that this loving \nknowledge of heavenly things is very real indeed\, no mere fancy: “for when\, \nhearing of heavenly things\, we love them\, we already know the things we love\, \nfor our love itself is a way of knowing.” It is by the charity of Christ in our hearts \nthat we “are in heaven” and know the things of heaven. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-321/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250607 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250608 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250601T003425Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250601T003425Z UID:13485-1749254400-1749340799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Vigils Reading DESCRIPTION:THIS NEW WORLD \nBy Pierre Benoît \n◊◊◊ \nWhen inspired writings speak of Christ seated at the right hand of the \nFather\, they are obviously only using anthropomorphic images which have no \nvalue except their symbolic reference. Commentators have always recognized \nthis. Similarly\, when scripture shows us Christ exalted above all the heavens\, it \nsimply means to indicate that he dominates our present cosmos\, and it would be \nuseless to try and define Christ’s position in relation to the “final sphere.” The \ndoctors of scholasticism\, still bound to Aristotle’s system\, could go too far in this \ndirection; yet the greatest of them\, a Saint Thomas for example\, were able to \nkeep a wise and prudent reserve on this point. \nThe essential teaching of scripture\, which is to be retained by our faith\, is \nthat Christ\, through his resurrection and ascension\, departed from this present \nworld\, a world corrupted by sin and destined for destruction\, and entered the \nnew world where God reigns as master and where matter is transformed\, \npenetrated\, and dominated by the Spirit. It is a world that is real with a physical \nreality\, like Christ’s body itself\, and which therefore occupies a “place\,” but a \nworld which exists as yet only in promise\, or rather in its embryo\, the single \nrisen body of Christ\, and which will be definitively constituted and revealed only \nat the end of time\, when the “new heavens” and the “new earth” are to appear. \nWhile waiting for that day\, the glorious body of Christ exists somewhere\, \nreal\, much more real than our perishable world\, because it alone possesses true \nlife\, but it is useless to ask “where\,” just as it is mistaken to imagine it far away. \nThis new world\, where Christ reigns and awaits us\, is not far away\, it is not \noutside our world\, it transcends it. It is of another order\, is distinguished in \nterms of quality rather than of quantity\, and we have access to it through faith \nand the sacraments\, in a contact which is mysterious but more real and more \nclose than any contact with our present world can be. \nWhen we say and believe with the Church that the glorified Christ has \nascended to heaven and is seated beside his Father\, we mean by this that he \nhas penetrated forever into the new\, final\, spiritual world\, of which he is the \nfirst cell\, a world which is inaccessible to our senses and our imagination\, but \nwhich is supremely real\, much more real than the everyday world about us. \nAnd we believe readily\, with the mass of the earliest Christian witnesses\, that \nhe inaugurated this new world on the day of his resurrection\, when he was \nrapt from the tomb by the Spirit to be exalted next to the Father. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-322/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250608 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250609 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250608T013206Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250608T020819Z UID:13488-1749340800-1749427199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Skema: 10th Week in Ordinary Time DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n10th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nJune 8 – 14\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n8\nMon\n9\nTue\n10\nWed\n11\nThu\n12\nFri\n13\nSat\n14\n\n\nOffice\nPentecost Sunday\nMary\, Mother of the Church\nWeekday\nSt Barnabas\nSt Alice\nSt Anthony of Padua\nBl Gerard\n\n\nVigils\n* Special Vigil\nGen 1:1-1:19\nGen 1:20-2:3\n1 Cor 9:1-18\nGen 2:4-25\nGen 3:1-24\nGen 4:1-26\n\n\nLauds\nEzek 37:11-14\nEcclesiastes 1:1-11\nEccles 1:12-18\nActs 4:32-37\nEccles 2:1-3\nEccles 2:4-12\nEccles 2:13-17\n\n\nMass\n63\nBVM Lect pg 118-138\n360\n580\n362\n363\n364\n\n\n1st\nActs 2:1-11\nGen:3:9-15\, 20\n2 Cor 1:18-22\nActs 11:21b-26; 13:1-3\n2 Cor 3:15-4:1\, 3-6\n2 Cor 4:7-15\n2 Cor 5:14-21\n\n\n2nd\nRom 8:8-17\nPsalm 87[86]: 1-2\, 3+5\, 6-7\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nJohn 14:15-16\, 23b-26\nJohn 19:25-34\nMatt 5:13-16\nMatt 10:7-13\nMatt 5:20-26\nMatt 5:27-32\nMatt 5:33-37\n\n\nVespers\n1 Cor 12:4-13\nGal 1:1-10\nGal 1:11-24\nActs 9:23-31\nGal 2:1-10\nGal 2:11-14\n1 Cor 2:1-10 URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-10th-week-in-ordinary-time-2/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250608 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250609 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250608T013828Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250608T013828Z UID:13490-1749340800-1749427199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Pentecost Sunday DESCRIPTION:TO KNOW SPIRITUALLY\nTHE WORD MADE FLESH\nFrom a homily by St Augustine 1\n◊◊◊\nA comforter\, an advocate\, (for both terms render the Greek Paraclete) was necessary for the disciples after Christ’s departure. He had not spoken of the Paraclete from the beginning\, because his own presence in the midst of them had consoled them\, but now\, when he was on the point of leaving them\, it was fitting that he should speak of this: the Holy Spirit would come to them\, and filling their hearts with ardent love\, give them power to preach the word of God boldly; the Spirit would bear witness to Christ within their souls\, so that they themselves would also bear witness\, without being scandalized when their enemies would forbid them the synagogue\, and put them to death. But charity “endures to the last”\, and it was to be poured out in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.\n“I can say truly that it is better for you I should go away; he who is to befriend you will not come to you unless I do go\, but if only I make my way there\, I will send him to you.” That is to say: It is to your interest to be deprived of my presence under this form of a servant which I have taken; for though it is true that I live among you\, the Word made flesh\, I do not want you to love me with a natural affection; nor do I want you to be satisfied with this milk alone and wish you could remain as babes. It is to your interest that I go: otherwise the Paraclete will not come to you; if I do not wean you from this childish food that I have given you so far\, you will have no appetite for solid food; if you keep a natural affection for me you cannot receive the Holy Spirit. \nBut why does he say: “He who is to befriend you will not come unless I go?” Was it not then possible for Christ\, being here\, to send him? Who would dare to say it? The Son of God had not left the place where that Holy Spirit was: come from the Father\, he still dwelt in the Father. And then\, how could it have been impossible for him to send the Holy Spirit on earth when he was on earth himself? Do we not know that at his baptism the Holy Spirit descended on him and remained with him? Do we not know in fact that they were inseparable? What the gospel means is that the disciples could not receive the Spirit while they continued to know Jesus Christ only according to the flesh.\nAnd these words are an echo of those of St Paul\, who himself had received the Holy Spirit: “Even if we used to think of Christ in a human fashion\, we do so no longer”. For we know even the flesh itself of Christ otherwise than in a human fashion\, when we know spiritually the Word made flesh. Christ had\, then\, to deprive his disciples of his human presence and then it would not be only the Holy Spirit\, but the Father and the Son who would dwell in their souls. \n1\nTreatise 94 on Jn’s Gospel. Trans. Lectionary and Martyrology\,ed. En Calcat Abbey\, Dourgne-Tarn 1956\, 245-246. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/pentecost-sunday-2/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250609 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250610 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250608T014350Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250608T014350Z UID:13492-1749427200-1749513599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Mary\, Mother of the Church DESCRIPTION:THAT WISE AND VALIANT WOMAN\nBy Fr Hugo Rahner 2\n◊◊◊\nThe valiant woman [in the Book of Proverbs] symbolizes both Mary and the Church on the road from Nazareth to Golgotha. The beginning is at the moment of the incarnation in the heart of Mary\, at the supreme instant of her acceptance of the task\, when she became the mother of the Word. The precious blood that was to redeem the world was her blood\, and in this way her road was already marked out\, the road through those everyday years\, leading direct to Golgotha. \nIt is to this mystery of her life\, and her life already at Nazareth\, where love is strong as death\, that the Cistercian mystic\, Adam of Perseigne\, refers when he sees in the moment of the incarnation the fulfillment of the valiant woman: “A Lady full of bravery: she traveled through her mortal life amidst the evil of the world\, yet through the majesty of her spirit she surpassed all creation. For it was to her\, the valiant woman\, that Gabriel was sent — his very name means ‘God’s valiant one.’ Was she not indeed valiant\, this woman – Mary\, whose love was stronger than death?”. \nFor her acceptance of the incarnation was the acceptance of death. Her blood she gave him\, only for him to shed it. And this also is fulfilled in the Church: The Church\, like Mary\, is the woman who brings Christ into the world\, only to be sacrificed upon the altar. Incarnation and death are made one in the Church’s sacraments\, for in the sacrificial death\, Christ’s body is every day reborn. Thus the symbol of the valiant woman is fulfilled also in the Church and her vocation on earth: valiant indeed is this great woman of the world\, since as the mystical mother of Christ crucified\, daily she meets death again. \nThis acceptance of death\, in which she follows Mary\, is verified in her day-to-day history\, her persecutions\, and her daily cares. In this she is truly valiant. This is what Epiphanius of Salamis once told his people: “You are the children of that wise and valiant woman\, of whom Solomon said; ‘…This valiant woman\, is she not the Church\, your mother? for none is braver than she\, who every time a persecution is raised against her is ready to go to death for the name of her beloved.” \n2\nPantheon Books\, 1961\, pp. 82-83. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/mary-mother-of-the-church/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250610 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250611 DTSTAMP:20260403T184439 CREATED:20250608T014837Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250608T014837Z UID:13494-1749513600-1749599999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org SUMMARY:Weekday DESCRIPTION:THE DAY THAT\nWILL NEVER END\nFrom a sermon by St Ephrem 3\n◊◊◊\nLord\, shed upon our darkened souls the brilliant light of your wisdom so that we may be enlightened and serve you with renewed purity. Sunrise marks the hour for men to begin their toil\, but in our souls\, Lord\, prepare a dwelling for the day that will never end. Grant that we may come to know the risen life and that nothing may distract us from the delights you offer. Through our unremitting zeal for you\, Lord\, set upon us the sign of your day that is not measured by the sun. \nIn your sacrament we daily embrace you and receive you into our bodies; make us worthy to experience the resurrection for which we hope. We have had your treasure hidden within us ever since we received baptismal grace; it grows ever richer at your sacramental table. Teach us to find our joy in your favor! Lord\, we have within us your memorial\, received at your spiritual table; let us possess it in its full reality when all things shall be made new. We glimpse the beauty that is laid up for you when we gaze upon the spiritual beauty your immortal will now creates within our mortal selves. \nSavior\, your crucifixion marked the end of your mortal life; teach us to crucify ourselves and make way for our life in the Spirit. May your resurrection\, Jesus\, bring true greatness to our spiritual self and may your sacraments be the mirror wherein we may know that self… Your divine plan for the world is a mirror for the spiritual world; teach us to walk in that world as spiritual persons. \nLord\, do not deprive our souls of the spiritual vision of you nor our bodies of your warmth and sweetness. The mortality lurking in our bodies spreads corruption through us; may the spiritual waters of your love cleanse the effects of mortality from our hearts. Grant\, Lord\, that we may hasten to our true city and\, like Moses on the mountain\, possess it now in vision. \n3\nThe Liturgy of the Hours – vol. II – Catholic Book Publishing Co – New York – 1976 – p 1869. URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/weekday-21/ CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR