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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241118
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241119
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241117T021930Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241117T021930Z
UID:12838-1731888000-1731974399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:CHRIST THE CORNERSTONE \nBy Dom Damasus Winzen2 \n◊◊◊ \nStone is firm and lasting. Builders test their stones\, selecting the most \nsolid for foundations on which to rear the whole building\, for cornerstones to \nhold the wall together\, or for headstones which will lock into a single mass the \nentire structure. Stone likewise offers firm resistance to the thrust of an enemy; \nit will crush him upon whom it falls; it will bruise those who fall against it. \nGod is the “Stone of Israel”\, because he is a God of truth and his mercies \nendure forever. His faithfulness towards his people is the firm and precious \ncornerstone which is laid in Zion. In Christ Jesus\, God’s loyalty becomes \nmanifest. He is the stone that the leaders of Israel rejected when they crucified \nhim… He became the cornerstone when he rose from the dead. When we try to \npenetrate into the meaning of the symbolism of the cornerstone\, we discover \nthat various ideas are fused in this picture. The idea of the foundation stone is \nclearly expressed in Isaiah: Thus says the Lord God: behold I laid in Zion for a \nfoundation a stone\, a tried stone\, a precious cornerstone\, a sure foundation: \nhe that believes shall not make haste. Christ is the foundation stone\, for \nanother foundation no one can lay but that which is laid\, which is Christ Jesus. \nHe alone has wrought our redemption by dying for us and rising for us. We \ndepend entirely on his work and on his strength. The Hebrew word used in \nPsalm 117\, rosch pinnah — still surviving in our word “pinnacle” — has been \ntranslated in various ways as “head of the corner\,” “cornerstone\,” or “head \nstone.” The idea of the cornerstone implies that Christ is a part of the \nfoundation\, but its most important\, visible part\, the part which binds the walls. \nThis is true of Christ\, because in him the two walls of God and mankind\, of the \nJews and the Gentiles\, and the Old and the New Testament meet… \nIn recent years\, more and more scholars agree that rosch pinnah is rather \nthe head stone\, or capstone\, which holds a vault or arch together. The Risen \nSavior is indeed the headstone of the spiritual Temple in which the whole \nbuilding culminates\, which holds it together and defines its design. This three- \nfold meaning of Christ as the cornerstone is well expressed by Cynewulf in his \npoem “Christ.”… \nThou art the wall stone \nthat the workers once threw out from the work\, \nwell it becomes thee that thou be head \nof a mighty hall and weld together \nits wide walls in fast union\, \nFlint unbreakable\, that throughout earth’s dwelling \nall that have eyes may wonder ever more\, \nO Lord of glory.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-230/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241117
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241118
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241117T021819Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241117T021819Z
UID:12836-1731801600-1731887999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 33rd Sunday ORD
DESCRIPTION:THE REAPERS OF THE HARVEST \nFrom a commentary by St Gregory Palamas1 \n◊◊◊ \nAll those who hold to the true faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and show \nproof of their faith by good works\, guarding themselves from sins or cleansing \nthemselves from their stains by confession and repentance; who practice the \nvirtues opposed to those sins – temperance\, chastity\, love\, almsgiving\, justice \nand fair dealing – all these\, I say\, will rise again to hear the king of heaven \nhimself saying to them: Come\, my Father’s blessed ones\, inherit the kingdom \nprepared for you since the creation of the world. So they will reign with Christ\, \nreceiving as their inheritance that heavenly kingdom which cannot be shaken\, \nliving forever in the ineffable light that knows no evening and is interrupted by \nno night\, having fellowship with all the saints who have lived from the \nbeginning of time\, and enjoying delights beyond description in Abraham’s \nembrace\, where all pain has fled away and all grief and groaning. \nFor just as there is a harvest for inanimate sheaves of wheat\, so for the \nrational wheat which is the human race\, there is a harvest that cuts people away \nfrom unbelief\, and gathers into faith those who accept the proclamation of the \ngood news. The reapers of this harvest are the Lord’s apostles and their \nsuccessors\, and in the course of time the teachers of the Church. Of them the \nLord said: The reaper receives his wages\, and gathers a crop for eternal life\, \nfor teachers who instruct others in piety will in their turn receive from God such \nrecompense as befits those who gather the obedient into eternal life. \nBut there is yet another harvest: the transfer of each one of us by death \nfrom the present life into that which is to come. The reapers of this harvest are \nnot the apostles but the angels\, who have a greater responsibility than the \napostles\, because after the harvesting they sort out the good and separate them \nfrom the wicked like wheat from darnel. The good they send on to the kingdom \nof heaven\, but the wicked they throw into hell fire. \nAs for us\, who in this present age are God’s chosen people\, a priestly race\, \nthe Church of the living God separated from all the impious and ungodly\, may \nwe be found separated from the darnel in the age to come as well\, and united to \nthose who are saved in Christ our Lord\, who is blessed for ever.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-33rd-sunday-ord/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241117
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241118
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241117T021612Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241117T021612Z
UID:12834-1731801600-1731887999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n33rd Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nNovember 17 – 23\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n17\nMon\n18\nTue\n19\nWed\n20\nThu\n21\nFri\n22\nSat\n23\n\n\nOffice\n33rd Sunday\nWeekday\nSt Mechtild\nWeekday\nPresentation of the BVM\nSt Cecilia\nSt Columban\n\n\nVigils\nBar 1:1-22\nBar 2:1-26\nBar 2:27-3:14\nBar 3:15-38\nBar 4:1-29\nBar 4:30-5:9\nBar 6:1-28\n\n\nLauds\nJob 14:1-6\nJob 16:1-12b\nJob 29:1-10\nJob 30:9-19\nJob 30:20-28\nJob 31:2-11\nJob 31:16-23\n\n\nMass\n158\n497\n498\n499\n500\n501\n502\n\n\n1st\nDan 12:1-3\nRev 1:1-4; 2:1-5\nRev 3:1-6\, 14-22\nRev 4:1-11\nRev 5:1-10\nRev 10:8-11\nRev 11:4-12\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 10:11-14\, 18\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 13:24-32\nLuke 18:35-43\nLuke 19:1-10\nLuke 19:11-28\nLuke 19:41-44\nLuke 19:45-48\nLuke 20:27-40\n\n\nVespers\nRom 11:13-20\nRom 11:25-36\nRom 13:8-14\nRom 15:4-13\n1 Cor 15:1-11\n1 Cor 15:12-19\nRev 19:11-16
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-92/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241116
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241117
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241110T102813Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241110T102813Z
UID:12828-1731715200-1731801599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Gertrude the Great
DESCRIPTION:TO BE ONE WITH GOD \nFrom “The Spiritual Exercises” by St Gertrude the Great7 \n◊◊◊ \nO love\, the fruition of you is that worthiest coupling of your Word and the \nsoul which is brought about by perfect union with God. To use you is to become \nintertwined in God. To enjoy you is to be one with God. You are that peace which \nsurpasses all understanding and you are the road by which one comes to the \ninner chamber. \nOh\, if only it happened to me\, too\, miserable as I am\, to repose for a \nmoment under your dearest cloak of cherishing-love so that my heart might be \nemboldened by one consolatory utterance of your living Word\, or that my soul \nmight hear this good and pleasant word from your mouth: ‘I am your salvation; \nbehold\, now the bedchamber of my heart is open to you.’ \nWhy\, then\, O love so unwavering\, have you deeply loved someone so foul\, \nso ugly\, if not to make her beautiful in you? Your loving-kind charity attracts \nand allures me… \nLet me not be confounded in my expectation but grant me to find rest for \nmy soul in you. I have found nothing more desirable\, I have judged nothing \nmore lovable\, I have wished for nothing more dear than to be held tight\, O love\, \nin your embraces\, to rest under the wings of my Jesus\, and to dwell in the \ntabernacle of divine charity. \nO love\, O radiant noonday\, I would die a thousand times to be at rest in \nyou. If only you would bend to me your face of such beautiful cherishing-love… \nOh\, if I were granted to come exceedingly close to you so that I might now \nfind myself not only next to you but within you. Then\, through you\, sun of \njustice\, flowers of all the virtues might arise in me\, who am dust and ashes. With \nyou as a husband\, my Lord\, such fecundity might enter my soul that the \nrenowned offspring of total perfection would be born in me. Then\, having been \nsnatched from the valley of this misery\, I might be able to glory in you forever in \nthe presence of your desirable face; for you\, mirror without spot\, have not \nscorned to be\, in truth\, coupled with a sinner like me.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-gertrude-the-great-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241115
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241116
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241110T102705Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241110T102705Z
UID:12826-1731628800-1731715199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Gethsemani Church
DESCRIPTION:THE FOUNDATION OF \nGETHSEMANI ABBEY \nBy Dom Eutropius Proust6 \n◊◊◊ \nWe left Louisville on the twentieth of December\, and were to arrive that \nevening at Bardstown. Here we were to call on the Jesuit Fathers\, who conducted \nthe College of St Joseph\, and to whom we had a letter of introduction from Mgr. \nFlaget. We should arrive by daylight at Bardstown\, which was twelve miles from \nGethsemani; but the unfavorable weather delayed us very much\, and we were yet \nnine miles from the town\, when a dark and dreary night set in. We did not stop to \ntake any nourishment by the wayside\, but refreshed ourselves as best we could\, in \nthe wagons\, with bread\, cheese and fruit. The good God supplied the drink. The \nrain did not cease to fall abundantly the entire day\, so that\, alighting from the \nwagons\, we resembled water rats that came out of the river. \nWe arrived at eleven o’clock. The streets were so full of water and mud that \nwe were knee-deep therein. We went directly to St Joseph’s College… Our difficulty \nwas to find the entrance\, for one could not see a yard ahead. Taking with me two \nIrish religious\, we made a circuit of the house to find the entrance…We kept on \nseeking and groping until we succeeded in finding the door. We knocked again and \nagain\, but no answer. Not knowing what to do\, we called aloud together the word \n“Trappist.” In this we were successful. As soon as the good fathers heard that word \nthey opened the windows. I told them who we were\, where we were going\, and that \nI had a letter of introduction to them from Mgr. Flaget\, asking them to give us \nlodging for the night. In an instant three or four of the fathers arose\, with as many \nbrothers\, and the doors were opened for us. A good fire was made in the hall\, and \nthe brothers prepared for us something to eat. At the end of half an hour we were \nled into the refectory\, where we took at the same time our breakfast\, dinner and \nsupper. \nThe following day\, having heard Holy Mass and received Holy Communion\, \nour conductors arrived\, with a new wagon\, borrowed by them at Bardstown. After \nthanking our hosts for their kind hospitality\, we installed ourselves in the wagons \nand pursued our way to Gethsemani. About two o’clock in the afternoon\, we \narrived at the entrance of a large forest\, after passing the little village of New Haven \non the Nashville Railroad. We were informed that this was the beginning of our \nproperty. It is difficult to express the feelings that this announcement produced in \nour souls. I had the wagons stop. Falling on our knees we recited a “Pater and Ave” \nto salute the good guardian angels of Gethsemani; and we kissed the earth soon to \nbe watered by our sweat and even by our tears. We re-entered our wagons and \ncontinued our journey through the woods for three-quarters of an hour. Our hearts \nswelled with emotion. With what feelings of joy and admiration\, did we not \ncontemplate these magnificent woods. We were astonished in finding ourselves so \nrich\, after having made the vow of poverty…We climbed a hill on which are situated \nwooden cottages\, declining with age. We were going to find at last the crib of our \nDivine Saviour at Bethlehem. Such\, too\, were the thoughts of all our religious. \nThey were in transports of joy in beholding these ten or twelve cottages\, thrown \nhere and there on the sloping hillside\, facing the sun. These composed the entire \nmonastery of Gethsemani.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-gethsemani-church-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241114
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241115
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241110T102533Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241110T102533Z
UID:12824-1731542400-1731628799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE INSTRUCTIONS OF MARY \nQUEEN OF THE ANGELS \nGiven to Venerable Mary of Agreda5 \n◊◊◊ \nYour astonishment at the singular favor conferred by me on my \nservant…at his death\, affords me an occasion to tell you of a privilege confirmed \nto me by the Almighty at the time when I bore the soul…to heaven. Although I \nhave already on other occasions revealed to you something of this secret\, you \nshall now understand it more fully in order to increase your filial devotion \ntoward me. When I brought to heaven the happy soul…the eternal Father spoke \nto me: \n“My Daughter and Dove…let my courtiers\, angels and saints \nunderstand that\, for the exaltation of my holy name\, for your glory and for the \nbenefit of mortals\, I now give you my royal word\, that if men\, in the hour of \ntheir death invoke you and call upon you with affection…I will bend to them in \nclemency and look upon them with eyes of fatherly mercy; I will defend and \nguard them against the dangers of that last hour; I will ward off the cruel \nenemies that seek the perdition of souls in that hour; I will furnish them \nthrough you with great helps for resisting these enemies and gaining grace\, if \nthey wish to avail themselves of this help; and you shall present to Me their \nsouls to be rewarded by my liberal hands.” \nFor this privilege the whole triumphant Church\, and I with it\, sang hymns of \nthanks and praise to the Most High. \nSince I see you desirous of knowing how you can obtain from me this \nfavor so precious to the soul\, I answer your pious wish by exhorting you to take \ncare lest you make yourself unworthy by ingratitude and forgetfulness; and \nbefore all\, to gain for yourself that inviolate purity\, which I expect of you… For \nthe great love which I owe and cherish toward God\, obliges me\, with sincerest \naffection and charity to demand of all the observance of his holy law and the \npreservation of their friendship and grace with God. This you must prefer before \nyour life and be willing to die rather than offend your God and highest Good. \nI wish that you set about obeying me\, act out my instructions\, and work \nwith all your might to imitate what you see and write of me; that you permit no \nintermission in your love\, nor forget for one moment the heartfelt affection you \nowe to the liberal mercy of your Lord; that you be thankful for all his blessings \nand to me\, since your obligations are far beyond the power of fulfillment by you \nin this mortal life. Be faithful in your correspondence\, fervent in your devotion\, \nready to do what is most holy and perfect. Let your heart expand and do not \nnarrow it…following the instigations of the devil. Extend your hand to strong \nand powerful deeds\, filled with confidence in the Lord; be not oppressed by \nadversities\, thus impeding the will of the Lord in you\, and the high ends of his \nglory. Retain vivid faith and hope\, even in the greatest assaults and temptations. \nIn all this let…the certain knowledge of possessing through me the happy \nsecurity of those who live under the protection of the Most High… Raise up your \nheart…and withdraw it from these deceits; aspire to that which is most pure and \nholy\, since with you shall be the arm of the Almighty\, who wrought such great \nwonders in Me.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-229/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241113
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241114
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241110T102421Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241110T102421Z
UID:12822-1731456000-1731542399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - All Benedictine Saints
DESCRIPTION:IN PRAISE OF \nTHE MONASTIC VOCATION \nFrom “The Golden Epistle” by William of St-Thierry4 \n◊◊◊ \nSurely it is right to feast in the Lord and rejoice because the fairest part of \nthe Christian religion\, which seemed to come into close contact with heaven\, has \nreturned to life after having died\, has been found after being lost. \nOur ears had heard tell of it\, but we did not believe\, we read in books of it \nand marveled at the ancient glory of the solitary life and at the great grace of God \nmanifested in it; when suddenly we found it in the clearings of a wood\, on \nGod’s mountain\, on the fertile mountain\, where the fair places of the desert now \nwax fat on its richness and the hills are girt with exultation. \nFor there\, through you it now offers itself to all and in you it displays itself. \nHitherto unknown\, it stands revealed in a few simple men. He who brings it \namong us is the same who by means of a few simple men subjected the whole \nworld to himself\, to the amazement of that world. “Do not be afraid then\, you\, \nmy little flock\,” says the Lord\, “but show utter trust\, because your Father has \ndetermined to give you his kingdom”… It is not for you to concern yourselves \nfeebly with the ordinary commandments nor to give your attention only to what \nGod lays down as of obligation; you must seek his desires\, fulfill in yourselves \nwhat is God’s will\, the good thing\, the desirable thing\, the perfect thing. \nIt is for others to serve God\, it is for you to cling to him; it is for others to \nbelieve in God\, know him\, love him and revere him; it is for you to taste him\, \nunderstand him\, be acquainted with him\, enjoy him. \nThis is no slight matter\, no easy goal; but he who\, in his love\, makes you \nsuch promises is almighty and good. He will be faithful in fulfilling them and \nuntiring in giving help. To those who in their great love for him pledge \nthemselves to great things and\, believing and trusting in his grace\, undertake \nwhat is beyond their own strength\, he imparts both the will and the desire; and \nhe follows up the grace to will by bestowing also the power to achieve. Let the \ncalumniator calumniate as he will: if a person faithfully does what is humanly \npossible for him to do\, God himself in his mercy will give judgment for his poor \none\, will champion his cause\, because the person did what he could. \nYet…let all exaltation be far from the opinion you have of yourselves. \nConsider [others] as being far above you in strength and admire their glory\, \nthose who are mighty with both hands – who use their left hand as readily as \ntheir right. As long as they are allowed\, they love to stay inside and devote their \nleisure with all devotion to the contemplation of truth in charity; then when \nnecessity summons or duty impels\, they go out without a moment’s hesitation to \ngive themselves to the practice of charity in truth. \nRather\, in fear and trembling work out your own salvation. Do not \nwonder what others are like but\, to the best of your ability\, what they may \nbecome through your influence; not only those who are now alive but also those \nwho will come after you and take you as their models in the pursuit of their \nvocation. For it is from you\, from your example\, from your authority that all the \nfuture of this holy Order in these parts will derive its character.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-all-benedictine-saints-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241112
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241113
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241110T102150Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241110T102150Z
UID:12820-1731369600-1731455999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE CALL TO REPENTANCE \nBy Pope Paul VI3 \n◊◊◊ \nChrist\, who during his life always did what he taught\, spent forty days and \nforty nights in fasting and prayer before beginning his ministry. He began his \npublic mission with this joyful message: “The kingdom of God is at hand”\, and \nimmediately added this command\, “Repent\, and believe in the Good News”. In a \ncertain way\, the whole Christian life is summarized in these words. \nRepentance is the only way of attaining to the kingdom which Christ \nproclaimed\, in other words\, by the total and intimate change and renewal of the \nwhole person\, in thought\, judgment\, and life. This change and renewal effects \nitself in man through the light of that holiness and love of God which has been \nshown and communicated to us wholly in the Son. \nThe Son’s call to repentance becomes all the more obligatory for us \nbecause he not only preached it but offered himself as an example. Christ is\, in \nfact\, the supreme example for penitents. He chose to suffer\, not for his own sins \nbut for those of others. \nWhen anyone comes into Christ’s presence they are enlightened by a new \nlight\, for they see the holiness of God and the gravity of sin. Through Christ’s \nword they receive the message which summons them to conversion and bestows \npardon on sin. They receive these gifts in their fulness through baptism which \nmolds them in the likeness of Christ’s passion\, death and resurrection. After \nbaptism\, their whole life is lived in the light of this mystery. \nTherefore every Christian must follow their Master in self-renunciation\, \nin bearing their cross and in sharing Christ’s suffering. Thus\, transformed in the \nlikeness of his death\, they are able to meditate on the glory of the resurrection. \nThey also follow the Master in living no longer for themselves\, but for Christ \nwho loved them and gave himself for them\, and for their brothers and sisters as \nwell\, completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body\, \nthat is the Church. \nMoreover\, [because] the Church [is] intimately bound to Christ\, the \npenitence of each Christian is also a real and intimate link with the whole \necclesial community. Indeed\, it is not only in the womb of the Church that\, \nthrough baptism\, they receive the initial gift of repentance\, but this gift is \nrestored and reaffirmed—through the sacrament of penance—for those \nmembers of the body of Christ who have fallen into sin. Those who come to this \nsacrament of penance receive there\, through God’s mercy\, pardon for the wrong \nthat they have done. At the same time they are reconciled with the Church\, \nwhom their sin has wounded and who\, by means of love\, example and prayer\, \nlabors for their conversion. \nLastly\, in the Church\, the little work of penance imposed on each penitent \nin the sacrament has a special part in Christ’s infinite expiation; while\, within \nthe order of the Church\, the penitent may unite to sacramental satisfaction \neverything that they do\, suffer and endure. Thus the baptized Christian\, at each \nmoment and in every aspect of their life\, bears the sufferings and death of Jesus \nin his body and soul.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-228/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241111T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241111T170000
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241110T102012Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241110T102012Z
UID:12818-1731312000-1731344400@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Martin of Tours
DESCRIPTION:ST MARTIN\, \nA MAN OF PRAYER \nFrom a letter by Pope John XXIII2 \n◊◊◊ \nIf St Martin was a bishop and a zealous pastor who can well be imitated in \nthe practice of charity\, he was also and first of all a monk. You might even say \nthat the only reason he was such a marvelous man of action was that he was first \nof all a man of prayer. And from this point of view too\, he has a great lesson to \ngive to the Christians of today. \nEager for solitude and union with God\, this giant of the apostolate lived in \nconstant prayer: “he never turned his mind away from prayer\,” according to the \nexpression -later picked up by the liturgy- of his contemporary and first \nbiographer Sulpicius Severus\, who adds that once he was elevated to the \nepiscopacy\, the servant of God “remained what he had been before and bore the \ndignity of bishop without abandoning the design of life and the virtue of a \nmonk.” \nWas not his principal means of evangelization to found churches and \nmonasteries everywhere?… And thus it was that\, thanks to him\, monasticism \nwas introduced into France. \nThrowing light on this side of the activity of the great convert-maker is a \nway of reminding us of the immense benefits that the monks brought to their \ncountry; it is a way of drawing their attention\, which is so easily distracted at the \npresent time by the agitated pace of modern life\, back to the lasting greatness \nand beauties of monastic life; it is a way of inviting them to hold this form of life\, \nand\, in general\, the grace of a religious vocation\, high in their esteem… \nThe example of St Martin\, which has been confirmed by the experience of \ncenturies\, shows what invaluable instruments for spiritual elevation cloisters \nare in Christian society and what an effective contribution they make to the \napostolate of the Church.… \nMay the great Bishop\, model of the monk and the pastor\, succeed in \nstirring up a new spirit of fervor for the service of God.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-martin-of-tours-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241110
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241111
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241110T101749Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241110T101749Z
UID:12816-1731196800-1731283199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils reading - 32nd Sunday
DESCRIPTION:LET US GIVE GLADLY \nFrom a commentary by St Paulinus of Nola1 \n◊◊◊ \nWhat have you\, asks the Apostle\, that you have not received? This \nmeans\, beloved\, that we should not be miserly\, regarding possessions of our \nown\, but should rather invest what has been entrusted to us. We have been \nentrusted with the administration and use of temporal wealth for the common \ngood\, not with the everlasting ownership of private property. If you accept the \nfact that ownership on earth is only for a time\, you can earn eternal possessions \nin heaven. \nCall to mind the widow who forgot herself in her concern for the poor\, and \nthinking only of the life to come\, gave away all her means of subsistence\, as the \njudge himself bears witness. Others\, he says\, have given of their superfluous \nwealth\, but she\, possessed of only two small coins and more needy perhaps than \nmany of the poor – though in spiritual riches she surpassed all the wealthy – she \nthought only of the world to come\, and had such a longing for heavenly treasure \nthat she gave away\, all at once\, whatever she had that was derived from the earth \nand destined to return there. \nLet us then invest with the Lord what he has given us\, for we have nothing \nthat does not come from him; we are dependent upon him for our very \nexistence. And we ourselves particularly\, who have a special and greater debt\, \nsince God not only created us but purchased us as well – what can we regard as \nour own when we do not possess even ourselves? \nBut let us rejoice that we have been bought at a great price\, the price of the \nLord’s own blood\, and that because of this we are no longer worthless slaves. \nFor there is a freedom that is baser than slavery\, namely\, freedom from justice. \nWhoever has that kind of freedom is a slave of sin and a prisoner of death. So let \nus give back to the Lord the gifts he has given us; let us give to him who receives \nin the person of every poor man or woman. Let us give gladly\, I say\, and great joy \nwill be ours when we receive his promised reward.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-32nd-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241110
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241111
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241110T101603Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241110T101603Z
UID:12814-1731196800-1731283199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n32nd Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nNovember 10 – 16\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n10\nMon\n11\nTue\n12\nWed\n13\nThu\n14\nFri\n15\nSat\n16\n\n\nOffice\n32nd Sunday\nSt Martin of Tours\nWeekday\nAll Benedictine Saints\nWeekday\nGethsemani Church\nSt Gertrude the Great\n\n\nVigils\nWis 17:16-18:4\nWis 18:5-13\nWis 18:14-25\nDan 7:1-3\, 9-22\, 27\nWis 19:1-12\nRev 21:9-22:5\nWis 19:13-22\n\n\nLauds\nJob 11:13-20\nIsa 58:6-12\nJob 12:1-10\nWisdom 5:1-5\, 14-16\nJob 13:6-19\nEzek 37:21-28\nJob 13:20-27\n\n\nMass\n155\n491\n492\n573\, 677\n494\n701.2\, 704.2\, 706.4\n496\n\n\n1st\n1 Kgs 17:10-16\nTitus 1:1-9\nTitus 2:1-8\, 11-14\nIsa 61:9-11\nPhlm 7-20\n2 Chron 5:6-10\, 13-6:2\n3 John 5-8\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 9:24-28\n\n\n\n\nEph 2:19-22\n\n\n\nGospel\nMark 12:38-44\nLuke 17:1-6\nLuke 17:7-10\nJohn 15:1-8\nLuke 17:20-25\nJohn 4:19-24\nLuke 18:1-8\n\n\nVespers\nRom 8:9-17\nGal 6:1-5\nRom 9:1-8\nEph 6:10-18\nHeb 3:1-6\n2 Cor 6:14-7:1\nRom 10:1-13
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-91/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20241109T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20241109T120000
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241105T212134Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241105T212134Z
UID:12797-1731142800-1731153600@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:LCG Chicago Monthly Meeting 9 am CST
DESCRIPTION:Join Zoom Meeting \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/86028356465 \nMeeting ID: 860 2835 6465 \nOne tap mobile \n+13126266799\,\,86028356465# US (Chicago) \n+13092053325\,\,86028356465# US \n  \n9:00 Gather for Opening prayer and lighting of the candles illuminating the Theotokos icon of Blessed Mother Mary and the baby Jesus. \nWe also pray for all our lay Cistercian sisters and brothers in the US and around the world.  Specially we pray for our Gethsemani monks.  Finally\, we pray this month specially for these Gethsemani monks: \nBr. Godric Hathorn \nFr. Raphael Hodari \nBr. Alberic Henry \n 9:10 Lectio. Our lectio piece will be led by Tom Kosnik. \n 9:50 Reading.  Our reading this month is to prepare for Advent by reading Pope Benedict’s The Infancy Narratives: Jesus of Nazareth (chapters 1 and 2). \n10:45 Housekeeping.   Volunteer to lead lectio next month?  Chicago Report on LCG Advisory Council activity.  Plans for international meeting in 2025 and Anglophone lead-ins thereto. Finally\, we will celebrate Mary Ann’s LCG commitment and share thoughts about the October\, 2023 LCG Retreat at Gethsemani. \n11:00 Update.   Share how the Holy Spirt has entered our lives as lay Cistercians since our last meeting. \n11:45 Closing worship and prayer.  We will pray the liturgical hour of None as with our Gethsemani monks (identical Psalms as done today at Gethsemani Abbey.) \nOur next meeting: December 14\, 2024.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/lcg-chicago-monthly-meeting-9-am-cst-2/
CATEGORIES:LCG Local Community Meetings,LCG open events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241109
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241110
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241102T223958Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241102T223958Z
UID:12787-1731110400-1731196799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Lateran Basilica
DESCRIPTION:DEDICATION OF \nTHE LATERAN BASILICA7 \n◊◊◊ \nThe blessed Pope Sylvester I instituted the rites which the Roman Church \nobserves in consecrating churches and altars. For although from the ages of the \napostles places had been dedicated to God where assemblies were held every \nSabbath\, yet those places had not been consecrated by a solemn rite before this. \nUp to the time of Sylvester an altar was not erected under title\, which\, anointed \nwith chrism\, symbolizes our Lord Jesus Christ\, who is our Altar\, our Victim\, our \nPriest \nBut when the Emperor Constantine obtained health and salvation \nthrough the sacrament of Baptism\, then for the first time\, by an edict published \nby him\, the Christians throughout the world were permitted to build churches; \nhe himself encouraged this holy building by his own example\, as well as by this \nedict. For in his own Lateran palace he dedicated a church to the Savior and \nfounded adjacent to it a Basilica\, under the title of St John the Baptist\, on the \nvery spot where he had been baptized by St Sylvester and cleansed from the \nleprosy of unbelief. This basilica the same Pope consecrated on November 9\, \nand the memory of this consecration is celebrated today\, when\, for the first \ntime\, a church was publicly consecrated at Rome\, and there appeared to the \nRoman people an image of the Savior depicted on the wall. \nAlthough later on St Sylvester decreed that from that time forward all \naltars should be built of stone\, yet the altar of the Lateran Basilica was built of \nwood. This is not surprising. For since\, from St Peter down to Sylvester\, because \nof persecutions\, the Pontiffs could not dwell in any fixed abode\, they offered the \nHoly Sacrifice [of the Mass] wherever necessity compelled them\, whether in \ncrypts or in cemeteries\, or in the homes of the faithful\, upon a wooden altar \nwhich was hollow like a cheSt \nWhen this altar had been placed in the first church\, the Lateran\, St \nSylvester decreed that from that time on\, no one except the Roman Pontiff \nshould celebrate Mass upon it\, in honor of the Prince of the Apostles and of the \nrest of the Popes who had been accustomed to use it. This same church\, having \nbeen destroyed by fires\, pillaging\, and earthquakes\, and repaired by the \nlaborious effort of the Supreme Pontiffs\, was afterwards rebuilt anew. Pope \nBenedict XIII\, a Dominican\, consecrated it on April 28\, 1726\, by a solemn rite.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-lateran-basilica-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241108
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241109
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241102T223841Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241102T223841Z
UID:12785-1731024000-1731110399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:HIS CROSS IS MY GLORY \nFrom a homily by William of St-Thierry6 \n◊◊◊ \nIt is to my crucified one that I turn. His cross is my glory: its mark is on my \nbrow; it gives joy to my mind\, direction to my life\, love even for death itself. May \nthey not despise me for this\, O Lord\, they who are worthy to behold you\, seated \nas you are on your throne\, the exaltation of your godhead\, filling all the earth \nwith your majesty. The mysteries of your dealings with men here and now fill \nthe temple of every mind\, great and small. May your holy angels have the \nhonour that is their due in heaven: but may they sometimes also share their \ngrace and favours with us here on earth. For he loves us to make progress in our \nlives: and their blessed perfection is sweet to him. \nAs the Apostle says: God’s many-splendoured wisdom has been \nmanifested to principalities and powers in heaven through his dealings with the \nChurch. Wherefore may they pardon us\, Lord\, even if your love should \nsometimes so captivate us that we desire to see\, with them\, what with them we \nalready love: with a full heart we felicitate them\, as they behold what we are not \nyet worthy to behold. \nMay they blissfully contemplate your divine majesty residing in your \neternal wisdom: those things to be\, seen before this our mortal wayfaring and \nafter it\, everything that is\, past and future\, enfolding it all within his eternal \npresent: it reaches in its power and strength from one extremity to another. But \nour temporal passage\, belonging to your dealings with men as a whole\, he has \nstrewn with his charity\, disposing all things in sweetness\, for the sake of the \ndaughters of Jerusalem\, the devout but as yet infirm souls. They who have not \nthus far their elevated gaze fixed on contemplating the sublime would fain \nundergo hardship for your servants and be transformed so as to belong among \ntheir fellows. Among these\, O Lord\, may my spirit some day be taught to adore \nyou\, spirit as you are\, in spirit and in truth\, flesh no longer desiring what is \ncontrary to the spirit\, nor yet holding it back. \nBut now that for the moment you are kept from boldly taking possession \nof what is to be yours\, make a proper disposition of what is his\, with what grace \nand harmony you best can\, as befits him\, the true owner. I have not yet risen \nabove the rough-hewn figures of my earthly imagination: but may you indulge \nand be gracious to my feeble spirit\, as it expresses its true nature in letting its \nfancy play on your more humble creatures. Behold! the meager enfolding the \nnewly born\, the holy child being adored; the footprints of the crucified one being \nlicked\, as he hangs on the cross; his feet being held and kissed now that he is \nrisen; the hand\, put in the place where the nails went; and then the exclamation \n– My Lord and my God!
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-227/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241107
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241108
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241102T223713Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241102T224115Z
UID:12783-1730937600-1731023999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:DIVINE CALLS \nFrom a sermon by St John Henry Newman5 \n◊◊◊ \nWe find in scripture a remarkable instance of a Divine Call\, and the \nmanner in which it is our duty to meet it. Samuel was a mere child when he was \nbrought to the house of the Lord; and in due time he was called to a sacred \noffice\, and made a prophet. He was called\, and he forthwith answered the call. \nHe did not understand at first who called\, and what was meant; but on going to \nEli he learned who spoke\, and what his answer should be. So when God called \nagain\, he said: “Speak\, Lord\, for your servant hears.” Here is prompt obedience. \nVery different in its circumstances was St Paul’s call\, but resembling \nSamuel’s in this respect\, that\, when God called\, he also promptly obeyed. When \nSt Paul heard the voice from heaven\, he said at once\, trembling and astonished\, \n“Lord\, what will you have me do?” This same obedience is stated or implied in \ntwo accounts which he himself gives of his miraculous conversion. In chapter 22 \nhe says\, “And I said\, What shall I do\, Lord?” and in ch. 26 he tells King Agrippa: \n“Whereupon\, O King Agrippa\, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision”. \nSuch is the account given us in St Paul’s case of that first step in God’s gracious \ndealings with him\, which ended in his eternal salvation. “Whom He foreknew\, \nHe also predestined – and whom He predestined\, He also called” – here was the \nfirst act which took place in time – “and whom He called He also justified\, and \nwhom He justified\, He also glorified”. Such is the Divine series of mercies; and \nyou see that it was prompt obedience on St Paul’s part which moved Divine \ngrace forward. \nThis\, then\, is the first lesson taught us by St Paul’s conversion\, promptly \nto obey the call. If we do obey it\, to God be the glory\, for He it is Who works in us. \nIf we do not obey\, to ourselves be all the shame\, for sin and unbelief work in us. \nSuch is the state of mind expressed by holy David: “When you said\, Seek \nMy face\, my heart said to you: Your face\, O Lord\, will I seek”. And this also is \nillustrated in the case of many other saints in scripture shown in word and deed. \nFor instance\, we read of the apostles that “Jesus\, walking by the sea of Galilee\, \nsaw two brothers\, Simon called Peter\, and Andrew\, his brother\, casting a net \ninto the sea\, for they were fishers. And He said to them\, Follow me\, and I will \nmake you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets and followed him”. \nAgain\, when He saw James and John with their father Zebedee\, “He called \nthem; and they immediately left the ship\, and their father and followed Him.” \nAnd so also with St Matthew at the custom house\, “He said to him\, Follow Me; \nand he left all\, rose up and followed Him.”
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-18/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241106
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241107
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241102T223601Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241102T224329Z
UID:12781-1730851200-1730937599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:GOD REQUIRES ONLY LOVE \nA letter to Hugh the Recluse from St Anselm of Canterbury4 \n◊◊◊ \nThe person who will have the grace to reign in the kingdom of heaven will \nsee the realization of everything desired in heaven and on earth\, and nothing \nunwanted will be realized in heaven or on earth. The love which will unite God \nwith those who will live there\, and the latter among themselves\, will be such that \nall will love one another as themselves\, and all will love God more than \nthemselves. \nIf someone asks what price\, here is the response: the one who offers a \nkingdom in heaven has no need of earthly money. No one can give God what \nalready belongs to God\, since everything that exists is God’s. Yet God does not \ngive such a great thing unless one attaches value to it; God does not give it to one \nwho does not appreciate it. For no one gives what he prizes to someone who \nattaches no value to it. Hence\, although God has no need of your goods\, God will \nnot give you such a great thing as long as you disdain to love it; God requires \nonly love\, but without it nothing obliges God to give. Love\, then\, and you will \nreceive the Kingdom. Love\, and you will possess it. \nAnd since to reign in heaven is nothing other than to adhere to God and all \nthe saints\, through love\, in a single will\, to the point that all together exercise \nonly one power\, love God more than yourself\, and you will already begin to have \nwhat you wish to possess perfectly in heaven. Put yourself at peace with God and \nwith others – if the latter do not separate themselves from God – and you will \nalready begin to reign with God and all the saints. For to the extent that you now \nconform to the will of God and to that of all others\, God and all the saints will \nconcur with your will. Hence\, if you want to be king in heaven\, love God and all \nothers as you should\, and you will merit to be what you desire. \nHowever\, you will not be able to possess it to perfection unless you empty \nyour heart of every other love… This is why those who fill their hearts with love \nfor God and their neighbor have no other will than that of God – or that of \nanother\, provided it is not contrary to God. That is why they are faithful in \npraying as well as in carrying on a dialogue with and remembering heaven; for it \nis pleasing to them to desire God and to speak of someone whom they love\, to \nhear him spoken about\, and to think of him. It is also why they rejoice with \nthose who are joyful\, weep with those who are in pain\, have compassion on the \nsuffering\, and give to the poor; for they love others as themselves.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-226/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241105
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241106
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241102T223429Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241102T224211Z
UID:12779-1730764800-1730851199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:VOLUNTARY POVERTY \nFrom a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux3 \n◊◊◊ \nJesus entered into a certain fortified town\, and a certain woman\, named \nMartha\, received him into her home. The fortified town where Christ entered is \nvoluntary poverty\, which protects its inhabitants from twin attacks that assault \nlovers of this world: one’s own envy\, of course\, and that of another. You see\, \npoverty\, as long as it is considered wretched\, is not envied by others. And \nbecause poverty is voluntary\, it envies no one anything. \nThese two sisters signify the two lifestyles of those who love poverty. \nCertain careful people\, with Martha\, prepare two dishes\, that is\, correction of \nworks with the salt of contrition\, and works of piety with the seasoning of \ndevotion. But those who\, with Mary\, give all their time to God alone\, \ncontemplating what God is in the world\, what in human beings\, what in angels\, \nwhat in himself\, what in the condemned\, contemplate God as ruler and pilot in \nthe world\, liberator and helper of human beings\, flavor and beauty of angels\, \nbeginning and end in himself\, terror and horror of the condemned: wonderful \nin creatures\, lovable in human beings\, desirable in angels\, incomprehensible in \nhimself\, intolerable in the condemned. \n3Sermo 48\, Bernard of Clairvaux Monastic Sermons\, CF 68. pg. 244.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-225/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241104
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241105
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241102T223255Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241102T223255Z
UID:12777-1730678400-1730764799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Charles Borromeo
DESCRIPTION:THE LEGACY OF \nST CHARLES BORROMEO \nFrom a homily by Fr Ronald Knox2 \n◊◊◊ \nWhen our Lord’s apostles came to look back upon that terrible night in the \nLake of Galilee\, when they strained every nerve against the tempest while their \nMaster lay sleeping in the boat\, they found in it an allegory of their own \nsituation\, as they launched out the frail bark of his Church upon waves so \ntroubled\, with prospects so uncertain. And in every age the Church has looked \nback to that picture and taken comfort from it in times of adversity. [With great \nconfidence]\, the Church of God\, which is Peter’s boat\, has breasted the waves all \nthrough her troubled history. It is not upon the captain’s judgment or the pilot’s \nexperience\, not human wisdom or human prudence\, that she depends for her \nsafe voyage: she rests secure in the presence of her inviolable passenger. \nYet we should do ill if we grudged recognition and gratitude to those \nservants of his who at various times have steered our course for us through \ndifficult waters\, and especially to the saints of the Counter-Reformation — that \nremarkable group of saints whom God raised up at the time of Europe’s \napostasy\, by whose influence\, humanly speaking\, the faith survived that terrible \nordeal. And not the least\, nor the least prominent\, of these is [St. Charles \nBorromeo]\, who ruled the Church of Milan in the latter part of the sixteenth \ncentury… \nWhatever be the rights and wrongs of all the controversies we hear about \nthe medieval Church\, this at least is clear\, that in the days of the Council of Trent \nits organization needed reform. And reform needs more than mere legislation to \ndecree it; it needs administration to execute it. That is St. Charles’s \ncharacteristic legacy to the Church: it was the influence of his example\, in great \nmeasure\, that molded her organization on the new model which Trent had \ndecreed. The bishop has got to be the center of everything in his diocese\, and the \nclergy of the diocese are to be his clergy — a family of which he is to be the father\, \na guild of which he is to be the master. \nSee how fond St. Charles was of synods: the whole of his comparatively \nshort episcopate is a long record of the synods he gathered amongst his clergy. \nSee how enthusiastic he is for the seminary idea; the bishop\, henceforth\, is not \nmerely to ordain people\, he is to know whom he is ordaining. And above all what \nwas characteristic of St. Charles was the institute which he left behind him — a \nbody of secular priests\, putting themselves at the disposal of the bishop as \nabsolutely as the religious puts himself at the disposal of his superior. Yes\, there \nis much about St. Charles’s life which is more exciting\, and much which is more \nattractive\, than all this; his boundless generosity to the poor\, the relentless \nmortification that regulated his busy\, competent life. But what makes him stand \nout among the saints more than either is his intense devotion even to the most \nuninspiring details of diocesan routine.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-charles-borromeo-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241103
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241104
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241102T223113Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241102T223113Z
UID:12775-1730592000-1730678399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading  - 31st Sunday
DESCRIPTION:OUR REASON FOR LOVING \nFrom a commentary by St Francis de Sales1 \n◊◊◊ \nBecause God created us in is own image and likeness\, he ordained that our \nlove for one another should be in the image and likeness of the love we owe him\, \nour God. He said: You must love the Lord our God with your whole heart. This \nis the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it. You must love \nyour neighbor as yourself. \nWhat is our reason for loving God? God himself is the reason we love him; \nwe love him because he is the supreme and infinite goodness. What is our \nreason for loving ourselves? Surely because we are the image and likeness of \nGod. And since all men and women possess this same dignity we love them as \nourselves\, that is\, as holy and living images of the Godhead. It is as such that we \nbelong to God through a kinship so close and a dependence so lovable that he \ndoes not hesitate to call himself our Father\, and to name us his children. It is as \nsuch that we are capable of being united to him in the fruition of his sovereign \ngoodness and joy. It is as such that we receive his grace and that our spirits are \nassociated with his most Holy Spirit and rendered\, in a sense\, sharers in the \ndivine nature. \nSo it is then that the same charity produces together acts of love of God \nand of our neighbor. As Jacob saw that the same ladder touching heaven and \nearth was used by the angels both for ascending and descending\, so we can be \nsure that the same charity cherishes both God and our neighbor\, raising us even \nto spiritual union with God\, and bringing us back to loving companionship with \nour neighbors. \nIt must always be understood\, however\, that we love our neighbors for \nthis reason\, that they are made in the image and likeness of God\, created to \ncommunicate in his goodness\, share in his grace\, and rejoice in his glory. \nTo have a Christian love for our neighbors is to love God in them\, or them \nin God; it is to cherish God alone for his own sake\, and his creatures for love of \nhim. When we look upon our neighbors\, created in the image and likeness of \nGod\, should we not also say to each other: “Look at these people he has made – \nare they not like their maker?” Should we not be drawn irresistibly toward \nthem\, embrace them\, and be moved to tears for love of them? Should we not call \ndown upon them a hundred blessings? And why? For love of them? No indeed\, \nsince we cannot be sure whether\, of themselves\, they are worthy of love or hate. \nThen why? For love of God\, who created them in his own image and likeness\, \nand so capable of sharing in his goodness\, grace\, and glory; for love of God\, I say\, \nunto whom they exist\, for whom they exist\, through whom they exist\, for whom \nthey exist\, and whom they resemble in a very special manner. \nThis is why divine Love not only repeatedly commands us to love our \nneighbors\, but also itself produces this love and pours it out into our hearts\, \nsince they bear its own image and likeness; for just as we are the image of God\, \nso our holy love for one another is the true image of our heavenly love for God.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-31st-sunday/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241103
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241104
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241102T222947Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241102T222947Z
UID:12773-1730592000-1730678399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n31st Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nNovember 3 – 9\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n3\nMon\n4\nTue\n5\nWed\n6\nThu\n7\nFri\n8\nSat\n9\n\n\nOffice\n31st Sunday\nSt Charles Borromeo\nWeekday\nWeekday\nOffice for Vocations\nWeekday\nLateran Basilica\n\n\nVigils\nWis 14:12-24\nWis 14:25-15:6\nWis 15:7-19\nWis 16:1-15\nWis 16:16-29\nWis 17:1-15\nExodus 40:1-34\n\n\nLauds\nJob 7:7-11\nJob 9:1-12\nJob 9:13-21\nJob 9:25-10:1a\nJob 10:1b-9\nJob 11:1-9\n1 Macc 4:52-59\n\n\nMass\n152\n485\n486\n487\n488\n489\n671\n\n\n1st\nDeut 6:2-6\nPhil 2:1-4\nPhil 2:5-11\nPhil 2:12-18\nPhil 3:3-8a\nPhil 3:17-4:1\nEzek 47:1-2\, 8-9\, 12\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 7:23-28\n\n\n\n\n\n1 Cor 3:9c-11\, 16-17\n\n\nGospel\nMark 12:28b-34\nLuke 14:12-14\nLuke 14:15-24\nLuke 14:25-33\nLuke 15:1-10\nLuke 16:1-8\nJohn 2:13-22\n\n\nVespers\nRom 5:1-11\nRom 6:1-11\nRom 8:18-27\nRom 6:16-23\nRom 7:14-25\nRom 8:1-6\nHeb 10:19-25
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-90/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241102
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241103
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241027T111127Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241027T111127Z
UID:12763-1730505600-1730591999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - All Souls
DESCRIPTION:PRAYING TO THE SAINTS\nby Fr Karl Rahner7 \nNothing can come ‘between’ God and us. On the other hand\, one of the conditions for this closeness to God is that we should belong to the communion of the saints. But perhaps this still does not make it quite clear how the communion of the saints\, which can certainly be effected by means of a specific\, explicit act\, can take the concrete form of appealing to the saints to ask for their intercession. Although this communion with the saints is included in the official liturgy of the Church\, the saints themselves are not addressed directly. Why? How can this still be possible? No clear-cut answer has so far been found to this question\, chiefly because we cannot take it for granted that we can address the saints directly simply because they exist\, as is attempted in spiritualist gatherings. \nThe following short anecdote might help us to proceed in our investigations. When I was in Rome during the Council I had the opportunity\, together with a group of others\, to meet the great Protestant theologian Karl Barth. Our discussion turned to the veneration of the Virgin. I asked Karl Barth whether an individual may ask another Christian to pray for him. After a short hesitation\, he replied that the individual should ask his fellow Christian to pray with him. The conversation then moved on to other topics. I admit that for many years I thought Barth’s answer was intentionally evasive\, that he wished to avoid the issue of veneration of the Virgin. Now I wonder if we should not pursue his point. \nTo start with\, there is nothing new about the saints’ intercession on our behalf with God. On the contrary it is central to their entire history and to eternal salvation; they rest in God’s presence yet are also joined in perpetual communion with us. Their intercession for us depends of course on the degree of intensity\, explicit or otherwise\, with which we participate in their act of communion\, which in turn reflects on our relationship to God. The saints pray ‘with us’ and thus ‘for us’. Our plea for their intercession is not therefore an attempt to create some new\, individualistic kind of spiritualistic communication. The concrete reality of the communion of saints exists already\, and through it we worship God. It is the practical realization of this communion which freely embraces a wide variety of religious acts. Hence it can include a petition for intercession\, while still remaining essentially the faithful realization of the communion of saints in which we stand before God\, and in which we may expect his mercy and help. Seen in these terms\, calling on the saints for their intercession in no way interposes ‘between’ us and God. \nOn the contrary it provides concrete evidence of the fact that God loves each one of us as a unique being. He loves every single being he has created\, and forms us into a community in which we can all love one another. We do not invoke the help of the saints because otherwise they would not intercede on our behalf; rather\, in their eternal salvation they do nothing but intercede for us. In praying to the saints we show that we believe in this perpetual intercession because it enables us to accept and make use of its beneficial effects. \n7\nTHE COURAGE TO PRAY\, by Karl Rahner (Crossroad\, NY 1981) pp. 69-71.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-all-souls-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241101
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241102
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241027T111013Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241027T111013Z
UID:12761-1730419200-1730505599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - All Saints
DESCRIPTION:MERCY AND JUDGMENT\nby Isaac of Stella6 \n“Happy are the merciful\, for they shall obtain mercy.” Even a righteous person cannot contend safely with the all-righteous God. It is silly to go out with ten thousand men to meet him who comes against you with twenty. The sensible thing is to send a messenger and ask for terms\, before the other has advanced too far; to say\, in a word\, “Enter not into judgment with thy servant\, O Lord\, for in thy sight shall no one living be justified.” Who\, then\, is this ambassador of peace? His name is mercy. For only by showing mercy can we hope to get it. Without mercy\, righteousness is cruel and brings no one salvation. Only the merciful will have the joy\, at the last day\, of hearing the king say\, “Come\, you blessed of my father\, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry\, and you gave me meat… For that is as much as to say\, “You showed mercy\, and now you are obtaining it.” “Happy\,” therefore\, “are the merciful\, for they shall obtain mercy.” \nDavid\, you remember\, sings of “mercy and judgment” in that order\, mercy first. For mercy must first be shown\, and then sought at the judgment seat. The one who has shown no mercy will be sentenced without mercy too. \nThere are two kinds of mercy\, one giving\, one forgiving. “Give\, and it shall be given unto you\,” says the Lord\, “forgive\, and you shall be forgiven.” And that in proportion to what we ourselves do. “Forgive us\, as we forgive them that trespass against us.” “With what measure you mete\, it shall be meted unto you.” \nIn the first degree of giving mercy a person gives to others some of his own possessions. This is in accord with the Lord’s command\, “Give alms\, and all things shall be pure unto you.” \nIn the second degree one gives all one’s possessions. In that\, one is like the apostles\, who said\, “Lo\, we have left all and followed thee. What shall we have\, then?” \nIn the third degree one gives oneself. The apostle Paul did that\, who said\, “I will very gladly spend and be spent for you.” No one has a greater love than this. One who possesses it gives himself to the Lord to the full extent of his capacity for giving. \nThe matter stands similarly with the other kind of mercy\, the forgiving kind. You can remit some of the debts that other people owe you. Or you can remit them all. Or you can give back the debtor’s very self to him\, as when an owner frees a slave.\nWe religious have renounced all property. We cannot practice either kind of mercy in material things. But there are other things that we can give: advice\, our prayers\, a good example and so forth. And we can forgive injuries. \n6\nCistercian Studies \, vol.2\, no.1 1967. “Selections From the Sermons of Isaac of Sella” by Sr. Penelope. pp.262-263.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-all-saints-3/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241031
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241101
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241027T110809Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241027T110809Z
UID:12759-1730332800-1730419199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Weekday
DESCRIPTION:THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST\nFrom the Second Vatican Council’s declaration Nostra Aetate5 \nFor the Church of Christ acknowledges that\, according to the mystery of God’s saving design\, the beginnings of her faith and her election are already found among the patriarchs\, Moses\, and the prophets. She professes that all who believe in Christ\, Abraham’s sons according to faith are included in the same patriarch’s call\, and likewise that the salvation of the Church was mystically foreshadowed by the chosen people’s exodus from the land of bondage. \nThe Church\, therefore\, cannot forget that she received the revelation of the Old Testament through the people with whom in God’s inexpressible mercy deigned to establish the Ancient Covenant. Nor can she forget that she draws sustenance from the root of that good olive tree onto which have been grafted the wild olive branches of the Gentiles. Indeed\, the Church believes that by His cross Christ\, our Peace\, reconciled Jew and Gentile\, making them both one in Himself. \nAlso\, the Church ever keeps in mind the words of the Apostle about his kinsmen\, “who have the adoption as sons\, and the glory and the covenant and the legislation and the worship and the promises; who have the fathers\, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh”\, the son of the Virgin Mary. The Church recalls too that from the Jewish people sprang the apostles\, her foundation stones and pillars\, as well as most of the early disciples who proclaimed Christ to the world. \nAs holy Scripture testifies\, Jerusalem did not recognize the time of her visitation\, nor did the Jews in large number accept the gospel; indeed\, not a few opposed the spreading of it. Nevertheless\, according to the Apostle\, the Jews still remain most dear to God because of their fathers\, for He does not repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues. In company with the prophets and the same Apostle\, the Church awaits that day\, known to God alone\, on which all peoples will address the Lord in a single voice and “serve him with one accord”.\nSince the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great\, this sacred Synod wishes to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit above all of biblical and theological studies\, and of brotherly dialogues. \nTrue\, authorities of the Jews and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still\, what happened in His passion cannot be blamed upon all the Jews then living\, without distinction\, nor upon the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God\, the Jews should not be presented as repudiated or cursed by God\, as if such views followed from the Holy Scriptures. All should take pains\, then\, lest in catechetical instruction and in the preaching of God’s Word they teach anything out of harmony with the truth of the gospel and the spirit of Christ. \n5\nThe Documents of Vatican II\, Decree on Non-Christians. General Ed. Walter M. Abbott SJ\, Herder & Herder\, 1966\, pp. 664-666.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-weekday-13/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241030
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241031
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241027T110650Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241027T110650Z
UID:12757-1730246400-1730332799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Weekday
DESCRIPTION:THE SAINT AND THE MISSION\nAn excerpt from “The World of Prayer” by Adrienne von Speyr4 \nA saint’s standing before God with a community within is no plain and simple fact. The saints can be in God’s presence in such a personal way that\, involuntarily or even voluntarily\, they forget their mission. And between these two poles there is a whole spectrum. It may happen involuntarily when God alone wishes it so because he wants to have his saint to himself. It happens voluntarily when the saint feels it right on this occasion to be alone in God’s presence\, leaving the particular mission out of focus in the background. \nThere is another extreme in relation to these two forms of prayer\, namely\, the prayer of those saints who never appear before God except in the very midst of their mission\, whether because God wills it so or because the saint will not have it otherwise. Here too there are gradations. One is inclined to a certain suspicion of those who always do everything completely deliberately and of their own free will\, choosing whether to go before God with or without the mission entrusted to them\, whereas there can be no grounds for suspicion in the case of the saint who\, involuntarily and only as God requires\, is always standing before God in one sense or another. In general\, however\, there is an alternation: There are times and moments in which the saint is more important to God than the individual mission\, and others when the mission itself is the most important thing. \nIf the saints themselves make no choice\, God can work in them or in their mission or in both\, within the relationship he chooses. But if the saint and the mission constitute a single unity as willed by God\, God’s shaping influence on the one will always benefit the other. It can happen\, then\, that when a particular mission begins to make itself felt it brings difficulties for the saint in standing before God in prayer. But these difficulties and their mastery contribute to the saint’s fruitfulness. They never take the form of insuperable obstacles but of a gain at a higher level\, be it a deeper insight or a better adaptation to God’s will or a closer integration of saint and mission. Mission here always means an embodiment of the community. It is what\, in the saint\, is of and for the community: the seed of community\, a task within the community\, a fruit entrusted to the community. This fruit is greater than the I; it is the Thou\, in all its manifold forms\, which has been entrusted to the I. Ultimately this multiplicity belongs to the Church and indeed can be the Church. \n4\nThe World of Prayer\, Adrienne von Speyr\, Ignatius: San Francisco 1985. pp.255-256.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-weekday-12/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241029
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241030
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241027T110506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241027T110506Z
UID:12755-1730160000-1730246399@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Weekday
DESCRIPTION:A VIRGIN LIFE\nFrom the writing of Louis Bouyer3 \nBaptism is our union with Christ’s cross\, our union with his death\, so that we may also be united with him in his risen life of glory. Baptism therefore implies\, and has always implied\, in some way the abandonment\, the renunciation of everything in human life as this is lived in a “natural”\, that is\, a fallen and sinful way. This fact was made clear to the first Christians by the very conditions in which God’s providence allowed them to live; they knew that if they wanted to be members of Christ by faith and baptism\, they had to be prepared for martyrdom. They had to be ready at any moment to witness to the reality of their attachment to Christ. They had to be ready to give a witness which might imply the abandonment\, not only of all the pleasures of human life\, but of life itself. \nAnd thus from the very beginning it was understood that someone could not be a Christian without in some way struggling with the world\, without accepting a permanent and lifelong struggle with their own “flesh”\, with their own sinful self. Christians understood\, of course\, that they were called to take part in Christ’s work of saving the world\, but they knew that they could not take this part unless in some way they escaped from the world. Christ saved the world because he engaged in the struggle to death with the powers of evil… He was willing to abandon the life of this world for the sake of the salvation of humanity. A struggle with the evil in oneself and the world\, and abandonment and escape from the world\, is a necessary preliminary to taking part with Christ in his work of redeeming the world. \nFrom the very beginning of Christianity\, therefore\, a virgin life\, all life consecrated to Christ to the exclusion of all human attachment\, even the most legitimate\, has been proposed as the ideal realization of the will of God. It has always been considered better that Christians\, in order to fight most effectively against the powers of this world\, should abandon their hopes of realizing the fullness of life in this world\, so as to be free and ready to meet Christ with his cross and to follow him through death to the world of eternal life. \nThis virgin life\, this life of freedom from the claims and attachments of this world\, was thought of first as the ideal preparation for the possibility of martyrdom – a possibility which faced every Christian in the first Christian generations. But when the persecutions of the first centuries ended\, it came to be understood that this free and spontaneous offering of one’s own life to Christ in virginity\, this consecration to him which implies the abandonment of the hope of realizing human love and love in this world – that this consecration was not only the ideal preparation for martyrdom\, for full union with Christ and his cross\, but that it was itself a spiritual martyrdom. For it is a spiritual witnessing by our whole lives to the love of God revealed and given to us in Christ\, and to our desire to respond fully to that love. \n3\nLiturgy and Religious Life\, St. Louis\, 1959\, pp. 20-22.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-weekday-11/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241028
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241029
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241027T110207Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241027T110207Z
UID:12752-1730073600-1730159999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - SS Simon & Jude
DESCRIPTION:THE ZEAL OF\nSAINTS SIMON AND JUDE\nBy St John Henry Newman2 \nThe Apostles commemorated on this Festival direct our attention to the subject of Zeal. St. Simon is called Zealot\, which means the Zealous; a title given him (as is supposed) from his belonging before his conversion to the Jewish sect of Zealots\, which professed extraordinary Zeal for the Law… St. Jude’s Epistle\, which forms part of the service of the day\, is almost wholly upon the duty of manifesting Zeal for Gospel Truth\, and opens with a direct exhortation to “contend earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints.” \nIt will be a more simple account of Zeal\, to call it the earnest desire for God’s honor\, leading to strenuous and bold deeds in His behalf; and that in spite of all obstacles. Now Zeal is one of the elementary religious qualifications; that is\, one of those which are essential in the very notion of a religious man. A man cannot be said to be in earnest in religion\, till he magnifies his God and Savior; till he so far consecrates and exalts the thought of Him in his heart\, as an object of praise\, and adoration\, and rejoicing\, as to be pained and grieved at dishonor shown to Him\, and eager to avenge Him. In a word\, a religious temper is one of loyalty towards God; and we all know what is meant by being loyal from the experience of civil matters. \nTo be loyal is not merely to obey; but to obey with promptitude\, energetic dutifulness\, disinterested devotion\, disregard of consequences. And such is Zeal\, except that it is ever attended with that reverential feeling which is due from a creature and a sinner towards his Maker\, and towards Him alone. It is the main principle in all religious service to love God above all things; now\, Zeal is to love Him above all other people\, above our dearest and most intimate friends. This was the especial praise of the Levites\, which gained for them the reward of the Priesthood\, that is \, their executing judgment on the people in the sin of the golden calf. Zeal is the very consecration of God’s Ministers to their office. \nAccordingly our Blessed Savior\, the One Great High Priest\, the Antitype of all Priests who went before Him and the Lord and Strength of all who come after\, began His manifestation of Himself by two acts of Zeal. When twelve years old he deigned to put before us in representation the sacredness of this duty\, when He remained in the Temple “while His father and mother sought Him sorrowing\,” and on their finding Him\, returned answer\, “Do you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” And again\, at the opening of His public Ministry\, He went into the Temple\, and “made a scourge of small cords\, and drove out the sheep and oxen\, and overthrew the changers’ tables” that profaned it: thus fulfilling the prophecy contained in the text\, “Zeal for your house has eaten me up.” Being thus consumed by Zeal Himself\, no wonder He should choose His followers from among the Zealous. \n2\n“Christian Zeal\,” in Parochial and Plain Sermons\, San Francisco: Ignatius Press\, 1987\, pp. 464 ff.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-ss-simon-jude/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241027
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241028
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241027T110012Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241027T110012Z
UID:12750-1729987200-1730073599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - 30th Sunday Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:OPEN YOURSELVES TO THE LIGHT\nFrom a commentary by St Clement of Alexandria1 \nThe commandment of the Lord shines clearly\, enlightening the eyes. Receive Christ\, receive power to see\, receive your light\, “that you may plainly recognize both God and man.” More delightful than gold and precious stones\, more desirable than honey and the honeycomb is the word that has enlightened us. How could he not be desirable\, he who illumined minds buried in darkness\, and endowed with clear vision “the light bearing eyes” of the soul? \n“Despite the other stars\, without the sun the whole world would be plunged in darkness.” So likewise we ourselves\, had we not known the Word and been enlightened by him\, should have been no better off than plump poultry fattened in the dark\, simply reared for death. Let us open ourselves to the light\, then…and become disciples of the Lord. For he promised his Father: I will make known your name to my brothers and sisters\, and praise you where they are assembled.\nSing his praises\, then\, Lord\, and make known to me your Father\, who is God. Your words will save me\, your song instruct me. Hitherto have I gone astray in my search for God\, but now that you light my path\, Lord\, and I find God through you\, and receive the Father through you\, I become co-heir with you\, since you are not ashamed to own me as your brother.\nLet us\, then\, shake off forgetfulness of truth\, shake off the mist of ignorance and darkness that dims our eyes\, and contemplate the true God\, after first raising this song of praise to him: “All hail\, O Light!” For upon us buried in darkness\, imprisoned in the shadow of death\, a heavenly light has shone\, a light of clarity surpassing the sun’s and of a sweetness exceeding any this earthly life can offer. That light is eternal life\, and those who receive it live. Night\, on the other hand\, is afraid of the light\, and melting away in terror gives place to the day of the Lord. Unfailing light has penetrated everywhere\, and sunset has turned into dawn. This is the meaning of the new creation; for the Sun of Righteousness\, pursuing his course through the universe\, visits all alike\, in imitation of his Father\, who makes his sun rise upon all\, and bedews everyone with his truth. \nHe it is who has changed sunset into dawn and death into life by his crucifixion. He it is who has snatched the human race from perdition and exalted it to the skies. Transplanting what was corruptible to make it incorruptible\, transforming earth into heaven\, he\, God’s gardener\, points the way to prosperity\, prompts his people to good works\, “reminds them how to live” according to the truth\, and bestows on us the truly great and divine heritage of the Father\, which cannot be taken away from us… Let us accept the laws of life\, let us obey God’s promptings. Let us learn to know Him\, so that He may be merciful to us. \n1\nJourney with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1993 – pg 128.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-30th-sunday-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241027
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241028
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241027T105641Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241027T105641Z
UID:12748-1729987200-1730073599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Skema - 30th Week Ordinary Time
DESCRIPTION:Biblical Readings for Office and Mass\n30th Week in Ordinary Time\n\n\nMass Readings: Sunday (B)\, Weekdays (II)\nOctober 27 – November 2\, 2024\n\n\n\nSun\n27\nMon\n28\nTue\n29\nWed\n30\nThu\n31\nFri\n1\nSat\n2\n\n\nOffice\n30th Sunday\nSS Simon & Jude\nWeekday\nWeekday\nWeekday\nAll Saints\nAll Souls\n\n\nVigils\nWis 12:16-27\n1 Macc 2:42-66\nWis 13:1-10\nWis 13:11-19\nWis 14:1-11\nRev 5:1-14\nEzek 37:1-14\n\n\nLauds\nJob 5:8-16\nDeut 32:1-9\nJob 5:17-27\nJob 6:1-4\, 8-15\nJob 7:1-6\nIsa 65:17-25\nIsa 38:9-20\n\n\nMass\n149\n666\n480\n481\n482\n667\n668\n\n\n1st\nJer 31:7-9\nEph 2:19-22\nEph 5:21-33\nEph 6:1-9\nEph 6:10-20\nRev 7:2-4\, 9-14\nWis 3:1-9\n\n\n2nd\nHeb 5:1-6\n\n\n\n\n1 Jn 3:1-3\n2 Cor 5:1\, 6-10\n\n\nGospel\nMark 10:46-52\nLuke 6:12-16\nLuke 13:18-21\nLuke 13:22-30\nLuke 13:31-35\nMatt 5:1-12a\nJohn 11:17-27\n\n\nVespers\nRom 2:1-11\nJude 17-21\nRom 2:12-16\nRom 2:17-24\nRev 19:5-9\nHeb 11:32-12:2\nRom 3:21-26\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/skema-30th-week-ordinary-time/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241026
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241027
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241020T120001Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241020T120001Z
UID:12648-1729900800-1729987199@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Memorial of the BVM
DESCRIPTION:THE WOMAN OF FAITH\nBy Irénée Hausherr \nThe secret of prayer and of contemplation is faith. The Blessed Virgin Mary\, the greatest of contemplatives\, is she who had faith. She had great thoughts about everything. She encountered the First Cause in all things\, spontaneously\, without difficulty. She lived the religion of her people to the full. She related the slightest events of her life to her faith. This is what is called living by faith\, or to use another term\, stemming not from the Gospel but from Christian tradition: Living by contemplation. To contemplate is to see the infinitely Great in the infinitely small\, or the invisible eternal in the visible temporal\, and the First Cause throught the second causes. \nThere is another word\, often used by spiritual authors to define contemplation. To contemplate is to traverse\, to pass through the visible world in order to ascend to the invisible attributes of God. Mary did this from a spontaneous impulse\, not without suffering. There were painful surprises\, disappointments\, fears: all the sorrowful mysteries. In the midst of sufferings as well as in the midst of joys\, she gave herself to contemplation… \nLet us hold fast to the faith of Mary! She no longer needs it in heaven! May she give it to us! May she help us to realize that faith is the victory over all the difficulties of daily life! May her faith remove the mountains that crush our heart and our soul. May it put into our spirit an habitual serenity that does honor to God.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-memorial-of-the-bvm-5/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241025
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241026
DTSTAMP:20260403T153040
CREATED:20241020T115851Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241020T115851Z
UID:12646-1729814400-1729900799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Weekday
DESCRIPTION:THE UNKNOWN JUDGMENT\nFrom the writing of Blessed Guerric of Igny6 \nBrethren\, how beautiful and blessed it is not only to be without fear of death but with the assurance of a good conscience to triumph over it; in the spirit and words of Martin\, to rebuke the foul beast if he dares to present himself\, to open joyfully to the Judge when he comes and knocks. At that hour you may see unfortunates like me tremble\, begging for a truce and having it denied them; wanting to buy the oil of penance for a sorrowing conscience and not having enough time; desirous of turning aside those ghostly specters and not being able to do so; anxious to bide away in the body from angry wrath and being forced to go forth. He will go forth\, his spirit shall go forth and the sinner shall return into his earth whence he was drawn. “In that day all their thoughts shall perish.” \nIt is only human\, I know\, to be distressed about the moment of our passage from the earth. Even the perfect wish not to be stripped but rather to be further clothed. And although their conscience does not in fact reproach them\, yet since that is not where their justification lies\, they must of necessity fear the unknown judgment. But whether it be attachment to this life\, or lack of holiness\, or fear of the judgment that troubles the soul the just man says: “You\, O Lord\, will remember mercy\, and you will send your mercy and your truth and will deliver my soul from the midst of the young lions\, and I who was up till now sore distressed\, in peace in the selfsame I will sleep and will rest.” \nGod called the earth and it heard him with trembling. For when he made known judgment from heaven\, at the very sound of it the earth trembled and then\, purified by its terror\, was at rest. Blessed are they who so purge themselves of all the dross of sin during this present life that at the moment of death they need no more than the purification effected by fear. As for me\, a useless and negligent servant\, it will go well if I am saved through fire\, all the wood\, hay and stubble that I have heaped up for myself consumed by the flames; or if I escape\, only half-burned. And indeed\, by comparison with the evil of damnation\, it is a good thing to be saved by fire; without any doubt it is much better to be made perfect by the mere cleansing of fear; and best of all not to be disturbed even by fear. \n6\n(CF 8 : 15-16).
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-weekday-10/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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