Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey

Vigils Reading - 2nd Sun Advent
2022-12-04
A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew
by St. Augustine1
The gospel tells us that some people were rebuked by the Lord because, clever as they were at reading the face of the sky, they could not recognize the time for faith when the kingdom of heaven was at hand. It was the Jews who received this reprimand, but it has also come down to us. The Lord Jesus began his preaching of the gospel with the admonition: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. His forerunner, John the Baptist, began in the same way: Repent, he said, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Today, for those who will not repent at the approach of the kingdom of heaven, the reproof of the Lord is the same. As he points out himself, You cannot expect to see the kingdom of heaven coming. The kingdom of heaven, he says elsewhere, is within you.
Each of us would be wise therefore to take to heart the advice of his teacher, and not waste this present time. It is now that the Savior offers us his mercy; now, while he still spares the human race. Understand that it is in hope of our conversion that he spares us, for he desires no one’s damnation. As for when the end of the world will be, that is God’s concern. Now is the time for faith. Whether any of us here present will see the end of the world I know not; very likely none of us will. Even so, the time is very near for each of us, for we are mortal. There are hazards all around us. We should be in less danger from them were we made of glass. What is more fragile than a vessel of glass? And yet it can be kept safe and last indefinitely. Of course it is exposed to accident, but it is not liable to old age and the suffering it brings. We therefore are the more frail and infirm. In our weakness we are haunted by fears of all the calamities that regularly befall the human race, and if no such calamity overtakes us, still, time marches on. We may evade the blows of fortune, but shall we evade death? We may escape perils from without, but shall we escape what comes from within us? Now, suddenly, we may be attacked by any malady. And if we are spared? Even so, old age comes at last, and nothing will delay it1 Journey with the Fathers – Year A – New City Press – NY – 1992 n- pg 18.

Skema
2022-12-04
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
2nd Week of Advent

Mass Readings: Sunday (A), Weekdays (I)
December 4 – 10, 2022

Sun
4
Mon
5
Tue
6
Wed
7
Thu
8
Fri
9
Sat
10

Office
2nd Sunday of Advent
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday
St Ambrose
Immaculate Conception
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday

Vigils
Isa 22:8b-23
Isa 24:1-18
Isa 24:19-25:5
Isa 25:6-26:6
Rom 5:12-21
Isa 27:1-13
Isa 29:1-8

Lauds
Isa 4:2-6
Isa 10:20-27a
Isa 9:1-6
Isa 11:1-9
Isa 43:1-7
Zeph 3:14-20
Isa 11:10-16

Mass
4
181
182
183
689
185
186

1st
Isa 11:1-10
Isa 35:1-10
Isa 40:1-11
Isa 40:25-31
Gen 3:9-15, 20
Isa 48:17-19
Sir 48:1-4, 9-11

2nd
Rom 15:4-9

Eph 1:3-6, 11-12

Gospel
Matt 3:1-12
Luke 5:17-26
Matt 18:12-14
Matt 11:28-30
Luke 1:26-38
Matt 11:16-19
Matt 17:9a, 10-13

Vespers
Rom 5:1-11
Rom 6:1-11
Rom 8:18-27
Gal 4:21-5:1
Rom 8:28-39
Rom 8:1-6
Rom 8:9-17

Vigils Reading - St Francis Xavier
2022-12-03
St. Francis Xavier
from Butler’s Lives of the Saints[1]

Francis Xavier was born in Spanish Navarre at the castle of Xavier, near Pamplona, in 1506, the youngest of a large family. He entered the college of St, Barbara and in 1528 gained the degree of licentiate. It was here that he met Ignatius Loyola, and later joined with him in the first band of seven who vowed themselves to the service of God at Montmartre in 1534. With them he received the priesthood at Venice three years later and in 1540 Ignatius appointed him to join Fr. Simon Rodriguez on the first missionary expedition the Society sent out to the East Indies.

They arrived at Goa, India on May 6, 1542, after a voyage of thirteen months. Francis opened the mission with the Christians of Goa, instructing them in the principles of religion and forming the young to the practice of virtue. He walked through the streets ringing a bell to summon the children and slaves to catechism. He offered Mass with lepers each Sunday. For the instruction of the very ignorant or simple he versified the truths of religion to fit popular tunes, and this was so successful that the practice spread till these songs were being sung everywhere, in the streets and fields and workshops.

In the spring of 1545 Francis set out for Malacca, on the Malay peninsula, where he spent four months. The next fifteen months were spent in endless traveling between Goa, Ceylon and Cape Comorin, consolidating his work and preparing for an attempt on that Japan into which no European had yet penetrated. In April 1549 Francis set out, accompanied by a Jesuit priest and lay-brother and three Japanese converts. On the feast of the Assumption they landed in Japan, at Kagoshima on Kyushu.

Francis set himself to learn Japanese. A translation was made of a simple account of Christian teaching, and recited to all who would listen. The fruit of twelve months labor was a hundred converts, but then the authorities began to get suspicious and forbade further preaching. So, leaving one of the Japanese converts in charge of the neophytes, Francis pressed further with his companions and went by sea to Hirado, north of Nagasaki. Before leaving Kagoshima he visited the fortress of Ichiku, where the baron’s wife, her steward and others accepted Christianity. Xavier left the rest in the care of the steward, and twelve years later the Jesuit lay-brother, Luis de Almeida, found these isolated converts still retaining their first fervor and faithfulness.

At Hirado the missionaries were well received by the ruler and they had more success in a few weeks than they had had at Kagoshima in a year. Xavier’s objective was Miyako (Kyoto), then the chief city of Japan. In due time he was able to be received by the authorities, who gave him permission to preach and provided an empty Buddhist monastery for a residence. He preached with such fruit that he baptized many in that city.

Francis decided to revisit his charge in India, from whence he hoped to extend his mission to China. After dealing with matters in India, Xavier set sail for China. In august 1552 the convoy reached the desolate island of Shang-chwan, half-a-dozen miles off the coast and a hundred miles south-west of Hong Kong. Here Xavier fell sick with a fever and died on December 3. He was buried on the island, but his body which was found to be incorrupt, was later moved to Goa. He was canonized in 1622 at the same time as Ignatius of Loyola.
[1] Butler’s Lives of the Saints – revised edition – Harper – San Francisco – 1991 – p 398f

Vigils Reading
2022-12-02
Knowing How to Wait
A meditation by Saint Rafael Arnaiz[1]

In La Trapa, we Trappists have a consolation that is little known in the world … Here in the house of God, away from all that hustle and bustle, we can clearly see how short everything is as time passes … The world knows it too, but it’s different.

When the world talks about how quickly life passes, it does so with a hint of sadness. It laments how short-lived everything is … People often live in the past, and what good does it do them? … They don’t change their ways. They just use whatever time they have left to keep searching for the things they didn’t find in the life they’ve already lived. Then their final years come, and then they become even more aware of their nostalgia for the past and how short-lived everything is … Old age is so sad, according to the world.

In La Trapa, monks don’t care about the past … They just have the great consolation of knowing that whatever remains of this life will pass, too. What more is there to do, then, but wait? And they wait with such joy and peace, certain of what is to come.

What peace it brings to the soul to think that neither human beings nor world events can hinder the coming of what awaits us … With each passing day, we are a step closer to the beginning of our true lives. What the world sees as the end is what the monk sees as the beginning. Everything comes, everything goes … only God remains.
[1] Saint Rafael Arnaiz. The Collected Works. Ed. Sr. Maria Gonzalo-Garcia, OCSO. Trans. Catherine Addington. MW 61. Collegeville, MN: Cistercian Publications, 2022. 415.

Vigils Reading
2022-12-01
Sermon for the Coming of the Lord
by Aelred of Rievaulx[1]

It is time, dear brothers, for us to sing to the Lord of mercy and judgment. For it is the coming of the Lord, of the Almighty, who came and is to come. But how or to what place will he come or did he come? It is clearly his voice that says, I fill heaven and earth. But how could he have come to heaven or earth if he fills heaven and earth? Listen to the gospel: He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He was, therefore, both present and absent. He was present because he was in the world; he was absent, because the world did not know him.

He is not far, says Paul, from any one of us. In him we live, move, and are. And yet salvation is far from sinners. He was near in terms of his essence, but far in terms of his grace. How could he not be far, since he was neither recognized, believed, feared, nor loved? He was far from sinners: he did not call back the wandering, raise up the downtrodden, ransom the captives, or raise up the dead. He was far, I say, when he neither bestowed a heavenly reward upon the righteous nor openly imposed eternal damnation on the wicked.

The unrecognized one came so as to be recognized; the unbelieved, to be believed; he who was not feared, to be feared; the unloved, to be loved. Thus, he who was essentially present came mercifully, so that we might recognize his humanity, believe in his divinity, fear his power, and love his kindness. His humanity appeared in the taking up of our weakness, his divinity in performing miracles, his power in overthrowing the demons, his kindness in welcoming sinners.
Consider, if you will, what God is, and why he laid aside such majesty, why he emptied himself of such power, why he weakened such strength, why he brought low such loftiness, why he made a fool of such wisdom. Is this human righteousness? Far from it. Everyone turned aside, all were made useless; there was no one who did good. What then? Did he lack anything? Not at all. His is the earth and its fullness. Or did he by chance need us for something? By no means. He is my God, and he does not need my goods. What then? Truly, Lord, it is not my righteousness, but your mercy; not your lack, but my need. For you said, “Mercy will be built in the heavens.” This is clearly so, for wretchedness abounds on earth. Therefore, of your first coming, I will sing to you of mercy, Lord.

For it was from mercy that, having become human, he took our weaknesses on himself. From mercy he instilled faith in his divinity by miracles. It was just as much from mercy that he revealed the demons’ shrewdness to us and emptied their power. From mercy, he did not reject the prostitute’s touch, but approved her devotion. Thus he showed himself humble in his humanity, powerful in his miracles, strong in overcoming the demons, and gentle in taking on our sins. And all of this came forth from the fountain of mercy, all flowed forth from the depths of goodness. And therefore, in this your first coming, I will sing to you of mercy, Lord. Rightly, because the earth is full of your mercy.
[1] Aelred of Rievaulx. Homilies on the Prophetic Burdens of Isaiah. Trans. Lawrence White. CF 83. Collegeville, MN: Cistercian Publications, 2018. 5-7.

Vigils Reading - St Andrew
2022-11-30
ST ANDREW’S UNIQUE ROLE AMONG THE APOSTLES
from a Sermon by St. John Henry Newman[1]
St. John the Evangelist, [introduces St Andrew in his gospel] under circumstances which show that, little as is known of this Apostle now, he was, in fact, very high in the favour and confidence of his Lord. In his twelfth chapter he describes Andrew as bringing to Christ certain Greeks who came up to Jerusalem to worship and who were desirous of seeing Him. And, what is remarkable, these strangers had first applied to St. Philip, who, though an Apostle himself, instead of taking upon him to introduce them had recourse to his fellowtownsman St. Andrew, as if, whether from age or intimacy with Christ, a more suitable channel for furthering their petition. “Philip comes, and tells Andrew; and again, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.”

These two Apostles are also mentioned together in the sixth chapter of the same Gospel, at the consultation which preceded the miracle of the loaves and fishes; and there again Andrew is engaged, as before in the office of introducing strangers to Christ. “There is a lad here,” he says to his Lord, a lad who perhaps, had not courage to come forward of himself, “who has five barley loaves and two small fishes.”

The information afforded by these passages, of St. Andrew’s especial acceptableness to Christ among the apostles, is confirmed by the only place in the other Gospels, beside the catalogue, in which his name occurs. After our Lord had predicted the ruin of the Temple, “Peter, James, John, and Andrewasked Him privately: ‘Tell us when shall these things be?'” and it was to these four that our Saviour revealed the signs of his coming, and of the end of the world (Mk 13:3). Here St. Andrew is represented as in the especial confidence of Christ; and associated too with those Apostles whom he is known to have selected from the Twelve, on various occasions, by tokens of his peculiar Favour.

Little is known of St. Andrew in addition to these inspired notices of him. He is said to have preached the Gospel in Scythia; and he was at length martyred in Achaia. His death was by crucifixion; that kind of cross being used, according to the tradition, which still goes by his name.

Yet, little as Scripture tells us concerning him, it affords us enough for a lesson, and that an important one. These are the facts before us. St. Andrew was the first convert among the Apostles; he was especially in our Lord’s confidence; thrice is he described as introducing others to him; lastly, he is little known in history, while the place of dignity and the name of highest renown have been allotted to his brother Simon, whom he was the means of bringing to the knowledge of his Saviour.

Our lesson then is this; that those persons are not necessarily the most useful in their generation, nor the most favored by God, who make the most noise in the world, and who seem to be principals in the great changes and events recorded in history; on the contrary, that even when we are able to point to a certain number of persons as the real instruments of any great blessings vouchsafed to humankind, our relative estimate of them, one with another, is often very erroneous: so that, on the whole, if we would trace truly the hand of God in human affairs, and pursue his bounty as displayed in the world to its original sources, we must unlearn our admiration of the powerful and distinguished, our reliance on the opinion of society, our respect for the decisions of the learned or the multitude, and turn our eyes to private life, watching in all we read or witness for the true sign of God’s presence, the graces of personal holiness manifested in his elect; which, weak as they may seem to humankind, are mighty through God, and have an influence upon the course of his Providence, and bring about great events in the world at large, when the wisdom and strength of the natural man are of no avail.

[1]PAROCHIAL & PLAIN SERMONS II, London 1898, 3-4&5.

Vigils Reading
2022-11-29
Commentary on Isaiah
by Eusebius of Caesarea[1]

The kindest promise was made to the Jewish nation, and it is true that it was revealed that they would possess their own land, but now the calling in fact has been engaging the Gentiles. Therefore, in no way does he introduce the new law as parallel to the law of Moses or as another word parallel to the old, but rather as a new mountain, unseen in times past but now manifest.

The mountain of God may be understood in various ways. Like the Jewish people who read the Scriptures literally, one could assume that it is the land of Palestine. But according to the deeper meaning, according to the final word, the high and heavenly and angelic word of God and the divine apostle of the “heavenly” Zion teaches that it is “the Jerusalem above, which is the mother of us all.” This mountain was not manifest to the men of old, but the divine Spirit prophesies that it will be manifest to all nations in the last days, when Christ would “appear to put away sin.” Therefore all nations – “both Greeks and barbarians,” which indeed turn from the error of polytheism and from the literal mountains which were in ancient times thought to be dedicated to demons or to the gods – will strive after the God who is proclaimed in revelation. For this reason, as though speaking one to another, he says: Come, let us go us to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will declare to us his way, and we will walk in it. And so the Word promises to the nations that he will make the mountain and the house of God manifest in the heavens and known to all who are instructed.

The Christ could very well be this evangelical law, who relocated from the “heavenly” Zion above and set up shop in the Zion on the earth, where the death of the Savior at the hands of men and his resurrection from the dead took place. For once the mysteries and precepts of the new covenant came to power, they advanced throughout the entire world. This same law and the new preaching of the evangelical word to all nations educated those who welcomed it in what concerns the mountain and the house of God, and it taught the nations, saying: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob.

He also judged between the nations, for he convicted many a people, here exposing the former error among those who have believed in him, there convicting those who have not believed in him, who perish along with their case. Those who have received him, who were set free from every inclination for war, spend the rest of their quiet lives recovering in peace, no longer inciting hostility from opposing power nor living as subject to the demons who had mastery over them long ago. The Savior himself bestowed this “peace” to his disciples when he said: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” This means literally that, in the end, after his theophany and after the preaching of the evangelical lawto the nations, the nations were deemed worthy to partake of the deepest peace.
[1] Eusebius of Caesarea. Ancient Christian Texts: Commentary on Isaiah. Ed. Joel C. Elowsky. Trans. Jonathan J. Armstrong. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2013. 11-12.

Jim Finley
2022-11-28 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York)
Content is protected.

Vigils Reading
2022-11-28
The Six Aspects of Advent
A sermon by St. Bernard of Clairvaux[1]

Today, brothers, we celebrate the beginning of Advent. Its name, at least – like those of the other solemn seasons – is familiar enough and known to all the world, yet the reason behind the name is perhaps not so. Weigh well the reasoning behind this Advent – this coming.

The Son’s coming was not accomplished apart from the loftiest counsels of the Trinity, and if we consider the cause of our exile, we can perhaps note – even if only in part – how appropriate it was that the Son should set us free. That Daystar [Lucifer] who rose at dawn, was cast down and fell headlong because he tried to usurp the likeness of the Most High and thought equality with God – which belongs to the Son – something to be grasped.

You see how [Lucifer] is truly what the Lord said, a liar, and the father of lies. He was a liar when he said, I will be like the Most High, and he was the father of lies when he poured out the poison of his deceit upon human beings, telling them, You shall be like gods. You too, you human being, if you see thieves, you go along with them.

In fact, our leaders, Adam and Eve, the leading figures of our race, were disobedient and the companions of thieves; at the instigation of the serpent – or rather of the devil in the guise of a serpent – , they tried to steal what belongs to the Son of God. The Father did not ignore the insult to the Son – for the Father loves the Son – but immediately took vengeance on humanity and made his hand heavy upon us.
What should the Son do when he sees the Father zealous on his behalf and unsparing of any creature? ‘See’, he says, ‘because of me the Father is losing his creatures…on my account he has lost many of the angels and all of the human beings. Therefore, so that they may know that I love the Father, let those whom he seems somehow to have lost on my account be restored to him through me. If this storm has arisen on my account, says Jonah, pick me up and throw me into the sea!’

‘They all envied me. I am coming, and I am showing myself to be such that anyone who chooses to be envious, who aches to imitate me, may do so, and this emulation may become a good thing.’

So then, Lord, I entreat, be pleased to rescue me, for I am weak…Let Truth come so that falsehood can be exposed and that I will recognize the truth and the truth will set me free, if only I altogether renounce falsehood once exposed and cling fast to the truth once recognized.
[1] Bernard of Clairvaux. Sermons for Advent and the Christmas Season. Ed. John Leinenweber. Trans. Irene Edmonds, Wendy Mary Beckett, and Conrad Grenia, OCSO. CF 51. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 2007. 3-7.

Vigils Reading - 1st Sun Advent
2022-11-27
A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew
by Paschasius Radbertus[1]

Watch, for you do not know the day or the hour. Like many other scriptural texts, the admonition is addressed to all of us, though it is formulated in such a way that it would seem to concern only Christ’s immediate audience. We can all apply it to ourselves because the Last Day and the end of the world will come for each of us on the day we depart this present life. This means we must make sure we die in the state in which we wish to appear on the Day of Judgment. Bearing this in mind each of us should guard against being led astray and failing to keep watch, otherwise the day of the Lord’s return may take us unawares. If the last day of our life finds us unprepared, then we shall be unprepared on that day also.

I do not for a moment believe the apostles expected the Lord to return in judgment during their own lifetime. All the same there can be no doubt that they took every care not to be drawn from the right path. They kept watch, observing the universal precepts their master had given to his disciples so as to be ready when he came again.

Consequently we must always be on the lookout for Christ’s twofold coming, the one when we shall have to give an account of everything we have done, and the other when he comes day after day to stir our consciences. He comes to us now in order that his future coming may find us prepared. If my conscience is burdened with sin what good will it do me to know when the Day of Judgment will be? Unless the Lord comes to my soul beforehand and makes his home with me, unless Christ lives in me and speaks his word in my heart, it is useless for me to know if and when his coming will take place. Only if Christ is already living in me and I in him will it go well with me when he comes in judgment. If I have already died to the world and am able to say, The world is crucified to me, and I to the world, then, in a sense, his final coming is already present to me.

Consider also our Lord’s warning: Many will come in my name. It is only the Antichrist and his members who, albeit falsely, claim the name of Christ, though they lack his works and his true doctrine and wisdom. You will never find the Lord in Scripture actually declaring, “I am the Christ.” His teaching and miracles revealed it clearly enough, for the Father was at work in him. Louder than a thousand acclamations his teaching and mighty works proclaimed: “I am the Christ.” And so whether or not you find him describing himself in so many words, the works of the Father and his own message of love declared what he was, whereas the false christs who possessed neither godly deeds nor holy doctrine loudly claimed to be what they were not.

[1] Journey with the Fathers – Year A – New City Press – New York – 1992 – pg 16

Skema
2022-11-27
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
1st Week of Advent

Mass Readings: Sunday (A), Weekdays (I)
November 27 – December 3, 2022

Sun
27
Mon
28
Tue
29
Wed
30
Thu
1
Fri
2
Sat
3

Office
1st Sunday of Advent
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday
St. Andrew
Advent Weekday
Advent Weekday
St Francis Xavier

Vigils
Isa 1:1-18
Isa 1:21-2:5
Isa 2:6-22
1 Cor 1:18-2:5
Isa 10:5-21
Isa 19:11-25
Isa 21:1-12

Lauds
Micah 7:14-20
Isa 6:1-7
Isa 6:8-13
Deut 30:8-14
Isa 7:10-16
Isa 5:1-7
Isa 5:15-25

Mass
1
175
176
684
178
179
180

1st
Isa 2:1-5
Isa 4:2-6
Isa 11:1-10
Rom 10:9-18
Isa 26:1-6
Isa 29:17-24
Isa 30:19-21, 23-26

2nd
Rom 13:11-14

Gospel
Matt 24:37-44
Matt 8:5-11
Luke 10:21-24
Matt 4:18-22
Matt 7:21, 24-27
Matt 9:27-31
Matt 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8

Vespers
Rev 22:12-21
Rom 1:1-12
Rom 1:13-17
1 Thess 2:8-13
Rom 2:12-16
Rom 2:17-24
Rom 3:21-26

Vigils Reading: Weekday
2022-11-26
A Reading from a Sermon on the Song of Songs by St Bernard[1]
This is the title: “The Beginning of the Song of Songs of Solomon.” Observe first the name of the Peacemaker, “Solomon”; that is appropriate at the beginning of a book which opens with the sign of peace, the kiss. And note, too, that only minds at peace are invited by this kind of opening to understand the Scriptures, minds which master the disturbances caused by the vices and the tumults of care within themselves.
Again, the title says not simply “Song,” but “Song of Songs.” Do not think that that is unimportant. I have read many songs in Scripture, and I do not remember any with that title. Israel sang a song to the Lord because he had escaped the sword and yoke of Pharaoh, and the twofold miracle of the Red Sea both freed and avenged him. The song he sang is not called “The Song of Songs,” but, if I remember correctly, Scripture says, “Israel sang this song to the Lord”.
Deborah sang and Judith sang, and the mother of Samuel sang, and some of the prophets sang too. And none of them is said to have called his song the “Song of Songs.” You will find, if I am not mistaken, that each sang in gratitude for himself or on behalf of his own people, for a victory, for example, for escape from danger, or for something longed-for which had been given. And so then many have sung, each for his own reason, so that they should not be found ungrateful for God’s goodness to them, as in “He gives thanks to you, O God, for blessing him” (Ps 48:19).
But King Solomon, singular in wisdom, sublime in glory, rich in possessions, secure in peace, is not known to have been in need of any benefit for whose granting he would have sung this song. Nor does Scripture itself anywhere say that he did. And so, divinely inspired, he sang the praises of Christ and the Church, of the gift of holy love and the mystery of eternal union with God. And at the same time he expressed the longing of the holy soul, its wedding song; and exulting in the Spirit, he composed a joyful song.
Yet it is in figurative language. It is not surprising that he veiled his face like Moses. It must have shone no less than Moses’ face did when he met God face to face, for in those days there was no one, or almost no one, who could bear the glory of the face of God unveiled. Therefore I think this wedding song is given its title because it is excellent, and that is why it alone is deservedly called “The Song of Songs,” just as he in whose honor it is sung is alone called “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (1 Tm 6:15).
[1]Bernard of Clairvaux, Trans. G R Evans in Classics of Western Spirituality, (Paulist Press NY, 1987) pp. 212-213.

Vigils Reading: Weekday
2022-11-25
A Reading from a Sermon on the Song of Songs, by Bernard of Clairvaux.[1]
What does [the bride] mean then by saying: “I am beautiful like the curtains of Solomon”? I feel that here we have a great and wonderful mystery, provided that we apply the words, not to the Solomon of this Song, but to him who said of himself: “What is here is greater than Solomon.” This Solomon to whom I refer is so great a Solomon that he is called not only Peaceful─which is the meaning of the word Solomon─but Peace itself; for Paul proclaims that “He is our Peace.”
The bride’s form must be understood in a spiritual sense, her beauty as something that is grasped by the intellect; it is eternal because it is an image of eternity. Her gracefulness consists of love, and you have read that “love never ends.” It consists of justice, for “her justice endures forever.” It consists of patience, and Scripture tells you “the patience of the poor shall not perish forever.” What shall I say of voluntary poverty? Of humility? To the former an eternal kingdom is promised, to the latter an eternal exaltation. To these must be added the holy fear of the Lord that endures forever and ever; prudence too, and temperance and fortitude and all the other virtues; what are they but the pearls in the jewelled raiment of the bride, shining with unceasing radiance?
How lowly! Yet how sublime! At the same time tent of Kedar and sanctuary of God; an earthly tent and a heavenly palace; a mud hut and a royal apartment; a body doomed to death and a temple bright with light; an object of contempt to the proud, yet the bride of Christ. She is black but beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem: for though the hardship and sorrow of prolonged exile darkens her complexion, a heavenly loveliness shines through it, the curtains of Solomon enhance it…Indeed you must note the prudence, the great wisdom, the amount of discretion and sense of fittingness generated in the bride by that controlled interplay of lowliness and exaltation according as occasion demands, so that amid the ups and downs of this world her sublime gifts sustain her lowliness lest she succumb to adversity; while her lowliness curbs her exaltation or good fortune will bring it toppling down. These poles of her life act so harmoniously. Though of their nature opposites they will work with equal effectiveness for the good of the bride. They subserve her spiritual welfare.
[1]Sermon 27 in On the Song of Songs II, The Works of Bernard of Clairvaux vol. 3, Cistercian Fathers Series no. 7. Kalamazoo MI 1976. pp.75-76.86.

Vigils Reading: St. Andrew & Companions--Thanksgiving
2022-11-24
The martyrs’ share in Christ’s victory,
from a letter of St Paul Le-Bao-Tinh. [1]
I, Paul, in chains for the name of Christ, wish to relate to you the trials besetting me daily, in order that you may be inflamed with love for God and join with me in his praises, “for his mercy is for ever.” The prison here is a true image of everlasting hell: to cruel tortures of every kind (shackles, iron chains, manacles) are added hatred, vengeance, calumnies, obscene speech, quarrels, evil acts, swearing, curses, as well as anguish and grief. But the God who once freed the three children from the fiery furnace is with me always; he has delivered me from these tribulations and made them sweet, “for his mercy is for ever.”
In the midst of these torments, which usually terrify others, I am, by the grace of God, full of joy and gladness, because I am not alone: Christ is with me. Our Master bears the whole weight of the cross, leaving me only the tiniest, last bit. He is not a mere onlooker in my struggle, but a contestant and the victor and champion in the whole battle. Therefore upon his head is placed the crown of victory, and his members also share in his glory.
How am I to bear with the spectacle, as each day I see emperors, mandarins, and their retinue blaspheming your holy name, O Lord, “who are enthroned above the Cherubim and Seraphim”? Behold, the pagans have trodden your cross underfoot! Where is your glory? As I see all this, I would, in the ardent love I have for you, prefer to be torn limb from limb and to die as a witness to your love. O Lord, show your power, save me, sustain me, that in my infirmity your power may be shown and may be glorified before the nations: grant that I may not grow weak along the way, and so allow your enemies to hold their heads up in pride.
Beloved brothers, as you hear all these things may you give endless thanks in joy to God, from whom every good proceeds; bless the Lord with me, “for his mercy is for ever.” “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor” on his lowly servant and from this day all generations will call me blessed, “for his mercy is for ever.”
“O praise the Lord, all you nations, acclaim him, all you peoples,” for “God chose what is weak in the world to confound the strong, God chose what is low and despised” to confound the noble. Through my mouth he has confused the philosophers who are disciples of the wise of this world, “for his mercy is for ever.” I write these things to you in order that your faith and mine may be united. In the midst of this storm I cast my anchor toward the throne of God, the anchor that is the lively hope in my heart.
Beloved brothers, for your part “so run that you may attain the crown,” put on the “breastplate of faith” and take up “the weapons” of Christ “for the right hand and for the left,” as my patron Saint Paul has taught us. “It is better for you to enter life with one eye or crippled” than, with all your members intact, to be cast away. Come to my aid with your prayers, that I may have the strength to fight according to the law, and indeed “to fight the good fight” and to fight until the end and so finish the race. We may not again see each other in this life, but we will have the happiness of seeing each other again in the world to come, when, standing at the throne of the spotless Lamb, we will together join in singing his praises and exult for ever in the joy of our triumph.
[1] Le Clerge Tonkinois et Ses Pretres Martyrs, A. Launay (Paris: Paris Foreign Mission Society, 1925), pp. 80-83.

Vigils Reading: St. Columban
2022-11-23
On Discretion. From the Rule of St. Columban for Monks.[1]
How necessary discretion is for monks is shown by the mistake of many, and indicated by the downfall of some, who beginning without discretion and passing their time without a sobering knowledge, have been unable to complete a praiseworthy life; since, just as error overtakes those who proceed without a path, so for those who live without discretion intemperance is at hand, and this is always the opposite of virtues which are placed in the mean between each extreme. Therefore we must pray God continually that He would bestow the light of true discretion to illumine this way, surrounded on every side by the world’s thickest darkness, so that His true worshippers may be able to cross this darkness without error to Himself. So discretion has got its name from discerning, for the reason that it discerns in us between good and evil, and also between the moderate and the complete. For from the beginning either class has been divided like light and darkness, that is, good and evil, after evil began through the devil’s agency to exist by the corruption of good, but through God’s agency Who first illumines and then divides.
What things then are good? Doubtless those which are untouched, and have remained in the undefiled state of their creation; which God alone created and prepared, according to the Apostle, that we should walk in them; which are the good works in which in Christ Jesus we were created, namely goodness, innocence, righteousness, justice, truth, pity, love, saving peace, spiritual joy, together with the fruit of the Spirit – all these with their fruits are good. Since this is so, the good must be firmly held by those that have God’s help, which is ever to be prayed for in prosperity and in adversity, lest either in prosperity we be lifted up to pride, or in adversity be cast down to despair. Thus we must always restrain ourselves from either danger, that is, from all excess by a splendid temperance and true discretion, which cleaves to Christian lowliness and opens the way of perfection to Christ’s true soldiers, namely by ever discerning rightly in doubtful cases.
Thus between the little and the excessive there is a reasonable measure in the midst, which ever recalls us from every superfluity on either side, and in every case provides what is universally fixed by human need, and spurns the unreasonable demand of superfluous desire. And this measure of true discretion, weighing all our actions in the scales of justice, in no way allows us to err from what is just, or to suffer a mistake, if we ever follow straight behind it as our leader. For while we must always restrain ourselves from either side, according to that saying: “Keep yourselves from the right and from the left,” we must ever proceed straight forward by discretion, that is, by the light of God, while very often we say and sing the victorious psalmist’s verse: “My God, enlighten my darkness, since in You I am rescued from temptation. For temptation is the life of humans on earth.”
[1] Sancti Columbani Opera. edited by G.S.M. Walker. The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. 1957. p.135.

Vigils Reading: St. Cecilia
2022-11-22
A reading on St. Cecilia, from a homily by Ronald Knox. 1
The legends of the early Roman saints, among whom St. Cecilia is numbered, do not always command great attention from the critically minded historian. But whether the story of St. Cecilia as it is told in her acts is all true or only partly true, there is a simplicity about the whole story and a simplicity about St. Cecilia’s character in the story which demands a retelling. Let me remind you in the most general way of her story: how she was married to a young pagan called Valerian, but persuaded him to respect her vow of virginity, because her guardian angel would make him sorry for it if he did otherwise; how Valerian wanted to see this guardian angel, but Cecilia, with her innocent craft, said he could not do that unless he was baptized first; how he was baptized, and saw the angel at her side as she prayed; how he made a convert of his brother Tiburtius, and how first the two brothers, and then Cecilia herself were punished with death for professing the Christian religion. It is an old story, and a familiar one: and while we do all homage to other great saints for their public witness to Christ, we shall always need St. Cecilia as well, quietly working at home for the conversion of her own husband and his family.
Not that St. Cecilia herself was in the position of a modern wife. Like so many Christian ladies of her time, she had taken, in imitation of our blessed Lady, a vow of perpetual virginity. These virgin martyrs were martyrs because they were virgins: it was because they insisted on keeping their vow when their parents wished them to marry that the secret of their attachment to the Christian faith was discovered; and it was their persistency in maintaining it that led to their martyrdom. It would be hard to estimate, I think, how much the unpopularity in Roman society of the Christian faith owed to its tradition of virginity. Virginity is an ideal which the pagan had no right to misunderstand. For, in theory, they, too, honored it; and it should have commended itself to their heathen instinct for sacrifice. For the point of a sacrifice is that the victim should be spotless, the best of its kind. You must offer not what you can well afford to spare, but what will cost you something. That is the pagan idea of sacrifice; and the Christian idea of sacrifice is based on the same principle. In order to give up something to God, we forgo, not the sinful pleasures which we have no right to in any case, but the lawful pleasures which he has given us to enjoy if we will. So, let St. Cecilia’s feast remind us to take our Christian vocation seriously, to follow out in our lives the words we profess with our lips. And may this Roman maiden pray for us who worship here and for those who minister to us, that when Christ, the Master she served, comes again in judgment, we may be found blameless before almighty God.
1
ASt. Cecilia@, in Occasional Sermons, ed. by Philip Caraman, SJ; New York: Sheed and Ward, 1960, pp. 6-10.

Vigils Reading: Presentation B.V.M.
2022-11-21
The Virgin Mary and the Temple, by Fr. Yves Congar[1]
The only occasion on which the Gospels expressly mention the Virgin Mary in connection with the Temple are in the account of her Purification and of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (LK 2:23-38) and the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple after four days’ absence on his part and three anxious searching by his parents (LK 2:42-50). To these very brief indications, the piety of Christians very soon added the idea of the presentation of Mary in the Temple at the age of three to be consecrated to the service of God. We are dealing here with a symbolical representation of a profound spiritual reality about which the tradition and the doctrine of the Church provide us with valid information. Mary, predestined to be the Mother of Jesus, true God and true man, and to be worthy of her vocation, was prepared by the gift of exceptional graces and lived with unfailing fidelity a most pure life of inner consecration to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As the type of all faithful souls and of the Church herself, Mary expressed spiritually and supremely in her life the “presentation” which, for each one of us, is to begin by the service of faith and to be consummated in heaven.
It is obvious that the tradition and doctrine of the Church may, without falling prey to the imaginary productions of the apocrypha, propound statements concerning the status of the Mother of God in relation either to the Jewish messianic temple going far beyond what we are explicitly told in the three short passages from the Gospel which narrate the incidents mentioned above. If Mary is the Mother of God, she has a special relation to the body of Christ which is the true temple–to his physical body and doubtless also, in a certain sense, to his body the Church. She is herself a temple of God in a quite specific and sublime way, both because Christ was within her from the moment of his conception until that of his birth, and because of the exceptional spiritual gifts she received in preparation for her divine motherhood and as a reward for her free acceptance of this vocation (LK 1:38), not only after the Annunciation but during the whole of her life. Hence the liturgy–the Oriental liturgy in particular–shows a profound understanding of the mystery of Mary when it constantly uses the texts concerning the Temple and the tabernacle in order to express it.
[1]The Mystery of the Temple,Westminster(Maryland) 1962, p.254-255.

Compline
2022-11-20 19:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York)

Vigils Reading: Christ the King
2022-11-20
A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke by St Bernard of Clairvaux 1
The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. These are the angel’s words to the Virgin concerning the son he had announced, promising that he would succeed to the kingdom of David. No one questions the origin of our Lord Jesus from the line of David, but how, I wonder, will God give him the throne of David, since Jesus never reigned in Jerusalem and would not consent to the crowds who would make him king – he even protested before Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world. Besides, what importance could be attached to his sitting on the throne of David his father when he was already seated on the cherubim, on a throne high and lifted up, as the prophet says? But we know that another Jerusalem is meant, different from the present one where David once reigned, a city much nobler and richer. God will indeed give him the throne of his father David when he has established him as king over Zion, his holy mountain – he will give him not a symbolic but a real throne, not a temporal but an eternal throne, not an earthly but a heavenly throne.
He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Again, if we take this in a temporal sense, how is it that Christ will reign for ever over something not eternal in itself? We must look, then, for a house of Jacob that is eternal, over which he will reign for ever. Are there any among us who, in accordance with the meaning of the name Jacob (supplanter), will supplant the devil in their hearts, struggle against their vices and desires, so that sin will not reign in their bodies, but Jesus only, through grace now, through glory for all eternity? Blessed are they in whom Jesus will reign for ever, for they shall reign with him, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Oh how glorious is that kingdom where kings are gathered together to give united praise and honor to the King of kings and Lord of lords, in the contemplation of whose splendor the just shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father. Oh that Jesus, out of the love he has for his people, may remember me, a sinner, when he comes into his kingdom! Oh that he may deign to come and save me on that day when he delivers up his kingdom to his God and Father, so that I may see the joy of his chosen ones and rejoice in the gladness of his people. Then I too shall be able to praise him together with his inheritance.
And now, Lord Jesus, come and remove the stumbling blocks within the kingdom which is my soul, so that you who ought to may reign in it. Greed comes along and claims its throne in me; arrogance would dominate me; pride would be my king. Comfort and pleasure say: “We shall reign!” Ambition, detraction, envy, anger fight within me for supremacy, and seem to have me entirely in their power. But I resist insofar as I can; I struggle against them insofar as I receive your help. I protest that Jesus is my Lord. I keep myself for him since I acknowledge his rights over me. To me he is God, to me he is Lord, and I declare: I will have no king but the Lord Jesus! Come then, Lord, rout them by your power and you will reign in me, for you are my king and my God, who grant victories to Jacob.
1Journey with the Fathers – Year C – New City Press – NY – 1997 – pg 136

Skema: Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
2022-11-20
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
34th Week in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (II)
November 20 – 26, 2022

Sun
20
Mon
21
Tue
22
Wed
23
Thu
24
Fri
25
Sat
26

Office
Christ the King
Presentation of the BVM
St Cecilia
St Columban
St Andrew & Companions
Thanksgiving
Weekday
Weekday

Vigils
Ezek 34:11-31
Song 3:1-11
Song 4:1-5:1
Song 5:2-6:3
Song 6:4-7:6
Song 7:7-8:4
Song 8:5-14

Lauds
Jerm 10:1-10
Mal 2:1-9
Mal 2:10-16
Mal 2:17-3:5
Mal 3:6-12
Mal 3:13-18
Mal 3:19-24

Mass
162
503
504
505
943.3, 944.3, 947.6
507
508

1st
2 Sam 5:1-3
Rev 14:1-3, 4b-5
Rev 14:14-19
Rev 15:1-4
Isa 63:7-9
Rev 20:1-4, 11-21:2
Rev 22:1-7

2nd
Col 1:12-20

Col 3:12-17

Gospel
Luke 23:35-43
Luke 21:1-4
Luke 21:5-11
Luke 21:12-19
Luke 17:11-19
Luke 21:29-33
Luke 21:34-36

Vespers
Eph 1:15-23
1 Cor 15:20-28
1 Cor 15:29-34
1 Cor 15:35-41
1 Cor 15:42-49
1 Cor 15:50-58
Rev 1:1-8

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rule of Benedict: Reflection 7 pm CT
2022-11-15 19:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88434101612?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 884 3410 1612
Passcode: [REDACTED]
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,88434101612# US (Chicago)
Chapter 37: On the Old and Children
Although human nature itself is drawn to special kindness towards these times of life, that is towards the old and children, still the authority of the Rule should also provide for them. Let their weakness be always taken into account, and let them by no means be held to the rigor of the Rule with regard to food. On the contrary, let a kind consideration be shown to them, and let them eat before the regular hours.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2nd
2 Thess 3:7-12

Eph 2:19-22

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

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

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

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

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

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

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