Vigils Reading
2023-10-12
A MAN WHO IS HUNTED
From a sermon by John Tauler5
◊◊◊
The hypocrites, or Pharisees, are those who rank themselves good spiritual men, and yet are full of self-esteem. Their own plans and customs are the only rule they follow, and their one aim in life is to be praised by men… These men take the discipline, they pray and fast and watch, and yet God is not purely and simply the motive of any of these practices, but only poor, deluded human nature… This vineyard was never planted by the heavenly Father, but will be disowned and destroyed, as our Lord Himself declared: “He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth.” When the time of the harvest has come, then God will gather in His corn, that is to say, His elect; and those who do not gather with Him shall be rejected; in whatsoever souls He finds a harvest that He has not planted, those also shall be rejected…
Alas, dear children, how few men there are who appreciate the value of interior suffering and of interior persecution, or being hunted! Yet nothing in the world is so honorable or so precious as that both these trials should meet together in our souls. When one has safely gone through such an experience, then alone can he understand what nobility of soul and what fruit of virtue result from these bitter struggles. But what do I mean by a man who is hunted? I mean that an interior man must insist on being always close to God as the only true state of his soul, and this forces him incessantly to hunt and drive himself inward to God’s presence in his interior consciousness. Now, this provokes the violent resistance of the outward man that is in us all; we would ever and again seek to return forcibly to the outward things that minister to our natural weakness. Here, then,

is the conflict. The inner man’s proper place is with God; of this he ever thinks and for it he ever yearns, and toward that union with God our Lord is ever driving and hunting him. Now, to our outward man this is always offensive and against nature, and he always fights against it. St. Paul tells of this struggle: “I am delighted with the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members fighting against the law of my mind.”…
You can easily understand… that from this constant hunting of a man’s soul bitter anguish results. But when at last he is content to abide, for God’s sake, without any consolation, then will Jesus surely come to him and possess him… For there are many trials of body and of soul whose end and purpose is little observed by us, and which, if humbly and thankfully received from God and patiently endured, will end happily with the inpouring of Divine grace…
What can this poor, belated and desolate man do that he may hold his own, and not be driven to extremities in this dreadful hunted condition? No otherwise than the <Canaanite Woman> did in her deep sorrow—run to Jesus Christ and call out to Him with all her strength: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Ah, children, in this hunted state of soul, there is granted a voice to utter a holy call to God; the answer will be the measureless joys of the interior life. Our prayer is a sigh of the spirit yearning for God, so deep and so sad that it flies through measureless space far over all the range of nature — straight to the Divine heart. Indeed, it is the Holy Spirit Himself that now assumes charge of and perfects this work in us; and as St. Paul says, it is His voice that pleads for us: “The Spirit Himself <asks> for us with unspeakable groanings.” And, dear children, when the Holy Ghost thus prepares us, no other preparation can compare with it..

5 John Tauler. The Sermons and Conferences. Trans. Very Rev. Walter Elliott. Washington, D.C.: Apostolic Mission House, 1910. 194-197.

Vigils Reading
2023-10-13
ON HUMILITY
From a discourse by Dorotheos of Gaza6
◊◊◊
ONE OF THE FATHERS used to say, ‘Before anything else we need humility: a being ready to listen whenever a word is spoken to us, and to say, “I submit”, because through humility every device of the enemy, every kind of obstacle, is destroyed,’ What is the force of this saying? Why did he say, ‘before anything else we need humility’, and not, ‘we have need of self-control’? Because, the Apostle says, ‘Everyone who strives for mastery abstains from all things.’ Or why did he not say, ‘Before anything else we have need of the fear of God’? For it is written, ‘The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord’ and again, ‘With the fear of the Lord a man turns away from evil.’ Or why did he not say, ‘Before all else we need almsgiving, or faith’? For it is said that by faith and almsgiving we are cleansed from sin, and the Apostle says, ‘Without faith it is impossible to please God.’ If, therefore, it is impossible to please God without faith, and faith and almsgiving cleanse from sin, and by fear a man turns aside from evil, and the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and a man who strives for the mastery abstain from all things, why does he say, ‘Before all else we need humility’ and leaves aside all these very necessary things?
The holy man wishes to show us that neither the fear of God, nor faith, nor self-control, nor any one of the other virtues can set us right without humility, and therefore he says, ‘Before anything else we need humility, being ready to listen whenever a word is said to us, and to say, “I submit”, because through humility every device of the enemy and every kind of obstacle is destroyed.’

Consider well, brothers, how great is the power of humility. Consider how great is the spiritual energy behind saying, ‘Pardon me’. Why is the devil called not only ‘enemy’, but also ‘adversary’? He is called ‘enemy’ because he is a hater of men, one who hates what is good, a traitor; an ‘adversary’, because he always puts obstacles in the way of good. If someone wants to pray he puts obstacles in the way through evil suspicions, shameful thoughts, and spiritual torpor. If a man wants to give alms he obstructs it through avarice or procrastination. If a man wants to keep vigil he obstructs it with hesitations or laziness. In every single thing he is against us when we desire to do good. This is why he is called the enemy and the adversary and why, by lowliness, all his attacks and devices are brought to nothing. Lowliness is really a great thing, for every kind of good is advanced by lowliness, and by working at it we cut short our journey, as it says, ‘See my humility and my toil, and take away all my sins,’ and ‘I was humiliated, and the Lord saved me’! For humility alone can bring us into the spiritual life… even if slowly.
Therefore, let us also be humble for a short time and we shall be saved. Even if we cannot endure much labor because we are weak, let us be set on humbling ourselves. I firmly believe that, in the mercy of God, the little thing done with humility will enable us to be found there, in the same place as the saints who have labored much and been true servants of God…
We are very weak, and cannot labor very much, but can we not at least be humble? Happy indeed, brothers, is the one who has true humility. A great thing is humility; rightly was it pointed out by that holy man who had true humility and who said, ‘Humility does not grow angry, and does not anger anyone.’… May God, who is so good, grant us the grace of humility which delivers man from so many evils and delivers him from the greatest temptations

6 Dorotheos of Gaza. Discourses and Sayings. CS 33. Trans. Eric P. Wheeler. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1977. ,94-95, 102.

Vigils Reading - Memorial of the BVM
2023-10-14
THE VIRGIN AND THE HUMAN RACE
From the writing of Matthew the Poor7
◊◊◊
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word”. These first recorded words of the Virgin reveal awesome depths of her character, but unfortunately because we tend to concentrate on her youth and simplicity, we pass over her words without pondering over them and so miss their depth.
The Virgin here is taking a firm and decisive stand with respect to herself, the world, and God. She believed the annunciation of the angel and perceived that it was a heavenly proclamation that she had indeed been chosen to bear in her womb a child begotten by God without human seed. God would be His father directly, so He would be called Holy, one of the most special and supreme attributes of God. He would also be called Son of the Most High, and Emmanuel (God is with us). When Mary believed this she gave herself to God as His handmaid, or slave, in the sense that she committed herself totally to Him, body, soul, and spirit.
By this commitment, which took the form almost of an oath or everlasting covenant, the Virgin consecrated her whole life to God after the mystery had taken place in her. According to this covenant that she took upon herself, she became, as far as she herself was concerned, committed to virginity, and as far as the world was concerned, she became the supreme example of purity, and as far as God was concerned, she became a slave, completely owned by Him and living for Him alone.

Her heart, which God made his possession through the Holy Spirit, beat now only for the sake of the holy Word of God that was born of her.
We cannot overlook the feelings and emotions that were shared by the Virgin Mother and the Holy One who was born her son. The Virgin gave all her love and affection as a mother to the Christ she bore, and Christ reciprocated as her son with the same emotions and affection, showing her obedience… It is true that she was a handmaid, but the handmaid of God became the mother of the Son of God, though by her vow of total submission and obedience, the mother remained a handmaid.
When the Virgin understood clearly through the annunciation that she was to become the mother of the Holy One, the Son of God, she vowed that she would be a handmaid of God all her life. How different from Adam and Eve, who refused the word of God and deliberately and willfully ate of the food that God had forbidden them, intending to become like God Himself. The Virgin, by her words of commitment –“Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy word” — took Adam and Eve back to their state before the fall. Adam and Eve rejected the living and life-giving word of God and so the sentence of death was passed on them. The Virgin accepted the Word of God, the Word of life, and He entered into her and removed from her the curse of death: “Blessed are you among women”. The Virgin’s words, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord,” which come after God had elevated her to be the mother of His Son, the Holy One, reveal her determination to go back before the fall and openly repudiate the sin of Adam and Eve

7 Matthew the Poor. The Communion of Love. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1984. 205-207.

Skema
2023-10-15
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
28th Week in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings: Sunday (A), Weekdays (I)
October 15 – 21, 2023

Sun
15
Mon
16
Tue
17
Wed
18
Thu
19
Fri
20
Sat
21

Office
28th Sunday
St Hedwig
St Ignatius of Antioch
St Luke
North American Martyrs
Weekday
Memorial of the BVM

Vigils
1 Sam 25:23-43
1 Sam 26:1-25
1 Sam 27:1-12
Ezek 1:1-14
1 Sam 28:1-25
1 Sam 29:1-11
1 Sam 30:1-25

Lauds
Mic 3:5-8
Mic 3:9-12
Mic 4:1-5
Isa 52:7-10
Mic 4:6-8
Mic 4:9-14
Mic 5:1-8

Mass
142
467
468
661
470
471
472

1st
Isa 25:6-10a
Rom 1:1-7
Rom 1:16-25
2 Tim 4:10-17b
Rom 3:21-30
Rom 4:1-8
Rom 4:13, 16-18

2nd
Phil 4:12-14, 19-20

Gospel
Matt 22:1-14
Luke 11:29-32
Luke 11:37-41
Luke 10:1-9
Luke 11:47-54
Luke 12:1-7
Luke 12:8-12

Vespers
2 Cor 1:1-7
2 Cor 1:8-11
2 Cor 1:12-18
Acts 11:19-26
2 Cor 1:19-24
2 Cor 2:1-7
2 Cor 2:8-13

Vigils Reading - 28th Sunday ORD
2023-10-15
THE LOVE THAT SPRINGS FROM A PURE HEART
From a commentary by St Augustine1
◊◊◊
All believers are familiar with the story of the wedding of the king’s son and the banquet that followed it, and of how the Lord’s table was thrown open to all comers. When everyone was seated the master of the house came in to see the guests, and among them he noticed one without a wedding garment. So he said to him, “My friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?”
Now what precisely does this mean? Let us try to find out what it is that some believers have, but which the wicked lack, for that will be what the wedding garment is.
Can it be one of the sacraments? Hardly, for these, as we know, are common to good and bad alike. Take baptism for example. It is true that no one comes to God except through baptism, but not every baptized person comes to him. We cannot take this sacrament as the wedding garment, then, for it is a robe worn not only by good people but also by wicked people. Perhaps, then, it is our altar that is meant, or at least what we receive from it. But we know that many who approach the altar eat and drink to their own damnation. Well, then, maybe it is fasting? The wicked can fast too. What about going to church? Some bad people also go to church.
Whatever can this wedding garment be, then? For an answer we must go to the Apostle who says: The purpose of our command is to arouse the love that springs from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith. There is your wedding garment. It is not love of just any kind. Many people of bad conscience appear to love one another, but you will not find in them the love that springs from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith. Only that kind of love is the wedding garment.

If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, says the Apostle, but have no love, I am nothing but a booming gong or a clashing cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, if I have all knowledge and understand all mysteries, if I have faith strong enough to move mountains, but have no love, I am nothing. In other words, even with all these gifts I am nothing without Christ. Does that mean that prophecy has no value and that knowledge of mysteries is worthless? No, they are not worthless but I am, if I possess them but have no love. But can the lack of one good thing rob so many others of their value?
Yes, without love my confession of the name of Christ even by shedding my blood or offering my body to be burnt will avail me nothing, for I may do this out of a desire for glory. That such things can be endured for the sake of empty show without any real love for God the Apostle also declares. Listen to him: If I give away all I have to the poor, if I hand over my body to be burnt, but have no love, it will avail me nothing. So this is what the wedding garment is. Examine yourselves to see whether you possess it. If you do, your place at the Lord’s table is secure

1 Journey with the Fathers – Year A – New City Press – NY -1999 – pg 132-133.

Vigils Reading - St Hedwig
2023-10-16
ST HEDWIG OF SILESIA2 ◊◊◊
The father of this saint was Bertold III of Andechs, Marquis of Meran, Count of Tirol, and Prince of Carinthia and Istria… Her mother was Agnes, daughter of the Count of Rotletchs. St. Hedwig, by a distinguishing effect of the divine mercy in her favour, was from her cradle formed to virtue by the example and lessons of her devout mother and of those that were placed about her… She was placed very young in the monastery of Lutzingen, in Franconia, and only taken thence when twelve years old to marry Henry, Duke of Silesia, descended of the Dukes of Glogau, in that country; to which match she only consented out of compliance with the will of her parents…
Whether in prosperity or adversity, her whole comfort was in God and in the exercises of religion. The duke, at her persuasion and upon her yielding into his hands her whole dower for this purpose, founded the great monastery of Cistercian nuns at Trebnitz, three miles from Breslau, the capital of Silesia; upon which he settled the town of Trebnitz and other estates…
The duchess practiced in her palace greater austerities than those of the most rigid monks, fasted and watched in prayer, and wherever she travelled had always thirteen poor persons with her, whom she maintained, in honour of Christ and his apostles, waiting upon them herself upon her knees at table, where they were served with good meat before she took her own coarse refection. She often washed the feet and kissed the ulcers of lepers, and having an extreme desire to hear that amiable sentence from Christ at the last day, “I was in prison and you visited me”…
Upon receiving the news of her husband being wounded in battle and taken prisoner by the Duke of Kirne, she said, without the least disturbance of mind, that

she hoped to see him in a short time at liberty and in good health. The conqueror rejected all terms that could be offered for his freedom; which obliged Henry, our saint’s eldest son, to raise a powerful army to attempt his father’s rescue by force of arms. Hedwig, whose tender soul could never hear of the effusion of Christian blood without doing all in her power to prevent it, went in person to Conrad, and the very sight of her disarmed him of all his rage, so that she easily obtained what she demanded.
The example of our saint had so powerful an influence over her husband that he not only allowed her an entire liberty as to her manner of living and exercises of piety, but began at length in some degree to copy her virtues; observed the modesty and recollection of a monk in the midst of a court; and became the father of his people and the support of the poor and weak… He died happily in 1238… From that time she put on the religious habit at Trebnitz, and lived in obedience to her daughter Gertrude, who, having made her religious profession in that house when it was first founded, had been before that time chosen abbess…
The passion of Christ, which she had always made a principal part of her most tender devotion, was the chief entertainment by which she prepared herself for her last passage. God was pleased to put a happy end to her labours by calling her to himself on the 15th of October 1243. Her mortal remains were deposited at Trebnitz. She was canonized in 1266 by Clement IV, and her relics were enshrined the year following. Pope Innocent XI appointed the 17th of this month for the celebration of her office.

2 Accessed online: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/saints/hedwig-598

Vigils Reading - St Ignatius of Antioch
2023-10-17
FROM A LETTER TO THE ROMANS
by St Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr3
◊◊◊
I am writing to all the churches to let it be known that I will gladly die for God if only you do not stand in my way. I plead with you: show me no untimely kindness. Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God. I am God’s wheat and shall be ground by their teeth so that I may become God’s pure bread. Pray to Christ for me that the animals will be the means of making me a sacrificial victim for God.
No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire. The time for my birth is close at hand. Forgive me, my brothers. Do not stand in the way of my birth to real life; do not wish me stillborn. My desire is to belong to God. Do not, then, hand me back to the world. Do not try to tempt me with material things. Let me attain pure light. Only on my arrival there can I be fully a human being. Give me the privilege of imitating the passion of my God. If you have him in your heart, you will understand what I wish. You will sympathize with me because you will know what urges me on.
The prince of this world is determined to lay hold of me and to undermine my will which is intent on God. Let none of you here help him; instead show yourselves on my side, which is also God’s side. Do not talk about Jesus Christ as long as you love this world. Do not harbor envious thoughts. And supposing I should see you, if then I beg you to intervene on my behalf, do not believe what I say. Believe instead what I am now writing to you. For though I am alive as I write to you, still my real desire is to die. My love for this life has been crucified, and there is no yearning in me for any earthly thing. Rather within me is the living water which says deep inside me: “Come to the Father.” I no longer take pleasure in perishable food or in the delights of this world. I want only God’s bread, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, formed of the seed of David, and for drink I crave his blood, which is love that cannot perish.

I am no longer willing to live a merely human life, and you can bring about my wish if you will. Please, then, do me this favor, so that you in turn may meet with equal kindness. Put briefly, this is my request: believe what I am saying to you. Jesus Christ himself will make it clear to you that I am saying the truth. Only truth can come from that mouth by which the Father has truly spoken. Pray for me that I may obtain my desire. I have not written to you as a mere man would, but as one who knows the mind of God. If I am condemned to suffer, I take it that you wish me well. If my case is postponed, I can only think that you wish me harm

3 The Liturgy of the Hours – vol. IV – Catholic Book Publishing Co – New York – 1975 – pg 1490

Vigils Reading - St Luke
2023-10-18
THE GOSPEL OF MERCY
From a commentary by Servant of God Dolindo Ruotolo4
◊◊◊
The Gospel of Luke is called by the Fathers “The Gospel of Mercy… The inspired author is a converted pagan, as it is usually believed, indicated by his very name Luke, which comes from the Roman name Lucius. He was from Antioch, he was an excellent medical doctor and fluent in the Greek language… He remained a virgin, did not marry, and once converted to the faith, he kept his purity blameless. True purity, the fruit of virtue and love, generates in the soul sensitivity and a compassion for the failings of the poor human heart.
The harshest judges of the poor fragility of sinners are not found among souls who are pure, but among those who know the slavery of the flesh. It is very possible that the human reason that motivated St. Luke to write his Gospel was indeed a feeling of compassion toward sinners. He heard the preaching of so many events on the goodness of Jesus and not having found them in any book, he thought to record them, almost as prescriptions of mercy to cure souls. The apostles, from fishermen became physician of souls… God is marvelous in every disposition of His goodness; he made use of the compassion of St Luke toward the sinners oppressed by sicknesses resulting from their sins, to leave to us a most precious memory of the mercy of our Savior.
St. Luke, who was a virgin, dealt more closely with the Immaculate Virgin, and he knew from Her the details of Jesus’ infancy… An evangelist virgin and doctor could talk to Mary, Mother of Mercy and gather from her most pure lips the stories of the fulfillment of the divine mercy upon earth with the Incarnation of the Word.

Being a physician, he could appreciate, more than others, the miracle of the virginal conception, and he could affirm it with the authority of a person who could not believe such an incredible miracle, if he had not perceived in the story of Mary… the splendor of that virginity which was beyond any comparison…
From the Blessed Mother he learned the beauty of virginity and mercy, and maybe for this reason he remained a virgin; his heart, in contact with the most pure lily, became spotless and perfumed, succumbing to the divine love. Fascinated with the divine mercy, he wrote his Gospel, to prove that Jesus Christ is the Savior of all people, be they Jews or pagans…
Let us collect ourselves to meditate on this precious book that can be called the Gospel of Mary. What our Blessed Mother kept in her immaculate heart and did not say to anyone, she told to St. Luke and we must be grateful to this evangelist who kept for us the memory of a story so tender and admirable. Had he kept for us only the Magnificat, he would already deserve all our devotion and gratitude… We can, therefore, go to him with our sicknesses and beg him to intercede for us with the Most Blessed Virgin, to obtain for us especially the health of our souls and the gift of eternal life

4 Rev. Dolindo Ruotolo. The Sacred Scripture: The Gospel According to Luke. Trans. Giovanna I. Ellis. Published by Giovanna Ellis, 2014. 14-16.

Vigils Reading - North American Martyrs
2023-10-19
FROM THE SPIRITUAL DIARIES
of St John de Brebeuf, priest and martyr5
◊◊◊
For two days now I have experienced a great desire to be a martyr and to endure all the torments the martyrs suffered. Jesus, my Lord and Savior, what can I give you in return for all the favors you have conferred on me? I will take from your hand the cup of your sufferings and call on your name. I vow before your eternal Father and the Holy spirit, before your most holy Mother and her most chaste spouse, before the angels, apostles and martyrs, before my blessed fathers Saint Ignatius and Saint Francis Xavier – in truth I vow to you, Jesus my Savior, that as far as I have the strength I will never fail to accept the grace of martyrdom, if some day you in your infinite mercy should offer it to me, your most unworthy servant.
I bind myself in this way so that for the rest of my life I will have neither permission nor freedom to refuse opportunities of dying and shedding my blood for you, unless at a particular juncture I should consider it more suitable for your glory to act otherwise at that time. Further, I bind myself to this so that, on receiving the blow of death, I shall accept it from your hands with the fullest delight and joy of spirit. For this reason, my beloved Jesus, and because of the surging joy which moves me, here and now I offer my body and blood and life. May I die only for you, if you will grant me this grace, since you willingly died for me. Let me so live that you may grant me the gift of such a happy death. In this way, my God and Savior, I will take from your hand the cup of your sufferings and call on your name: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!

My God, it grieves me greatly that you are not known, that in this savage wilderness all have not been converted to you, that sin has not been driven from it. My God, even if all the brutal tortures which prisoners in this region must endure should fall on me, I offer myself most willingly to them and I alone shall suffer them all

5 The Liturgy of the Hours – vol. IV – Catholic Book Publishing Co – New York – 1975 – p 1503.

Vigils Reading
2023-10-20
SURRENDERING OUR WILL TO GOD
A reading from the works of St Teresa of Jesus6
◊◊◊
We can promise easily enough to give up our will to someone else, but when it comes to the test we find it the most difficult thing in the world to do perfectly. But God knows what each of us is able to bear, and when he finds a valiant soul he does not hesitate to accomplish his will in that person.
So I want to warn you and make you understand what God’s will is, so that you may realize with whom you are dealing (as the saying goes) and what the good Jesus is offering on your behalf to the Father. I want you to make sure you know what you are giving him when you say, “Your will be done.” You are asking that God’s will may be done in you; it is this and nothing else you are praying for. You need not be afraid he will give you wealth or pleasures or great honors or any earthly good things; his love for you it is not so weak as that. He sets a far greater value on your gift and desires to reward you generously, giving you his kingdom even in this life.
Would you like to see how he treats people who make this petition without reserve? Ask his glorious Son, who made it genuinely and resolutely in the garden. Was not God’s will accomplished in him through the trials, the sufferings, the insults and the persecutions he sent him until at last his life was ended on the cross? You see then what God gave to one he loved best of all, and that shows you what his will is. These things are his gifts in this world, and he gives them in proportion to his love for us. To those he loves most he gives more, to those less dear he gives less; his gifts are measured by the courage he sees we have and the love we bear his Majesty. Fervent love can suffer great deal for his sake, while lukewarmness will endure very little. I myself believe that love is the gauge of the crosses, great or small, that we are able to bear.

So if you have this love, think what you are doing. Do not let the promises you make to so great a Lord be no more than empty compliments, but brace yourselves to suffer whatever God wishes. Any other way of surrendering our will to him is like offering someone a precious stone, entreating him to accept it, and then holding onto it when he puts out his hand to take it. Such mockery is not for him who endured so much mockery for us. If for no other reason, it would bewrong to mock him in this way every time we say the Lord’s Prayer. Let us give him once and for all the precious stone we have offered him so many times — for he in fact first gave us the thing we now give back to the Father.
My whole aim in writing this is to encourage us to yield ourselves entirely to our Creator, to submit our will to his, and to detach ourselves from created things. Since you understand how important this is I will say no more on the subject, but will explain to you why our good Master wishes us to make this petition. He knows very well how we shall benefit by fulfilling the promise we have made to his eternal Father, for in a very short time we shall find ourselves at our journey’s end, drinking at the fountain of living water

6 Obras de Santa Teresa, pp. 238-242; reprinted in Meditations on the Sunday Gospels: Year C; introduced and edited by John E. Rotelle, Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1995, pp. 106-107.

LCG Retreat at the Abbey
2023-10-20 - 2023-10-22
LCG Fall Retreat
October 20th – 22nd
The theme for this retreat is the Cistercian Charism

Vigils Reading - Memorial of BVM
2023-10-21
TO A TEACHER: ABOUT THE APPEARANCE OF THE THEOTOKOS
From the missionary letters of Saint Nikolai Velimirovich7
◊◊◊
You write to me with exhilaration how the Mother of God appeared to you and how you are now on the sure path of faith. Your little daughter was in bed with a terrible fever. You called for a number of doctors. They examined the girl and went to the other room to assess the situation. You listened in to their conversation with trembling. One of them said that she might be saved if the ailing girl could perspire. Others considered it was too late even for that.
In desperation, you wrung your hands and cried. Over the child’s bed was an icon of the Theotokos. Until that moment, you saw that icon more as a decoration of the house, not a necessity. But in that desperate hour, you kneeled before the icon and choking with tears, you cried out to the Mother of God, “O Holy Mother of God, you see my pain. You know, O Mother above all mothers how it is to lose an only child. You watched your only Son suffer on the Cross. I beg you, have mercy on me a sinner and help me. I place all my hope on you now. My hope in people is over. The whole world cannot help me now. Only you, O Precious Mother, can help me if you will. You have comforted more than one embittered mother throughout the ages. Comfort me also, O Most Holy, Most Pure one!” After long prayer and sobbing, you looked at the icon and you saw tears in the Virgin’s eyes.

A moment after that, you looked at your child and she was all in sweat. The day after, she sat up and ate, and soon after that she was completely recovered. Thanks be to the Holy Theotokos. And thank you for sharing this. Our faith is founded upon experience, not on self-willed judgments and theories. Your episode is most precious to me too. Last winter, we had a case like this happen also. The daughter of a poor widow was gravely ill. For a month, she was out of her senses and did not say a word. All hope was lost. The grieving mother started collecting money for the funeral items. One evening, the mother was sitting by the deathbed of her daughter and crying quietly. Suddenly, without opening her eyes, the girl said, “Do not cry mother. Take me to Kalishte tomorrow and I will get well. That’s what my Heavenly Mother said to me. She is now standing by me!” The shocked mother was quivering. The next day she took the sick girl to the Monastery of the Holy Theotokos at Kalishte, and brought her back healthy.
But were there only two instances of this happening; or three or ten? There is no number and no end of the appearances and intercessions of the Theotokos. Saint Seraphim of Sarov, fallen asleep exactly a hundred years ago, said that the Mother of God personally appeared to him six times during his life. And if the whole of this quiet people which considers all those heavenly visions to be its precious and sweet secret — if all of them would open their mouth and speak of all they have seen, the earth would be filled with amazement. Believe me, when one enters the knowledge of the working and appearing of the heavenly world in our earthly life, one feels like he has entered a new boundless and unstudied kingdom of a most wondrous reality, Into that darkness for the worldly eyes, the soul can enter only with the lit torches of faith and love, according to the wondrous words of the Apostle Paul, “may Christ by faith move into your hearts, that you may be rooted and grounded in love, so that you may later understand what is width and length and depth and height.” And you ought to thank God and His Mother that your spiritual sight was open. Do not blind it with sin and carelessness anymore. May God always help you

7 Saint Nikolai Velimirovich. Missionary Letters of Saint Nikolai Velimirovich – Part 1. Trans. Hierodeacon Serafim. Grayslake, IL: New Gracanica Monastery, 2008. 120-122.

Skema: 29th Week in Ordinary Time
2023-10-22
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
29th Week in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings: Sunday (A), Weekdays (I)
October 22 – 28, 2023

Sun
22
Mon
23
Tue
24
Wed
25
Thu
26
Fri
27
Sat
28

Office
29th Sunday
Weekday
Weekday
Office for Vocations
Weekday
Weekday
SS Simon & Jude

Vigils
1 Sam 31:1-13
Neh 1:1-11
Neh 2:1-20
Neh 3:33-4:17
Neh 5:1-19
Neh 6:1-19
1 Cor 4:1-16

Lauds
Mic 5:9-14
Mic 6:1-8
Mic 6:9-16
Mic 7:1-7
Mic 7:8-10
Mic 7:14-20
Jerm 3:11-18

Mass
145
473
474
475
476
477
666

1st
Isa 45:1, 4-6
Rom 4:20-25
Rom 5:12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21
Rom 6:12-18
Rom 6:19-23
Rom 7:18-25a
Eph 2:19-22

2nd
1 Thess 1:1-5b

Gospel
Matt 22:15-21
Luke 12:13-21
Luke 12:35-38
Luke 12:39-48
Luke 12:49-53
Luke 12:54-59
Luke 6:12-16

Vespers
2 Cor 2:14-3:3
2 Cor 3:4-11
2 Cor 3:12-18
2 Cor 4:1-6
2 Cor 4:7-18
2 Cor 5:1-10
2 Cor 5:11-15

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
2023-10-22
WHOSE LIKENESS AND INSCRIPTION IS THIS?
From a commentary by Lawrence of Brindisi1
◊◊◊
In today’s gospel we find two questions: one put to Christ by the Pharisees,
and the other put by him to them. The Pharisees’ question concerns this world
alone, while Christ’s has an entirely heavenly and other-worldly sense. Their
question derived from profound ignorance and perversity; his stemmed from
perfect wisdom and goodness.
Whose likeness and inscription is this? Caesar’s, they reply. Then give to
Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. To each, he
says, must be given what belongs to him. This, surely, is a judgment full of heavenly
wisdom and instruction. For it teaches that authority is twofold, having an earthly
and human aspect, and a heavenly and divine aspect. It teaches that we owe a
twofold duty of obedience: to the human laws and to the law of God. The coin
bearing Caesar’s likeness and inscription must be given to Caesar, and the one
stamped with the divine image and likeness must be given to God. We bear the
imprint of your glorious face, O Lord.
We are made in the image and likeness of God. So you, O Christian, because
you are a human being, are God’s tribute money – a little coin bearing the image
and likeness of the divine emperor. Therefore with Christ I ask: Whose likeness and
inscription is this? Your answer is, God’s. To which I reply, Then why not give God
what belongs to him?
If we really want to be God’s image, we must be like Christ, for his is the image of God’s goodness and the perfect copy of his nature, and God foreordained
that those he has chosen should take on a likeness to his Son. Christ undoubtedly
gave Caesar what was Caesar’s and God what was God’s. He fulfilled to perfection
the precepts of both tablets of the law, becoming obedient unto death, even death
on a cross, and he was most highly endowed, both inwardly and outwardly, with
every virtue.
In today’s gospel the reply, most wise and discreet, by which Christ
sidestepped his enemies’ trap shows his great prudence. His teaching that each
must be given what belongs to him, and also the example he gave by being willing
to pay the temple tax and giving a shekel for himself and Peter, shows his justice.
His declaring it to be a duty to pay taxes to Caesar, openly teaching the truth
without fear of the Jews who would be offended, shows his fortitude. For this is
God’s way, of which Christ is the authentic teacher.
Those therefore who resemble Christ in their lives, conduct and practice of
virtues, they are the ones who manifest the divine image; for the way to recover
this image is by being absolutely just. Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and
to God the things that are God’s; that is, give to each what belongs to him.
1
Journey with the Fathers – Year A – New City Press – NY -1999 – pg 134-135.

Weekday
2023-10-23
CONFIDENCE IN GOD IS THE CURE OF SELF-LOVE
A letter from Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade to a religious sister 2
◊◊◊
My dear Sister,
When you have neither time nor inclination to read, try to keep yourself
simply in peace in the presence of God… If you seem to be wanting in courage for
many things, compel yourself at any rate to retain in your heart a determination
to be all for God. Humble yourself with the consideration of the inefficacy of your
own resolutions, and look upon yourself as having so far done nothing. The less
confidence you place in yourself, the more easy will it become to have entire
confidence in the mercy of God alone, through the merits of Jesus Christ. This is
that solid and perfect confidence which completely annihilates self-love by
withdrawing all those resources upon which it was accustomed to rely. There
could be nothing more salutary for some souls than this kind of martyrdom…
The more these sacrifices touch us to the quick, and the more they make us
die to ourselves, and detach us from all consolation, and sensible support, the
closer they draw us to God and unite us to Him. This union is all the more
meritorious in being hidden and further out of the range of the senses. Self-love,
therefore, has no share in it, since it cannot feed on what it can neither know nor
feel. May God deign to convince you of the truth of this consoling assurance, which
is the teaching of all the Doctors of the Church, and is confirmed by every
experience. In order to understand it thoroughly you must remember that in
almost everyone there is such a depth of self-love, weakness and misery, that it
would be impossible for us to recognise any gift of God in ourselves without being
exposed to spoil and corrupt it by imperceptible feelings of self-complacency. In
this way we appropriate as our own the graces of God, and are pleased with
ourselves for being in such or such a state. We attribute the merit to ourselves, not,
perhaps, by distinct and studied thought, but by the secret feelings of the heart.
Therefore, God, seeing the innermost recesses of the heart, and being infinitely
jealous of His glory, is obliged… to convince us, by our own experience, of our utter
weakness. It is for this purpose that He conceals from us nearly all His gifts and
graces…
For my part I can bear witness to this constant action of divine Providence.
God has so completely hidden from those who have appealed to me, the gifts and
graces with which he has loaded them, that they cannot see their own progress,
nor their patience, humility and abandonment, nor even their love of God. Then,
too, they can hardly help weeping at the supposed absence of these virtues and at
their want of generosity in their sufferings… God withdraws what He had given,
but He does not take it away to deprive us of it absolutely. He withdraws it to give
it back in a better way, after it has been purified from this malicious appropriation
made by us without our perceiving it…
In this terrible state, one simple “Fiat,” uttered very earnestly in spite of the
repugnance experienced in the soul, is an assurance of real and solid progress.
Then there remains nothing but bare faith in God, that is to say, an obscure faith
despoiled of all sensible devotion, and residing in the will… “We draw near to God
by faith,”… “The just man lives by faith.” All this ought to convince you that it is not
in anger but in mercy and in very great mercy that God deprives you more than
others. It is because He is more jealous of the possession of your whole heart and
all your confidence….
2
Jean-Pierre de Caussade. Abandonment to Divine Providence. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Company, 1921. 192-193.

Weekday
2023-10-24
THE RETURN OF THE MASTER
From a commentary by St Gregory the Great 3 ◊◊◊
At that time Jesus said to his disciples, “Let your loins be girded, and let your lights be lighted in your hands.” And you, be like men who wait for their master on his return from the wedding, so that when he arrives and knocks on the door, they open him immediately…”
Here two things are ordered at once: girding one’s loins and holding lamps; which means that chastity must make our bodies pure, and the truth our actions luminous. For neither purity nor light can please one without the other to our Redeemer, whether we do good without renouncing the faults of lust, or excel in chastity without exercising…good works. Without good works, chastity is therefore very little, and without chastity, good works are nothing…
It is thus immediately added: “And you, be like men who wait for their master on his return from the wedding.”… The Lord comes when he approaches to judge; he knocks on the door when he warns us of the proximity of death by the attacks of an illness. We open it immediately if we welcome it with love. We do not want to open the Judge who knocks, if we are afraid of dying and we dread to see the Judge that we remember to have despised. But he who draws his assurance in his hope and his works opens to him as soon as he knocks on the door, because he is waiting for his Judge in joy, and seeing the approach of the moment of death, the thought of the glory that will reward him the height of joy. This is why is immediately added: “Blessed are these servants whom their master, on his return, will find vigilant!” He watches, he who keeps the eyes of his soul open to contemplate the true light; he watches, he who strives to act as he believes; he watches, he who repels the darkness of numbness and lukewarmness. It is in this sense that Paul says, “Watch, O righteous, and sin not”…
But what must the servants do if they have been negligent on the first watch?… Those who have been careless must not despair, nor give up the exercise of good works. For the Lord, declaring his extreme patience, adds: “And if he come on the second watch, and come to the third watch, and find them thus, happy are these servants!” The first watch…is the time of…childhood. The second is adolescence or youth… As for the third watch, it means old age. Thus, he who did not want to remain awake during the first watch, he observes anyway the second… And he who did not want to stay awake during the second watch, he does not let escape the remedies of the third… that he can recover at least in his old age.
Consider, dear brothers, how the goodness of God leaves no escape for our hardness of soul. Impossible for men to find excuses! God is despised, and he waits; he is scorned, and he calls again; he endures disdain, and yet he goes so far as to promise to reward those who will one day return to him…
3 St Gregory the Great. Patristic Bible Commentary. Accessed Online: https://sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/home/luke-commentary/gregory-the-great-homily-13-on-thegospels.

Office of Vocations
2023-10-25
THE EXERCISE OF VIRTUES
From “Introduction to the Devout Life” by St Francis de Sales4
◊◊◊
Charity never enters the heart without lodging there all the other virtues in its
train, exercising and disciplining them as a captain does his soldiers. It neither
employs them all at the same time, nor in the same manner… for charity waters the
soul and produces a variety of good works, each one in its proper time…
Among the virtues unconnected with our particular duty we must prefer the
more excellent to the more showy. Comets usually appear greater than stars and seem
to our eyes to occupy a greater space. In reality, neither in magnitude nor equality can
they be compared to the stars. They only seem great because they are nearer… There
are certain virtues which are greatly esteemed and always preferred by the general
run of men because they are near at hand, apparent to our senses, and, so to speak,
material. Hence it is that so many prefer corporal alms before spiritual; the hair shirt,
fasting, going barefoot, using the discipline, and other such corporal mortifications,
before meekness, mildness, modesty, and other mortifications of the heart, which are,
nevertheless, more exalted. Choose then… the best virtues, not the most esteemed;
the most noble, not the most apparent; those that are actually the best, not those that
make the most show.
It is profitable for everyone to exercise some particular virtue, not so far as to
abandon the rest but more properly to keep his spirit ordered and occupied…
Eulogius of Alexandria desired to render God some particular service, but did not
have strength enough to embrace a solitary life, nor to subject himself to the
obedience of another. Hence he took a poor wretch quite eaten up with the leprosy
into his house, that he might exercise toward him the virtues of charity and
mortification. To perform them the more worthily, he made a vow to honor and serve
him as his lord and master. Both Eulogius and the leper having a temptation to quit
each other, they addressed themselves to the great St. Anthony, who said, “Take care,
my children, not to separate from each other. Both of you are near your end. If the
angel should not find you together, you run a great risk of losing your crown…
When assaulted by any vice we must embrace the practice of the contrary
virtue as much as we can, and refer all the others to it. By this means we shall
overcome our enemy and at the same time advance in all the virtues. Thus, if assaulted
by pride or by anger, I must in all my actions yield and turn toward humility and
meekness and adapt all my other exercises of prayer and the sacraments, of prudence,
constancy, and sobriety to this end. In order to sharpen his tusks, the wild boar wets
and polishes them with his other teeth and by this means sharpens all of them. So also
a virtuous man who has undertaken to perfect himself in the virtue that he most needs
for his own defense, files and polishes it by the exercise of the other virtues. Even
while they help to refine that one, they make all the others become more excellent
and better polished.
So it happened to Job. He exercised himself particularly in patience against the
many temptations wherewith he was assaulted and became perfectly holy and
confirmed in all kinds of virtues… As St. Gregory Nazianzen says, that by the perfect
exercise of only one virtue a person may attain to the height of all the rest. For this he
alleges the example of Rahab, who, having exactly practiced the virtue of hospitality,
arrived at a great degree of glory. This is to be understood of a virtue that is practiced
with great fervor and charity… In this, if we conduct ourselves with humility and
fidelity, God will infallibly elevate us to heights that are truly great.
4 St Francis de Sales. Introduction to the Devout Life. Trans. John K. Ryan. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers,
1950. 76-79, 82.

Weekday
2023-10-26
KINDLED AND ENFLAMED BY GOD
From “The Eternal Promise” by Quaker Thomas Kelly5
◊◊◊
God your passion? Do you long for Him and rejoice in Him and find life
meaningful only to the degree you are in His Presence and He is in your life? Do
you keep close to the Divine Center, the Inner principle counting all else as loss?
For a depth of commitment such as mild men do not know, I speak in order that
you may hear Him speak in you the same message. Out of such lives will the world
be reborn, will the church be reborn. Hasten unto God, all you zealous pearlmerchants! There will you find rest for your souls, and power, and peace, and joy
unspeakable and full of Glory.
Hasten unto God. I have spoken with deep feeling, for I am convinced this is
the deepest need of all men. We…have become earthy. We are more at home with
humans than we are with God. We have men of burning social passion, but not so
many that burn for God, who long for God, who go down deep into the Waters of
His life, who call to us, “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” Social reformers we
have now, men who are great in their contribution to social thinking, to war, to
peace, to economic injustice, to racial cooperation. But this epoch of history is
weak in great prophets of the inner life, great voices who cry in the wilderness,
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord within your hearts.” Skill in social expressions of
God is great; skill in communion with Him, agile obedience to the Inward Glory, is
less common today…
Strip monasticism; strip it of its retreat behind walls from much human
need; strip it of its celibacy; and there is left, in Bernard of Clairvaux and Francis
of Assisi, a God-hunger, and completeness of renunciation of all else in the world
in comparison with the life that is hid with Christ in God. Such a passion for God as
leads men… to leave father and mother and all the world… until deep relations
with God have been found… Such men and women, not with social techniques, but
with God-motivations born out of deep immersion in the ocean of the Love of
God… Down at the base of life, for all such people, would be a fellowship in a
common Life which is the Light within every man who is kindled and enflamed by
God.
Do not misunderstand me. There is a practice of the presence of God which
is done on the run, in the busiest of days, in office, and schoolroom, and kitchen.
Little prayers and communion; ejaculation of surrender and joy and exaltation…
And most of our lives can be lived this way, as divine conversation of our soul with
God, going on behind the scenes all the time. But then come crucial periods in life
when the quest for God grows hot, when the hot breath of the Hound of Heaven is
at our heels, when the heart cries out, “Give me the Presence or I die.” And these
are the times when we get beneath the conventional mildness of average
religiosity, and find Him more fully, who is dearer than life itself. From these men
and women will come the profound return to religion… the love of God and
neighbor, which is so desperately needed.
5 Kelly, Thomas. The Eternal Promise. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1966. 116-118.

Weekday
2023-10-27
THOSE WHO SEARCH FOR THE TIME
OF CHRIST’S COMING
From a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria6
◊◊◊
Observe how… He cried unto the multitudes, saying; “When you see a cloud
rising out of the west, straightway you say that rain comes; and it is so. And when
[you see] the south wind blowing, you say there will be heat: and so it is.” For men
fix their attention on things of this kind, and from long observation and practice
tell beforehand when rain will fall, or gusts happen of violent winds: and one
especially sees sailors very skillful in this matter. Well therefore, He says, well
would it become those who can calculate things of this sort, and… fix the
penetrating glance of the mind also upon matters of importance. And what are
these? The law showed beforehand the mystery of Christ; and that certainly He
would shine forth in the last ages of the world upon the inhabitants of the earth,
and submit to be a sacrifice for the salvation of all…
But against those, who, in the greatness of their wickedness, have scorned
His goodness, and rejected the Saviour, there is decreed wrath and misery; and, as
it were, a winter of torment and punishment, from the blast of which hard will it
be to escape. For, as the Psalmist says; “Fire, and brimstone, and the whirlwind, is
the portion of their cup.” And why so? Because they have rejected… the grace that
is by faith; and therefore the guilt of their sins cannot be wiped away, and they
must bear, as they deserve, the punishment due to those who love sin. For…He
said; “Verily I say unto you, that if you believe not that I am He, you shall die in
your sins.”…
But those who are in Christ by faith, escaping from the pollutions of sin, are
not only not full of shame, but have that boldness which becomes those who are
free. It was their duty, therefore… as being possessed of understanding, and able
to discern the face of the sky and of the earth, to examine also things future, and
not to let those tempests escape their observation, which come after this world.
For there will be the south wind and rain: that is to say, fiery torment. For the south
wind is hot: and the infliction of that punishment is vehement and inevitable, like
the rain falling upon those overtaken by it. They must not, therefore, let the time
of salvation pass by unnoticed: that time in which our Saviour came, and at which
perfect knowledge of the truth reached mankind, and the grace shone forth which
purifies the wicked…
Now all of us, without exception, upon earth are guilty of offences: he who
has a suit against us and accuses us is the wicked Satan: for he is “the enemy and
the exactor.” While therefore we are in the way… let us deliver ourselves
from him: let us do away with the offences of which we have been guilty: let us
close his mouth: let us seize upon the grace that is by Christ, which frees us from
all debt and penalty, and delivers us from fear and torment: lest if our impurity be
not cleansed away, we be carried before the judge, and given over to the exactors,
that is, the tormentors, from whose cruelty no man can escape… who will exact
vengeance for every fault, whether it be great or small.
Far removed from this danger are those who search for the time of Christ’s
coming, and are not ignorant of His mystery, but well know that the Word, though
He be God, has shone forth upon the inhabitants of earth in likeness as one of us,
that freeing them from all blame, He may bless with exceeding happiness those
who believe in Him, and acknowledge Him as God…
6 St Cyril of Alexandria. Patristic Bible Commentary. Accessed Online:
https://sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/home/luke-commentary/cyril-on-luke-12

SS Simon and Jude
2023-10-28
THE ZEAL OF THE APOSTLES
From a sermon on Sts. Simon and Jude by St John Henry Newman7 ◊◊◊
The Apostles commemorated on this Festival direct our attention to the subject of Zeal. St. Simon is called…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… The marks him as distinguished for this particular Christian grace. 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.”
It 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.
To 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 special 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.
Accordingly our Blessed Savior, the One Great High Priest… 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.
7 “Christian Zeal,” in Parochial and Plain Sermons, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987, pp. 464 ff.

Skema
2023-10-29
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
30th Week in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings: Sunday (A), Weekdays (I)
October 29 – November 4, 2023

Sun
29
Mon
30
Tue
31
Wed
1
Thu
2
Fri
3
Sat
4

Office
30th Sunday
Weekday
Weekday
All Saints
All Souls
St Martin de Porres
St Charles Borromeo

Vigils
Neh 8:1-4a; 5-6; 8-18
Neh 9:1-11
Neh 9:12-20
Rev 5:1-14
Ezek 37:1-14
Neh 9:21-28
Neh 9:29-37

Lauds
Hab 1:1-4
Hab 1:5-11
Hab 1:12-17
Sir 44:1-15
Job 14:1-12
Hab 2:1-4
Hab 2:5-8

Mass
148
479
480
667
668
483
484

1st
Exod 22:20-26
Rom 8:12-17
Rom 8:18-25
Rev 7:2-4, 9-14
Wis 3:1-9
Rom 9:1-5
Rom 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29

2nd
1 Thess 1:5c-10

1 Jn 3:1-3
2 Cor 5:1, 6-10

Gospel
Matt 22:34-40
Luke 13:10-17
Luke 13:18-21
Matt 5:1-12a
John 11:17-27
Luke 14:1-6
Luke 14:1, 7-11

Vespers
2 Cor 5:16-21
2 Cor 6:1-13
Heb 11:32-12:2
Rev 19:5-9
1 Thess 4:13-18
2 Cor 6:14-7:1
2 Cor 7:2-10

Vigils Reading - 30th Sunday ORD
2023-10-29
PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR
From a commentary by St Augustine1
◊◊◊
I know, beloved, how well fed you are every day by the exhortations of Holy Scripture, and what nourishment your hearts find in the word of God. Nevertheless the affection we have for one another compels me to say something to you, beloved, about love. To speak about love there is no need to select some special passage from Scripture to serve as a text for the homily; open the Bible at any page and you will find it extolling love. We know this is so from the Lord himself, as the gospel reminds us, for when asked: what were the most important commandments of the law, he answered: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And then, just in case you might be tempted to search further through the pages of Holy Scripture for some commandments other than these two, he added: The entire law and the prophets also depend upon these two commandments. If the entire law and the prophets depend upon these two commandments, how much more must the gospel do so?
People are renewed by love. As sinful desire ages them, so love rejuvenates them. Enmeshed in the toils of his desires the psalmist laments: I have grown old surrounded by my enemies. Love, on the other hand, is the sign of our renewal from the Lord’s own words: I give you a new commandment – love one another.
Even in former times there were people who loved God without thought of reward, and whose hearts were purified by their chaste longing for him. They drew back the veils obscuring the ancient promises, and caught a glimpse through these figures of a new covenant to come. They saw that all the precepts and promises of the old covenant, geared to the capacities of an unregenerate people, prefigured a new covenant which the Lord would bring to fulfillment in the last age. The Apostle says this quite clearly: The things that happened to them were symbolic, and were recorded for us who are living in the last age. When the time for it came the new covenant began to be openly proclaimed, and these ancient figures were expounded and explained so that all might understand that the old covenant promises were pointed to the new covenant.

And so love was present under the old covenant just as it is under the new, though then it was more hidden and fear was more apparent, whereas now love is more clearly seen and fear is diminished. For as love grows stronger we feel more secure, and when our feeling of security is complete fear vanishes, since, as the apostle John declares: Perfect love casts out fear

1 Journey with the Fathers – Year A – New City Press – NY -1999 – pg 136-137.

Vigils Reading
2023-10-30
HUMBLE YOURSELF AND BE COMFORTED
From the writing of St Alphonsus de Liguori2
◊◊◊
When you…are visited by God with any infirmity, or loss, or persecution, humble yourself, and say with the good thief, “We receive the due reward of our deeds. Lord, I deserve this cross because I have offended Thee.” Humble yourself and be comforted: for the chastisement that you receive is a proof that God wishes to pardon the eternal punishment due to your sins… Let this be my consolation, that the Lord may afflict me and may not spare me here below in order to spare me hereafter. O God! how can he who has deserved hell complain if the Lord send him a cross. Were the pains of hell trifling, still, because they are eternal, we should gladly exchange them for all temporal sufferings that have an end. But no: in hell there are all kinds of pain — they are all intense and everlasting. And though you should have preserved baptismal innocence and have never deserved hell, you have at least merited a long purgatory: and do you know what purgatory is? St. Thomas says that the souls in purgatory are tormented by the very fire that tortures the damned. Hence St. Augustine says that the pain of that fire surpasses every torment that man can suffer in this life. Be content, then, to be chastised in this life rather than in the next; particularly since by accepting crosses with patience in this life your sufferings will be meritorious; but hereafter you will suffer without merit.
Console yourself also in suffering with the hope of paradise. St. Joseph Calasanctius used to say: “To gain heaven all labor is small.” And before him the Apostle said: “The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us.” It would be but little to suffer all the

pains of this earth for the enjoyment of a single moment in heaven: how much more, then, ought we to embrace the crosses that God sends us when we know that the short sufferings of this life shall merit for us an eternal felicity. That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us… an eternal weight of glory. We should feel not sadness but consolation of spirit when God sends us sufferings here below. They who pass to eternity with the greatest merits shall receive the greatest reward. It is on this account that the Lord sends us tribulations. Virtues, which are the fountains of merits, are practiced only by acts. They who have the most frequent occasions of annoyance make the most frequent acts of patience; they who are most frequently insulted make most frequent acts of meekness. Hence St. James says, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life…”
This thought made Job exclaim: “If we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil?” He meant to say, if we have gladly received good things, why should we not also receive with greater joy temporal evils, by which we shall acquire the eternal goods of paradise? This thought also filled with jubilation the hermit whom a soldier found singing in a <forest>, though his body was covered with ulcers so that his flesh was falling to pieces. The soldier said to him: “Is it you that were singing?” “Yes, I sang, and I had reason to sing; for between me and God there is nothing but the filthy wall of my body. I now see it falling to pieces, and therefore I sing, because I see that the time is at hand when I shall go to enjoy my Lord.” This thought made St. Francis of Assisi say: “So great is the good which I expect, that to me every pain gives delight.” In a word, the saints feel consoled when they see themselves in tribulation, and are afflicted when they enjoy earthly consolations

2 Saint Alphonsus de Liguori. The True Spouse of Jesus Christ. Brooklyn, NY: Redemptorist Fathers, 1929. 384=386.

Vigils Reading
2023-10-31
THE OPPOSITION OF THE FALLEN SPIRITS TO PRAYER
From the writing of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov3
◊◊◊
The devil employs all his efforts to hinder prayer or to make it powerless and ineffective. For this spirit, cast down from heaven for pride and rebellion against God, infected with incurable envy and hatred for the human race, burning with thirst for the destruction of men, sleeplessly engaged day and night in man’s ruin, it is intolerable to see weak and sinful man detach himself by prayer from everything earthly, enter into conversation with God Himself and go out from this conversation sealed with the mercy of God, in hope of inheriting heaven and seeing even his frail body transformed into a spiritual body. This spectacle is unbearable for a spirit who is forever condemned to creep and crawl, as in mud and stench, in thoughts and feelings exclusively carnal, material, sinful, and who must finally be cast down and confined for all eternity in the prisons of hell…
Only in extreme need, especially if obedience requires it, may the time appointed for prayer be given up to some other occupation. Without an extremely important reason never abandon prayer, beloved brother! He who abandons prayer abandons his salvation; he who is careless about prayer is careless about his salvation; he who quits prayer renounces his salvation.
A monk must be very cautious, because the enemy is trying to surround him on all sides with his wiles and snares to deceive, incite, confuse, seduce him from the way enjoined by the commandments of the Gospel, and ruin him in time and eternity… But the enemy’s wiles are turned to profit by a watchful ascetic. Seeing a murderer constantly near him with a drawn dagger raised to strike, the helpless, powerless monk who is truly poor in spirit unceasingly cries for help to the all- powerful God with vigorous shouting and tears, and obtains it…

This conflict never ceases day or night, but it becomes specially intense and furious when we stand for prayer. Then, according to the expression of the holy Fathers, the devil gathers the most monstrous thoughts from everywhere and pours them on our soul.” First he reminds us of all who have wronged or offended us. He tries to present all the insults, wrongs and injuries inflicted on us in the most lurid colours. He points out the necessity for retaliation and resistance to them by demanding justice, common sense, the public good, self-preservation, self-defense.
It is obvious that the enemy tries to shake the very foundation of prayer, namely forgiveness and meekness, so that the building erected on this foundation may collapse of its own accord… Angry thoughts dissipate prayer; they blow it aside, just as a violent wind scatters seeds thrown by a sower on his field; so the field of the heart remains unsown, and all the ascetic’s hard work comes to nothing. It is a well-known fact that forgiveness of wrongs and offenses, changing condemnation of our neighbours into kindness and mercy so that we excuse them and blame ourselves, provides the only solid basis for successful prayer.”…
Although a true servant of God is allowed to undergo a struggle with the many forms of solicitation and temptation to sin offered by satan and arising from our nature warped by the fall, yet God’s right hand is constantly supporting and guiding him. The very struggle brings the greatest profit, giving the combatant spiritual experience, a clear and exact understanding of the corruption of human nature, of sin, of the <devil>, leading the wrestler to contrition of spirit, to weeping and mourning over himself and all mankind..

3 Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov. The Arena: An Offering to Contemporary Monasticism. Madras, India: Diocesan Press, 1970. 217-223.

Vigils Reading - All Saints
2023-11-01
FOLLOWING CHRIST
From the writing of St Gertrud the Great4
◊◊◊
O consuming fire, my God… Devouring me, a speck of dust, in the fiery vigor of your love, consume me utterly and absorb me into yourself. Behold, I am approaching you… Let your face light up over me so that my darkness may become like noonday in your presence… Make me… to be listed and numbered in the generation of those who know you, God of Israel; among the generation of those who seek your face, God of Jacob; in the generation of those who cherish you, God of hosts.
Holy Trinity, one God: grant that my heart may fear you, cherish you, follow you because you are my true love. Holy Mary, paradise of holiness, lily of purity, be the guide and guardian of my chastity, for in you is all the grace of life and truth… Saint John the Baptist, obtain for me enlightenment through that true light to whom you came to bear witness. O my Father Abraham, obtain for me that faith and obedience which led you to friendship with the living God. O Moses, dear to God, obtain for me that spirit of mildness, peace, and charity which made you worthy to hold discourse face to face with the Lord of majesty. O David, venerable king and prophet, obtain for me the wholeness of fidelity, promptitude, and humility that made you a man after God’s own heart, to be truly pleasing and dear to God the king… Saint Peter, first of the apostles, by your authority deliver me from the bonds of all my sins. Saint Paul, chosen vessel, obtain for me that gift of true cherishing-love… Saint Mary Magdalene, most fervent lover of Jesus Christ, obtain for me the most diligent observance of holy religion. All saints and chosen ones of God, obtain for me such observance of holy religion that thereby I may come with you to that homeland of eternal life which knows nothing but joys, where God is all in all.

My beloved Jesus Christ, I desire to enter with you into a beloved rule so that I may renew and remake my life in you… Place my life in the guardianship of your Holy Spirit so that I may keep your commandments at all times… Flood my sense with the light of your love so that you alone may teach and guide me, and convert me within. Sink my spirit so firmly into your Spirit – quickly down into its ground – that I may be truly buried in you. And let me be so fully transported out of myself into union with you that nobody may know of my grave in you except your living love alone, which may place its seal on it.
Therefore, by the cooperation of your grace and through the spotless law of your love, turn my soul from the frailty of the human condition toward you in such a way that I may untiringly run the way of your commandments and cling to you. Be with me, my Lord, aiding me always and making me strong in the work that I have taken up for the love of your love… And grant me then to see you, to have you, to enjoy you eternally in the greatest happiness, for my soul has yearned for you, O Jesus, dearest of all dear ones

4 Gertrud the Great of Helfta. Spiritual Exercises. CF 49. Trans. Gertrud Jaron Lewis and Jack Lewis. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1989. 61-63, 65-66, 72.

Vigils Reading - All Souls
2023-11-02
ALL SOULS’ DAY
From a homily by Fr. Karl Rahner5
◊◊◊
All Souls’ Day is the day of everyone who has died and gone home into the eternal love of God. Today, then, we want to remember before God our dead, all those who once belonged to us and who have departed from us. In true love no one can replace the beloved, for true love loves the beloved in those depths where each is uniquely and irreplaceably oneself. That is why each one of those who has passed away has taken a part of our heart away: they may be said even to have taken the heart with them, if death has trodden through our lives from beginning to end.
If one has really loved, and continues to love, then even before one’s own death our life is changed into a life with the dead. Could the lover forget his dead? If one has really loved, then one’s forgetting and the fact that one has ceased weeping are not signs that nothing has really changed, that one is just the same as before. They are, rather, signs that a part of one’s own heart has really died with the loved ones, and is now living with the dead. That is why one can no longer mourn. We live, then, with the dead, with those who have gone before us into the dark night of death…
Today, when we stand by the graves, or when our heart must seek distant graves, where perhaps not even a cross stands over them any longer; when we pray, “Lord, grant them eternal rest, and may perpetual light shine upon them;” when we quietly look up towards the eternal homeland of all the saints and – from afar and yet so near – greet God’s light and God’s love, our eternal homeland; then all our memories and all our prayers are only the echo of the words of love that the holy living, in the silence of their eternity, softly and gently speak into our heart. Hidden in the peace of the eternal God, filled with God’s own bliss, redeemed for eternity, permeated with love for us that can never cease, then, on their feast, utter the prayer of their love for us: “Lord, grant eternal rest to them whom we love – as never before – in your love. Grant it to them who still walk the hard road of pilgrimage, which is nonetheless the road that leads to us and to your eternal light. We, although silent, are now closer to them than ever before, closer than when we were sojourning and struggling along with them on earth. Grant to them, too, Lord, eternal rest, and may your perpetual light shine on them as on us. May it shine upon them now as the light of faith, and then in eternity, as the light of blessed life.”… And there will be one, single, eternal feast of all the saints

5 The Eternal Year, Baltimore: Dublin 1964, 37ff.

Vigils Reading - St Martin de Porres
2023-11-03
MARTIN THE CHARITABLE
The life of St Martin de Porres (1579-1639)6
◊◊◊
POPE ST JOHN XXIII described St. Martin de Porres thus: “He forgave the bitterest injuries, convinced that he deserved much severer punishments on account of his own sins.” Martin could have easily grown up a social misfit, angry at society. Born in Lima, Peru, he was the illegitimate son of a noble knight from Spain, John de Porres, who eventually became governor of Panama, and Anna Velasquez, a freed mulatto from Panama. He was dark-skinned and greatly resembled his mother. His father left his mother when Martin was just a boy and his sister Joan just an infant. The result was a childhood of poverty, except for a brief period when the children lived with their father in Ecuador… Even in Martin’s youth, he had a deep devotion to the Passion ofour Lord, full of gratitude for his own redemption. He also sometimes would give his family’s meager food money to the poor, causing his mother to protest that she and Joan had not volunteered to starve along with him…
When he was fifteen, despite his father’s objections, Martin chose the lowliest possible station in the Dominican order, becoming a humble lay tertiary (servant). In addition to gardening, housekeeping, and barbering, he acted as wardrobe-keeper and infirmarian. Nine years later, at the command of his superior, he became a professed Dominican lay brother, although he believed he was unworthy.
Martin devoted himself completely to a life of charity. He nursed the sick, without regard to color, race, or status. He gave out food, clothing, blankets, and other necessities to those in need, becoming known as “Martin the Charitable.” He helped found an orphanage and a hospital for abandoned children. Sometime Martin’s charity was blessed by miraculous help from God. One of his tasks was to distribute

the daily bread and soup to the poor in the Dominican refectory. The meager supply of food was often miraculously multiplied. He was also known for miraculous cures and even raising the dead. He felt especially drawn to the suffering of enslaved Africans, and caring for them in illness was a significant part of his work…
Martin cared for all sorts of animals… On one occasion, his superior instructed him to poison the rodents infesting the Dominican house. Instead, he went out to the garden, called the rats and mice, explained the problem they caused and told them about the poison, and promised to feed them every day in the garden if they would leave the house. That ended the problem. He is among those rare saints who offer a glimpse of an Eden lost, of the original harmony between man and the rest of creation.
Martin’s humility was sometimes ridiculed by those who did not know him well. It prompted him to turn insults to jokes, and to return unkindness with special attention. He was deeply drawn and devoted to the Eucharist. He received Communion as often as he could and, as often as he contemplated Jesus’ Passion anddeath, tears would flow from his eyes. He prayed at length in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and often spent entire nights in prayer. He received in abundance the gifts God bestows on those exemplars of contemplative prayer, the mystics…
Martin lived a life of great austerity, wearing a sackcloth habit and never sleeping on a mattress. His superiors permitted these only because they saw how close to the Lord he was. He lived entirely for others. Jesus teaches the astonishing paradox that “he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” Grasping loses it all; letting go gains everything. Martin knew how to let go, and became the glorious saint God intended him to be

6 Accessed Online: https://scsreading.org/scsparish/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/8-st.-martin-de- porres.pdf

Vigils Reading - St Charles Borromeo
2023-11-04
ST CHARLES BORROMEO
From the writing of Alban Butler7
◊◊◊
Charles was an aristocrat by birth, his father being Count Gilbert Borromeo, himself a man of talent and sanctity. His mother, Margaret, was a Medici, whose younger brother became Pope Pius IV. Charles, the second of two sons in a family of six, was born in the castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore on October 2, 1538. At the age of twelve he received the clerical tonsure, and his uncle, Julius Caesar Borromeo, resigned to him the rich Benedictine monastery of Saints Gratian and Felinus at Arona, which had been long enjoyed by members of his family in commendam…
It was not until after the death of both of his parents that he took his doctor’s degree, in his twenty-second year. He returned to Milan, where he soon received news that his uncle, Cardinal de Medici, was chosen pope in 1559, at the conclave held after the death of Paul IV.
Early in 1560 the new pope created his nephew cardinal-deacon and on February 8 nominated him administrator of the vacant see of Milan. Pius IV, however, detained him at Rome and entrusted him with many duties. In quick succession Charles was named legate of Bologna, Romagna and the March of Ancona, and protector of Portugal, the Low Countries, the Catholic cantons of Switzerland, and the orders of St. Francis, the Carmelites, the Knights of Malta, and others. At this time Charles was not yet twenty-three years old, and only in minor orders. He still found time to look after his family affairs, and took recreation in music and physical exercise. He was a patron of learning, and promoted it among the clergy. For this end he instituted in the Vatican a literary academy of clergy and laymen…

Pope Pius IV had announced soon after his election his intention of reassembling the Council of Trent, which had been suspended in 1551. Charles used all his influence and energy to bring this about, amid the most difficult and adverse ecclesiastical and political conditions. He was successful, and in January 1562 the council was reopened… Several times it nearly broke up with its work unfinished, but Charles’ never-failing attention and his support of the papal legates kept it together, and in nine sessions and numerous meetings for discussion many of the most important dogmatic and disciplinary decrees of the great reforming council were passed. Charles was the mastermind and ruling spirit of the third and last period of the Council of Trent.
During its assembly Count Frederick Borromeo died, and Charles found himself at the head of this noble family. Many took it for granted that he would leave the clerical state and marry. But Charles resigned his family position to his uncle Julius and received the priesthood in 1563. Two months later he was consecrated bishop…
He arrived there in April 1566 and went vigorously to work for the reformation of his diocese. In provincial councils, diocesan synods and by many pastoral instructions he made regulations for the reform of both clergy and laity which have been regarded ever since as a model. He was one of the foremost of the great pastoral theologians who arose in the Church to remedy the disorders engendered by the decay of medieval life. He directed that children in particular should be properly instructed in Christian doctrine…
In 1575 the plague broke out. Charles organized priests of his own clergy to attend the sick. He used his own wealth and that of the church to assist the great number of sick. During 1584 Charles own health deteriorated… On October 29 he started off for Milan, where he arrived on All Souls’ Day. He went straight to bed andasked for the last sacraments, and after receiving them died quietly during the night between November 3 and 4. He was only forty-six years old

7 Butler’s Lives of the Saints – Revised and Updated – edited by Michael Walsh – Harper – San Francisco – 1991 – pg 361f.

Skema
2023-11-05
Biblical Readings for Office and Mass
31st Week in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings: Sunday (A), Weekdays (I)
November 5 – 11, 2023

Sun
5
Mon
6
Tue
7
Wed
8
Thu
9
Fri
10
Sat
11

Office
31st Sunday
Weekday
Weekday
St Elizabeth of the Trinity
Lateran Basilica
St Leo the Great
St Martin of Tours

Vigils
Neh 10:1-2; 29-40
Jud 1:1-16
Jud 2:1-13
Jud 2:14-28
Exodus 40:1-34
Jud 3:1-10
Jud 4:1-15

Lauds
Hab 2:9-14
Hab 2:15-20
Hab 3:1-7
Hab 3:8-15
Jerm 7:1-7
Hab 3:16-19
Isa 58:6-12

Mass
151
485
486
487
671
489
490

1st
Mal 1:14b—2:2b, 8-10
Rom 11:29-36
Rom 12:5-16ab
Rom 13:8-10
Ezek 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
Rom 15:14-21
Rom 16:3-9, 16, 22-27

2nd
1 Thess 2:7b-9, 13

1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17

Gospel
Matt 23:1-12
Luke 14:12-14
Luke 14:15-24
Luke 14:25-33
John 2:13-22
Luke 16:1-8
Luke 16:9-15

Vespers
2 Cor 7:11-16
2 Cor 8:1-7
2 Cor 8:8-15
2 Cor 8:16-24
1 Pet 2:1-10
2 Cor 9:1-5
2 Cor 9:6-15

Vigils Reading - 31st Sun ORD
2023-11-05
THE DESIRE TO SERVE
From a commentary by Paschasius Radbertus1
◊◊◊
Christ is called master, or teacher, by right of nature rather than by courtesy, for all things subsist through him. Through his incarnation and life upon earth we are taught the way to eternal life. Our reconciliation with God is dependent on the fact of his being greater than we are. Yet, having told his disciples not to allow themselves to be called master, or to love seats of honor and things of that kind, he himself set an example and was a model of humility. It is as though he said: Even as I do not seek my own glory (though there is One who seeks it), so neither must you love to be honored above others, or to be called master. Look at me: The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life for many.
This was said not only for the instruction of his disciples, but also of those who are teachers in the Church. None of them must seek positions of honor; whoever wishes to be greater than the rest must first become the servant of all, as Christ himself did. If anyone wants a high office let him want the labor it entails, not the honor it will bring him. He should desire to serve and minister to everyone, and not expect everyone to serve and minister to him. For the desire to be served comes from the supercilious attitude of the Pharisees; the desire to serve from the teaching of Christ. Those who canvass for positions of honor are the ones who exalt themselves; and similarly it is those who of their own accord humble themselves who will be exalted by the Lord.
After specifically reserving the office of teaching to himself, Christ immediately went on to give as the rule of his teaching that whoever wants to be greatest should be the servant of all. And he gave the same rule in other words when he said: Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart. Anyone therefore who wants to be Christ’s disciple must hasten to learn the lesson he professes to teach, for a perfect disciple will be like his master. Otherwise, if he refuses to learn the master’s lesson, far from being a master himself, he will not even be a disciple

1 Journey with the Fathers – Year A – New City Press – NY -1999 – pg 138-139.
