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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251203
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251204
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251129T232850Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251129T232850Z
UID:14313-1764720000-1764806399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:St. Francis Xavier
DESCRIPTION:ST FRANCIS XAVIER\nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints 4\n◊◊◊\nFrancis 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… \nThey 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… \nBut before he left he heard about Japan for the first time from Portuguese merchants. 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. \nFrancis 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… Twelve years later the Jesuit lay-brother\, Luis de Almeida\, found these isolated converts still retaining their first fervor and faithfulness. \nAt 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. \nFrancis 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. \n4\nButler’s Lives of the Saints – revised edition – Harper – San Francisco – 1991 – p 398f.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/st-francis-xavier/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251204
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251205
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251129T233223Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251129T233223Z
UID:14315-1764806400-1764892799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Advent Weekday
DESCRIPTION:A SIMPLE SURRENDER TO GOD\nFrom the Spiritual Conferences of John Tauler 5\n◊◊◊\n“You shall be witnesses unto me in all Judea.” Judea means “to confess God” or “to praise God.” We are to be God’s witnesses by confessing God in all our actions\, behavior\, and intentions. And this not merely when all goes well with us\, when we are full of joy and delight and natural enthusiasm. People find it easy enough at such times to think that they are confessing God very well. They seem to know and love God well enough as long as things go according to their own will; but as soon as they meet with terrible assaults\, they begin to wonder what they have been about. They have completely lost their bearings now that suffering has come upon them. \nNow we can see clearly what has been at the root and foundation of their confession: not God\, but their feelings. This is an unstable foundation built on shifting sands. God’s true witnesses\, on the other hand\, stand firm\, rooted in God and in God’s will\, in love and in suffering\, no matter what God gives or what God takes away. Nor do they set great store by practices of their own. \nIt often happens that when people have successfully undertaken some pious practices\, they give much thought to the business of planning them and carrying them out; and so they place great reliance on them and exercise their own activity to the utmost. But God\, in an inalienable love\, often breaks down whatever rests on such a foundation as this by frequently arranging things which run contrary to our desires. If we want to keep vigil\, we are obliged to sleep\, against our will; if we like to fast\, we are made to eat; if we would like to be quiet and at rest\, we have to do quite otherwise. In this way everything that we cling to crumbles at our touch\, so that we may be brought face to face with our own bare and naked nothingness. \nThus we should learn to place all our reliance upon God\, confessing God alone in a simple and uncompromising faith\, and resting upon nothing else at all. For just as worldly and sinful persons are seduced by sensual pleasures\, so these people are held back by a complacency in what they do or what they feel\, and are thus hindered from an absolute and simple surrender to God and from the true poverty of spirit which God wants of them. \n5\nSpiritual Conferences\, John Tauler O.P.\, Herder: St. Louis 1961. pp.97-98.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/advent-weekday-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251205
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251206
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251129T233633Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251129T233633Z
UID:14317-1764892800-1764979199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Advent Weekday
DESCRIPTION:NOTHING LESS THAN LOVE\nFrom a letter by Hadewijch of Flanders 6\n◊◊◊\nI will tell you without beating about the bush: be satisfied with nothing less than Love. Give reason its time\, and always observe where you heed it too little and where enough. And do not let yourself be stopped by any pleasure through which your reason may be the loser. What I mean by “your reason” is that you must keep your insight ever vigilant in the use of discernment. Never must any difficulty hinder you from serving people\, be they insignificant or important\, sick or healthy. And the sicker they are\, and the fewer friends they have\, the more readily must you serve them. And always bear with aliens willingly. As for all who slander you\, contradict them not. And be desirous to associate with all who scorn you\, for they make the way of Love broader for you. \nLeave not anyone in need out of spite. And never fail to ask about any wise teaching you are ignorant of\, out of spite or shame that you do not know it. For you are bound before God to acquire a knowledge of all the virtues and to learn them by exertion\, questioning\, study\, and earnest purpose. \nAnd if by your fault you have offended anyone\, wait not too long to set it right. You are bound to this by the death of our Lord\, in order to content him. Take whatever means you think the quickest and best to make peace with the one you have offended. \nDo not become so stubbornly attached to anything that God may\, in consequence\, refuse you grace. Do not\, through pride\, spare any service. Do not\, through pride\, refrain from giving gifts to the poor. Do not\, through pride\, fail to ask for anything you need and cannot well do without. Do not\, through pride\, be ashamed that you are hungry\, thirsty\, drowsy\, or cold\, or be ashamed of a repulsive illness\, or of having shown a lack of good understanding or courtliness. For it is great honor and the finest courtly behavior if one acknowledges outwardly what one is ashamed of; but it is great pride not to tell it; and it is outrage and shame to see [in anyone] more evil than is truly to be seen. \nMoreover toward God\, our Beloved\, it is guileful insincerity and odious infidelity. For it is the law of high [promise] and love that the loved one be revealed to the beloved in all that he or she is\, lowly or sublime. \n6\nHadewijch\, The Complete Works\, trans. Mother Columba Hart\, OSB; New York: Paulist Press\, 1980\, pp. 103-104.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/advent-weekday-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251206
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251207
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251129T234249Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251129T234249Z
UID:14319-1764979200-1765065599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Advent Weekday
DESCRIPTION:THE ONE RIGHT WAY\nBy St John Henry Newman 7\n◊◊◊\nIt takes a long time really to feel and understand things as they are; we learn to do so only gradually. Profession beyond our feelings is only a fault when we might help it; when either we speak when we need not speak\, or do not feel when we might have felt. Hard insensible hearts\, ready and thoughtless talkers\, these are they whose unreality\, as I have termed it\, is a sin; it is the sin of every one of us\, in proportion as our hearts are cold\, or our tongues excessive. \nBut the mere fact of our saying more than we feel is not necessarily sinful. St Peter did not rise up to the full meaning of his confession\, “Thou art the Christ\,” yet he was pronounced blessed. St James and St John said\, “We are able\,” without clear apprehension\, yet without offense. We ever promise things greater than we master\, and we wait on God to enable us to perform them. Our promising involves a prayer for light and strength. And so again we all say the Creed\, but who comprehends it fully? All we can hope is\, that we are in the way to understand it; that we partly understand it; that we desire\, pray\, and strive to understand it more and more. Our Creed becomes a sort of prayer. Persons are culpably unreal in their way of speaking\, not when they say more than they feel\, but when they say things different from what they feel… \nWhat I have been saying comes to this – be in earnest\, and you will speak of religion where\, and when\, and how you should; aim at things\, and your words will be right without aiming. There are ten thousand ways of looking at this world\, but only one right way. The person of pleasure has his way\, the man of gain his\, and the man of intellect his. Poor people and rich people\, governors and governed\, prosperous and discontented\, learned and unlearned\, each has its own way of looking at the things which come before it\, and each has a wrong way. \nThere is but one right way; it is the way in which God looks at the world. Aim at looking at it in God’s way. Aim at seeing things as God sees them. Aim at forming judgments about persons\, events\, ranks\, fortunes\, changes\, objects\, such as God forms. Aim at looking at this life as God looks at it. Aim at looking at the life to come\, and the world unseen\, as God does. Aim at “seeing the King in His beauty.” All things that we see are but shadows to us and delusions\, unless we enter into what they really mean. \nIt is not an easy thing to learn that new language which Christ has brought us. He has interpreted all things for us in a new way; He has brought us a religion which sheds a new light on all that happens. Try to learn this language. Do not get it by rote\, or speak it as a thing of course. Try to understand what you say. Time is short\, eternity is long… \n7\nParochial and Plain Sermons\, John Henry Newman. Ignatius Press\, San Francisco 1987. pp.977-978.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/advent-weekday-5/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251207
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251208
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251207T144334Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251207T144334Z
UID:14336-1765065600-1765151999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n2nd Week of Advent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nDecember 7 – 13\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n7\nMon\n8\nTue\n9\nWed\n10\nThu\n11\nFri\n12\nSat\n13\n\n\nOffice\n2nd Sunday of Advent\nImmaculate Conception\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nOur Lady of Guadalupe\nSt Lucy\n\n\nVigils\nIsa 14:1-21\nRom 5:12-21\nIsa 29:13-24\nIsa 30:15-26\nIsa 32:1-20\nProv 8:32-9:11\nIsa 35:1-10\n\n\nLauds\nIsa 4:2-6\nJudges 6:34-40\nIsa 9:1-6\nIsa 12:1-6\nIsa 55:6-12\nSir 4:11-18\nIsa 11:10-16\n\n\nMass\n4\n689\n182\n183\n184\n690A\n186\n\n\n1st\nIsa 11:1-10\nGen 3:9-15\, 20\nIsa 40:1-11\nIsa 40:25-31\nIsa 41:13-20\nRev 11:19a; 12:1-6a\, 10ab\nSir 48:1-4\, 9-11\n\n\n2nd\nRom 15:4-9\nEph 1:3-6\, 11-12\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 3:1-12\nLuke 1:26-38\nMatt 18:12-14\nMatt 11:28-30\nMatt 11:11-15\nLuke 1:39-47\nMatt 17:9a\, 10-13\n\n\nVespers\nRom 5:1-11\nRom 8:28-39\nRom 8:18-27\nRom 6:16-23\nRom 7:14-25\nGal 3:23-29\nRom 8:9-17
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-135/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251207
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251208
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251207T144612Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251207T144612Z
UID:14338-1765065600-1765151999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils reading - 2nd Sun of Advent
DESCRIPTION:THE TIME FOR FAITH \nFrom a commentary by St Augustine \n◊◊◊ \nThe gospel tells us that some people were rebuked by the Lord because\, \nclever as they were at reading the face of the sky\, they could not recognize the \ntime for faith when the kingdom of heaven was at hand. It was the Jews who \nreceived this reprimand\, but it has also come down to us. The Lord Jesus began \nhis preaching of the gospel with the admonition: Repent\, for the kingdom of \nheaven is at hand. His forerunner\, John the Baptist\, began in the same way: \nRepent\, he said\, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Today\, for those who will \nnot repent at the approach of the kingdom of heaven\, the reproof of the Lord is \nthe same. As he points out himself\, You cannot expect to see the kingdom of \nheaven coming. The kingdom of heaven\, he says elsewhere\, is within you. \nEach of us would be wise therefore to take to heart the advice of his \nteacher\, and not waste this present time. It is now that the Savior offers us his \nmercy; now\, while he still spares the human race. Understand that it is in hope \nof our conversion that he spares us\, for he desires no one’s damnation. As for \nwhen the end of the world will be\, that is God’s concern. \nNow is the time for faith. Whether any of us here present will see the end \nof the world I know not; very likely none of us will. Even so\, the time is very near \nfor each of us\, for we are mortal. There are hazards all around us. We should be \nin less danger from them were we made of glass. What is more fragile than a \nvessel of glass? And yet it can be kept safe and last indefinitely. Of course it is \nexposed to accident\, but it is not liable to old age and the suffering it brings. \nWe therefore are the more frail and infirm. In our weakness we are \nhaunted by fears of all the calamities that regularly befall the human race\, and if \nno such calamity overtakes us\, still\, time marches on. We may evade the blows \nof fortune\, but shall we evade death? We may escape perils from without\, but \nshall we escape what comes from within us? Now\, suddenly\, we may be attacked \nby any malady. And if we are spared? Even so\, old age comes at last\, and nothing \nwill delay it.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-2nd-sun-of-advent/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251208
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251209
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251207T144740Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251207T144740Z
UID:14340-1765152000-1765238399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils reading - Immaculate Conception
DESCRIPTION:THE FAVORED ONE \nFrom a commentary by Sophronius of Jerusalem \n◊◊◊ \nHail full of grace\, the Lord is with you. Truly blessed are you among \nwomen\, for you have changed the curse of Eve into a blessing and caused Adam\, \nonce accursed\, to be blessed through you. Truly blessed are you among \nwomen\, for it was through you that the Father’s blessing dawned on humankind \nand freed it from the ancient curse. Truly blessed are you among women\, for \nthrough you your ancestors will be saved\, since you are going to bear the Savior \nwho will gain them God’s salvation. Truly blessed are you among women\, for \nwithout seed you produced the fruit that brings blessing to all the earth\, \nreleasing it from the curse that made it bear thorns. Truly blessed are you \namong women\, for though by nature you are a woman\, you will in very truth \nbecome the mother of God: if he who is to be born of you is truly God incarnate\, \nthen\, since you will be giving birth to God\, you will with perfect justice be called \nthe mother of God. \nDo not be afraid\, Mary\, for you have found favor with God that can \nnever be lost. You have won from God a most glorious favor\, a grace long \ndesired\, a grace of great splendor\, a saving grace\, an unfailing grace\, a grace that \nwill last for ever. Many before you have been holy\, but no one has been as \nfavored as you\, no one as blessed as you\, no one as perfectly sanctified as you\, no \none as highly praised as you. No one else has like you been possessed from the \nfirst by purifying grace\, no one else has been enlightened like you\, or exalted like \nyou\, for no one has approached so close to God as you\, or been enriched with \nsuch divine gifts\, or endowed with such heavenly grace. \nYou surpass all human desire; you surpass all the gifts given by God to the \nwhole human race\, for God’s dwelling within you has made you richer than all \nothers. No one else has been able to contain God as you do; no one else has been \ncapable of receiving God as you have; no one else has deserved to be so \nenlightened by God. And therefore you have not only received God\, the Creator \nand Lord of the universe\, but He has in an unheard-of way taken flesh from you; \nyou bear him in your womb\, and will later give birth to him who will redeem \nhumankind from the Father’s sentence\, and confer on it eternal salvation.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-immaculate-conception-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251209
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251210
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251207T144836Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251207T144836Z
UID:14342-1765238400-1765324799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils reading
DESCRIPTION:THE ADVENT OF GOD \nFrom “Pathways in Holy Scripture” by Dom Damasus Winzen \n◊◊◊ \nThe word Advent had for the people of old a magic sound. It put before \ntheir eyes the glorious scene of the king’s return from a victorious war. Preceded \nand followed by the might of his arms\, carrying with him the spoils of victory\, \nthe hosts of the captives\, the treasures of the enemy\, he stands on his chariot\, \nvested in the purple of triumph\, the golden wreath of victory on his head. The \nwhole city is in a delirium of joy. The festive throngs of the citizens line the \nstreets. They greet their king with the royal shout\, acclaiming him as savior and \nkyrios with incense and hymns. In the evening thousands of lights appear on \nwindows and doorways\, on temples\, gates and palaces\, for the light is come\, and \nthe glory of the king is risen upon the city. \nThe Advent of our Ecclesiastical Year does not celebrate the triumphant \nentry of an earthly king into his capital\, but it sees the King of kings whose might \ncovers the earth like a cloud\, returning to the world which He had left because of \nits sin\, crushing His enemies\, extirpating sin and establishing a kingdom of \npeace for those who believe in Him. This is the Divine Action of salvation which \nconstitutes the real meaning of history\, although it may take centuries and \ncenturies to be accomplished. That the birth of Mary’s little babe in the humble \nmanger of Bethlehem is the beginning of this glorious Advent would be hidden \nfrom the eyes of men\, had the glad tiding not been announced from heaven and \nhad the Holy Spirit not spoken in times past to the fathers by the prophets. \nIt is really the vision of the prophets which opens the eyes of the faithful to \nsee beneath the humble form of man the glory of God\, and to realize that Christ’s \nFirst Coming in patience and charity is the beginning of the Day of judgment \nwhich will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven to receive the \nEternal Kingdom from the hands of the Father. It is the unique gift of the \nprophets to see sign and reality\, the human and the divine\, the present and the \nfuture in their compenetration. Therefore\, they “rendered service not so much \nto them selves but to us\,” [as it is written in the first letter of Peter\, us] who \ncelebrate the Advent of God in that incomparable compenetration of visible sign \nand divine reality which is the liturgy of the Church.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-370/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251210
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251211
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251207T144946Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251207T144946Z
UID:14344-1765324800-1765411199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils reading
DESCRIPTION:SAINT AND MISSION \nFrom “The World of Prayer” by Adrienne von Speyr \n◊◊◊ \nA saint’s standing before God with a community within is no plain and \nsimple fact. The saints can be in God’s presence in such a personal way that\, \ninvoluntarily or even voluntarily\, they forget their mission. And between these \ntwo poles there is a whole spectrum. It may happen involuntarily when God \nalone wishes it so because he wants to have his saint to himself. It happens \nvoluntarily when the saint feels it right on this occasion to be alone in God’s \npresence\, leaving the particular mission out of focus in the background. \nThere is another extreme in relation to these two forms of prayer\, namely\, \nthe prayer of those saints who never appear before God except in the very midst \nof their mission\, whether because God wills it so or because the saint will not \nhave it otherwise. Here too there are gradations. One is inclined to a certain \nsuspicion of those who always do everything completely deliberately and of \ntheir own free will\, choosing whether to go before God with or without the \nmission entrusted to them\, whereas there can be no grounds for suspicion in the \ncase of the saint who\, involuntarily and only as God requires\, is always standing \nbefore God in one sense or another. In general\, however\, there is an alternation: \nThere are times and moments in which the saint is more important to God than \nthe individual mission\, and others when the mission itself is the most important \nthing. \nIf the saints themselves make no choice\, God can work in them or in their \nmission or in both\, within the relationship he chooses. But if the saint and the \nmission constitute a single unity as willed by God\, God’s shaping influence on \nthe one will always benefit the other. \nIt can happen\, then\, that when a particular mission begins to make itself \nfelt it brings difficulties for the saint in standing before God in prayer. But these \ndifficulties and their mastery contribute to the saint’s fruitfulness. They never \ntake the form of insuperable obstacles but of a gain at a higher level\, be it a \ndeeper insight or a better adaptation to God’s will or a closer integration of saint \nand mission. Mission here always means an embodiment of the community. It is \nwhat\, in the saint\, is of and for the community: the seed of community\, a task \nwithin the community\, a fruit entrusted to the community. This fruit is greater \nthan the I; it is the Thou\, in all its manifold forms\, which has been entrusted to \nthe I. Ultimately this multiplicity belongs to the Church and indeed can be the \nChurch.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-371/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251212
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251207T145049Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251207T145049Z
UID:14346-1765411200-1765497599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils reading
DESCRIPTION:MY HEART IS READY \nFrom a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny \n◊◊◊ \nDo you want to hear more explicitly about the confession you should \nmake in preparation for the coming of the Lord? “A just man is the first to accuse \nhimself\,” says the Scripture. And what follows? His Friend comes\, who before \nthe accusation was withdrawing farther away\, estranged. For when he said: “I \nwill confess against myself my injustice to the Lord\,” the Lord forgave him. “He \ncomes and shall search him.” Indeed he shall search him like a strong draft \nsearching the heart and the reins\, reaching into the division of the soul and the \nspirit\, drawing out all impurity from the recesses of the soul and the deep \ncaverns of the mind\, purging love that it may bring forth more fruit. God the \nFather\, the husbandman\, rejoices already over the first-fruits of that confession. \nHowever\, he who – after such confession – is present sometimes even \nbefore he is called on\, at other times waits for you to invite him. And in order to \nincrease your merits he often dissimulates for a long time so that by being more \nattentive at the psalmody and more instant in prayer you may in your gentle \nviolence compel him to enter. If you do not\, the prophet laments that the cities \nof the south are shut up\, with none to enter them. \nWhen therefore you can say: “My heart is ready\, O God\,” because it is \nemptied of evil\, “my heart is ready\,” because it is full of holy desires\, then busy \nyourself with what follows: “I will sing and recite a psalm.” And whatever may \nbe your voice\, singing or reciting\, let this intention be in your mind: “Arise\, my \nGlory\, arise at my coming\, for as far as it is in me [to go\,] I have gone to meet \nyou.” \nO good Jesus\, how swift and prompt\, how full of joy and gladness are you \nin running to greet such devotion as this. How cheerful do you show yourself in \nthese ways. As Isaiah says: “You have met him that rejoices and does justice: in \nyour ways they shall remember you.” For if you sing wisely in the way of \nintegrity\, coming he will come and will bring to light what is hidden from you so \nthat you may understand the mysteries of the Scriptures you do not at present \nknow. Then it will be as you say: “I will sing and I will understand in the \nunspotted way when you shall come to me.” Stir up\, Lord\, your power\, which at \nyour coming stirs up our sluggishness\, and come to save us\, O Savior of the \nworld\, who live and reign\, God for ever and ever.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-372/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251212
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251213
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251207T145211Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251207T145211Z
UID:14348-1765497600-1765583999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils reading -Our Lady of Guadalupe
DESCRIPTION:THE APPEARANCE OF THE \nBLESSED VIRGIN MARY \nAT GUADALUPE \nFrom the first written Aztec account of the apparition6 \n◊◊◊ \nUpon his reaching the top of the hillock\, Juan Diego catches sight of a \nwoman\, one who has been taking her stand there. She beckons him to come on\, \ncloser up to herself. Upon reaching her presence\, he greatly marvels at her \nextreme\, her surpassing\, her perfect wonderfulness. \nHer garments are as the sun\, gleaming\, glittering. Even the boulder\, the \ncrag\, on which she takes her stand sparkles in resplendence\, like fine emerald \njade or a bangle when it shines\, like the swarming glow of a rainbow in the \ngloom. Even the soil\, the brambles and prickles and the rest of the varied weeds \nthat struggle to survive there are shining like emerald\, like divine turquoise\, to \nthe tip of every leaf; are glittering like the golden scourings of the gods up every \nstalk and twig and thorn. \nIn her presence he prostrates; he listens to her utterance\, her declaration. \nThese are as of one who sets others at ease\, one whose manner is to attract\, one \nwhose attitude is to esteem. She addresses him: “Do listen to me\, my littlest one\, \nJuanito!… “Do know this\, do be assured of it in your heart\, my littlest one\, that I \nmyself\, I am the entirely and ever Virgin Saint Mary\, Mother of the True \nDivinity\, God Himself: Because of Him\, life goes on\, Creation goes on; His are \nall things afar\, His are all things near at hand\, things above in the heavens\, \nthings here below on the earth. How truly I wish it\, how greatly I desire it\, that \nhere they should erect me my temple! Here would I show forth\, here would I lift \nup to view\, here would I make a gift of all my fondness for my dear ones\, all my \nregard for my needy ones\, my willingness to aid them\, my readiness to protect \nthem. For truly I myself\, I am your compassionate mother\, yours\, for you \nyourself\, for everybody here in the land\, for each and all together\, for all others \ntoo\, for all folk of every kind\, who do but cherish me\, who do but raise their \nvoices to me\, who do but seek me\, who do but raise their trust to me. \nFor here I shall listen to their groanings\, to their saddenings; here shall I \nmake well and heal up their each and every kind of disappointment\, of \nexhausting pangs\, of bitter aching pain… Therefore\, to realize all that my \nclemency claims\, go to the palace of the Bishop of Mexico\, and say that I sent you \nto make manifest to him my great desire; namely\, that here in the valley a temple \nshould be built to me. Tell him word for word all that you have seen and heard and \nadmired. Be assured that I shall be grateful and that I will reward you\, for I will \nmake your life happy and cause you to become worthy of the labor you have taken \nand the trouble you perform to do what I enjoin you. Now you have heard all my \nbidding\, least of my sons. Go and do your utmost.’ \n“At this point he bowed before her and said\, ‘Lady\, I go to do your bidding. \nAs your humble servant\, I take my leave of you.’ Then he went on to accomplish \nher will\, taking the causeway that leads directly to Mexico City.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-our-lady-of-guadalupe-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251213
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251214
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251207T145311Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251207T145311Z
UID:14350-1765584000-1765670399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils reading - St Lucy
DESCRIPTION:ST LUCY \nFrom Butler’s Lives of the Saints \n◊◊◊ \nSt Lucy is said to have been a Sicilian\, born in the city of Syracuse of noble \nand wealthy parents and brought up a Christian. She wished to devote her life to \nGod and to give her fortune to the poor\, but during the Diocletian persecutions a \nman\, usually represented as a Roman soldier\, tried to rape her\, and she resisted. \nHe denounced her as a Christian\, and she was arrested\, tortured and killed. \nThough these traditions have no ascertainable historical basis\, her \nconnection with Syracuse and the existence of an early cult connected with her \nname are well established. A fourth-century inscription mentioning that a girl \ncalled Euskia died on Lucy’s feast-day survives at Syracuse. Lucy was honoured \nat Rome in the sixth century as one of the most illustrious virgin martyrs whose \nlives the Church celebrates. Her name is included in the Canons of the Roman \nand Ambrosian rites and occurs in the oldest Roman sacramentaries\, in Greek \nliturgical books\, and in the marble calendar of Naples. \nChurches were dedicated to her in Rome\, Naples\, and eventually Venice. \nIn England two ancient churches were dedicated to her\, and she has certainly \nbeen known since the end of the seventh century… \nPossibly on account of her name\, which has connotations of light and \npurity (in Latin Lux and Lucia)\, legends have long gathered around St Lucy. \nSome of the legends and many paintings relate to her eyes. One gruesome story \nis that she tore her eyes out rather than surrender to her attacker\, and she is \nsometimes shown offering them to him. Oddly\, she is the patron saint of those \nwith eye trouble\, and a gentler interpretation is that this is because the eyes are \nthe source of our awareness of light. Her feast-day had long been the occasion \nfor special ceremonies connected with virginity. It occurs near the shortest day \nof the year and is especially celebrated in Sweden as a festival of light\, with a \nprocession of young girls dressed in white and crowned with lighted candles. \nThe song “Santa Lucia” celebrates her memory.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-lucy-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251214
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251215
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251213T202423Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251213T202423Z
UID:14373-1765670400-1765756799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n3rd Week of Advent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nDecember 14 – 20\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n14\nMon\n15\nTue\n16\nWed\n17\nThu\n18\nFri\n19\nSat\n20\n\n\nOffice\n3rd Sunday of Advent\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nMicah 4:1-14\nMicah 5:1-14\nMicah 7:7-20\nIsa 40:1-11\nIsa 40:12-31\nIsa 41:8-20\nIsa 41:21-29\n\n\nLauds\nZech 2:10-17\nIsa 24:21-25:5\nIsa 52:1-7\nIsa 42:1-9\nIsa 45:1-8\nIsa 45:18-25\nIsa 46:5-13\n\n\nMass\n7\n187\n188\n193\n194\n195\n196\n\n\n1st\nIsa 35:1-6a\, 10\nNum 24:2-7\, 15-17a\nZeph 3:1-2\, 9-13\nGen 49:2\, 8-10\nJer 23:5-8\nJudg 13:2-7\, 24-25a\nIsa 7:10-14\n\n\n2nd\nJas 5:7-10\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 11:2-11\nMatt 21:23-27\nMatt 21:28-32\nMatt 1:1-17\nMatt 1:18-24\nLuke 1:5-25\nLuke 1:26-38\n\n\nVespers\nRom 9:1-8\nRom 10:1-13\nRom 11:13-20\n1 Thess 5:16-24\nPhil 1:3-11\nPhil 3:17-21\nPhil 4:4-9
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-136/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251214
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251215
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251213T202613Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251213T202613Z
UID:14375-1765670400-1765756799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 3rd Sunday Advent
DESCRIPTION:THE ONE WHO IS TO COME \nFrom a commentary by Thomas of Villanova \n◊◊◊ \nThe gospel narrative tells of a question which John the Baptist\, who was \nin prison\, put to the Lord through his disciples. Are you the one who is to come\, \nor are we to look for someone else? John himself was in no doubt about the \nmatter. Even from his mother’s womb he had recognized Jesus\, and at the \nJordan he had borne his testimony; but he sent this embassy for two reasons. \nIn the first place\, John wished to instruct his disciples. He knew that his \nown death was imminent and\, like the good leader and teacher he was\, he made \nprovision for his disciples\, to ensure that they would have a teacher and \nprotector. He wanted to see them safe under Christ’s wing and in his care. \nJohn’s second and paramount motive\, however\, was to draw attention to \nChrist. He knew that he had been sent to bear witness to Christ\, and although he \nhad given his testimony at the Jordan\, few had accepted it. Knowing now that \nhis death was near he devised a profitable and very prudent plan: he would put \nthis question to Jesus publicly and thus bring him into the limelight\, so that in \nreplying to the question Jesus would at the same time bear witness about \nhimself\, and thereby reveal himself to the people. John knew that the Lord’s \nreply was bound to be very fruitful\, and events proved him right. \nThe disciples approached Jesus\, and in front of the crowd put to him the \nsame question which the Jews had put to John. Everyone eagerly awaited his \nreply\, for there had already been a rumor among the people that he might \nindeed be the Messiah. The Lord gave no immediate answer\, but delayed a little\, \nand in their presence worked wonderful\, mighty miracles. Then he invited \nthem\, Go and report to John what you have heard. The blind are receiving \ntheir sight\, the lame are walking\, lepers are cleansed\, the deaf hear\, the dead \nrise again\, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. \nHe did not give an answer to them in so many words\, but pointed to his \ndeeds\, as much as to say\, “The works that I am doing are my witness. These are \nthe works I am performing; judge for yourself whether I am the Messiah.” This \nwas an admirable reply\, for he not only claimed by means of his works that he \nwas the Messiah; he also proved it. \nIsaiah had uttered three prophecies about the Christ. The first was this: \nThen shall the eyes of the blind be opened\, and the ears of the deaf unsealed\, \nand the lame man will leap like a stag. The second was\, The Spirit of the Lord is \nupon me… he has sent me to announce good tidings to the poor. The third \ndeclared\, He shall be a stone for stumbling over\, and a rock of scandal as well\, \nfor both houses of Israel. The Lord fulfilled these prophecies before their eyes\, \nand implicitly quoted them in his reply: the first\, by saying\, The blind are \nreceiving their sight\, the lame are walking … the deaf hear; the second in his \nclaim that the good news is proclaimed to the poor; and the third by saying\, \nBlessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-3rd-sunday-advent-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251215
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251216
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251213T202719Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251213T202719Z
UID:14377-1765756800-1765843199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:CREATED TO DO HIS WILL \nBy St John Henry Newman \n◊◊◊ \nGod was all-complete\, all-blessed in Himself; but it was His almighty will \nto create a world for His glory. He is Almighty\, and might have done all things \nHimself\, but it has been His will to bring about His purposes by the beings He \nhas created. We are all created to His glory – we are created to do His will. I am \ncreated to do something or to be something for which no one else is created; I \nhave a place in God’s counsels\, in God’s world\, which no one else has; whether I \nbe rich or poor\, despised or esteemed by man\, God knows me and calls me by \nmy name. \nGod has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed \nsome work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission – I \nnever may know it in this life\, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am \nnecessary for His purposes\, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his – if\, \nindeed\, I fail He can raise another\, as He could make stones children of \nAbraham. Yet I have a part in this great work: I am a link in a chain\, a bond of \nconnection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good\, \nI shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace\, a preacher of truth in my own \nplace\, while not intending it\, if I but do keep His commandments and serve Him \nin my calling. \nTherefore I will trust Him. Whatever\, wherever I am\, I can never be \nthrown away. If I am in sickness\, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity\, my \nperplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow\, my sorrow may serve Him. My \nsickness\, or perplexity\, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end\, \nwhich is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life\, He \nmay shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends\, He \nmay throw me among strangers\, He may make me feel desolate\, make my spirits \nsink\, hide the future from me – still He knows what He is about.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-373/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251216
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251217
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251213T202823Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251213T202823Z
UID:14379-1765843200-1765929599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S POWER \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-374/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251217
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251218
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251213T202935Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251213T202935Z
UID:14381-1765929600-1766015999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH \nFrom the Second Vatican Council’s document “Lumen Gentium” \n◊◊◊ \nThe Church\, whose mystery is set forth by this sacred Council\, is held\, as a \nmatter of faith\, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ\, the Son of God\, \nwho with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as “alone holy\,” loved the Church as \nhis Bride\, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself \nas his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God. \nTherefore all in the Church\, whether they belong to the hierarchy or are \ncared for by it\, are called to holiness\, according to the apostle’s saying: “For this \nis the will of God\, your sanctification”. This holiness of the Church is constantly \nshown forth in the fruits of grace which the Spirit produces in the faithful and so \nit must be; it is expressed in many ways by the individuals who\, each in his or \nher own state of life\, tend to the perfection of love\, thus sanctifying others; it \nappears in a certain way of its own in the practice of the counsels which have \nbeen usually called “evangelical.” This practice of the counsels prompted by the \nHoly Spirit\, undertaken by many Christians whether privately or in a form or \nstate sanctioned by the Church\, gives and should give a striking witness and \nexample of that holiness. \nThe Lord Jesus\, divine teacher and model of all perfection\, preached \nholiness of life (of which he is the author and maker) to each and every one of his \ndisciples without distinction: “You\, therefore\, must be perfect\, as your heavenly \nFather is perfect”. For he sent the Holy Spirit to all to move them interiorly to \nlove God with their whole heart\, with their whole soul\, with their whole \nunderstanding\, and with their whole strength\, and to love one another as Christ \nlove them. \nThe followers of Christ\, called by grace\, and justified in the Lord Jesus\, \nhave been made sons and daughters of God in the baptism of faith and partakers \nof the divine nature\, and so are truly sanctified. They must therefore hold on to \nand perfect in their lives that sanctification which they have received from God. \nThey are told by the apostle to live “as is fitting among saints”\, and to put on “as \nGod’s chosen ones\, holy and beloved\, compassion\, kindness\, lowliness\, \nmeekness\, and patience”\, to have the fruits of the Spirit for their sanctification. \nBut since we all offend in many ways\, we constantly need God’s mercy and must \npray everyday: “And forgive us our debts.” \nIt is therefore quite clear that all Christians in any state or walk of life are \ncalled to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of love\, and by this \nholiness a more human manner of life is fostered also in earthly society.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-375/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251218
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251219
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251213T203106Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251213T203106Z
UID:14383-1766016000-1766102399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE GIFT OF FAITH \nBy Catherine de Hueck Doherty \n◊◊◊ \nWhat is faith? Some say they have lost it. Some hunger for the first taste. \nSome are indifferent to whether they have it or not. Others fight against it\, hate \nit\, and want to destroy it in others. What is faith? A Catholic can easily answer \nfrom early catechetical instructions in childhood. Faith is a free gift from God\, \ngiven to a person at Baptism. A Catholic will say too that no one can really \nacquire faith by his own efforts. He will repeat over and over again that it is \nindeed a free gift from God. \nYes\, faith is a free\, loving gift of God to us. Faith is the cradle of love and of \nhope. But this gift given to us at Baptism can grow\, must grow\, must be \nincarnated into our lives\, must become part of us\, must become\, like breathing\, \nan utterly integral part of us. \nHow can it become all these things? By prayer. God never refuses a prayer \nfor the deepening and growth in faith. Prayer is the food that will make faith \ngrow\, strengthen it\, root it with deep and lasting roots into human hearts. Faith \ngrows by living it out. Faith is a pilgrimage toward the Absolute. Faith gives \nevery Christian sandals and a pilgrim’s staff and bids him to arise and go in \nsearch of him whom every Christian longs for – God. \nFaith appears to be blind sometimes but in reality it sees very deeply. It \nalone can walk in utter darkness. It alone can fold the wings of the intellect when \nnecessary and open them when it needs to. Chasms\, abysses\, steep mountains \npresent no problem or difficulty to faith. On the contrary\, all of life – pains\, \nsorrows\, joys symbolized by these chasms – becomes its food and its \nnourishment. Faith grows until it leaves all darkness behind and walks like a \nchild bathed in the light of God’s love. \nNo one can keep or hide faith for himself alone. It will escape and extend \nitself to others. Faith never walks alone\, but always walks with love and hope. \nFaith can be transmitted by words\, but it is best communicated by actions. Faith \ncries out to be lived\, to be incarnated\, incarnated in love. For love is a Person\, \nlove is God\, and faith is his gift to us. The hands of faith are filled with gifts for \nthose who embrace her. Gifts of peace\, love\, joy and strength. Gifts of courage \nand laughter. Faith is a child who smiles at theologians and at human wisdom. \n  \nTHE GOSPEL WITHOUT COMPROMISE \, Catherine de Hueck Doherty (Ave Maria Press IN 1976) pp. 127-128.11 invites them to come and play with God. \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-376/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251219
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251220
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251213T203211Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251213T203211Z
UID:14385-1766102400-1766188799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD \nFrom a homily by Origen \n◊◊◊ \nWe read in the Old Testament\, in the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one \ncrying in the wilderness…” For the Lord wishes to find in you a way prepared \nbefore him\, where he may enter in\, and have there a right-of-way. Prepare for \nhim this path\, of which it is written: “Make straight his path.” \nThe Voice cries: “Prepare the way of the Lord.” First the voice strikes \nupon the year\, then after the voice\, indeed together with the voice\, the word \npenetrates the mind. In this way was Christ announced by John. Let us then \nhear what the Voice announces concerning the Word. “Prepare\,” it says\, “the \nway of the Lord.” Which way shall we prepare for the Lord? A way on the earth? \nCan the Word of God travel such road? Or rather must we not prepare the way \nwithin us\, setting up in our hearts a straight and true way? \nThis is the way through which the Word of God enters\, and comes to rest \nwithin the bounds of the human body. And great indeed is the heart of man\, \nwide and spacious as if it were a world in itself. Do you wish to know how great \nand how profound it is? Behold what a sweep of divine knowledge it can \nembrace: “For he has given me true knowledge of the things that are: to know \nthe disposition of the whole world\, and the virtues of the elements\, the \nbeginnings and the endings and midst of the times\, the alterations of their \ncourses\, and the changes of the seasons\, revolutions of the year\, and the \ndispositions of the stars\, the natures of living creatures\, and the reasonings of \nmen.” \nSee then that the heart of man\, which can contain so much\, is no small \nthing. And see also that its greatness is not in bodily quantity\, but in the power \nby which it can receive such knowledge of the truth. Let me recall to you a \nsimple example from our daily life\, so that you may see how great is this power. \nLet us consider this: through whatever cities we may have passed\, we have still \nwithin our minds the style and the shape of their squares and houses and walls \nand buildings\, stored in our memory. We keep within us\, as in the picture\, the \nroads we have traveled. The sea we have voyaged over we can recall in moments \nof quiet recollection. No small thing\, as I have said\, is the heart of man. \nIf it then can contain so much\, and is not something small and narrow\, \nthen let a way for the Lord be prepared in it\, and let his path be made straight\, so \nthat the Word of God and his Wisdom may enter there. Prepare this way by a \nworthy manner of living\, and with good works make straight the path\, so that \nwithout hindrance the word of God may tread this way to you\, and give you \nunderstanding\, both of his coming and of his mysteries\, to whom be glory and \nempire forever and ever.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-377/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251220
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251221
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251213T203310Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251213T203310Z
UID:14387-1766188800-1766275199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:TO SEEK GOD \nBy Fr Louis Bouyer \n◊◊◊ \nThe discovery of grace\, the discovery of love which loves us without \nlooking for any return\, which loves us although we are sinners\, which loves us in \nour sin\, but which alone will lead us\, by obscure ways known to God alone\, from \nsin to sanctity\, that is\, in the last analysis\, the great discovery. Then it is that God \nreveals Himself to us as One who speaks to us\, as One whose Word for the \nsecond time draws us out of nothingness to being\, as One whom we have not so \nmuch to seek as to discover seeking us. It is He\, the Shepherd who left the \nninety-nine sheep in safety to seek and save that which was lost. It is He\, the \nFather of the prodigal who goes along the road to welcome his son when he has \nscarcely started out to meet his father\, and takes him in his arms. \n“To seek God”\, to seek Him as a person\, as the Person par excellence\, and \nnot only as the “Thou” to whom all our love should be addressed\, but as the “I” \nwho has first approached us\, whose word of love\, addressed to the primeval \nchaos\, drew us forth from it in the first place\, and\, spoken to us in our sin\, draws \nus forth from it again: to be a monk is nothing else than this. To be a monk\, then\, \nis simply to be an integral Christian. And regarded in this light\, the Christian is \nsimply the person restored by the Word of the Gospel to the vocation which the \ncreative Word destined for each: to respond to the Word of Agape by the word of \nfaith\, in order eventually to meet God face to face. \nCommenting on the Canticle of Canticles\, Origen tells us that the Church\, \nunder the old dispensation\, only heard the Bridegroom’s voice\, whereas in the \nnew\, she is offered the sight of his countenance. And he adds that the \ndevelopment of the Christian life is made up solely of this transition. The monk \nis the one who does not limit him or herself to accepting it in some measure \npassively\, by yielding to grace slothfully and reluctantly. The monk is one who \nresponds with the whole heart to the call which comes from the very heart of \nGod. \nMonks are of the number of the violent who will not allow the divine \nKingdom to fall upon them as it were unawares\, but who take it by storm in \nadvance. For that the monks have staked their all\, they have burned their boats. \nTo the one who believes that life consists in what is possessed\, the monk seems \nto be consenting to\, even to be deliberately seeking\, a fatal renunciation. To the \none who knows that being is of greater value than having\, and that being which \nis of value is not that which passes but that which endures\, the monk will seem \nto be the only true humanist. For the human person is born only as subject to the \ndivine Word and will only be fully that person the day when\, freed from the \nnothingness which holds one prisoner\, fully surrendered to the Word which \ncalls\, the person will at last come to discover the Face which promised us being \nin promising us His own image.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-378/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251221T003232Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251221T003232Z
UID:14402-1766275200-1766361599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n4th Week of Advent\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nDecember 21 – 27\, 2025\n\n\n\nSun\n21\nMon\n22\nTue\n23\nWed\n24\nThu\n25\nFri\n26\nSat\n27\n\n\nOffice\n4th Sunday of Advent\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nAdvent Weekday\nNativity of the Lord\nSt Stephen\nSt John\n\n\nVigils\nIsa 42:10-25\nIsa 43:1-15\nIsa 43:16-28\nIsa 44:1-8\, 21-23\n*vigil and midnight mass\nActs 6:1-15\nWis 7:21-8:1\n\n\nLauds\nIsa 49:8-13\nIsa 49:14-21\nIsa 49:22-26\nIsa 63:15-19\nBaruch 3:36-4:4\n2 Chron 24:17-22\nProv 8:22-30\n\n\nMass\n10\n198\n199\n200\n16\n696\n697\n\n\n1st\nIsa 7:10-14\n1 Sam 1:24-28\nMal 3:1-4\, 23-24\n2 Sam 7:1-5\, 8b-12\, 14a\, 16\nIsa 52:7-10\nActs 6:8-10; 7:54-59\n1 John 1:1-4\n\n\n2nd\nRom 1:1-7\n\n\n\nHeb 1:1-6\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 1:18-24\nLuke 1:46-56\nLuke 1:57-66\nLuke 1:67-79\nJohn 1:1-18\nMatt 10:17-22\nJohn 20:1a\, 2-8\n\n\nVespers\n1 Cor 1:1-9\n1 Cor 4:1-5\nJas 5:7-11\n2 Pet 3:8-14\n1 John 4:7-16\nActs 7:51-8:2\nPhil 2:1-11
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-137/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251221
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251222
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251221T003443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251221T003443Z
UID:14404-1766275200-1766361599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 4th Sunday of Advent
DESCRIPTION:GOD WITH US \nFrom a commentary by the Venerable Bede \n◊◊◊ \nMatthew the evangelist gives us an account of the way in which the eternal \nSon of God\, begotten before the world began\, appeared in time as the Son of \nMan. His description is brief but absolutely true. By tracing the ancestry of our \nLord and Savior Jesus Christ through the male line he brings it down from \nAbraham to Joseph\, the husband of Mary. It is indeed fitting in every respect \nthat when God decided to become incarnate for the sake of the whole human \nrace\, none but a virgin should be his mother\, and that\, since a virgin was \nprivileged to bring him into the world\, she should bear no other son but the son \nwho is God. \nBehold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son\, and he shall be called \nEmmanuel\, a name which means God with us. The name God-with-us\, given to \nour Savior by the prophet\, signifies that two natures are united in his one \nperson. Before time began he was God\, born of the Father\, but in the fullness of \ntime he became Emmanuel\, God with us\, in the womb of his mother\, because \nwhen the Word was made flesh and lived among us he deigned to unite our frail \nhuman nature to his own person. Without ceasing to be what he had always \nbeen\, he began in a wonderful fashion to be what we are\, assuming our nature in \nsuch a way that he did not lose his own. \nAnd so Mary gave birth to her firstborn son\, the child of her own flesh and \nblood. She brought forth the God who had been born of God before creation \nbegan\, and who\, in his created humanity\, rightfully surpassed the whole of \ncreation. And Scripture says she named him Jesus. \nJesus\, then\, is the name of the Virgin’s son. According to the angel’s \nexplanation\, it means one who is to save his people from their sins. In doing so \nhe will also deliver them from any defilement of mind and body they have \nincurred on account of their sins. \nBut the title “Christ” implies a priestly or royal dignity. In the Old \nTestament it was given to both priests and kings on account of the anointing \nwith chrism or holy oil which they received. They prefigured the true king and \nhigh priest who\, on coming into this world\, was anointed with the oil of gladness \nabove all his peers. From this anointing or chrismation he received the name of \nChrist\, and those who share in the anointing which he himself bestows\, that is \nthe grace of the Spirit\, are called Christians. \nMay Jesus Christ fulfill his saving task by saving us from our sins; may he \ndischarge his priestly office by reconciling us to God the Father\, and may he \nexercise his royal power by admitting us to his Father’s kingdom\, for he is our \nLord and God\, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever \nand ever.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-4th-sunday-of-advent-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251222
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251223
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251221T003543Z
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UID:14406-1766361600-1766447999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:JUSTICE AND THE WORD \nFrom the treatise “The Educator” by St Clement of Alexandria \n◊◊◊ \nOn every occasion we ought to repeat that most excellent of maxims – the \ngood man by means of his temperateness and justice stores up treasure in \nheaven. He who sells his worldly goods and gives to the poor will find the \nimperishable treasure\, where there is neither moth nor robber. Such a man is \nfortunate indeed\, though he be insignificant and weak and obscure\, and he is \nrich with the greatest of all riches. \nOn the other hand\, if a person becomes wealthier than Midas and Cinyra\, \nbut is arrogant and unjust\, in the manner of the man who was luxuriously \nclothed in purple and fine linen\, and despised Lazarus\, he is miserable\, lives \nwretchedly\, and will never attain true life. \nIn fact\, wealth seems to me to be like a snake\, which will twist round the \nhand and bite\, unless one knows how to handle it without danger by the tip of \nthe tail. Likewise\, riches whether wriggling in an experienced or inexperienced \ngrip are dexterous at clinging and biting\, unless one rise above them and use \nthem skillfully – that is\, so as to crush the creature by the charm of the Word\, \nthus remaining unharmed. \nHowever\, the one who possesses what is worth most turns out to be the \ntruly rich person\, although perhaps not recognized as such. It is not jewels or \ngold or clothing or bodily perfection that is worth much. It is simply virtue. For \nit is the word given by the Educator to be put into practice. This is the Word who \nadjures luxury but calls for independence in service of self\, and praises frugality\, \noffspring of moderation. “Receive\,” he says\, “my instruction in preference to \nsilver\, and knowledge rather than choice gold. For Wisdom is better than corals\, \nand no choice possession can compare with her.” And again: “Acquire me rather \nthan gold\, and precious stones\, and silver; for my produce is better than choice \nsilver… \nFor “there are those who sow and reap more\,” of whom it is written: \n“Lavishly he gives to the poor; his generosity shall endure forever.” Hence\, it is \nnot the one who has and keeps who is rich\, but the one who has and gives away. \nAnd it is the giving away rather than the possession which makes a person \nhappy; and the fruit of the Spirit is generosity. Thus\, riches lie in the soul… \nTrue riches\, therefore\, are justice and the Word\, which is more valuable \nthan any treasure; they are not increased by cattle and fields but are given by \nGod. Such wealth cannot be taken away\, for the soul alone is its treasure. It \nconstitutes the supreme possession for anyone who has it\, rendering one truly \nblessed. For the one who is able to refrain from desiring what is above one’s \npower to obtain but then receives from God those most devout desires – such a \none possesses much\, for that person has God as an everlasting treasure!
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-379/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251223
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251224
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251221T003701Z
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UID:14408-1766448000-1766534399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:REPENT WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART \nFrom a homily written in the 2nd Century \n◊◊◊ \nLet us be sure that when the day of judgment comes\, our place will be \namong those who give thanks to God and have served him\, and not with the \nungodly who face condemnation. As for myself\, I am only a sinner\, not yet \nbeyond the reach of temptation; but even amidst all the devil’s machinations I \nstill strive to make progress and hope to attain at least some virtue\, for I fear the \njudgment that awaits me. \nMy brothers and sisters\, you have heard the word of God who is the very \nfountainhead truth. Therefore\, I now read you an appeal to heed what is \nwritten\, and thereby save both yourselves and your reader. The reward I ask is \nthat you repent with your whole heart\, to save yourselves and find life. if we do \nthis\, we shall set an example for all young people\, for whom the glory and \ngoodness of God is a challenge to be generous in his service. \nLet me say also that when we are given warning and corrected for doing \nsomething wrong\, we should not be so foolish as to take offense and be angry. \nThere are times when we are unconscious of the sins we commit because our \nhearts are fickle\, lacking in faith. Futile desires becloud our minds. We need to \npull ourselves up\, therefore\, because our very salvation is at stake. \nThose who keep God’s commandments will have reason to rejoice. For a \nshort time in this world they may have to suffer\, but they will rise again and their \nreward will endure for ever. No one who holds God in reverence should grieve \nover the hardships of this present time\, for a time of blessedness is waiting. For \nwe will live again in heaven in the company of all those who have gone before us; \nfor all eternity we will rejoice\, never to know sorrow again. \nSo do not be disturbed at the sight of the wicked possessing great wealth \nwhile the servants of God suffer want. We…must have faith. Competing as we \nare in the arena of the living God\, we are receiving the training in this present \nlife that will make us worthy to be crowned in the life to come. Honest people do \nnot become rich overnight; they have to wait for the reward of their labors. If \nGod gave virtue an immediate recompense\, we should straightway find \nourselves engaging in commerce\, instead of perfecting ourselves in his service. \nAlthough to all outward appearance we might be irreproachable\, we should not \nbe seeking God\, but our own advantage\, and bringing down on our sinful souls \nthat divine judgment that would soon make us feel the full weight of our chains. \nTo the one invisible God\, the Father of truth\, who sent forth the Savior\, \nthe author of immortality\, and through him revealed to us the truth and the \nheavenly life – to him be glory throughout all ages\, for ever and ever.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-380/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251224
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251225
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251221T003813Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251221T003813Z
UID:14410-1766534400-1766620799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:GOD’S LOVING PATIENCE \nFrom “The Living God” by Fr Romano Guardini \n◊◊◊ \nGod is almighty and infinitely rich. His riches and His omnipotence are \nHis patience. How good it is that God’s patience is as great as His omnipotence! \nThat is why He is always able to forgive again\, always able to give us a fresh \nchance\, always able to begin His work again from the chaos of human freedom. \nLet us\, however\, come to the real point. We have been speaking about \n“the” world\, about men and women in general. But God’s patience is His \npatience with me. And I am to some extent able to judge what that means. I can \njudge because I know how difficult it is to be patient with myself… \nUnless we delude ourselves\, or have succeeded in reconciling ourselves to \nour own paltry and petty world\, we all know this kind of suffering even though it \nmay not have actually made us ill\, and…where is the border line between health \nand sickness? We all know the misery\, the bitter sterility\, when day after day \nand year after year passes and things never change. One tries for so long to \novercome this situation but it refuses to yield. One appears to have overcome it \nfor a time perhaps and then it suddenly returns. And sometimes it seems as \nthough after wearing oneself out trying to overcome it\, seven demons have \ntaken the place of the original one. \nIf God’s attitude to us is the same as our own attitude to ourselves\, then \nthe outlook is black indeed. If God takes as poor a view of me as I do myself\, if \nGod does not bear with my bungling\, my dishonesty\, my constant failures with \ngreater patience than I do myself\, then I am bound to give up in despair. But \nGod is love. And in Him my nature is truer than in myself. In me it is corrupt; in \nHim it is pure. In His most holy patience He holds in His love my nature which I \nmyself disfigure so terribly and squander so thoughtlessly. From this loving \npatience He sees and bears me. He has infinite confidence in me. He believes \nthat I am capable of making progress. \nWe sometimes feel that we must get away from ourselves\, that we must \nescape from the old into the new and the real\, that sometime or other there must \ncome what the Bible calls conversion\, a decisive turning to God. But it does not \ncome\, and meanwhile life wastes away. The older we get the faster it goes and \nthe more difficult we find it to believe that things can ever be any different. \nPerhaps the greatest thing about God’s patience is the infinite possibilities of \nlove and grace which He holds open to life as it hardens in its cowardice and \nruns on to its end. \nCan you take this in? This unspeakable\, impossible possibility of “hoping \nagainst all hope” which\, the more body and soul harden as life ebbs away\, must \ncome exclusively from the mind and spirit\, from the Holy Spirit of God? This is \nthe ultimate depth of God’s patience to which we can pray\, that He may keep \nopen for us the possibility of spiritual renewal when all other possibilities have \nceased.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-381/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251225
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251226
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251221T003920Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251221T003920Z
UID:14412-1766620800-1766707199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Nativity of the Lord
DESCRIPTION:FROM THE CRIB TO THE CROSS \nBy St Edith Stein \n◊◊◊ \nGod has come to redeem us\, to unite us to Himself and to each other\, to \nconform our will to His. He knows our nature. He reckons with it\, and has \ntherefore given us every help necessary to reach our goal. \nThe divine Child has become a teacher and has told us what to do. In \norder to penetrate a whole human life with the divine life it is not enough to \nkneel once a year before the crib and let ourselves be captivated by the charm of \nthe holy night. To achieve this\, we must be in daily contact with God\, listening \nto the words he has spoken and which have been transmitted to us\, and obeying \nthem. We must\, above all\, pray as the Savior Himself has taught us so \ninsistently. “Ask and it shall be given you”. This is the certain promise of being \nheard. And if we pray every day with all our heart: “Lord\, they will be done” we \nmay well trust that we shall not fail to do God’s will even when we no longer have \nsubjective certainty. \nMore: Christ has not left us orphans. He has sent His Spirit\, who teaches \nus all truth. He has founded his Church which is guided by His Spirit\, and has \nordained in it His representatives by whose mouth His Spirit speaks to us in \nhuman words. In His Church He has united the faithful into one community \nand wants them to support each other. Thus we are not alone\, and if the \nconfidence in our own understanding and even in our own prayer fails us\, the \npower of obedience and intercession will assist us. \n“And the word was made flesh”. This became reality in the stable of \nBethlehem. But it has also been fulfilled in another form. “He who eats my flesh \nand drinks my blood has eternal life”. The Savior\, knowing that we are and \nremain men who have daily to struggle with our weaknesses\, aids our humanity \nin a manner truly divine. Just as our earthly body needs its daily bread\, so the \ndivine life in us must be constantly fed. “This is the living bread that came down \nfrom heaven”. If we make it truly our daily bread\, the mystery of Christmas\, the \nIncarnation of the Word\, will daily be re-enacted in us. And this\, it seems\, is the \nsurest way to remain in constant union with God\, and to grow every day more \nsecurely and more deeply into the mystical Body of Christ. \nThe Christian mysteries are an indivisible whole. If we become immersed \nin one\, we are led to all the others. Thus the way from Bethlehem leads \ninevitably to Golgotha\, from the crib to the Cross. When the blessed Virgin \nbrought the Child to the temple\, Simeon prophesied that her soul would be \npierced by a sword\, that this Child was set for the fall and the resurrection of \nmany\, for a sign that would be contradicted. His prophecy announced the \nPassion\, the fight between light and darkness that already showed itself before \nthe crib.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-nativity-of-the-lord-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251226
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251227
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251221T004050Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251221T004243Z
UID:14414-1766707200-1766793599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Stephen
DESCRIPTION:THE GIFT OF LOVE \nFrom a sermon by St Fulgentius \n◊◊◊ \nYesterday we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal king; today we \ncelebrate the triumphant suffering of a soldier. For yesterday our king\, nobly \narrayed in flesh\, proceeding from the chaste womb of the Virgin Mary\, deigned \nto visit this world; today a soldier\, leaving the confines of the body\, made his \nway in triumph to heaven. \nOur king\, though he is the Most High\, for our sake came in humility; yet \nhe could not come empty-handed. It was indeed a generous gift that he brought \nfor us\, one by which he not only abundantly enriched us but gave us the strength \nto do battle and never be vanquished. What he brought was the gift of love\, \nwhich was to lead us to become sharers in the godhead. He brought it only to \nexpend it\, without in any way diminishing his own store; while turning the \npoverty of his followers into riches he remained himself\, as by a miracle\, fully \npossessed of his own inexhaustible treasury. \nLove then\, the same love that brought Christ down from heaven to earth\, \nraised Stephen from earth to heaven; the same love shown first in the king was \nreproduced in its splendor in the warrior. \nAnd so Stephen\, in order to earn his right to the crown his name signifies\, \narmed himself with love\, and by that same love won every battle. It was love of \nGod that made him yield not an inch\, love of his neighbor that led him to \nintercede for those who stoned him. It was through love that he was able to \nexpose those in error so that they might change their ways; through love that he \nprayed for those who stoned him so that they should not be punished. Trusting \nonly in love\, he overcame Saul’s cruel rage\, and the very man who had been his \npersecutor on earth he won as his companion in heaven. That same holy and \nuntiring love longed to win over by prayer those whom it could not convert by \npersuasion… \nLove is therefore the source and origin of every good\, an unrivaled \nprotection\, the road that leads to heaven. Those who walk in love can be neither \nlost nor afraid; love is the guide and protector\, and brings them to the end of \ntheir journey. For this reason\, beloved\, since Christ has set up a stairway of love \nby which every Christian can mount up to heaven\, keep a firm hold on love \nalone; love one another\, and by growing in love climb together up to heaven.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-382/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251227
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251228
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251221T004202Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251224T131107Z
UID:14416-1766793600-1766879999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St John
DESCRIPTION:THE ROOT OF CHARITY \nFrom a sermon by St John Henry Newman \n◊◊◊ \nThe love of God is not the same thing as the love of our parents\, though \nparallel to it; but the love of mankind in general should be in the main the same \nhabit as the love of our friends\, only exercised towards different objects… What \nis meant by loving all people is\, to feel well disposed to all\, to be ready to assist \nthem\, and to act towards those who come in our way\, as if we loved them. We \ncannot love those about whom we know nothing; except indeed we view them in \nChrist\, as the objects of his Atonement\, that is\, rather in faith than in love. And \nlove\, besides\, is a habit\, and cannot be attained without actual practice\, which \non so large a scale is impossible. \nWe see then how absurd it is when writers (as is the manner of some who \nslight the Gospel) talk magnificently about loving the whole human race with a \ncomprehensive affection\, of being the friends of all\, and the like. Such vaunting \nprofessions\, what do they come to? That such men or women have certain \nbenevolent feelings towards the world\, — feelings and nothing more – nothing \nmore than unstable feelings\, the mere offspring of an indulged imagination\, \nwhich exist only when their minds are wrought upon\, and are sure to fail them \nin the hour of need. This is not to love people; it is but to talk about love. The \nreal love of another must depend on practice\, and therefore\, must begin by \nexercising itself on our friends around us; otherwise it will have no existence. \nBy trying to love our relations and friends\, by submitting to their wishes\, \nthough contrary to our own\, by bearing with their infirmities\, by overcoming \ntheir occasional waywardness by kindness\, by dwelling on their excellences\, and \ntrying to copy them\, thus it is that we form in our hearts that root of charity\, \nwhich\, though small at first\, may\, like the mustard seed\, at last even overshadow \nthe earth. The vain talkers about philanthropy…usually show the emptiness of \ntheir profession\, by being morose and cruel in the private relations of life\, which \nthey seem to account as subjects beneath their notice. \nFar different indeed\, far different…with the great Apostle\, whose memory \nwe are today celebrating\, utterly the reverse of this fictitious benevolence was \nhis elevated and enlightened sympathy for all men. We know he is celebrated for \nhis declarations about Christian love. “Beloved\, let us love one another\, for love \nis of God. If we love one another\, God dwells in us\, and his love is perfected in \nus…” \nNow did he begin with some vast effort at loving on a large scale? Nay\, he \nhad the unspeakable privilege of being the friend of Christ. Thus he was taught \nto love others; first his affection was concentrated then it was expanded. Next he \nhad the solemn and comfortable charge of tending our Lord’s Mother\, the \nBlessed Virgin\, after his departure. Do we not here discern the secret sources of \nhis special love of the brethren? Could he\, who first was favored with his Savior’s \naffection\, then trusted with a son’s office towards his Mother\, could he be other \nthan a memorial and pattern (as far as man or woman can be)\, of love\, deep\, \ncontemplative\, fervent\, unruffled\, unbounded?
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-383/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251228
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251229
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251228T132558Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251228T132558Z
UID:14425-1766880000-1766966399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\nChristmas Season\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (A)\, Weekdays (II)\nDecember 28 / January 3\, 2025/6\n\n\n\nSun\n28\nMon\n29\nTue\n30\nWed\n31\nThu\n1\nFri\n2\nSat\n3\n\n\nOffice\nHoly Family\n5th Day in the Octave\n6th Day in the Octave\n7th Day in the Octave\nMary\, Mother of God\nSS Basil & Gregory\nChristmas Weekday\n\n\nVigils\nProv 31:10-31\nSong 1:1-11\nSong 1:12-2:7\nSong 2:8-3:11\nHeb 2:5-18\nSong 4:1-5:1\nSong 5:2-6:3\n\n\nLauds\nSir 26:1-4\, 13-16\nIsa 51:1-8\nIsa 52:8-12\nIsa 57:14-19\nEzek 43:27-44:4\nIsa 60:1-7\nIsa 60:10-14\n\n\nMass\n17\n202\n203\n204\n18\n205\n206\n\n\n1st\nSir 3:3-7\, 14-17a\n1 John 2:3-11\n1 John 2:12-17\n1 John 2:18-21\nNum 6:22-27\n1 John 2:22-28\n1 John 2:29-3:6\n\n\n2nd\nCol 3:12-21\n\n\n\nGal 4:4-7\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMatt 2:13-15\, 19-23\nLuke 2:22-35\nLuke 2:36-40\nJohn 1:1-18\nLuke 2:16-21\nJohn 1:19-28\nJohn 1:29-34\n\n\nVespers\n1 Cor 13:1-8a\nCol 1:1-8\nCol 1:9-14\n2 John 4-9\nRev 11:19-12:6\nCol 1:15-20\nTim 1:6-14
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-138/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251228
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251229
DTSTAMP:20260404T101848
CREATED:20251228T132721Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251228T132721Z
UID:14427-1766880000-1766966399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Holy Family
DESCRIPTION:THE INCARNATE WORD \nFrom a commentary by St John Chrysostom \n◊◊◊ \nToday\, as a firstborn son\, Christ went down into Egypt to end the \nmourning its ancient bereavement had brought upon that land. Instead of \nplagues he brought joy\, instead of night and darkness he gave the light of \nsalvation. \nOf old the river’s water had been polluted by the untimely deaths of \nmurdered infants. Therefore he who long ago had stained the waters red went \ndown into Egypt and purified those waters by the power of the Holy Spirit\, \nmaking them the source of salvation. When the Egyptians were afflicted they \nraged against God and denied him. Therefore he went down into Egypt\, filled \ndevout souls with the knowledge of God and made the river more productive of \nmartyrs than it was of ears of grain. \nWhat more shall I say of this mystery? I see a carpenter and a manger\, an \ninfant and swaddling clothes\, a virgin giving birth without the necessities of life; \nnothing but poverty and complete destitution. Have you ever seen wealth in \nsuch penury? How could he who was rich have become\, for our sake\, so poor \nthat he had neither bed nor bedding but was laid in a manger? O immeasurable \nwealth concealed in poverty! He lies in a manger\, yet he rocks the whole world. \nHe is bound with swaddling bands\, yet he breaks the bonds of sin. Before he \ncould speak he taught the wise men and converted them. What else can I say? \nHere is the newborn babe\, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. \nWith him are Mary\, virgin and mother\, and Joseph who was called his father. \nJoseph was only betrothed to Mary when the Holy Spirit overshadowed \nher; so he was at a loss as to what he should call the child. While he was in this \nperplexity a message from heaven came to him by the voice of an angel: Do not \nbe afraid\, Joseph. It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child. In \nher virginity the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. \nWhy was Christ born of a virgin\, and her virginity preserved inviolate? \nBecause of old the devil had deceived the virgin Eve\, Gabriel brought the Good \nNews to the Virgin Mary. Having fallen into the trap\, Eve spoke the word that \nled to death. Having received the good News\, Mary gave birth to the incarnate \nWord who has brought us eternal life.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-holy-family-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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