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:20250804
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250805
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250803T132435Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250803T132435Z
UID:13764-1754265600-1754351999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St John Vianney
DESCRIPTION:PRAYER IN THE LIFE \nOF THE CURÉ D’ ARS \nFrom the encyclical “Sacerdoti Nostri Primordia” by St John XXIII \n◊◊◊ \nTo the priests of this century\, apt to be sensitive to the effect of action and \neasily tempted by a dangerous activism\, how beneficial is that model of \nassiduous prayer in a life given up entirely to the care of souls\, which was the \nCuré d’Ars! O What prevents us priests from being saints\, he said. It is lack of \nreflection. We don’t search our hearts; we don’t know what we do. Reflection\, \nprayer\, union with God\, are the things we need. He himself remained\, according \nto contemporary evidence\, in a state of continual prayer from which he was not \ndistracted by the wearisome burden of confessions nor by his other pastoral \ncares. He preserved a constant union with God in the midst of an exceedingly \nbusy life. \nLet us listen to him again: he is unfailing on the subject of the joy and \nblessing of prayer. Man is a beggar who needs to be asking everything from God. \nHow many souls we can convert by our prayers! And he would repeat: prayer is \nall man’s happiness on earth. This happiness he long enjoyed himself with his \neyes\, lit by faith\, contemplating the divine mysteries and\, in adoration of the \nWord incarnate\, his pure and simple soul lifted towards the Holy Trinity\, the \nsupreme object of his love. And the pilgrims who thronged the Church of Ars \nrealized that the humble priest was confiding to them something of the secret of \nhis own inner life with the frequent exclamation dear to him: A Being loved by \nGod\, united to God\, living in the presence of God: oh\, what happiness in life and \nin death! \nWe could wish that all priests might be convinced\, by the witness of the \nholy Curé d’Ars\, of the need to be men of prayer and of the possibility of being5 \nso\, whatever the heavy and sometimes severe load of the labors of their \nministry. But we need an intense faith\, such as moved Jean-Marie Vianney and \nmade him able to work miracles. What faith! exclaimed one of his colleagues. \nEnough to spread over a whole diocese! \nWith St Pius X\, let us consider it certain and well-founded that a priest\, in \norder to occupy his station properly and fulfill his duty\, must devote himself \nbefore all else to prayer. Above all he should obey Christ’s precept: We ought \nalways to pray\, a precept earnestly recommended by St Paul: Continue \nsteadfastly in prayer\, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Pray constantly. \nThe prayer of the Curé d’Ars\, who\, so to speak\, spent the last thirty years \nof his life in his church where he was kept by his numerous penitents\, was above \nall a prayer of thanksgiving. His devotion to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament \nof the altar was indeed wonderful. He is there\, he would say\, he who loves us so \nmuch; how could we not love him? And most certainly he loved him and felt \nirresistibly drawn towards the tabernacle: We do not need many words to pray \nwell\, he explained to his parishioners. We know that God is there\, in the holy \ntabernacle; we open our hearts to him; we rejoice in his holy presence. This is \nthe best prayer of all.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-john-vianney-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250805
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250806
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250803T132539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250803T132539Z
UID:13766-1754352000-1754438399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE LIVING STONES \nOF THE CHURCH \nFrom a homily by Origen \n◊◊◊ \nAll of us who believe in Christ Jesus are called “living stones” in the words \nof Scripture: “You\, too\, are living stones\, built as an edifice of spirit\, into a holy \npriesthood\, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus \nChrist.” \nYou know that in the case of earthly stones the builder takes care to lay \nfirst the strongest and most massive stones as the foundation\, so that the whole \nweight of the building can then rest upon them. The next stones\, of not quite \nsuch good quality\, are laid upon the foundation stones; and so on according to \nthe strength of the stones: the weakest are laid at the top\, near the roof. The \nsame is true of living stones\, some of which are the foundation of our spiritual \nbuilding. Who are these stones that are laid at the foundation? “The apostles \nand prophets.” This is Paul’s teaching: “You form a building which rises on the \nfoundations of the apostles and prophets\, with Christ Jesus himself as the \ncapstone.” \nTo prepare yourself more zealously to construct this building\, to be one of \nthe stones near the foundation\, you must realize that Christ himself is the \nfoundation of the building which we are describing. Paul the apostle declares \nthis to be so: “No one can lay a foundation other than the one that has been laid\, \nnamely Jesus Christ.” Happy are they who have built holy\, religious buildings\, \non such a noble foundation! \nNow in this building which is the Church there must be an altar. \nMoreover\, I believe that there are among you those who as “living stones” are \nable to become an altar – those of you who have resolved to dedicate yourselves \nto prayer\, to offer God supplications day and night\, and to immolate your \nsacrifices – and that it is with you that Jesus builds his altar. \nThink of the worth to be discerned in altar stones. “Joshua built an altar to \nthe Lord\,” says Scripture\, “of unhewn stones on which no iron tool had been \nused\, in keeping with the command of Moses.” What do you think these unhewn \n(whole\, perfect) stones represent? It is for each one’s conscience to say whether \nwe have integrity\, whether we are without impurity or spot… \nTo my mind these whole\, spotless stones must be the holy apostles who \ntogether form but one stone because of their unity of heart and soul. Indeed\, it is \nsaid that “all with one accord devoted themselves to constant prayer\,” and that \nthey said: “O Lord\, you read the hearts of men.” For those who can pray with one \naccord\, with one voice and one spirit\, are indeed worthy to have been built \ntogether into a single altar on which Jesus offers sacrifices to his Father. But we\, \nfor our part\, must strive to “agree” in what we say\, “united in spirit and ideals; \nnever acting out of rivalry or conceit\,” but “be united in mind and judgment\,” so \nthat we too may try to become altar stones.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-342/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250806
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250807
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250803T132701Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250803T132701Z
UID:13768-1754438400-1754524799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Readings - Transfiguration of the Lord
DESCRIPTION:THE GLORY OF GOD \nFrom the last “Angelus” message of Pope St Paul VI \n◊◊◊ \nThe Transfiguration of Our Lord\, recalled by the liturgy of today’s \nsolemnity throws a dazzling light on our daily life\, and makes us turn our mind \nto the immortal destiny which that fact foreshadows. On Mount Tabor\, Christ \nreveals for a few moments the splendor of his dignity\, and he manifests himself \nto chosen witnesses as he really is\, the Son of God\, “the glory of God and the \nvery stamp of his nature”. But it also shows the transcendent destiny of our \nhuman nature\, which he assumed in order to save us\, and which is destined – \nbecause redeemed by his sacrifice of irrevocable love – to participate in the \nfullness of life\, “in the inheritance of the saints in light”. \nThat body\, which is transfigured before the astonished eyes of the \napostles\, is the body of Christ our brother\, but it is also our body called to glory. \nThat light\, which bathes it\, is and also will be our share of inheritance and of \nsplendor. We are called to share such great glory because we are “partakers of \nthe divine nature”. And incomparable destiny awaits us if we honor our \nChristian vocation\, if we live a life that is logically consistent in word and deed \nwith the commitments that our baptism imposes on us…
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-readings-transfiguration-of-the-lord/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250807
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250808
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250803T132817Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250803T132817Z
UID:13770-1754524800-1754611199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Cajetan
DESCRIPTION:ST CAJETAN \nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints \n◊◊◊ \nSt Cajetan was son of Caspar\, Count of Thiene\, of the nobility of Vicenza\, \nwhere he was born in 1480. Two years later his father was killed\, fighting for the \nVenetians against King Ferdinand of Naples. Cajetan went for four years to \nPadua University\, where he distinguished himself in theology\, and took the \ndegree of doctor in civil and canon law in 1504. He then returned to his native \ntown\, of which he was made senator. In pursuance of his resolve to serve God as \na priest he received the tonsure. In 1506 he went to Rome. Soon after his arrival \nPope Julius II conferred on him the office of protonotary… On the death of \nJulius Cajetan refused his successor’s request to continue in that office\, and \ndevoted three years to preparing himself for the priesthood. He was ordained in \n1516\, being thirty-three years old\, and returned to Vicenza in 1518. \nCajetan had re-founded a confraternity in Rome called “The Oratory of \nthe Divine Love”\, which was an association of zealous and devout clerics who \ndevoted themselves to labor with all their power to promote God’s honor and \nthe welfare of souls… but consisted only of men in the lowest station of life. This \ncircumstance gave great offense to his friends\, who thought it a reflection on the \nhonor of his family. He persisted\, however\, and sought out the sick and the poor \nthroughout the whole town\, served them and cared for those who suffered from \nthe most loathsome diseases in the hospital of the incurables. He founded a \nsimilar oratory at Verona and then went in 1520 to Venice where he took up his \nlodgings in the new hospital of that city… He introduced exposition of the \nBlessed Sacrament in that city\, as well as continuing the promotion of frequent \ncommunion. \nThe state of Christendom at this time shocked and distressed Cajetan\, and \nin 1523 he went back to Rome to confer with his friends of the Oratory of Divine \nLove. They agreed that little could be done other than by reviving in the clergy \nthe spirit and zeal of those holy pastors who first planted the faith\, and a plan \nwas formed for instituting an order of regular clergy upon the model of the lives \nof the Apostles. The first associates of Cajetan were John Peter Caraffa\, who \nlater became pope under the name of Paul IV. The institute was approved by \nClement VII\, and Caraffa was chosen as the first provost general. From the \nname of his episcopal see of Theatensis these clerks regular came to be \ndistinguished from others as Theatines… \nIn 1527\, when it still numbered only a dozen members\, the army of \nEmperor Charles V sacked Rome. The Theatines house was demolished and the \nmembers had to escape to Venice. Cajetan was sent to Verona\, where both the \nclergy and the laity were opposing the reformation of discipline\, which their \nbishop was endeavoring to introduce among them. A general improvement was \nthe fruit of his example\, preaching and labors. \nWorn out with trying to appease civil strife in Naples\, and disappointed at \nthe suspension of the Council of Trent\, from which he hoped so much for the \nChurch’s good\, Cajetan had to take to his bed in the summer of 1547. The end \ncame on Sunday\, August 7. Many miracles wrought by his intercession were \napproved at Rome after rigorous scrutiny\, and he was canonized in 1671.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-cajetan-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250808
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250809
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250803T132926Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250803T132926Z
UID:13772-1754611200-1754697599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Dominic
DESCRIPTION:ST DOMINIC \nAnd the History of the Order of Preachers \n◊◊◊ \nDominic possessed such great integrity and was so strongly motivated by \ndivine love\, that without a doubt he proved to be a bearer of honor and grace. \nAnd since a joyful heart animates the face\, he displayed the peaceful composure \nof a spiritual man in the kindness he manifested outwardly and by the \ncheerfulness of his countenance. \nWherever he went he showed himself in word and deed to be a man of the \nGospel. During the day no one was more community-minded or pleasant \ntoward his brothers and associates. During the night hours no one was more \npersistent in every kind of vigil and supplication. He seldom spoke unless it was \nwith God\, that is\, in prayer\, or about God; and in this matter instructed his \nbrothers. \nFrequently he made a special personal petition that God would deign to \ngrant him genuine charity in caring for and obtaining the salvation of others. \nFor he believed that only then would he be truly a member of Christ\, when he \nhad given himself totally for the salvation of others\, just as the Lord Jesus\, the \nSavior of all\, had offered himself completely for our salvation. So\, for this work\, \nafter a lengthy period of careful and provident planning\, he founded the Order \nof Friars Preachers. \nIn his conversations and letters he often urged the brothers of the Order \nto study constantly the Old and New Testaments. He always carried with him \nthe gospels according to Matthew and the epistles of Paul\, and so well did he \nstudy them that he almost knew them from memory. \nTwo or three times he was chosen bishop\, but he always refused\, \npreferring to live with his brothers in poverty. Of him Pope Gregory IX \ndeclared: “I knew him as a steadfast follower of the apostolic way of life. There \nis no doubt that he is in heaven\, sharing in the glory of the apostles themselves.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-dominic-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250809
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250810
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250803T133039Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250803T133039Z
UID:13774-1754697600-1754783999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
DESCRIPTION:MARY AND \nTHE VIRTUE OF HOPE \nBy Fr Romano Guardini \n◊◊◊ \nElizabeth calls the Virgin Blessed because she had faith – for everything \nwould happen as the Lord had told her; through the power of the Holy Spirit she \nwould become the Mother of the Redeemer\, and in this find the fulfillment of \nher life and salvation. To be assured of this was not always easy. When the \nGospel speaks of Mary and her son\, one perceives a great love\, but also a \nremoteness. \nThe answer of the twelve-year-old boy in the temple; the answer Jesus \ngave at the wedding feast of Cana; his words to the bystanders\, when Mary\, at \nthe door\, asks for him; what he said to the woman who exalted his Mother; and \nhis last testament in which he committed her to the care of the disciple – in each \nof these\, something is revealed that removes him from her\, and we always sense \nthe possibility that she might have become perplexed about God’s guidance. But \neach time her confidence increased and she placed all into his hands. Mary lived \ncompletely through her confidence in God’s power\, a power that is capable of \nconsummating all\, even in darkness and opposition. \nHope is confidence in God’s power to accomplish all things. He has \npromised that we shall become new persons\, and that his creation shall be a \n“new heaven and a new earth”. This is gainsaid by the impression made on us by \nworldly things; by the course our life is taking; by the opinions of people around \nus; by our own daily insufficiency and sin – by everything. Hope is the \n“nevertheless” of faith. In spite of all contradiction\, the new life is within us\, and \nGod will complete it if we trust in him despite all opposition. But that is difficult\, \nsometimes impossible. So we must ask again that the Lord “may strengthen our \nhope.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-bvm-16/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250809T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250809T120000
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250804T151456Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250804T151456Z
UID:13777-1754726400-1754740800@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:LCG Chicago Monthly Meeting 9:00 am CDT
DESCRIPTION:All are Welcome.  Join us on Zoom at: \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/86028356465 \nMeeting ID: 860 2835 6465 \nOne tap mobile \n+13126266799\,\,86028356465# US (Chicago) \n+13092053325\,\,86028356465# US \n  \nOur August meeting agenda follows: \n9:00 Gather for Opening prayer. \nWe also pray for all our lay Cistercian sisters and brothers in the US and around the world.  Specially we pray for our Gethsemani monks.  Finally\, we pray this month specially for: \nFr. Peter Tong \nBr. Bartholomew Pollard \nFr. Lawrence Morey \n 9:10 Lectio. Our lectio piece will be led by Mary Haley. \n 9:50  Reading.  Our reading this month is completion of God For All Days (Parts 2 and 3). \n 10:45 Housekeeping.   Volunteer to lead lectio next month?  Selection our next reading (Fr. James’ recommended Contemplation by Francis Nemeck and Marie Theresa Combs). Chicago Report on LCG Advisory Council activity.  Followup on events at the international lay Cistercian meeting last month. \n11:00 Update.   Share how the Holy Spirt has entered our lives as lay Cistercians since our last meeting. \n11:45 Closing worship and prayer.  We will pray the liturgical hour of None as with our Gethsemani monks (identical Psalms as done today at Gethsemani Abbey.) \nOur next meeting: September 13\, 2025.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lcg-chicago-monthly-meeting-900-am-cdt-2/
CATEGORIES:LCG Local Community Meetings,LCG open events
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250810
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250811
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250810T105322Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250810T105322Z
UID:13785-1754784000-1754870399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n19th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nAugust 10 – 16\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n10\nMon\n11\nTue\n12\nWed\n13\nThu\n14\nFri\n15\nSat\n16\n\n\nOffice\n19th Sunday\nSt Clare\nOffice for the Dead\nWeekday\nSt Maximilian Kolbe\nAssumption of the BVM\nWeekday\n\n\nVigils\nGen 41:33-57\nGen 42:1-17\nGen 42:18-38\nGen 43:1-34\nGen 44:1-34\nEph 1:15-2:10\nGen 45:1-28\n\n\nLauds\nHos 10:9-15\nHos 11:1-7\nHos 11:8-11\nHos 12:1-7\nHos 12:8-15\nSir 24:1-11\nHos 13:1-8\n\n\nMass\n117\n413\n414\n415\n416\n622\n418\n\n\n1st\nWis 18:6-9\nDeut 10:12-22\nDeut 31:1-8\nDeut 34:1-12\nJosh 3:7-10a\, 11\, 13-17\nRev 11:19a; 12:1-6a; 10ab\nJosh 24:14-29\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 11:1-2\, 8-19\n\n\n\n\n1 Cor 15:20-27\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 12:32-48\nMatt 17:22-27\nMatt 18:1-5\, 10\, 12-14\nMatt 18:15-20\nMatt 18:21-19:1\nLuke 1:39-56\nMatt 19:13-15\n\n\nVespers\nPhil 4:10-14\nPhil 4:15-23\nCol 1:1-8\nCol 1:9-14\n1 Cor 15:50-58\nEph 2:1-10\nCol 1:15-23
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-122/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250810
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250811
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250810T105624Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250810T105624Z
UID:13787-1754784000-1754870399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 19th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:AWAITING \nTHE MASTER’S RETURN \nFrom a commentary by St Gregory of Nyssa \n◊◊◊ \nWhen the Lord says: Let your loins be girded and your lamps lit\, he is \nwarning us to stay awake\, for a light shining in one’s eyes drives away sleep\, and \na tightly fastened belt also makes sleep difficult\, as the discomfort prevents \nrelaxation. But the real meaning of the parable is perfectly clear: a person girded \nwith temperance lives in the light of a clear conscience before God. And so\, with \nthe light of truth shining\, the soul stays awake and is not deceived. It does not \ndally with illusive dreams. \nIf following the guidance of the Word we attain this goal\, our lives will in a \nway be like those of the angels\, for we are compared with them on the divine \ncommand: You must be like people waiting for their master to return from a \nwedding\, ready to open the door immediately when he comes and knocks. It \nwas the angels who were awaiting the Master’s return from the wedding. They \nsat with unsleeping eyes at the heavenly gates\, so that when he returned the \nKing of glory might pass through them once more into the heavenly bliss from \nwhich\, as the psalm says\, he had come forth like a bridegroom from his tent. \nHe took us to himself as his virgin bride\, our nature once prostituted to \nidols being restored by sacramental rebirth to virginal incorruptibility. After the \nmarriage\, when the Church had been wedded to the Word – as John says\, He \nwho has the bride is the bridegroom – and admitted to the bridal chamber of \nthe sacred mysteries\, the angels awaited the King of glory’s return to the \nblessedness which is his by nature. \nAnd so the Lord said our lives should be like theirs. Just as they\, living \nlives far removed from sin and error\, are ready to receive the Lord at his coming\, \nso we also should keep watch at the entrance of our houses\, and prepare \nourselves to obey him when he comes to our door and knocks.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-19th-sunday-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250811
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250812
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250810T110252Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250810T110252Z
UID:13789-1754870400-1754956799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Clare
DESCRIPTION:THE MIRROR \nWITHOUT CLOUD \nA letter from St Clare to Blessed Agnes of Prague \n◊◊◊ \nHappy indeed is she who is granted a place at the divine banquet\, for she \nmay cling with her inmost heart to him whose beauty eternally awes the blessed \nhosts of heaven; to him whose love inspires love\, whose contemplation \nrefreshes\, whose generosity satisfies\, whose gentleness delights\, whose memory \nshines sweetly as the dawn; to him whose fragrance revives the dead\, and whose \nglorious vision will bless all the citizens of that heavenly Jerusalem. For he is the \nsplendor of eternal glory\, the brightness of eternal light\, and the mirror \nwithout cloud. \nQueen and bride of Jesus Christ\, look into that mirror daily and study well \nyour reflection\, that you may adorn yourself\, mind and body\, with an \nenveloping garment of every virtue\, and thus find yourself attired in flowers and \ngowns befitting the daughter and most chaste bride of the king on high. In this \nmirror blessed poverty\, holy humility and ineffable love are also reflected. With \nthe grace of God the whole mirror will be your source of contemplation. \nBehold\, I say\, the birth of this mirror. Behold his poverty even as he was \nlaid in the manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. What wondrous humility\, \nwhat marvelous poverty! The King of angels\, the Lord of heaven and earth \nresting in a manger! Look more deeply into the mirror and meditate on his \nhumility\, or simply on his poverty. Behold the many labors and sufferings he \nendured to redeem the human race. Then in the depths of this very mirror\, \nponder his unspeakable love which caused him to suffer on the wood of the \ncross and to endure the most shameful kind of death. The mirror himself\, from \nhis position on the cross\, warned passersby to weigh carefully this act\, as he \nsaid: All of you who pass by this way\, behold and see if there is any sorrow like \nmine. Let us answer his cries and lamentations with one voice and one spirit: I \nwill be mindful and remember\, and my soul will be consumed within me. In \nthis way\, queen of the king of heaven\, your love will burn with an even brighter \nflame. \nConsider also his indescribable delights\, his unending riches and honors\, and \nsigh for what is beyond your love and heart’s content as you cry out: Draw me \non! We will run after you in the perfume of your ointment\, heavenly spouse. Let \nme run and not faint until you lead me into your wine cellar; your left hand rests \nunder my head\, your right arm joyfully embraces me\, and you kiss me with the \nsweet kiss of your lips. As you rest in this state of contemplation\, remember your \npoor mother and know that I have indelibly written your happy memory into my \nheart\, for you are dearer to me than all the others.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-clare-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250812
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250813
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250810T110408Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250810T110408Z
UID:13791-1754956800-1755043199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
DESCRIPTION:THE GOD \nOF THE LIVING \nBy Maurice Zundel \n◊◊◊ \nThe dead have disappeared from our sight. They have not disappeared \nfrom the sight of God. He knows where they are\, He knows their lot\, He “who \nloved them to the end.” But\, can we meet them\, can we communicate with them? \nSome of them occupied such a large place in our life; they were the light of our \neyes\, the source of our happiness\, the soul of our soul. Is all this now finished \nforever? \nHow can it be finished\, if we are more spirit than flesh\, and if we have \ntruly been in communion with what was most intimate and spiritual in them? \nBut how shall we find them again? By what means shall we reach them? By \nentering into what is most intimate in ourselves. \nIf in truth they sleep in Christ\, as we may always hope\, they are certainly \nfreed from the divisions of space and time\, from all material constraints\, from \nall the changes of the outer world. There is\, therefore\, no means of meeting \nthem\, more certainly efficacious\, than to establish ourselves on that internal \nplane which they have reached\, and strive to live their life. Since their life is \nplunged deep in the interior of God\, since He is their home\, their food and\, as \nour prayers so touchingly express it\, their sleep\, if we identify ourselves more \nclosely with Him\, and enter more deeply into His Life\, we shall enter into their \nlife\, and the converse broken off on the visible plane will be resumed in a more \nliving fashion in the silent commerce of souls. \nIt is indeed within that we must seek\, if we would not go astray in a world \nbeyond\, constructed with shadows of the visible world\, imagining relations with \nour dear ones which would tend to hold them back on the external plane… If \nthey are withdrawn from the vicissitudes of the sensible world\, have been born \nto the Life of the Spirit\, are in God\, we cannot conceive a bond between \nourselves and them more sublime than the communion\, always closer\, of an \ninner life of which God is the source\, the center and the gift. \nIn this way our love not only safeguards its profound reality\, it is also most \nefficacious. For by the strength of our love for God we can in a sense give Him to \nour departed\, if they are still detained in the stages of purification which \nconstitute the mysterious state of Purgatory; or increase in some way their joy in \npossessing Him\, if they have already reached the beatific vision. To live so as to \nbe always worthy of God\, this surely is the most certain way to be always with \nour dead. \nThey are in God\, the very heart of Love. But we also may approach this \nDivine Love\, for it is in God “that we live\, and move and have our being”. We \nalso are in God\, though not yet so completely as they. And God is in us. Christ \nexceeded our most daring hopes by making the [unity] of the Divine Persons the \nbond of our mutual intimacy… \nThere can be no surer comfort than this active and sanctifying \ncommunion with our dear ones in an intimacy continually increasing as our \nunion with God becomes closer. God has not taken them from us: He has hidden \nthem in His heart that they may be closer to ours. “God is not a God of the dead \nbut of the living.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-the-dead-21/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250813
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250814
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250810T110506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250810T110506Z
UID:13793-1755043200-1755129599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:HOLINESS BEFITS \nYOUR HOUSE\, OH LORD \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux \n◊◊◊ \n“Our bed is covered with flowers; the beams of our houses are of cedar\, \nthe paneling of cypress.” She is singing her marriage-song\, describing in \nbeautiful language the marriage bed and bridal suite. She invites the \nbridegroom to repose: for the better thing is to remain at ease and be with \nChrist; but necessity drives one forth to help those who are to be saved. So now \nwhen she feels that the opportunity presents itself\, she announces that the \nbridal suite has been furnished\, and pointing to the bed with her finger she \ninvited\, as I have said\, the Beloved to rest there. Like the disciples on the way to \nEmmaus she cannot contain the ardor in her heart\, but entices him to be the \nguest of her soul\, compels him to spend the night with her. With Peter she says: \n“Lord it is good for us to be here.“ \nLet us now seek the spiritual content of these words. And indeed in the \nChurch the ‘bed’ where one reposes is\, in my opinion\, the cloisters and \nmonasteries\, where one lives undisturbed by the cares of the world and the \nanxieties of life. This bed is seen to be adorned with flowers when the conduct \nand life of the brothers brightly reflect the examples and rules of the Fathers\, as \nif strewn with sweet smelling flowers. By ‘houses’ understand the ordinary \ncommunities of Christians. \nThose who enjoy high office\, the Christian leaders of both orders\, strongly \nbind them together with laws justly imposed\, as beams bind the walls\, lest living \nby their own law and will\, they should fall apart from each other like tilting walls \nand tottering fences\, and thus the whole building fall to the ground and be \ndestroyed. The paneling however\, which is firmly attached to the beams\, and \nimpressively adds to the beauty of the house\, seems to me to designate the \ncourteous and disciplined behavior of a well-trained clergy\, who carry out their \nduties correctly. For how shall the clerical orders stand and fulfill their duties \nunless they are sustained\, as by beams\, by the beneficence and munificence of \nthose who govern and protect by their power?… \nThe cedar\, an incorruptible and fragrant wood of great height\, \nsufficiently indicates the qualities of the men who ought to be selected for the \nrole of beams. Hence it is necessary that those who are appointed over others \nshould be strong and reliable\, tenacious in hope\, their mind directed to \nsupernatural truths\, radiating everywhere the good odor of their faith and \nconduct. With the Apostle they can say: We are the incense offered by Christ to \nGod in every place. The cypress too\, a wood that is equally incorruptible and \nfragrant\, shows that every cleric ought to be of unblemished life and faith\, that \nhe may be seen as an ornamental paneling for the beauty of the house. For it is \nwritten: “Holiness befits your house\, O Lord\, for evermore\,” which expresses \nboth the beauty of virtue and the constancy of unfailing grace.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-343/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250814
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250815
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250810T110754Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250810T110754Z
UID:13795-1755129600-1755215999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Maximilian Kolbe
DESCRIPTION:A TESTIMONY FROM \nTHE BEATIFICATION PROCESS \nOF ST MAXIMILIAN KOLBE \n◊◊◊ \nFr Kolbe and I worked together in May or June 1941. We were bringing \nsand up from the Sola River. This was some of Auschwitz’s heaviest work\, so our \nsquad had a very hard time indeed. The work itself was very painful; we were \nlightly and very insufficiently dressed\, and yet we had to wade into the cold \nwater to dig the sand. In addition\, the guards beat us cruelly or sometimes \nkilled prisoners outright. From the first time I saw Father Maximilian I was \nstruck by his dignity and calm\, so different from others. In spite of the terrible \nconditions and bad treatment\, he never complained nor did he curse. Instead\, \nhe tried to comfort the other prisoners and lift our spirits. During the three \nweeks we worked together\, I sometimes saw the kapo beat Father Kolbe with a \nbig stick. Each time\, Father Kolbe took it without a murmur. \nThe news of his death was an enormous shock to the whole camp. We \nbecame aware someone among us in this spiritual dark night of the soul was \nraising the standard of love on high. Someone unknown\, like everyone else\, \ntortured and bereft of name and social standing\, went to a horrible death for the \nsake of someone not even related to him. Therefore it is not true\, we cried\, that \nhumanity is cast down and trampled in the mud\, overcome by oppressors\, and \noverwhelmed by hopelessness. Thousands of prisoners were convinced the true \nworld continued to exist and that our torturers would not be able to destroy it. \nMore than one individual began to look within himself for this real world\, found \nit\, and shared it with his camp companion\, strengthening both in this encounter \nwith evil. To say that Father Kolbe died for one of us or for that person’s family \nis too great a simplification. \nHis death was the salvation of thousands. And on this\, I would say\, rests \nthe greatness of that death. That’s how we felt about it. And as long as we live\, \nwe who were at Auschwitz will bow our heads in memory of it as at that time we \nbowed our head before the bunker of death by starvation. That was a shock full \nof optimism\, regenerating and giving strength; we were stunned by his act\, \nwhich became for us a mighty explosion of light in the dark camp night.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-maximilian-kolbe/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250815
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250816
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250810T110913Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250810T110913Z
UID:13797-1755216000-1755302399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Assumption of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:FROM ESTEEM TO ESTEEM \nFrom a homily by Amadeus of Lausanne \n◊◊◊ \nWho would not hasten\, who would not run from the ends of the earth to \ngaze upon the beauty of the venerable majesty [of the Mother of God] and to \nbehold the countenance endowed with all manner of sweetness and with \ncommanding dignity and unique power? Indeed\, nothing was found like to her \namong the sons and daughters of Adam\, none such among the prophets\, \napostles or angels. Heaven and earth have put forth nothing like her. Who in the \nclouds would equal her\, or be like the Mother of the Lord among the sons of \nGod? \nAnd see how fittingly before her Assumption her wonderful name blazed \nforth in the whole world and her renown was everywhere spread abroad before \nher grandeur was raised above the heavens. For it was fitting that the Virgin \nMother\, for the honor of her Son\, should reign first upon earth and then\, at last\, \nreceive the heavens with glory; should tarry in the depths that she might enter \nthe heights in the fullness of sanctity; and just as she was carried from virtue to \nvirtue\, so by the Spirit of the Lord [should she] be borne from esteem to esteem. \nWhile present in the flesh she tasted in advance the first-fruits of the \nfuture kingdom; now [she is] going forth to God in unspeakable sublimity\, now \nin wondrous charity condescending to her neighbors. On the one side she was \nattended by the services of angels\, on the other venerated by the devotion of \nman. Gabriel\, the groomsman\, with the angels was at her side; John\, with the \napostles\, ministered to her\, rejoicing that at the cross the Virgin Mother was \nentrusted to him. [The angels] rejoiced to see their queen; [the apostles \nrejoiced] to see their lady\, and all obeyed her with pious devotion. \nBut she\, dwelling in the lofty citadel of the virtues and enriched by an \nocean of divine gifts\, poured out in generous diffusion upon a believing and \nthirsting people an abyss of graces\, in which she surpassed all others. She \nbrought health to their bodies and cure to their souls\, being powerful to raise \nthem from the death of body and soul. Who ever went away from her sick or sad \nand not knowing heavenly mysteries? Who did not return to his home glad and \njoyful\, having obtained from the Mother of God his wish?
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-assumption-of-the-bvm-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250816
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250817
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250810T111008Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250810T111008Z
UID:13799-1755302400-1755388799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE COMMON LIFE \nBy Baldwin of Ford \n◊◊◊ \nThere is still another sort of communion: that of those who live in a \n[monastic] community. It is said of them: ‘The multitude of believers had but \none heart and one soul; no one said that any of the things he possessed was his \nown\, but they had everything in common.’ What makes the common life\, \ntherefore\, is one heart\, one soul\, and having everything in common. Such a life \nis an earthly copy—so far as human weakness allows—of the life of the angels. \nSince they have but one heart and one soul and all things in common\, \nthere is concord and unanimity throughout\, and they always put the general \nprofit and the common good before their own individual convenience. They so \nfar renounce themselves and what is theirs that none of them\, if indeed he is \n[truly] one of them\, whether in [making] decisions or in [giving] advice\, \npresumes to make a stubborn defense of his own opinion\, nor to strive hard \nafter his own will and the desires of his own heart\, nor to have the least thing \nwhich could be called his own. Instead\, as servants of God\, they humble \nthemselves for the sake of God under the hand of one of their fellow servants\, \nand in him all power is vested. His judgment alone determines the decisions\, \nregulates the will\, and governs the needs of all. He alone can want something or \nrefuse it\, for the others have renounced their own power and freedom [of will]. \nThus\, they are not permitted to want what they want\, nor to be able [to do] \nwhat they are able [to do]\, nor to feel what they feel\, nor to be what they are\, nor \nto live by their own spirit\, but by the Spirit of God. It is he who leads them to be \nsons of God\, and it is he who is their love\, their bond\, and their communion. The \ngreater their love\, the stronger is their bond and the more perfect is their \ncommunion: and conversely\, the greater their communion\, the stronger is their \nbond and the more perfect is their love.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-344/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250817
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250818
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250817T121813Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T121813Z
UID:13805-1755388800-1755475199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n20th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nAugust 17 – 23\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n17\nMon\n18\nTue\n19\nWed\n20\nThu\n21\nFri\n22\nSat\n23\n\n\nOffice\n20th Sunday\nWeekday\nBl Guerric\nSt Bernard\nSt Pius X\nQueenship of the BVM\nWeekday\n\n\nVigils\nGen 46:1-7\, 26-34\nGen 47:1-26\nGen 47:27-48:22\nSir 50:5-20\nGen 49:1-27\nGen 49:28-50:14\nGen 50:15-26\n\n\nLauds\nHos 13:9-14:1\nHos 14:2-10\nObadiah 1-7\nSir 39:6-11\nObad 8-14\nObad 15-18\nMicah 1:1-9\n\n\nMass\n120\n419\n420\n641\, 660\, 574\n422\n423\, 627\n424\n\n\n1st\nJer 38:4-6\, 8-10\nJudg 2:11-19\nJudg 6:11-24a\nWis 7:7-10\, 15-16\nJudg 11:29-39a\nRuth 1:1\, 3-6\, 14b-16\, 22\nRuth 2:1-3\, 8-11; 4:13-17\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 12:1-4\n\n\nPhil 3:17-4:1\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 12:49-53\nMatt 19:16-22\nMatt 19:23-30\nMatt 5:13-19\nMatt 22:1-14\nLuke 1:26-38\nMatt 23:1-12\n\n\nVespers\nCol 1:24-29\nCol 2:1-8\n2 Tim 1:6-14\n1 Jn 2:12-17\nCol 2:9-15\nCol 2:16-23\nCol 3:1-11
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-123/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250817
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250818
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250817T121927Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T121927Z
UID:13807-1755388800-1755475199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 20th Sunday
DESCRIPTION:THE PERFECTION \nOF DIVINE LOVE \nFrom a commentary by Denis the Carthusian \n◊◊◊ \nI have come to cast fire on the earth. In other words\, I have come down \nfrom the highest heaven and appeared to men and women through the mystery \nof the incarnation in order to light the fire of divine love in human hearts. And \nhow I wish it were already ablaze! How I wish it were already kindled\, fanned \ninto flame by the Holy Spirit\, and leaping forth in good works. \nChrist foretells that he will suffer death on a cross before the human race \nis inflamed by the fire of this love; for it was by his most holy passion that he won \nso great a gift for humankind\, and it is chiefly the recollection of his passion that \nkindles the flame of love in Christian hearts. \nThere is a baptism which I must undergo. By divine decree there remains \nfor me the duty of receiving a baptism of blood\, that is\, of being bathed\, soaked \nupon the cross not in water but in my own blood poured out to redeem the whole \nworld. And what constraint I am under until that has been achieved – until my \npassion is love and I say: It is accomplished. For Christ was impelled incessantly \nby the love within him. \nThe way to attain the perfection of divine love is then stated. Do you think \nthat I have come to bring peace on earth? In other words: Do not imagine that I \nhave come to offer people a sensual\, worldly\, and unruly peace that will enable \nthem to be united in their vices and achieve earthly prosperity. No\, I tell you\, I \nhave not come to offer that kind of peace\, but rather division – a good\, healthy \nkind of division\, physical as well as spiritual. Love for God and desire for inner \npeace will set those who believe in me at odds with wicked people and make \nthem part company with those who would turn them from their course of \nspiritual progress and from the purity of divine love\, or who attempt to hinder \nthem. \nGood\, interior\, spiritual peace consists in the repose of the mind in God\, \nand in a right ordered harmony. To bestow this peace was the chief reason for \nChrist’s coming. This inner peace flows from love. It is an unassailable joy of the \nmind in God\, and it is called peace of heart. It is the beginning and a kind of \nforetaste of the peace of the saints in heaven – the peace of eternity.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-20th-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250818
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250819
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250817T122158Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T122158Z
UID:13809-1755475200-1755561599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:KEEP GUARD \nON YOURSELF \nFrom “The Golden Epistle” by William of St Thierry \n◊◊◊ \nIn order that your solitude may not appall you and that you may dwell the \nmore safely in your cell three guardians have been assigned to you: God\, your \nconscience and your spiritual father. To God you owe devotion and the entire \ngift of yourself; to your conscience the respect which will make you ashamed to \nsin in its presence; to your spiritual father the obedience of charity and recourse \nin everything… \nI will add a fourth and provide you with a monitor for as long as you are \nsmall and have not learned to keep the presence of God before your mind… \nChoose for yourself a man whose life is such that it will serve as a model to \nimpress upon your heart\, one whom you will so revere that whenever you think \nof him you will rise up because of the respect you feel for him and put yourself in \norder. Think of him as if he were present and let the charity you feel for one \nanother act in you to correct all that needs to be corrected\, while your solitude \nsuffers no infringement of its secret. Let him be present to you whenever you \nwish and let him come sometimes when you would have preferred him to stay \naway. The thought of his holy severity will make it seem as if he were rebuking \nyou; the thought of his kindness and goodness will bring you consolation; the \npurity and sanctity of his life will set you a good example. For you will be driven \nto correct even all your thoughts\, as if they were open to his gaze and visited by \nhis rebuke\, when you consider that he is watching. \nSo\, as the Apostle bids: “Keep guard on yourself” with the greatest care \nand\, in order to have your eyes always on yourself\, turn your gaze away from all \nelse. The eye is a remarkable instrument of the body – if only it could see itself as \nit sees other things. Now the inner eye is enabled to do this. If then it follows the \nexample of the outward eye and neglects itself\, giving its attention to the affairs \nof others\, it will not be able to return to itself\, however much it may wish to do \nso. Give your attention to yourself; you yourself constitute abundant matter for \nsolicitude for yourself. Shut out also from your outward eyes what you have \ngrown unaccustomed to see\, from your inner eyes what you no longer love\, since \nnothing so easily reasserts its claims as love… \nBe yourself a parable of edification for yourself. You have one cell \noutwardly\, another within you. The outward cell is the house in which your soul \ndwells together with your body; the inner cell is your conscience and in that it is \nGod who should dwell with your spirit\, he who is more interior to you than all \nelse that is within you. The door of the outward enclosure is a sign of the \nguarded door within you\, so that as the bodily senses are prevented from \nwandering abroad by the outward enclosure so the inner senses are kept always \nwithin their own domain.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-345/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250819
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250820
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250817T122331Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T122331Z
UID:13811-1755561600-1755647999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Bl Guerric
DESCRIPTION:THE POOR OF CHRIST \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny \n◊◊◊ \nWhat then shall we bring to the Lord\, my brothers? Bring to the Lord \nglory of gold and honor of incense; bring to the Lord glory for his name\, myrrh \nfor his burial. But Christ’s disciple\, Peter’s son\, tells me: “Silver and gold I have \nnone\, nor bags of those foreign wares\, myrrh and incense.” Will you then appear \nempty-handed in the Lord’s sight… O rich poverty\, O wealthy nakedness – \nprovided it is Christian and freely willed. With what riches do you not abound\, \nnot only gold but the very best gold\, gold that has been fired\, not only myrrh and \nincense but also all the fragrant powders of the merchant. Indeed who else can \nabound in riches of this sort but the poor of Christ? \nBut I am not aware\, you will say\, that I have received anything of the sort\, \nor that anything so precious as gold\, incense and myrrh is to be found in my \npossession. For I am a man well acquainted with poverty\, finding it hard to beg \nmy daily bread\, leading an impoverished life. You think\, you say\, that you have \nnot received any such thing. Is it not rather that you have squandered in riotous \nliving the inheritance you received from your father? \nBut I pass over that. As the Sage says\, “One who turns away from sin to \nbecome wise is not to be reproved.” Rather I would wish that you had the energy \nto examine if there be not some slight remnant of your paternal inheritance in \nyour hands with which you could begin to recover the whole. I would wish you to \ndig within yourself\, for valuable treasures are wont to lie hidden in the recesses \nof the earth. That treasure\, the desire of which drove a man to sell all he had\, was \nhidden in a field. The ten Israelites who escaped the murderer’s sword did no by \ndeclaring that they had treasure hidden in a field. \nO what treasures of good works\, what riches of devotion lie hidden in the \nfield of one’s body; and how many more in the depths of the heart\, if only we will \ntake the trouble to dig… Our reason and natural endowments\, with the help of \ngrace\, are a seed-bed of all the virtues. If then you will ponder in your heart and \ntrain your body\, you need not doubt that you will find worthwhile treasure – if \nnot gold or incense at the very beginning\, certainly of myrrh\, and that is not \nuseless. It is not for you to describe as useless what Christ accepts as a gift. With \nthis he willed that the burial of his body should not only be foreshadowed when \nit was offered to him but also be completed when he was embalmed with it.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-bl-guerric-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250820
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250821
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250817T122530Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T122530Z
UID:13813-1755648000-1755734399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Bernard
DESCRIPTION:THE SAME ETERNAL GOAL \nA letter from Pope St John Paul II to the Cistercian Abbots General \n◊◊◊ \nOur age is frequently called “the hour of the laity” due to the fact that it \nhighlights the efforts made to offer the laity within the Church those ministries \nwhich correspond to their state in life. No less truly\, we could also call the times \nin which St Bernard lived such because while the Church was making efforts to \nbreak her ties with feudal institutions\, a movement of the laity was born which \nundertook holy enterprises under the banner of the cross\, and moreover\, the \nlaity\, already in the 12th century began to make its voice heard as much in \npreaching the word of God as in poetry and in other disciplines. The religious \nmovement which launched the construction of magnificent churches could be \ncalled the first European labor movement. \nThe Abbot of Clairvaux…very frequently had to abandon the silence of the \nmonastery in order to involve himself with the life of the laity\, in order to have a \nguiding hand in the unfolding of the events and above all in order to bring peace \nbetween kings and princes\, and between kings and cities. As it has been stated of \nSt Bernard in the “Vita Prima”\, he taught the path of perfection and wisdom to \nspiritual persons as one who was “cultured among the cultured” and “simple \namong the simple”; he adapted himself to everyone in his desire to gain them for \nChrist”. \nTo the clerics and the laity he pleaded that they unite into one body: \n“Since the Lord has commanded us to ‘watch and pray that we may not fall \ninto temptation’\, it is evident that without the common effort of the faithful \n(laity) and the custodians (clerics)\, it is not possible to maintain the city with \nsecurity\, nor the beloved (spouse)\, nor even a single sheep. Do you want to know \nthe difference that exists among them? They are one and the same thing. \nIn his opinion it is incumbent upon the laity in collaboration with the \nclergy\, to build the Church\, a thing that they can accomplish above all by means \nof exercising obedience and the works of charity\, especially the corporal works \nof mercy. In fact\, addressing himself to the laity\, he states: “Obey your bishop \nand other authorities of the Church who counsel you on what you have to do. \nPractice hospitality for many have pleased God by it… Welcome the Lord of the \nangels in the pilgrims\, feed him in the hungry\, clothe him in the naked\, visit him \nin the sick\, set free the captives. \nConsequently\, the Abbot of Clairvaux\, although he dealt principally with \nmonastic life and considered it as a third order along with that of clerics and \nlaity\, yet being a father of souls\, he had the same esteem for the laity of the \nChurch; thus he was convinced that all of them\, whatever be the order to which \nthey belong\, tend toward the one and the same eternal goal.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-bernard-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250821
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250822
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250817T122633Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T122633Z
UID:13815-1755734400-1755820799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Pius X
DESCRIPTION:THE SANCTITY OF \nST PIUS X \nFrom the writing of Leonard von Matt \n◊◊◊ \nPius X\, the canonized Pope\, holds a special place in the hearts of the \nfaithful. But this devotion of the faithful did not begin only at his canonization\, \nwhen the Church publicly proclaimed the holiness of his life: it began from the \nmoment when he ascended the papal throne. At once there grew up an \nunderstanding between the Shepherd and his flock. The first to understand him \nwere the simple\, humble people\, who recognized him for what he was. \nThe obvious quality which led to his canonization was his outstanding \nholiness. With Pius X\, sanctity seemed to be the most natural thing in the \nworld. It quietly enlivened all that he said or did. Yet it would seem that \nGiuseppe Sarto’s natural temperament inclined to a certain violence\, easily \ninflamed\, and no one will ever know how much struggle it cost him to achieve \nthat gentleness and unruffled goodness for which he was so renowned. We can \nfollow him on the narrow path which he set himself as church-student\, curate\, \nparish-priest\, bishop\, cardinal and Pope; but the moment of his vocation to the \npriesthood and the beginning of his heroic sanctity are secrets known to God \nalone. \nA certain holiness seems to have been his from the beginning: his striving \nafter a virtuous life seems never to have been interrupted\, his charity never \ndiminished. But it was when he began what he called the Ascent of Mount \nCalvary\, when he became Pope\, that his great sanctity became evident. It was \nhis conscientiousness that turned the enormous responsibility of the office into \na crucifixion: he gave himself unstintingly to the service of the Church\, and \nspent himself without reserve for the love of God and everyone. His sanctity lay \nin this total dedication: it was thus an inner and in a great measure a hidden \nsanctity: there were no spectacular penances\, no remarkable practices beyond \nthose of a normal\, good Christian. It might almost be said that Pius X became a \nsaint in spite of himself by sanctifying himself and his nature and by not \nresisting God’s grace that drew him on.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-pius-x-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250822
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250823
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250817T122749Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T122749Z
UID:13817-1755820800-1755907199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Queenship of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY \nFrom the writing of Thomas Merton \n◊◊◊ \nMary alone\, of all the saints\, is\, in everything\, incomparable. She has the \nsanctity of them all and yet resembles none of them. And still\, we can talk of \nbeing like her. This likeness to her is not only something to desire – it is one \nhuman quality most worthy of our desire: but the reason for that is that she\, of \nall creatures\, most perfectly recovered the likeness to God that God willed to \nfind\, in varying degrees\, in us all… \nIt is most fitting to talk about her as a Queen… But this should not make \nanyone forget that her highest privilege is her poverty and her greatest glory is \nthat she is most hidden\, and the source of all her power is that she is as nothing \nin the presence of Christ\, of God. \nThis is often forgotten by Catholics themselves\, and therefore it is not \nsurprising that those who are not Catholic often have a completely wrong \nconception of Catholic devotion to the Mother of God. They imagine\, and \nsometimes we can understand their reasons for doing so\, that Catholics treat \nthe Blessed Virgin as an almost divine being in her own right\, as if she had some \nglory\, some power\, some majesty of her own that placed her on a level with \nChrist himself. They regard the Assumption of Mary into heaven as a kind of \napotheosis and her Queenship as a strict divination. \nHence her place in the Redemption would seem to be equal to that of her \nSon. But this is all completely contrary to the true mind of the Catholic Church. \nIt forgets that Mary’s chief glory is her nothingness\, in the fact of being the \n“Handmaid of the Lord\,” as one who in becoming the Mother of God acted \nsimply in loving submission to his command\, in the pure obedience of faith. She \nis blessed…in all her human and womanly limitations as one who has believed. \nIt is the faith and the fidelity of this humble handmaid\, “full of grace” that \nenables her to be the perfect instrument of God\, and nothing else but his \ninstrument. The work that was done in her was purely the work of God. “He that \nis mighty has done great things in me.” The glory of Mary is purely and simply \nthe glory of God in her\, and she\, like anyone else\, can say that she has nothing \nthat she has not received from him through Christ… \nThis is precisely her greatest glory: that having nothing of her own\, \nretaining nothing of a “self” that could glory in anything for her own sake\, she \nplaced no obstacle to the mercy of God and in no way resisted his love and his \nwill. Hence\, she received more from him than any other saint. He was able to \naccomplish his will perfectly in her\, and his liberty was in no way hindered or \nturned from its purpose… She was then a freedom that obeyed him perfectly \nand\, in this obedience\, found the fulfillment of perfect love.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-queenship-of-the-bvm/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250823
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250824
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250817T122841Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250817T122841Z
UID:13819-1755907200-1755993599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE TABERNACLE \nOF GOD’S GLORY \nBy St Gertrud the Great \n◊◊◊ \nHow wondrous is your temple\, God\, king of virtues. How glorious your \ndwelling-place\, where you\, God most high\, preside in your majesty over all \nthings. The virtue of my soul grows faint in its yearning to enter into your glory. \nGod\, my God\, love and jubilation of my heart\, refuge and virtue\, God\, my glory \nand my praise\, oh when will my soul praise you in the church of the saints? \nO when will my eyes see you\, my God\, God of gods? God of my heart\, oh \nwhen will you gladden me with the sight of your face? Oh when will you bestow \nupon me the desire of my soul by manifesting your glory? Oh when will I enter \ninto your might to see your virtue and glory? Oh when will you clothe me with \nthe mantle of your praise instead of a spirit of sorrow so that\, together with the \nangels\, all the parts of my body may render you praise? \nGod of my life\, oh when will I enter into the tabernacle of your glory in \norder that I\, too\, may proclaim to you the most splendid alleluia and that my \nsoul and my heart may confess to you in the presence of all your saints that you \nhave magnified your mercies toward me. My God\, my very bright inheritance\, \noh when\, after the snares of this death have been destroyed\, will I personally see \nyou without mediation\, and praise you? Oh when will I dwell in your tabernacle \nforever in order that I may assiduously praise your name and sing to your \nmagnificence a new hymn about your limitless mercies?
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-346/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250824
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250825
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250824T120154Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T120154Z
UID:13839-1755993600-1756079999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema - 21st Week
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n21st Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (C)\, Weekdays (I)\nAugust 24 – 30\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n24\nMon\n25\nTue\n26\nWed\n27\nThu\n28\nFri\n29\nSat\n30\n\n\nOffice\n21st Sunday\nWeekday\nOffice for Vocations\nSt Monica\nSt Augustine\nMartyrdom of St John the Baptist\nMemorial of the BVM\n\n\nVigils\nEsther A:1-17\nEst 1:1-22\nEst 2:1-11\nEst 2:12-23\nEst 3:1-13\n2 Cor 4:7-5:8\nEst B:1-(3:15)\n\n\nLauds\nMic 1:10-16\nMic 2:1-7\nMic 2:8-13\nMic 3:1-4\nMic 3:5-8\nWis 3:1-9\nMic 3:9-12\n\n\nMass\n123\n425\n426\n427\n428\n634\n430\n\n\n1st\nIsa 66:18-21\n1 Thess 1:1-5\, 8b-10\n1 Thess 2:1-8\n1 Thess 2:9-13\n1 Thess 3:7-13\nJerm 1:17-19\n1 Thess 4:9-11\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 12:5-7\, 11-13\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nLuke 13:22-30\nMatt 23:13-22\nMatt 23:23-26\nMatt 23:27-32\nMatt 24:42-51\nMark 6:17-29\nMatt 25:14-30\n\n\nVespers\nCol 3:12-17\nCol 3:18-4:1\nCol 4:2-9\nCol 4:10-18\n1 Thess 1:1-10\nActs 13:16-26\n1 Thess 2:1-8
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-21st-week/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250824
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250825
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250824T120659Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T121632Z
UID:13841-1755993600-1756079999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 21st Sunday Ord
DESCRIPTION:THE PRICE OF HEAVEN \nFrom a commentary by St Anselm of Canterbury \n◊◊◊ \nGod cries out that the kingdom of heaven is for sale. The glorious bliss of \nthis kingdom surpasses the power of mortal eye to see\, mortal ear to hear\, \nmortal heart to conceive. If anyone asks the price that must be paid\, the answer \nis: The One who wishes to bestow a kingdom in heaven has no need of earthly \npayment. No one can give God anything he does not possess\, because everything \nbelongs to him. Yet he does not give such a precious gift gratis\, for he will not \ngive it to anyone who lacks love. After all\, people do not give away what they \nhold dear to those without appreciation. So since God has no need of your \npossessions but must not bestow such a precious gift on anyone who disdains to \nvalue it\, love is the one thing he asks for; without this he cannot give it. Give \nlove\, then\, and receive the kingdom: love and it is yours. \nTo reign in heaven simply means exercising a single power with God and \nall the holy angels and saints through being so united with them in love as to \nwant only what they want. Love God more than yourself\, then\, and already you \nwill begin to have what you desire to possess fully in heaven. Be at one with God \nand with other men and women – so long as they are not at variance with God – \nand already you will begin to reign with God and all the saints. The desires of \nGod and all the saints will be the same as yours in heaven\, if your desires now \nare the same as those of God and other people. So if you want to be a king in \nheaven\, love God and other people as you should and then you will deserve to \nbecome what you desire. \nBut you cannot have this perfect love unless you empty your heart of every \nother love. That is why those who fill their hearts with love of God and neighbor \ndesire nothing but the will of God or that of some fellow human being – \nprovided this is not contrary to God. That is why they devote themselves to \nprayer\, spiritual conversations\, and reflection\, for it is a joy to them to long for \nGod and to speak\, hear and think about him whom they dearly love. That is why \nthey rejoice with those who rejoice\, weep with those who weep\, show \ncompassion to those in distress\, and give to the needy\, since they love others as \nthemselves. Hence too their contempt for riches\, power\, pleasure\, honor\, and \npraise. Those who love these things frequently offend against God and their \nneighbor – for the whole law and the prophets depend on these two \ncommandments. So those who wish to possess the fullness of that love which is \nthe price of the kingdom of heaven should love contempt\, poverty\, toil and \nsubjection\, as do the saints.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-21st-sunday-old/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250825
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250826
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250824T120807Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T120807Z
UID:13843-1756080000-1756166399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE JUDGE’S SENTENCE \nFrom “Rule of Life for a Recluse” by St Aelred of Rievaulx \n◊◊◊ \nImagine now that you are standing before Christ’s judgment-seat \nbetween these two companies and have not yet been assigned to one or the \nother. Turn your eyes to the left of the judge and gaze upon that wretched \nmultitude. What horror is there\, what a stench\, what fear\, what grief? They \nstand there miserable and unhappy\, gnashing their teeth\, their bare flesh \nshaking with fear\, dreadful to look upon\, their faces distorted\, cast down from \nshame\, in confusion because of their body’s degradation and nakedness. They \nwant to hide and they are not allowed\, they try to flee and it is not granted them. \nIf they raise their eyes the Judge’s fury bears down upon them from above. If \nthey lower them they are filled with the horror of hell’s pit. They have no excuse \nto offer for their crimes nor is there any chance of claiming that the judgment is \nunfair\, since whatever is decided their own conscience will recognize as just. \nSee now how you should love him who has set you apart from this doomed \ncompany by his predestination\, separated you by his call\, cleansed you by his \njustification. Now turn your eyes to the right and look at those among whom he \nwill place you by glorifying you. What grace is there\, what honor\, what \nhappiness\, what security. Some take their seat on high to give judgment\, some \nare resplendent in martyrs’ crowns\, some are bearing the white flower of \nvirginity\, some display the fruit of almsgiving\, some are illustrious for their \ndoctrine and their learning\, but they are all united by the bond of charity. Jesus’ \nface shines upon them\, not terrible but lovable\, not bitter but sweet\, not \nfrightening but attractive. \nNow stand in the middle\, not knowing to which company the Judge’s \nsentence will assign you. O what a dreadful waiting. Fear and trembling have \ncome upon me and darkness has covered me. If he sends me to join those on the \nleft I cannot complain of injustice; if he sets me among those on the right it is to \nbe attributed to his grace\, not to my merits. Truly\, Lord\, life is at your disposal. \nYou see then how your spirit should be absorbed in his love. \nAlthough in all justice he could have extended to you the sentence passed \non the wicked\, he preferred to place you among those who are to be saved. \nNow imagine yourself associated with that holy company and hearing his \nvoice utter the decree: “Come\, ye blessed of my Father\, receive the kingdom \nwhich was prepared for you from the beginning of the world\,” while those other \nwretched souls hear the harsh words\, full of anger and fury: “Depart from me\, ye \naccursed\, into eternal fire.” “Then\,” we read\, “they will go to eternal \npunishment\, but the just to eternal life.” What a harsh separation\, what a \nmiserable lot.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-347/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250826
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250827
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250824T120921Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T120921Z
UID:13845-1756166400-1756252799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:THE MEANING OF VOCATION \nBy Pope St John Paul II \n◊◊◊ \nFaith and love are not just words or vague feelings. Believing and loving \nGod means a consistent life\, lived wholly in the light of the Gospel. This is not \neasy. It often calls for great courage in going against the trends of fashion and \nthe opinions of our world. But this is the one requirement for a truly successful \nand happy life. \nIf\, in spite of your personal effort to follow Christ you are sometimes weak \nand do not live in conformity to the law of love\, to the commandments\, do not be \ndiscouraged. Christ continues to wait for you. He\, Jesus\, is the Good Shepherd \nwho searches for the lost sheep and who tenderly bears it on his shoulder. Christ \nis the friend who never lets you down. \nIn the gospel story we see that the young man\, having affirmed that he has \nkept the commandments\, adds: “What do I still lack?” The young heart\, moved \nby God’s grace\, felt a desire for greater generosity\, more commitment\, greater \nlove. This desire for more is characteristic of youth; a heart that is in love does \nnot calculate\, does not begrudge\, it wants to give of itself without measure. \n“Jesus\, looking at him\, loved him and said to him\, come\, follow me.” \nTo those who entered the path of life by observing the commandments\, \nthe Lord proposes new horizons; the Lord proposes to the means that are loftier \nand calls them to commit themselves to his love without reserve. To discover \nthis call\, this vocation\, is to realize that Christ is looking on you and inviting you \nby his glance to give yourself totally in love. Before this glance\, before his love\, \nthe heart opens its doors gradually and is capable of saying yes. \nIf some of you hear the call to follow Christ more closely\, to dedicate your \nentire heart to him\, like the apostles John and Paul\, be generous\, do not be \nafraid\, because you have nothing to fear when the prize that you await is God \nHimself\, for whom\, sometimes without ever knowing it\, all young people are \nsearching. \nYoung people who are hastening to me\, young people who more than \nanything else want to know what you must do to gain eternal life\, always say yes \nto God and he will fill you with his happiness. \n“There is one thing you lack\, come\, follow me”. Is Jesus perhaps repeating \nto some of you today: “There is one thing you lack?” Is he perhaps asking for \neven more love\, more generosity\, more sacrifice? Yes\, the love of Christ involves \ngenerosity and sacrifice. To follow Christ and to serve the world in his name \nrequires courage and strength. There is no place for selfishness – and no place \nfor fear! Do not be afraid\, then\, when love makes demands. Do not be afraid \nwhen love requires sacrifice. \nTo each one of you I say\, therefore: Heed the call of Christ when you hear \nhim saying to you: “Follow me!” Walk in my path! Stand by my side! Remain in \nmy love! There is a choice to be made: a choice for Christ and the way of life\, and \nhis commandment of love.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-22/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250827
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250828
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250824T121050Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T121050Z
UID:13847-1756252800-1756339199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Monica
DESCRIPTION:MONICA AND AUGUSTINE \nFrom the “Confessions” of St Augustine \n◊◊◊ \nWe were alone\, my mother and I\, we stood leaning in a certain window \nfrom which the garden of the house we occupied at Ostia could be seen. Here in \nthis place\, removed from the crowd\, we were resting ourselves for the voyage \nafter the fatigues of a long journey. We were conversing alone\, very pleasantly \nand “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” \nWe were in the present—and in the presence of Truth\, which God is — \ndiscussing together what is the nature of the eternal life of the saints: “What no \neye has seen\, nor ear heard\, nor the heart of man conceived…” \nWhat we said went something like this: “If to anyone the tumult of the \nflesh were silenced; and the phantoms of earth and waters and air were \nsilenced; and the poles were silent as well; indeed\, if the very soul grew silent to \nherself\, and went beyond herself by not thinking of herself; if fancies and \nimaginary revelations were silenced; if every tongue and every sign and every \ntransient thing—for actually if anyone could hear them\, all these would say\, ‘We \ndid not create ourselves\, but were created by Him who abides forever’. And if\, \nhaving uttered this\, they too should be silent\, having stirred our ears to hear \nHim who created them; and if then He alone spoke\, not through them but by \nHimself\, that we might hear His word\, not in fleshly tongue or angelic voice\, nor \nsound of thunder\, nor the obscurity of a parable\, but might hear Him\, Him for \nwhose sake we love these things—if we could hear Him without these\, as we two \nnow strained ourselves to do\, we then with rapid thought might touch on that \nEternal Wisdom which abides over all. And if this could be sustained\, and other \nvisions of a far different kind be taken away\, and this one should so ravish and \nabsorb and envelop its beholder in these inward joys that his life might be \neternally like that one moment of knowledge which we now sighed after—would \nnot this be the reality of the saying\, “Enter into the joy of your Lord”? But when \nshall such a thing be? Shall it not be “when we shall all rise again\,” and shall it \nnot be that “we shall all be changed”? \nThen my mother said\, “Son\, for myself I have no longer any pleasure in \nanything in this life. Now that my hopes in this world are satisfied\, I do not know \nwhat more I want here or why I am here. There was indeed one thing for which I \nwished to tarry a little in this life\, and that was that I might see you a Catholic \nChristian before I died. My God has answered this more than abundantly\, \ninasmuch as I see you now\, having spurned earthly felicity\, become His servant. \nWhat more am I to do here?”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-monica-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250828
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250829
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250824T121216Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T121216Z
UID:13849-1756339200-1756425599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Augustine
DESCRIPTION:THE IMMORTALITY \nOF WISDOM \nFrom the “Confessions” of St Augustine \n◊◊◊ \nMy studies which were deemed respectable had the objective of leading \nme to distinction as an advocate in the law courts\, where one’s reputation is high \nin proportion to one’s success in deceiving people… I wanted to distinguish \nmyself as an orator for a damnable and conceited purpose\, namely delight in \nhuman vanity. Following the usual curriculum I had already come across a book \nby a certain Cicero\, whose language (but not his heart) almost everyone \nadmires. That book of his contains an exhortation to study philosophy and is \nentitled Hortensius. The book changed my feelings. It altered my prayers\, Lord\, \nto be towards you yourself. It gave me different values and priorities. Suddenly \nevery vain hope became empty to me\, and I longed for the immortality of \nwisdom with an incredible ardour in my heart. I began to rise up to return to \nyou. For I did not read the book for a sharpening of my style\, which was what I \nwas buying with my mother’s financial support now that I was 18 years old and \nmy father had been dead for two years. I was impressed not by the book’s \nrefining effect on my style and literary expression but by the content. \nMy God\, how I burned\, how I burned with longing to leave earthly things \nand fly back to you. I did not know what you were doing with me. For with you \nis wisdom. \n‘Love of wisdom’ is the meaning of the Greek word philosophia. This \nbook kindled my love for it. There are some people who use philosophy to lead \npeople astray. They lend color to their errors and paint over them by using a \ngreat and acceptable and honorable name. Almost all those who in the author’s \ntimes and earlier behaved in this way are noted in that book and refuted. That \ntext is a clear demonstration of the salutary admonition given by your Spirit \nthrough your good and devoted servant Paul: See that none deceives you by \nphilosophy and vain deduction following human tradition; following the \nelements of this world and not following Christ; in him dwells all the fullness of \ndivinity in bodily form. \nAt that time\, as you know\, light of my heart\, I did not yet know these \nwords of the apostle. Nevertheless\, the one thing that delighted me in Cicero’s \nexhortation was the advice ‘not to study one particular sect but to love and seek \nand pursue and hold fast and strongly embrace wisdom itself\, wherever found.’ \nOne thing alone put a brake on my intense enthusiasm – that the name of Christ \nwas not contained in the book. This name\, by your mercy Lord\, this name of my \nSaviour your Son\, my infant heart had piously drunk in with my mother’s milk\, \nand at a deep level I retained the memory. Any book which lacked this name\, \nhowever well written or polished or true\, could not entirely grip me.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-augustine-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250829
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250830
DTSTAMP:20260403T174936
CREATED:20250824T121407Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250824T121407Z
UID:13851-1756425600-1756511999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Martyrdom of St John the Baptist
DESCRIPTION:HOW JOHN THE BAPTIST \nREBUKED SIN \nFrom a sermon by St John Henry Newman \n◊◊◊ \nSt John the Baptist has a most difficult office to fulfill; that of rebuking a \nking… The Holy Baptist rebuked Herod without making him angry; therefore he \nmust have rebuked him with gravity\, temper\, sincerity\, and an evident good-will \ntowards him. On the other hand\, he spoke so firmly\, sharply\, and faithfully\, that \nhis rebuke cost him his life… \nNow\, if it be asked\, what rules can be given for rebuking vice? – I observe\, \nthat\, as on the one hand to perform the office of a censor requires a maturity and \nconsistency of principle seen and acknowledged\, so is it also the necessary result \nof possessing it. They who reprove with the greatest propriety\, from their weight \nof character\, are generally the very ones who are also best qualified for \nreproving. To rebuke well is a gift which grows with the need of exercising it. Not \nthat any one will gain it without an effort on his part; he must overcome false \nshame\, timidity\, and undue delicacy\, and learn to be prompt and collected in \nwithstanding evil; but after all\, his mode of doing it will depend mainly on his \ngeneral character. The more his habitual temper is formed after the law of \nChrist\, the more discreet\, unexceptionable\, and graceful will be his censures\, \nthe more difficult to escape or to resist. \nWhat I mean is this: cultivate…a cheerful\, honest\, virile temper; and you \nwill find fault well\, because you will do so in a natural way. Aim at viewing all \nthings in a plain and candid light\, and at calling them by their right names. Be \nfrank\, do not keep your notions of right and wrong to yourselves\, nor\, on some \nconceit that the world is too bad to be taught the Truth\, suffer it to sin in word or \ndeed without rebuke. Do not allow friend or stranger…to advance false \nopinions\, nor shrink from stating your own\, and do this in singleness of mind \nand love. \nPersons are to be found\, who tell their neighbors of their faults in a \nstrangely solemn way\, with a great parade\, as if they were doing something \nextraordinary; and such persons not only offend those whom they wish to set \nright\, but also foster in themselves a spirit of self-complacency. Such a mode of \nfinding fault is inseparably connected with a notion that they themselves are far \nbetter than the parties they blame; whereas the single-hearted Christian will \nfind fault\, not austerely or gloomily\, but in love; not stiffly\, but naturally\, gently\, \nand as a matter of course\, just as he would tell his friend of some obstacle in his \npath which was likely to throw him down\, but without any absurd feeling of \nsuperiority over him\, because he was able to do so. His feeling is\, “I have done a \ngood office to you\, and you must in turn serve me.” \nAnd though his advice be not always taken as he meant it\, yet he will not \ndwell on the pain occasioned to himself by such a result of his interference; \nbeing conscious\, that in truth there ever is much to correct in his mode of doing \nhis duty\, knowing that his intention was good\, and being determined any how to \nmake light of his failure\, except so far as to be more cautious in the future \nagainst even the appearance of rudeness or intemperance in his manner.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-martyrdom-of-st-john-the-baptist-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR