Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey

Vigils Reading - St Peter Damien
2025-02-21
ST PETER DAMIAN
From a discourse of Pope Benedict XVI
◊◊◊
St Peter Damian was one of the most significant figures of the 11th
century… a lover of solitude and at the same time a fearless man of the
Church, committed personally to the task of reform. Born during 1007 in the
Italian city of Ravenna, Peter belonged to a large family but lost both his father
and mother early in life. An older brother took the boy into his household, yet
treated him poorly. But another of Peter’s brothers, a priest, took steps to
provide for his education; and the priest’s own name, Damian, became his
younger brother’s surname. Peter excelled in school while also taking up
forms of asceticism, such as fasting, wearing a hair shirt, and spending long
hours in prayer with an emphasis on reciting the Psalms. He offered
hospitality to the poor as a means of serving Christ, and eventually resolved to
embrace voluntary poverty himself through the Order of Saint Benedict.
The monks he chose to join, in the hermitage of Fonte Avellana, lived
out their devotion to the Cross of Christ through a rigorous rule of life. They
lived mainly on bread and water, prayed all 150 Psalms daily, and practiced
many physical mortifications. Peter embraced this way of life somewhat
excessively at first, which led to a bout with insomnia. Deeply versed in the
Bible and the writings of earlier theologians, Peter developed his own
theological acumen and became a skilled preacher. The leaders of other
monasteries sought his help to build up their monks in holiness, and in 1043
he took up a position of leadership as the prior of Fonte Avellana. Five other
hermitages were established under his direction.
Serious corruption plagued the Church during Peter’s lifetime, including
the sale of religious offices and immorality among many of the clergy. Through
his writings and involvements in controversies of the day, the prior of Fonte
Avellana called on members of the hierarchy and religious orders to live out
their commitments and strive for holiness.
In 1057, Pope Stephen IX became determined to make Peter Damian a
bishop, a goal he accomplished only by demanding the monk’s obedience
under threat of excommunication. Consecrated as the Bishop of Ostia in
November of that year, he also joined the College of Cardinals and wrote a
letter encouraging its members to set an example for the whole Church. With
Pope Stephen’s death in 1058, and the election of his successor Nicholas II,
Peter’s involvement in Church controversies grew. He supported Pope
Nicholas against a rival claimant to the papacy, and went to Milan as the
Pope’s representative when a crisis broke out over canonical and moral issues.
In 1067, Peter Damian was allowed to resign his episcopate and return
to the monastery at Fonte Avellana… In 1072, Peter returned to his own
birthplace of Ravenna, to reconcile the local church with the Pope. The monk’s
last illness came upon him during his return from this final task, and he died
after a week at a Benedictine monastery in Faenza during February of that
year. Never formally canonized, St Peter Damian was celebrated as a saint
after his death in many of the places associated with his life. In 1823, Pope Leo
XII named him a Doctor of the Church and extended the observance of his
feast day throughout the Western Church.

Vigils Reading - Chair of St Peter
2025-02-22
THE CHAIR OF ST PETER
By St John Henry Newman
◊◊◊
The very first act of the Apostles after Christ was gone out of their sight,
was the ordination of Matthias in the place of the traitor Judas. That ordination
is related very minutely. Every particular of it is full of instruction; but at
present I wish to draw attention to one circumstance more especially: namely,
the time when it occurred. It was contrived (if one may say so) exactly to fall
within the very short interval which elapsed between the departure of our Lord,
and the arrival of the Comforter in His place: on that ‘little while,’ during which
the Church was comparatively left alone in the world. Then it was that St Peter
rose and declared with authority, that the time was come for supplying the
vacancy which Judas had made. ‘One,’ said he, ‘must be ordained;’ and without
delay they proceeded to the ordination. Of course, St Peter must have had from
our Lord express authority for this step. Otherwise it would seem most natural
to defer a transaction so important until the unerring Guide, the Holy Spirit,
should have come among them, as they knew he would in a few days.
On the other hand, since the Apostles were eminently Apostles of our
Incarnate Lord, since their very being, as Apostles, depended entirely on their
personal mission from him…one should naturally have expected that he himself
before his departure would have supplied the vacancy by personal designation.
But we see it was not his pleasure to do so. As the Apostles afterwards brought
on the ordination sooner, so he had deferred it longer than might have been
expected. Both ways it should seem as if there were a purpose of bringing the
event within those ten days, during which, as I said, the church was left to
herself; left to exercise her faith and hope, much as Christians are left now,
without any miraculous aid or extraordinary illumination from above. Then, at
that moment of the New Testament history in which the circumstances of
believers corresponded most nearly to what they have been since miracles and
inspiration ceased, — just at that time it pleased our Lord that afresh Apostle
should be consecrated, with authority and commission as ample as the former
enjoyed. In a word, it was his will that the eleven Disciples alone, not himself
personally, should name the successor of Judas; and that they chose the right
person, he gave testimony very soon after, by sending his Holy Spirit on St
Matthias, as richly as on St John, St James, or St Peter.

Skema: 7th Week in Ordinary Time
2025-02-23
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
7th Week in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (I)
Feb. 23 – March 1, 2025

Sun
23
Mon
24
Tue
25
Wed
26
Thu
27
Fri
28
Sat
1

Office
7th Sunday
Weekday
Weekday
Office for Vocations
Weekday
Weekday
Memorial of the BVM

Vigils
1 Kings 18:41-19:3
1 Kings 19:4-21
1 Kings 20:1-22
1 Kings 20:23-34
1 Kings 20:35-43
1 Kings 21:1-16
1 Kings 21:17-29

Lauds
Habakkuk 1:1-4
Hab 1:5-11
Hab 1:12-17
Hab 2:1-4
Hab 2:5-8
Hab 2:9-14
Hab 2:15-20

Mass
81
341
342
343
344
345
346

1st
1 Sam 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
Sir 1:1-10
Sir 2:1-11
Sir 4:11-19
Sir 5:1-8
Sir 6:5-17
Sir 17:1-15

2nd
1 Cor 15:45-49

Gospel
Luke 6:27-38
Mark 9:14-29
Mark 9:30-37
Mark 9:38-40
Mark 9:41-50
Mark 10:1-12
Mark 10:13-16

Vespers
1 Cor 15:12-19
1 Cor 15:20-28
1 Cor 15:29-34
1 Cor 15:35-44
1 Cor 15:45-49
1 Cor 15:50-58
1 Cor 16:1-9

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
2025-02-23
MERCY AND FAITHFULNESS
From a commentary by St Augustine of Hippo 1
◊◊◊
We have here a tremendous statement on the subject of faithfulness and mercy. Mercy is mentioned because it is not our deserts but his own goodness that God regards. He forgives us all our sins and promises us eternal life. But is also speaks of faithfulness, because God never fails to honor his promises. Acknowledging this to be so, let us practice these virtues ourselves in our present circumstances.. Just as God has shown us His mercy and faithfulness – his mercy by forgiving our sins and his faithfulness by keeping his promises – so we too should practice mercy and faithfulness in our own lives. Let us show mercy to the sick and needy, even our enemies, and practice faithfulness by refraining from sin. Never let us add sin to sin, because whoever presumes too much on God’s mercy has secretly consented to the suggestion that he can cause God to be unjust. Such a person imagines that even if he persists in sin and refuses to give up his wrong doing, God will still come and give him a place among his obedient servants.
Would this be justice, for God to assign an obstinate sinner like you the same place as those who have turned their backs on sin? Would you be so unjust as to expect God to be unjust too? Why then are you trying to bend God to your will? Bend yourself, rather, to his. Yet how many people do, in fact, bend their wills to God’s? Only those few of whom it is said: The one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
It is with good reason that Scripture asks: Who will seek God’s mercy and faithfulness for his own sake? What precisely does for his own sake mean?
Surely it would have been enough to say Who will seek without adding for his own sake.
The answer is that many people seek to discover God’s mercy and faithfulness from the sacred books, and yet, when their learning is done, they live for their own sake and not for God’s. They are intent on their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. They preach mercy and faithfulness without practicing them. Their preaching proves that they know their subject, for they would not preach without knowledge. But it is a different matter in the case of someone who loves God and Christ. When such a person preaches God’s mercy and faithfulness, he seeks to make them known for God’s sake, not his own. This means that he is not out to gain temporal benefits from his preaching; his desire is to help Christ’s members, that is, those who believe in him, by faithfully sharing with them the knowledge he himself possesses, so that the living may no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for all.
1
Journey with the Fathers – Year C – New City Press = 1982 = pg 82.

Weekday
2025-02-24
THE LOVE OF ONE’S NEIGHBOR
By Alan of Lille 2
◊◊◊
Certainly he who cuts himself off from the love of his neighbor strays from the love of God, for: “Anyone who does not love his neighbor whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” O man, surely, you wish that your neighbor should love you for God’s sake? Love him for your own sake.
As Seneca, the moral philosopher, says: “If you wish to be loved, love.” O happy love…which is truly grafted into the nature of the highest good, which is content without envy. Such love possesses its delight within itself; it does not grow anxious; it rests in tranquility. It does not dissolve into mockery. O how joyous it is to find your very self in another! It is indolence and negligence to let the employment of love fall into disuse, and not to exercise the most noble of the virtues. It is the glory of true friendship to be the instrument of purging the last dregs of merely superficial delight.
You have a friend, not so that he should visit you when you are sick, or feed you when you are famished, or comfort you in prison, but so that you should visit him in prison, feed him when he is hungry, give him drink when he is thirsty; if he is a wanderer, take him in. If you love a poor neighbor, you give him alms out of love alone, for the alms of the heart are much greater than that of the body. Love alone is enough, in almsgiving, without earthly substance. That which is given physically is not enough, unless it is bestowed in a kindly spirit. Keep therefor to the order of love. Love God above all, yourself next, and your neighbor as yourself, the flesh least of all.
Love the flesh, not so that you may be its slave, but so that you may set it right with discipline. Love it for its good, not for the sake of worldly debauchery. Do not heed its will, but force it to heed yours. Like a good doctor, cure by this means what is weak, broken or diseased. So let it grieve now that it may rejoice in eternity. Let it now taste the bitterness of medicine, that the soundness of eternal health may follow.
2
CF 23:93-94

Weekday
2025-02-25
HOW FAITH CRIES OUT TO BE LIVED
By Catherine de Hueck Doherty 3
◊◊◊
What is faith? Some say they have lost it. Some hunger for the first taste. Some are indifferent to whether they have it or not. Others fight against it, hate it, and want to destroy it in others. What is faith? A Catholic can easily answer from early catechetical instructions in childhood. Faith is a free gift from God, given to a person at Baptism. A Catholic will say too that no one can really acquire faith by his own efforts. He will repeat over and over again that it is indeed a free gift from God.
Yes, faith is a free, loving gift of God to us. Faith is the cradle of love and of hope. But this gift given to us at Baptism can grow, must grow, must be incarnated into our lives, must become part of us, must become, like breathing, an utterly integral part of us.
How can it become all these things? By prayer. God never refuses a prayer for the deepening and growth in faith. Prayer is the food that will make faith grow, strengthen it, root it with deep and lasting roots into human hearts. Faith grows by living it out. Faith is a pilgrimage toward the Absolute. Faith gives every Christian sandals and a pilgrim’s staff and bids him to arise and go in search of him whom every Christian longs for – God.
Faith appears to be blind sometimes but in reality it sees very deeply. It alone can walk in utter darkness. It alone can fold the wings of the intellect when necessary and open them when it needs to. Chasms, abysses, steep mountains present no problem or difficulty to faith. On the contrary, all of life – pains, sorrows, joys symbolized by these chasms – becomes its food and its nourishment. Faith grows until it leaves all darkness behind and walks like a child bathed in the light of God’s love.
No one can keep or hide faith for himself alone. It will escape and extend itself to others. Faith never walks alone, but always walks with love and hope. Faith can be transmitted by words, but it is best communicated by actions. Faith cries out to be lived, to be incarnated, incarnated in love. For love is a Person, love is God, and faith is his gift to us. The hands of faith are filled with gifts for those who embrace her. Gifts of peace, love, joy and strength. Gifts of courage and laughter. Faith is a child who smiles at theologians and at human wisdom. Faith invites them to come and play with God.
3
THE GOSPEL WITHOUT COMPROMISE, Catherine de Hueck Doherty (Ave Maria Press IN 1976) pp. 127-128.

Office for Vocations
2025-02-26
FOLLOWING CHRIST
From a commentary by St Jerome 4
◊◊◊
Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, “Look, we have given up everything and have followed you. What are we going to possess?”
Great self-confidence! Peter was a fisherman, he had never been wealthy, he earned his bread by his labour and skill; and yet he confidently asserts, “We have left everything.” And since it is not enough merely to leave everything, he completes his thought by adding, “And we have followed you. We have done what you commanded. How then will you reward us?”
But Jesus said to them, “Amen I say to you that you who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory, you shall also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Jesus did not say, “you who have left everything.” For…many others besides have shown contempt for wealth. What Jesus did say was, “you who have followed me.” This applies only to the apostles and believers.
In the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, when even the dead will rise incorrupt from their state of corruption, you also shall sit on judgment seats….And everyone who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.
This passage agrees with that other statement of our Saviour, where he says, “I have come not to send peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man at variance with his father, and a daughter with her mother, and a daughter-in-law with her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household”. Those, therefore, who, for the sake of their faith in Christ and the preaching of the gospel, have sacrificed their natural feelings and all the wealth and pleasures of this world — they shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.
4
In Matth., 3,19. PL 26, 138-139. Trans. from “Cistercian Lectionary Project, 1968,” 40-41.

Weekday
2025-02-27
THE CHURCH AS
THE COMMUNITY OF PARDON
From “Seasons of Celebration” by Thomas Merton 5
◊◊◊
Let us remember especially that the Church is a community of pardon. All who have entered the common life of the body of Christ have done so by the way of pardon. And they remain in the Body of Christ only through pardon, through the mystery of Christ: not only of Christ, as Head, but also of Christ in His members.
The mercy and pardon of Christ must be continually at work in all the members and through all the members of the Mystical Body. This is what makes the Church truly a Mother: she gives life by gentleness, understanding, love and pardon. She forgives sins, that is to say she heals separations. Sin is separation from God, and from those who love God. Sin is a cutting off from life. It is a spiritual death and pardon is the restoration of life.
The Spirit by which the Church lives is the Spirit of love, of unity. Unity can be preserved or restored only by understanding, acceptance and pardon. The Church is a body of people who know they are forgiven and who forgive repeatedly because they are themselves forgiven repeatedly.
The Church is then not so much a body of people who are pure and never offend, but of those who, in their weakness and frailty, frequently err and offend, but who have received from God the power to forgive one another in His name. They possess the Holy Spirit and they can give the Holy Spirit in some sense, to one another. The Holy Spirit Himself moves them to do this, and acts in them, to save others.
We, then, who form one body in Christ, share with one another the message of Christ’s divine truth, we share His word, we share His worship, we share His love, we share His Spirit.
In building a community of pardon which is the temple of God, we have to recognize that no one of us is complete, self-sufficient, perfectly holy in himself. No one can rest in one’s own virtues and interior life. We do not live for ourselves alone. To live for oneself alone is to die. We grow and flourish in our own lives in so far as we live for others and through others. What we ourselves lack God has given them. They must complete us where we are deficient.
Often the good that is given us by God is given us only to be shared with another. If God sees that we will not pardon and will not be open, that we will not share, then the good is not given us. But to the one in whom there is the greatest readiness to share with all, most is given.
The greatest of gifts then is this openness, this love, this readiness to accept and to pardon and to share with others, in the Spirit of Christ. If we are open we will not only offer pardon, but will not disdain to seek it and recognize our own desperate need of it.
5
pp. 225-230.

Weekday
2025-02-28
SERVING EACH OTHER
IN JUSTICE AND CHARITY
By William of St Thierry 6
◊◊◊
[The Apostle Paul says that], if because of your food your brother is grieved, you no longer walk according to charity. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. For a proper reason we should sometimes avoid what is licit, but we are not commanded to do what is illicit for any reason.
[He also says,] Let our good not be spoken of as evil. What is this good of ours? It is the good proper to Christ’s disciples, of which he himself says, ‘By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’. Just as the disciples of Christ are distinguished by the sign of mutual charity, so when charity is neglected the entire brilliance of the Christian religion seems to be obscured. Then this wonderful teacher proclaims the mystery of the kingdom of heaven in order to restrain the faults of the present time by the authority of a future mystery, and in order to establish the form of the Church.
[He says]: For the kingdom of God is not food and drink. As if he said, ‘Why do we deal so much with food when we are hastening to the kingdom of heaven? For there, just as they do not marry, and are not given in marriage, so they neither eat nor drink, but are like the angels of God.’ Thus, with a most perfect and clear teaching the Apostle establishes that there is no need of food and drink in the kingdom of heaven, but that there is justice and peace. And because fleshly joy usually accompanies food and drink, he adds here joy, but in the Holy Spirit. These things effect the kingdom of heaven in us here, but in the future they lead us where these same things are possessed more certainly and more firmly. There is justice in work; peace is in the heart or conscience; joy is in the Lord. Whoever has these things already has the kingdom of God within him.
For he who in this way serves Christ pleases God and is approved by men. He who serves Christ in the Holy Spirit pleases God and is approved by men in justice, and he dwells harmoniously with himself in peace.
Let us pursue the things of peace outside because of the disposition of peace that we enjoy within; and from a disposition for justice let us keep the things that are edifying. What does justice demand more clearly than that we not destroy on account of food the work of Christ’s redemption in our brothers?
All things are indeed clean, but it is evil for a man to eat with offense, because he wounds the conscience of inner justice if the soul of his brother is endangered by that with which he refreshes himself.
6
CF 27 : 252-253.

Memorial of the BVM
2025-03-01
MARY AND HER SON
By Fr Romano Guardini 7
◊◊◊
The life of Mary, as the Gospel tells it, is as humanly true as it can possibly be, but in this human quality it is filled with a mystery of divine communion and love the depth of which is unfathomable.
Jesus is the substance of Mary’s life, just as the child is the life-blood of its mother, for whom it is the one and all. But, at the same time, He is also her redeemer, and that another child cannot be for its mother. Not only was Mary’s existence as a human mother achieved in her relation to Jesus, but also her redemption. Becoming a mother, she became a Christian. By living with her child, she lived with the God whose living revelation He is. Growing humanly along with the child, as do all mothers who really love; releasing him on the road of life with so much resignation and pain, she ripened in God’s divine grace and truth.
For this reason, Mary is not only a great Christian, one among a number of saints, but she is unique. No one is like her, because what happened to her happened to no other human being. Here lies the authentic root of all exaggeration about her. If people cannot be extravagant enough in their praises of Mary, and even say reckless and foolish things, they are still right in one respect: even though the means are faulty, they seek to express a fact the tremendous depth of which must overwhelm everyone who realizes it. But exaggerations are useless and harmful, because the simpler the word expressing a truth, the more tremendous and at the same time the more deeply realized the facts become.
7
The Rosary of Our Lady, New York, 1955, pp. 30-31.

Skema
2025-03-02
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
8th Week in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (I)
March 2 – 8, 2025

Sun
2
Mon
3
Tue
4
Wed
5
Thu
6
Fri
7
Sat
8

Office
8th Sunday
St Katherine Drexel
Office for the Dead
Ash Wednesday
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Friday after Ash Wednesday
Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Vigils
1 Kings 22:1-28
1 Kings 22:29-40
1 Kings 22:41-53
Dan 9:1-19
Heb 1:1-14
Heb 2:1-18
Heb 3:1-19

Lauds
Hab 3:1-7
Hab 3:8-15
Hab 3:16-19
Sir 17:20-32
Exod 1:6-14
Exod 1:15-22
Exod 2:1-10

Mass
84
347
348
219
220
221
222

1st
Sir 27:5-8
Sir 17:20-24
Sir 35:1-12
Joel 2:12-18
Deut 30:15-20
Isa 58:1-9a
Isa 58:9b-14

2nd
1 Cor 15:54-58

2 Cor 5:20-6:2

Gospel
Luke 6:39-45
Mark 10:17-27
Mark 10:28-31
Matt 6:1-6, 16-18
Luke 9:22-25
Matt 9:14-15
Luke 5:27-32

Vespers
1 Cor 16:10-24
Philem 1-11
Philem 12-25
Eph 2:4-10
Deut 1:3-8
Deut 4:1-8
Deut 4:25-31

Vigils Reading - 8th Sunday Ordinary time
2025-03-02
THE DISCIPLE IS NOT
ABOVE HIS TEACHER
From a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria
◊◊◊
The disciples were to be the spiritual guides and teachers of the whole
world. It had therefore to be clearly seen by all that they held fast to the true
faith. It was essential for them to be familiar with the gospel way of life, skilled
in every good work, and to give teaching that was precise, salutary, and
scrupulously faithful to the truth they themselves had long pondered,
enlightened by the divine radiance. Otherwise they would be blind leaders of the
blind. Those imprisoned in the darkness of ignorance can never lead others in
the same sorry state to knowledge of the truth. Should they try, both would fall
headlong into the ditch of the passions.
To destroy the ostentatious passion of boastfulness and stop people from
trying to win greater honor than their teachers, Christ declared: The disciple is
not above his teacher. Even if some should advance so far as to equal their
teachers in holiness, they ought to remain within the limits set by them, and
follow their example. Paul also taught this when he said: Be imitators of me, as
I am of Christ. So, then, if the Master does not judge, why are you judging? He
came not to judge the world, but to take pity on it.
What he is saying, then, is this: “If I do not pass judgment, neither must
you, my disciple. You may be even more guilty of the faults of which you accuse
another. Will you not be ashamed when you come to realize this?” The Lord uses
another illustration for the same teaching when he says: Why do you look for
the speck in your brother’s eye?
With compelling arguments he persuades us that we should not want to
judge others, but should rather examine our own hearts, and strive to expel the
passions seated in them, asking this grace from God. He it is who heals the
contrite of heart and frees us from our spiritual disorders. If your own sins are
greater and worse than other people’s, why do you censure them, and neglect
what concerns yourself?
This precept, then, is essential for all who wish to live a holy life, and
particularly for those who have undertaken the instruction of others. If they are
virtuous and self-restrained, giving an example of the gospel way of life by their
own actions, they will rebuke those who do not choose to live as they do in a
friendly way, so as not to break their own habit of gentleness.

Vigils Reading - St Katherine Drexel
2025-03-03
ST KATHERINE DREXEL
An excerpt from “All Saints” by Robert Ellsberg
◊◊◊
Katherine Drexel came from one of the wealthiest families in America.
Her father was an extremely successful banker, a Catholic of Austrian descent.
Katherine did not know her mother, who died five weeks after her birth. But a
year later her father was remarried to another eminent Catholic, Emma
Bouvier, who exerted a strong influence on Katherine and her two sisters. When
Frances Drexel died he established a trust for his three daughters of
$14,000,000. Inspired by their Catholic faith, they all three regarded this
fortune as an opportunity to glorify God through the service of others.
This was the great era of Catholic immigration, as American cities
stretched to accommodate new arrivals from Europe. The Church responded
with an extraordinary system of schools, hospitals, orphanages, and other
charitable institutions, proving to the world that Catholics knew how to “look
after their own.” There were certainly plenty of claims on the generosity of a
young Catholic heiress. But Katherine Drexel’s concern extended to those
outside the church, indeed to those all but excluded from American society –
namely, Indians and blacks. She began by endowing scores of schools on Indian
reservations across the country. In 1878 during a private audience with Pope
Leo XIII she begged the pope to send priests to serve the Indians. He responded,
“Why not become a missionary yourself?”
At this point Katherine realized that it was not enough to share her
wealth. God was calling her to give everything. Consequently she embarked on a
long search to find a religious order corresponding to her own sense of mission.
But when none could be found, she received the support of her bishop to
establish her own religious congregation. In 1891 she was professed as the first
member of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People.
Within the year ten other women had joined her order.
Though Katherine embraced a vow of personal poverty, she continued to
administer the income from her trust – an enormous sum of $400,000 a year.
She might have spent the money to endow the establishment of her own
congregation, but she insisted that her own Sisters rely on alms… In the 1920’s
she contributed toward the founding of Xavier University in New Orleans, the
first Catholic college established for blacks. All told she was personally
responsible for establishing 145 Catholic missions and 12 schools for Indians,
and 50 schools for black students.
Mother Drexel died on March 3, 1955, at the age of ninety-six, her life
having spanned the era of slavery and the Indian wars to the dawn of the
modern civil rights movement. It was a period in which blacks and Indians, the
communities to which Mother Drexel devoted her life, were far from the
consciousness of most American Catholics. Her charitable works did little
directly to challenge the structures of racism and discrimination. But in the era
of rigidly enforced racial segregation her work had a profound “witness value.”

Vigils Reading - Office for the Dead
2025-03-04
THE SUPREME RISK
by Gustave Thibon
◊◊◊
The being who runs the least risk is that being who, down here, comes
nearest to nothingness: the one who risks nothing is nothing. The risk is made to
be run: every being carries within itself what it takes to overcome the risks to
which its nature or its vocation exposes it. The greatest risk of all concerns our
highest destiny… The acceptance of death is the only risk which is in any way
proportionate to the supernatural destiny of the soul, and anyone who is not
ready to run it is not truly Christian. Where are we to find the counterpart of
eternal life if not in the total annihilation of temporal life? One sole risk
measures up to the absolute promise of God, and that “sole risk” is to risk what
looks like losing everything.
Everyone’s destiny is governed by our inward response to this question:
which of the two is an illusion, love or death? Those who are Christians bank on
love, and for love they are ready to risk death. They belong among those who,
believing in love, can no longer believe in death. The Christian risk consists in
going all the way in subordinating death to love. Since Calvary, death has given
up working for its own ends: love never gives up stealing its victory from it. The
supreme risk has become the supreme hope.
Everyone exercises discretion according to the nature of their treasure, of
their heart. True discretion has two eyes: one is fixed on the goal to be obtained,
the other on the risk to be run; discretion sees all the way to the end, and for that
reason it can take on the risk. False discretion is, in a sense, one-eyed. Its one
eye is fixed only on the risk, it sees no further than the risk, and for that reason it
refuses to let itself run the risk. Deprived of both the healthy outlook which sees
the goal and of the holy inclination which leads towards it, it no longer has any
desire but at all costs to escape the risk. Those who do this are then given up
either to stagnation or to regression; they no longer dream of anything but shell-
back coverings or protective railings, and life is transformed into a vast
enterprise of “insurance against all risks”.
There is no greater indiscretion than this false discretion. By being over-
anxious to preserve themselves, such people destroy themselves. Those who, in
order to take better care of themselves, confine themselves to their own lower
elements, work for their own ruin, for they are acting against a central demand
of nature and of life, and they compromise beyond repair the inferior good that
they claim to save… For we are not down here to remain on a steady level, and if
we refuse to climb we increase the chance of falling. For the fruitful task of life
and love, false discretion substitutes everywhere the sterile risk of egoism and
death.

Vigils Reading - Ash Wednesday
2025-03-05
THE GOD OF LENT
by Thomas Merton4
◊◊◊
Lent is not a season of punishment so much as one of healing… a season of
special reflection and prayer, a forty-day retreat in which each Christian, to the
extent he is able, tries to follow Christ into the desert by prayer and fasting…
The cross of ashes, traced upon the forehead of each Christian… is the sign of
Christ’s victory over death. The words “Remember man that thou art dust, and that
to dust thou shalt return” are not to be taken as… a kind of “sacrament of death”…
The declaration that the body must fall temporarily into dust is a challenge to
spiritual combat, that our burial may be “in Christ” and that we may rise with Him
to “live unto God.”…
To say there is joy in Ash Wednesday is not to empty the procession of its
sorrows and anguish. “Save me O God… for the waters are come in even unto my
soul.” This is not a song of joy. If we present our selves before God to receive ashes
from the hand of the priest it is because we are convinced of our sinfulness… A
sinner is a drowning man, a sinking ship. The waters are bursting into him on all
sides… They are closing over his head, and he cries out to God: “the waters are
come in even unto my soul.”… Ash Wednesday is for people who know what it
means for their soul to be logged with these icy waters: all of us are such people, if
only we can realize it… The light of Lent is given us to help us with this realization.
Nevertheless, the liturgy of Lent is not focused on the sinfulness of the
penitent but on the mercy of God… Nowhere will we find more tender expressions
of the divine mercy than on this day… In the Introit for Ash Wednesday we sing:
“You have mercy upon all, O Lord, and hate none of those which You have made.”…
The God of Lent is like a calm sea of mercy. In Him there is no anger. This
“hiding” of God’s severity is not a subterfuge. It is a revelation of His true nature.
He is not severe… He is love. Love becomes severe only to those who make Him
severe for themselves. Love is hard only to those who refuse Him. It is not, and
cannot be Love’s will to be refused. Therefore it is not and cannot be Love’s will to
be severe and punish… Those who refuse Him are severe to themselves, and
immolate themselves to the blood-thirsty god of their own self-love. It is from this
idol that Love would deliver us. To such bitter servitude, Love would never
condemn us.

4 Seasons of Celebration – Farrar, Straus & Giroux – NY – 1965 – pg. 1189

Vigils Reading
2025-03-06
THE HAVEN OF LENT
By St Caesarius of Arles
◊◊◊
Behold, dearest brethren, through the mercy of God the season of Lent is
upon us. Therefore I beseech you, beloved, with God’s help let us celebrate these
days, salutary for bodies and healing for the soul, in so holy and spiritual a
manner that the observance of a holy Lent may lead to progress for us and not
judgment. For if we lead a careless life, involving ourselves in too many
occupations, not applying ourselves to fasting and vigils and prayers, neither
reading Sacred Scripture ourselves nor willingly listening to others reading it,
the very remedies are changed into wounds for us. As a result of this we shall
have judgment, where we could have had a remedy.
For this reason I exhort you, dearest brethren, to rise rather early for
vigils, and above all to come to Terce, Sext and None. Let no one withdraw
himself from the holy Office unless either infirmity or public service or at least
great necessity keeps him occupied. Let it not be enough for you that you hear
the divine lessons in church, but read them yourselves in your room or look for
someone else to read them and willingly listen to them when they do.
Remember the thought of our Lord, brethren, when he says: “If he were to gain
the whole world and destroy himself in the process, what can a man offer in
exchange for his very self?” Finally, if you cannot do more, at least labor as much
on behalf of your soul as you desire to labor for the sake of your body.
For this reason, dearest brethren, “Have no love for the world, nor for the
things the world affords,” because “the world with its seductions is passing
away.” What, then, remains in a person except what each one has stored up in
the treasury of his conscience for the salvation of his soul by reading or prayer or
the performance of good works? For miserable pleasure and dissipation
through a passing sweetness prepare eternal bitterness; but abstinence, vigils,
prayer and fasting lead to the delights of paradise through the briefest
hardships. The Truth does not lie when He says in the Gospel: “Straight and
narrow is the road that leads to life, and how few there are who find it!”
For this reason, dearest brethren, by fasting, reading, and prayer in these
forty days we ought to store up for our souls provisions, as it were, for the whole
year. Although through the mercy of God you frequently and devoutly hear the
divine lessons throughout the entire year, still during these days we ought to
rest from the winds and the sea of this world by taking refuge, as it were, in the
haven of Lent, and in the quiet of silence to receive the divine lessons in the
receptacle of the heart. Devoting ourselves to God out of love for eternal life,
during these days let us with all solicitude strive to repair and compose in the
little ship of our soul whatever through the year has been broken or destroyed or
damaged by many storms, that is, by the waves of sin. And since it is necessary
for us to endure the storms and tempests of the world while we are still in this
frail body, as often as the enemy wills to lead us astray by means of the roughest
storms, with God’s help may he always find us prepared against him.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-07
THE HOLY DAYS
OF LENT
From a sermon by St Leo the Great6
◊◊◊
During this holy time we should not hear the sound of discord coming
from those to whom the consolations of holy joy are never wanting. And when
you are engaged in works of mercy, do not fear a lessening of your own earthly
possessions. Christian poverty is ever rich; for that which it possesses is greater
than that which it does not possess…
But be certain, dearly beloved, that the devil, the enemy of all virtue, will
look with envy upon these pious practices to which we trust you freely give
yourselves; and he will bring against them all the force of his malice, so that
from piety itself he may weave snares against piety, so that those he could not
destroy through despair he will seek to undo through vainglory. For standing
close at hand to all our actions is the iniquity of pride; and vanity lies ever in wait
for virtue; for it rarely happens that the praise of men is not given to those who
live worthy lives, unless, as was written, “Whoever glories, let him glory in the
Lord”
Let us therefore, dearly beloved, be watchful against the deceits of the
devil, not only against the enticements of gluttony, but even in our very purpose
of fasting. For he who knew how to bring death upon all by means of food,
knows how to injure us even in our fast. For just as by a serpent he brought it
about that what was forbidden was eaten by Adam and Eve, so by the same
serpents he persuades mortals to shun what is lawful.

Whatever is given us as food and as drink is clean and holy, no matter
what it may be. But if it is indulged in with unmeasured appetite it will dishonor
both those who eat it and those who drink it. Yet it is not the nature of the food
that defiles us. For “all things are clean to the clean; but to those that are defiled
and to unbelievers, nothing is clean, but both their mind and their conscience
are defiled”
But you, dearly beloved, the holy offspring of the Catholic Mother, whom
the Spirit of God has taught in the School of Truth, use your freedom of action
with right reason, knowing that it is good to abstain, even from what is lawful;
and when you must practice self-denial, so abstain from food as merely putting
aside its use, not as condemning its nature.
Enter then with pious devotion upon these holy days of Lent; and prepare
for yourselves the works of mercy, that you may merit the Divine Mercy.
Extinguish the fires of anger, wipe away all hate, love the bond of unity, give way
to each other in the simplicity of true humility.
Rule your servants with justice, and likewise all who are subject to you.
Let there be an end to vengeance. Let offenses be forgiven. Let harshness be
changed to mildness, disdain to gentleness, and discord into peace. Let us all
strive to be modest, let all be gentle, all be kind, so that our fasting may be
pleasing to God. To Him we shall offer a true sacrifice of self-denial and
devotion if we keep ourselves from all iniquity; being helped in all things by
almighty God, who with the Son and the Holy Spirit is One in divinity, one in
Majesty, for ever and ever.

6 The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, vol 2, Henry Regnery Co, Chicago, 1958, pg 30.13

Vigils Reading
2025-03-08
HE CAME TO CALL SINNERS
From a letter by St Maximus the Confessor7
◊◊◊
God’s will is to save us, and nothing pleases him more than our coming
back to him with true repentance. The heralds of truth and the ministers of
divine grace have told us this from the beginning, repeating it in every age.
Indeed God’s desire for our salvation is the primary and preeminent sign of his
infinite goodness, and it was precisely in order to show that there is nothing
closer to God’s heart than the divine Word of the Father. With untold
condescension, he lived among us in the flesh, and did, suffered and said all that
was necessary to reconcile us to God the Father, when we were at enmity with
him, and to restore us to the life of blessedness from which we had been exiled.
He healed our physical infirmities by miracles; he freed us from our sins, many
and grievous as they were, by suffering and dying, taking them upon himself as
if he were answerable for them, sinless though he was. He also taught us in
many different ways that we should wish to imitate him by our own kindness
and genuine love for one another.
So it was that Christ proclaimed that he had come to call sinners to
repentance, not the righteous, and that it was not the healthy who required a
doctor, but the sick. He declared that he had come to look for the sheep that was
lost, and that it was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel that he had been sent.
To give the same lesson he revived the man who, having fallen into the
hands of brigands, had been left stripped and half-dead from his wounds; he
poured wine and oil on the wounds, bandaged them, placed the man on his own
mule, and brought him to an inn, where he left sufficient money to have him
cared for, and promised to repay any further expense on his return.
Again, he told of how that Father. Who is goodness itself, was moved with
pity for his profligate son who returned and made amends by repentance; how
he embraced him, dressed him once more in the fine garments that befitted his
own dignity, and did not reproach him for any of his sins.
So too, when he found wandering in the mountains and hills the one
sheep that had strayed from God’s flock of a hundred, he brought it back to the
fold, but he did not exhaust it by driving it ahead of him. Instead, he placed it on
his own shoulders and so, compassionately, he restored it safely to the flock.
So also he cried out: “Come to me, all you that toil and are heavy of heart.
Accept my yoke”, he said, by which he meant his commands, or rather the whole
way of life that he taught us in the Gospel. He then speaks of a burden, but that
is only because repentance seems difficult. In fact, however, “my yoke is easy”,
he assures us, “and my burden is light”.
Then again he instructs us in divine justice and goodness, telling us to be
like our heavenly Father, holy, perfect and merciful. “Forgive”, he says, “and
you will be forgiven. Behave toward other people as you would wish them to
behave toward you”.

7 The Liturgy of the Hours – vol II – pg 304 – Catholic Book Publishing co – 1976.15

.

Skema
2025-03-09
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
1st Week of Lent

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (I)
March 9 – 15, 2025

Sun
9
Mon
10
Tue
11
Wed
12
Thu
13
Fri
14
Sat
15

Office
1st Sunday of Lent
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday

Vigils
Heb 4:1-13
Heb 4:14-5:10
Heb 5:11-6:20
Heb 7:1-10
Heb 7:11-28
Heb 8:1-13
Heb 9:1-10

Lauds
Exod 2:23-3:6
Exod 3:7-10
Exod 3:11-15
Exod 3:16-22
Exod 4:10-17
Exod 5:1-5
Exod 6:2-9

Mass
24
224
225
226
227
228
229

1st
Deut 26:4-10
Lev 19:1-2, 11-18
Isa 55:10-11
Jonah 3:1-10
Esth C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Ezek 18:21-28
Deut 26:16-19

2nd
Rom 10:8-13

Gospel
Luke 4:1-13
Matt 25:31-46
Matt 6:7-15
Luke 11:29-32
Matt 7:7-12
Matt 5:20-26
Matt 5:43-48

Vespers
Deut 4:32-40
Deut 5:1-10
Deut 5:11-15
Deut 5:16-22
Deut 5:32-6:3
Deut 6:4-9
Deut 6:10-15

Vigils Reading - 1st Sun of Lent
2025-03-09
THE GREAT VALUE
OF FASTING
From a commentary by St John Chrysostom
◊◊◊
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the
devil. What does “then” mean? After the Spirit descended, after the voice from
heaven said: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. The amazing
thing is that Scripture says it was the Holy Spirit who led him there!
All that Jesus did and suffered was for our instruction. He consented to be
led into the desert and to do battle with the devil so that when the baptized were
assailed by greater temptations after baptism than before they would not be
troubled as though this were something unexpected, but would remain
steadfast, bearing them all nobly. You did not receive weapons so that you might
sit at ease, but so that you might fight!
The reason God does not prevent the onslaught of temptations are these:
First, so that you may learn that you have become now much stronger; then, so
that you may remain modest, for you will not be puffed up by the greatness of
your gifts if temptations can humble you; next, because the wicked demon may
doubt at first whether you have really renounced him, and the test of temptation
will convince him of your total desertion; fourth, to confirm you, who are now
stronger and steadier than iron; fifth, to give you clear evidence of the treasures
committed to you. The devil would not have attacked you if he had not seen that
you have been raised to a position of great honor.
Notice where it was that the spirit led Jesus – not into the city or the
market place, but into the desert. Since Jesus wished to entice the devil he gave
him his opportunity not only by his own hunger, but also by his choice of place.
The devil usually attacks people when he sees them alone by themselves. He
does not dare to do so when he sees them together with others. It is for this
reason especially that we should frequently meet with one another. If we do not
we may become an easy prey for the devil. And so, the devil finds Jesus in the
desert, in a trackless wilderness.
Consider how vile and wicked the devil’s approach is, and what sort of
opportunity he watches for. He does not come near when Jesus is fasting, but
only when he is hungry. You should learn from this the great value of fasting and
that no weapon is more powerful against the devil. After baptism you should not
be filled with food and drink from a well laden table, but should rather devote
yourself to fasting. Jesus fasted not because he himself had any need to do so,
but to give us an example.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-10
THE MANNER OF KEEPING
THE LENTEN OBSERVANCE
From a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux
◊◊◊
I beseech you, most dearly beloved, to enter with all possible fervor upon
this Lenten time, which is commended to us not only by the law of abstinence,
but also and much more by the mystery it contains. Oh, with what devotion
should we observe what has been transmitted to us as an inheritance from the
righteous Moses who, by a special privilege granted to no other prophet, spoke
to the Lord face to face. With what eagerness should we embrace a practice
commended to us by the example of Elias, who was taken up to heaven in a fiery
chariot. We are encouraged to undertake this fast by the example of Moses and
Elias, who, illustrious though they may be, are still our fellow-servants. But
much greater encouragement should be given in the example of our Lord Jesus
Christ Who also fasted for forty days. What kind of monk, or even what kind of
Christian, would one be who would submit only with reluctance to an
observance given to us by Christ?… We ought to imitate His example with all the
more fervor knowing that He fasted not for His own sake but for ours…
They are clearly in error who suppose that these few days are sufficient for
the practice of penance, since it is obvious that the whole period of our earthly
life is ordered for no other purpose. “Seek the Lord,” says the prophet, and not
only during forty days, but “while He may be found”. “Call upon Him while He is
near”… Therefore since the Lord is near during all this time of mercy, “seek
Him,” most dearly beloved, “seek Him while He may be found; call upon Him
while He is near.”
Nevertheless we ought to seek Him with greater ardor during these forty
days of Lent, which is not only a part, but the most sacred part of the whole
season of mercy. If, then, at other times we have allowed our zeal to grow slack,
it is fitting that our hearts should now be warmed with a renewal of spiritual
fervor. If the stomach alone has sinned, let the stomach alone fast, and that
suffices. But if the other members have sinned also, why should they not be
made to fast as well as the stomach? Therefore let the “eye which has wasted the
soul” be made to fast. Let the ear, too, be made to fast, and the tongue, and the
hand, and even the soul herself. Let the eye fast from curious looks, so that,
wholesomely humbled, it may now be kept in penitential restraint. Let the ear
fast from news and idle tales and from all that is vain and worthless with regard
to salvation. Let the tongue fast from detraction and murmuring, from
unprofitable, vain and frivolous words, and – because of the great importance of
silence – sometimes even from words that seem necessary. Let the hand fast
from every work not sanctioned by obedience.
But above all, let the soul fast from vice and the following of her own will.
For without this kind of fasting, all the rest will have no value in the eyes of God.
For we read in the prophet Isaiah that when the people said to the Lord: “Why
have we fasted and you have not regarded?”, they received this answer: “Behold
in the day of your fast your own will is found.”

Vigils Reading
2025-03-11
PRAYER, FASTING,
AND MERCY
From a homily by St Peter Chrysologus
◊◊◊
Perseverance in faith, devotion, and virtue is assured by three things:
prayer, fasting, and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting gains entrance,
mercy receives. These three things, prayer, fasting, and mercy are all one and
they give life to each other.
Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one
try to separate them, for this is impossible. If we have only one of them, if we
have not all three together, we have nothing. Whoever prays, then, must also
fast; whoever fasts must also show mercy. If we want our own petitions heard
we must hear the petitions of others. God’s ear will be open to us if we do not
turn a deaf ear to other people.
When we fast we should understand what it means to be really hungry. If
we want God to take account of our hunger we must feel for the hunger of
others. If we hope for mercy we must show mercy. If we look for kindness we
must show kindness. If we want to receive we must give. Only a shameless
person would ask for himself what he refused to give to others. In showing
mercy this should be the rule: show it in the same way, with the same
generosity, with the same promptness as you would wish it to be shown to you.
Let prayer, mercy, and fasting, then, be one single appeal to God on our
behalf, one speech in our defense, one threefold plea in our favor. What we have
lost by despising others let us regain by fasting. By fasting let us offer our souls
in sacrifice, for we can make no better offering to God, as is proved by the
prophet’s words: A sacrifice pleasing to God is a contrite spirit. A contrite and
humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.
Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting so that your
soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own
and at the same time made over to God. Whoever fails to give this gift to God will
not be excused for you are never without the means of giving if the gift to be
given is yourself.
To make these offerings acceptable mercy must be added. Fasting bears
no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. When mercy dries up fasting is arid.
Mercy is to fasting as rain is to the earth. However much you may cultivate your
heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out your vices and sow virtues, if you do
not release the springs of mercy your fasting will bear no fruit. When you fast a
thin sowing of mercy will mean a thin harvest. When you fast what you pour out
in mercy overflows into your barn. So do not lose by saving, but gather in by
scattering. Give to the poor and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to
keep what you have refused to give to others.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-12
RETURN WITH YOUR
WHOLE HEART
From a homily by St Faustus of Riez
◊◊◊
Our Lord and Savior exhorts us through the prophet and advises us how
we ought to come to Him after many negligences, saying: “Come let us bow
down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord who made us”; and again: “Return
to me with your whole heart, with fasting, with weeping and mourning”. If we
notice carefully, dearest brethren, the holy days of Lent signify the life of the
present world, just as Easter prefigures eternal bliss.
Now just as we have a kind of sadness in Lent in order that we may rightly
rejoice at Easter, so as long as we live in this world we ought to do penance in
order that we may be able to receive pardon for our sins in the future and arrive
at eternal joy. Each one ought to sigh over his own sins, shed tears and give alms
in such a way that with God’s help he may always try to avoid the same faults as
long as he lives. Just as there never has been, is not now, and never will be a soul
without slight sins, so with the help and assistance of God we ought to be
altogether without serious sins.
Now in order that we may obtain this, if burdens of the world keep us
occupied at other times, at least during the holy days of Lent let us reflect on the
law of the Lord, as it is written, by day and by night. Let us so fill our hearts with
the sweetness of the divine law that we leave no place within us devoid of virtues
so that vices could occupy it. Just as at the time of the harvest or vintage…
enough is gathered so that the body may be fed, so during the days of Lent as at a
time of spiritual harvest or vintage we ought to gather the means whereby our
soul may live forever. Whenever a careless person fails to gather anything at the
time of harvest or vintage, he will be distressed by hunger throughout the entire
space of the year. In the same way if anyone at this season neglects to provide
and gather spiritual wheat and heavenly wine in the storehouse of his soul by
fasting, reading and prayer, he will suffer forever the most severe thirst and
cruel want.
Know for sure, dearest brethren, that the soul which is not fed
continuously by the word of God is like a body which receives food only after
many days. Just as the body becomes thin and dehydrated, almost like a
shadow, through hunger and want, so the soul which is not fed on God’s word is
found to be parched and useless, fit for no good work. Consider, brethren, if
every year we fill the barn and wine cellar and storehouse in order that our body
may have food for one year, how much do you think we ought to store up so that
our soul may be nourished forever?

Vigils Reading
2025-03-13
THE DRIVING FORCE
OF THE WORLD
By Pope Benedict XVI
◊◊◊
Lent renews in us the hope in the God who made us pass from death to
life. Lent, fully oriented to the mystery of Redemption, is defined the “path of
true conversion”… Prayer nourishes hope because nothing expresses the reality
of our God in our life better than praying with faith. Even in the loneliness of the
most severe trial, nothing and no one can prevent me from addressing the
Father “in the secret” of my heart, where He alone sees, as Jesus says in the
gospel… Thus, prayer proves to be the first and principal “weapon” with which
to win the victory in our struggle against the spirit of evil.
Christ’s prayer reaches its culmination on the Cross. It is expressed in
those last words which the Evangelists have recorded. Where he seems to utter a
cry of despair: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Christ was
actually making his own the invocation of someone beset by enemies with no
escape, who has no other than God to turn to and, over and above any human
possibilities, experiences his grace and salvation.
With these words of the Psalm, first of a man who is suffering, then of the
People of God in their suffering, caused by God’s apparent absence, Jesus made
his own this cry of humanity that suffers from God’s apparent absence, and
carried this cry to the Father’s heart. So, by praying in this ultimate solitude
together with the whole of humanity, he opens the heart of God to us…
The prayer of supplication full of hope is consequently the leitmotif of
Lent and enables us to experience God as the only anchor of salvation. Indeed
when it is collective, the prayer of the People of God is a voice of one heart and
soul, it is a “heart to heart” dialogue, like Queen Esther’s moving plea when her
people were about to be exterminated: “O my Lord, you only are our King; help
me, who am alone and have no helper but you.” … “for a great danger
overshadows me”. In the face of a “great danger” greater hope is needed: only
the hope that can count on God.
Prayer is a crucible in which our expectations and aspirations are exposed
in the light of God’s Word, immersed in dialogue with the One who is Truth, and
from which they emerge free from hidden lies and compromises with various
forms of selfishness. Without the dimension of prayer, the human “I” ends by
withdrawing into himself, and the conscience, which should be an echo of God’s
voice, risks being reduced to a mirror of the self, so that the inner conversation
becomes a monologue, giving rise to self-justifications by the thousands.
Therefore, prayer is a guarantee of openness to others: whoever frees
himself for God and his needs simultaneously opens himself to the other, to the
brother or sister who knocks at the door of his heart and asks to be heard, asks
for attention, forgiveness, at times correction, but always in fraternal charity.
Thus prayer is never self-centered, it is always centered on the other. As such, it
opens the person praying to the “ecstasy” of charity, to the capacity to go out of
oneself to draw close to the other in humble, neighborly service. True prayer is
the driving force of the world, since it keeps it open to God. For this reason
without prayer there is no hope but only illusion.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-14
THE SEASON OF PENANCE
From a sermon by St Ambrose
◊◊◊
Behold now is the appointed time, in which you must confess your sins to
God, and to the priest; and by prayer and by fasting, by tears and by almsgiving,
wipe them away. Why should sinners be ashamed to make known their sins, since
they are already known and manifest to God, and to the angels, and even to the
blessed in heaven? Confession delivers the soul from death. Confession opens the
door to heaven. Confession brings us hope of salvation. Because of this the
Scripture says through Isaiah: “First tell your iniquities, that you may be
justified.” Here we are shown that they will not be saved who, during their life, do
not confess their sins. Neither will that confession deliver you which is made
without true repentance. For true repentance is grief of heart and sorrow of soul
because of the evils one has committed. True repentance causes us to grieve over
them with the firm intention of never committing them again.
And even though every day we live may rightly be a day of repentance, yet is
it in these days more appropriate to confess our sins, to fast, and to give alms to the
poor, since in these days you may wash clean the sins of the whole year. Therefore I
counsel all of you, and I exhort each one of you to repair whatever you know within
your soul is blameworthy. Whoever among you discerns within yourself what is
unworthy in a Christian, make amends. What does it mean to give tithes faithfully,
but that no one should offer to God [anything that] is defective or stunted. For of
all things which the Lord bestows on us, a tenth part we reserve to God. So it is not
lawful to keep what is reserved to God. And if you do not give God’s tenth part, God
will take nine parts from you.
Again, if you know in your own heart that you have taken something unjustly
from another, make amends by restoring what you have unjustly taken. For if you
do not render the tenth to God, which is reserved for Him, and [return] to another
what you took from him unjustly, you are a person who no longer fears God and
does not know the meaning of true repentance, or of true confession of sins.
And you ought to do this, since each person should give to the needy
according to his means; that is, that you who have much should give much and if
you have little ought to give little; as the holy Tobias taught his son: “Give alms out
of your substance, and do not turn away your face from the poor, that the face of
the Lord may not be turned away from you”.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-15
LET US REND
OUR HEARTS
From a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux
◊◊◊
If you grieve for your sin or your neighbor’s, you do well, and this sadness
leads to salvation. If you rejoice at the gifts of grace, this is a holy joy and a true
joy in the Holy spirit. You must rejoice in the love of Christ with your brothers,
in their successes and grieve with them in adversity, as it is written: Rejoice with
those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
This does not mean that we should value lightly the physical turning. As
we know, it is no small support for the spiritual. That is why when the Lord had
said “with all your heart” here, he immediately added “with fasting”, for that is
of the body. Yet I would have you warned, my brothers, that that means not only
abstaining from food, but from all fleshly lusts and all bodily pleasures; indeed
you must fast from vices far more than from food. But there is a bread from
which I do not wish you to fast lest you faint on the way; if you do not know what
it is, I am speaking of the bread of tears… It demands mourning of us by way of
repentance for our former way of life; it demands weeping with desire for future
beatitude. You do not have sufficient cravings for the joys to come if you do not
beg for them every day with tears; if your soul does not refuse comfort until they
come, then you know too little of them.
Let the Spirit rend your heart with his sword, which is the Word of God;
let him rend it and speedily shatter it into many fragments. There is no way to
turn to the Lord with all your heart except your heart be rent. Listen to one
whom God found to be after his own heart. My heart is ready, O God, my heart
is ready, he says – ready for both adversity and prosperity, ready for what is low
and what is lofty; ready for whatever you command. Who is faithful as David in
his going out and coming in? He used to say of sinners, Their heart is curdled
like milk, but I have meditated on your law. This is the reason for hardness of
heart and obstinacy of mind, that someone does not meditate on the law of the
Lord but on his own will.
Let us rend our hearts, dearly beloved, but keep our garments whole. Our
garments are our virtues; love is a good garment, obedience is a good garment.
Happy is the one who cares for these garments that he may not walk naked.
Happy are those whose sins are covered; love covers a multitude of sins. Let us
rend our hearts…that we may keep our garments whole, as was our Savior’s
tunic. The rending of the heart not only keeps the garment whole, but also
makes it long and of many colors, like the coat the holy patriarch Joseph gave
the son whom he loved more than the others. From this comes perseverance in
virtue, from this the many colored unity of a beautiful way of life.
We may also take this rending of the heart in another way; if the heart is
wicked it may be rent by confession; if hard, by compassion. Is not an ulcer rent
so that the diseased matter may flow out? Is not the heart rent to overflow in
compassion? Both rendings are expedient, that the poison of sin may not be
hidden in the heart, and we may not shut off our compassion from our
neighbor’s need, that we may receive mercy from Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
over all, blessed forever.

Skema
2025-03-16
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
2nd Week of Lent

Mass Readings: Sunday (C), Weekdays (I)
March 16 – 22, 2025

Sun
16
Mon
17
Tue
18
Wed
19
Thu
20
Fri
21
Sat
22

Office
2nd Sunday of Lent
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
St Joseph
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday
Lenten Weekday

Vigils
Heb 9:11-28
Heb 10:1-18
Heb 10:19-39
Sir 51: 13-30
Heb 11:17-40
Heb 12:1-13
Heb 12:14-29

Lauds
Exod 7:1-7
Exod 7:8-13
Exod 7:19-22
Zech 10:6-12
Exod 8:12-15
Exod 9:1-7
Exod 9:8-12

Mass
27
230
231
543
233
234
235

1st
Gen 15:5-12, 17-18
Dan 9:4b-10
Isa 1:10, 16-20
2 Sam 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16
Jer 17:5-10
Gen 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a
Mic 7:14-15, 18-20

2nd
Phil 3:17–4:1

Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22

Gospel
Luke 9:28b-36
Luke 6:36-38
Matt 23:1-12
Matt 1:16, 18-21, 24a
Luke 16:19-31
Matt 21:33-43, 45-46
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Vespers
Deut 6:16-19
Deut 6:20-25
Eph 3:14-21
James 1:22-27
Deut 7:12-15
Deut 7:16-21
Deut 8:1-6

Vigils Reading - 2nd Sunday of Lent
2025-03-16
THE VISION OF CHRIST’S GLORY
From a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria
◊◊◊
With three chosen disciples Jesus went up the mountain. Then he was
transfigured by a wonderful light that made even his clothes seem to shine.
Moses and Elijah stood by him and spoke with him on how he was going to
complete his task on earth by dying in Jerusalem. In other words, they spoke of
the mystery of his incarnation, and of his saving passion upon the cross. For the
Law of Moses and the teaching of the holy prophets clearly foreshadowed the
mystery of Christ. The Law portrayed it by types and symbols inscribed on
tablets. The prophets in many ways foretold that in his own time he would
appear, clothed in human nature and that for the salvation of all our race he
would not refuse to suffer death upon the cross.
The presence of Moses and Elijah, and their speaking together, was meant
to show unmistakably that the Law and the prophets were the attendants of Our
Lord Jesus Christ. He was their master, whom they had themselves pointed out
in advance in prophetic words that proved their perfect harmony with one
another. The message of the prophets was in no way at variance with the
precepts of the Law.
Moses and Elijah did not simply appear in silence, they spoke of how
Jesus was to complete his task by dying in Jerusalem. They spoke of his passion
and cross, and of the resurrection that would follow. Thinking no doubt that the
time for the kingdom of God had already come, Peter would gladly have
remained on the mountain. He suggested putting up three tents, hardly
knowing what he was saying. But it was not yet time for the end of the world, nor
was it in this present time that the hopes of the saints would be fulfilled – those
hopes founded on Paul’s promise that Christ would transform our lowly bodies
into the likeness of his glorious body. Only the initial stage of the divine plan
had as yet been accomplished. Until its completion. was it likely that Christ, who
came on earth for love of the world, would give up his wish to die for it? For his
submitting to death was the world’s salvation, and his resurrection was death’s
destruction.
As well as the vision of Christ’s glory, wonderful beyond all description,
something else occurred which was to serve as a vital confirmation , not only of
the disciples’ faith, but of ours as well. From a cloud on high came the voice of
God the Father saying: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
Listen to him.

Vigils Reading
2025-03-17
I HAVE BROUGHT FASTING
INTO MY SOUL
From a meditation by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
◊◊◊
With fasting I gladden my hope in You, my Lord, Who are to come again.
Fasting hastens my preparation for Your coming, the sole expectation of my days
and nights. Fasting makes my body thinner, so that what remains can more easily
shine with the spirit…
But truly, abstaining from food will not save me. Even if I were to eat only
the sand from the lake, You would not come to me, unless the fasting penetrated
deeper into my soul.
I have come to know through my prayer, that bodily fasting is more a symbol
of true fasting, very beneficial for someone who has only just begun to hope in You,
and nevertheless very difficult for someone who merely practices it.
Therefore I have brought fasting into my soul to purge her of many impudent
fiancés and to prepare her for You like a virgin. And I have brought fasting into my
mind, to expel from it all daydreams about worldly matters and to demolish all the
air castles, fabricated from those daydreams…to receive Your Wisdom.
And I have brought fasting into my heart, so that by means of it my heart
might quell all passions and worldly selfishness…so that heavenly peace might
ineffably reign over my heart, when Your stormy Spirit encounters it.
I prescribe fasting for my tongue, to break itself of the habit of idle chatter
and to speak reservedly only those words that clear the way for You to come.
And I have imposed fasting on my worries so that it may blow them all away
before itself like the wind that blows away the mist, lest they stand like dense fog
between me and You, and lest they turn my gaze back to the world.
And fasting has brought into my soul tranquility in the face of uncreated and
created realms, and humility towards men and creatures. And it has instilled in me
courage, the likes of which I never knew when I was armed with every sort of
worldly weapon. What was my hope before I began to fast except merely another
story told by others, which passed from mouth to mouth? The story told by others
about salvation through prayer and fasting became my own.
False fasting accompanies false hope, just as no fasting accompanies
But just as a wheel follows behind a wheel, so true fasting follows
hopelessness. true hope…

Vigils Reading
2025-03-18
PRAYER AND FASTING
By St Bernard of Clairvaux
◊◊◊
Notice in this Lenten observance how prayer and fasting assist each other
like two allies, as it is written: “When a neighbor helps a neighbor, both shall be
comforted”. Prayer obtains the strength for fasting and fasting merits the grace
to pray. Fasting renders prayer more powerful, and prayer responds by
sanctifying the fast and presenting it to the Lord. What would our fast profit us
if – God forbid – it were allowed to remain on the earth? Let it therefore be lifted
up on the wing of prayer. But since this one wing may not be sufficient, it is
necessary to add a second. “The prayer of the just one pierces the heavens”, says
Ecclesiasticus. Consequently, in order that our fast may be easily lifted up to
heaven, let it be provided with the two wings of prayer and justice.
Now what is justice but the virtue which inclines us to render everyone
their due? Therefore it is not enough to have regard only to God. You are a
debtor also to your human superiors, and a debtor to your equals. It is certainly
not the will of God that you should despise those whom He is far from despising.
You may have said to yourself, “It is enough for me if I have the approval of God
alone for my conduct. Why should I be concerned about the judgment of
others?” But be assured of this: that the Lord is pleased with no action of yours
which either gives scandal to His children or which is done contrary to the will of
the one whom you are obliged to obey as God’s representative.
Joel says: “Sanctify the fast; call a solemn assembly”. What is it to “call a
solemn assembly” but to preserve unity, to foster peace, to “love the family of
believers”? The proud Pharisee fasted; he also returned thanks to God. But he
did not call the assembly, since he rather isolated himself by saying, “I am not as
others”. And therefore his fast, borne up on only one wing, was unable to ascend
to heaven. See to it carefully that your fast shall have two wings, “peace, namely,
and holiness, without which no one shall see God”. “Sanctify the fast,” that is to
say, let a pure intention and devout prayer offer it to the Divine Majesty; and
“call a solemn assembly,” that is to say, your fast should not be singular or
detrimental to unity.
Since I have spoken about justice and fasting, it is right that I should say
something concerning prayer. Now just as this holy exercise is more efficacious
when discharged as it ought to be, so the adversary strives to hinder it.
Sometimes he obstructs prayer by inspiring “smallness of spirit” and
immoderate fear. This happens when a person is so taken up with consideration
of their own unworthiness that they lose sight altogether of the goodness of God.
The psalmist says: “Abyss calls on abyss”: the abyss of light on the abyss of
darkness, the abyss of mercy on the abyss of misery. For the human heart is
deep and unfathomable. But although my iniquity is great, much greater, O
Lord, is Your goodness. And consequently, whenever my soul disquiets me, I
shall be “mindful of the multitude of Your mercies” and so shall be comforted.
