I ask everybody, every member of the community to observe the silence in the same good way in which it was done at the first Sunday of recollection. Because it has proved such a great blessing to the whole community. In some way the theme of this day has been indicated to us by the slides and the introduction into the life of the little brothers of Jesus that we have the privilege and the joy to hear yesterday night. Jesus Caritas. This is in nomine Domini. We start to hear the name of the Lord. And the name is Jesus in German that means the God of love there is salvation. Jesus is character.

[01:01]

St. Macarius expresses that in one place so beautifully in one of his homilies he says when we deny ourselves and we seek him then Jesus immediately turns to us and he gives us true charity that means he gives himself to us Those two are really equal. Jesus carried us. And in the beginning of the year, that word always comes to our mind, we renew our days in the beginning. Innovadius Nostros Secundum Principium. Renew our days as in the beginning. And there is the beginning. That is our Lord and that is this name that has been given to him today on this day of his circumcision when he entered the world publicly and officially and through that

[02:09]

covenants with mankind that he then sealed with his own blood first and then fulfilled in giving us the spirit of charity to his church. I think the new year that we start in this name of Jesus Carvitas will be in a special way also under the influence of the new chapel. I think that we feel that the building that we have there, the way we celebrate the mystery of Holy Mass, just in a very beautiful way expresses that. Jesus Christ is the octagon, it's that world that is Christ himself, the all ruler, he is the canopy over us.

[03:11]

and the canopy over us is love, as Isaiah said. That's so beautiful. The strong accent of the now dark stained pillars give that a special emphasis. It's a privilege for us to stand in a circle around the center, which is the altar. The altar that is through Him, through the Son. He weeps for the Father, and there He gives Himself to us, and through Him we give ourselves to the Father. And we stand around in a circle, that means really as one. As the center in this chapel is one, and there is no getting around it. It's really and truly one. That is Jesus' character. And so there is no other way but to form a circle around him.

[04:16]

And this circle again is fulfillment, is the fullness that is from the center it radiates. And everyone standing in the circle takes really part in that fullness. is then a double kind of movement which takes place there in the celebration of Holy Mass. And that I wanted to call your attention to so that we remember it. And Father, it's one of Father Wayford's inheritance that he paid great attention to. So that for the obituary we go abound against the clock, as it were. And then in communion we go with the clock. What do I say? The clock is really the sun. And the author told me, we get up and we go into the night but towards the east to meet the sun that comes.

[05:27]

In holy communion we go with the sun. And that is really the two movements which repeat ourselves and which really make the here of the Lord for us here on earth. that the circle around the altar is not simply a static one, but it moves, and it moves at these two places, at the altar and at the communion, but in these two ways, that we turn, we get up, then we go into the direction from where the sun comes. Today with our modern transportations and with the jet, you know, shoots towards the east, towards Europe and it's such a fascinating thing how then

[06:28]

There one goes into the darkness, you know, and this darkness seems to be so insuperable, but one goes into the right direction, towards the East. and lo and behold the hours disappear as it were the barriers of time disappear the two factors you know our movement and that of Christ towards us meet and in that way become short and they become short in the proportion to the speed at which we turn and which we fly and shoot towards the east and therefore morning is there before we even know it and that is the movement of the offertory where every christian as we say today in the epistle that we spermente secularia desideria that we despise the desires of this world

[07:30]

and that we, of course, in the spirit of faith and of self-obligation, go towards the East. We turn, really, into the night, but in hope. We know that if we go in this direction towards Christ, who is coming on his way, to us we shall meet him. And the faster we go, the more the sooner we meet it. But what makes the speed in that? Not that we try to imitate the jet, that wouldn't be possible, but that interiorly our speed is determined by our faith, the depth of our faith, the firmness of our faith, the inner totality of our faith, that determines our speed. And that is so beautifully expressed in this beginning of the Church Suite of the Holy Rule.

[08:31]

Our whole way in that way is described. The word of the Father, you are my beloved child, is addressed to us, turns to us, we listen to it, and we are convinced and we certainly become aware of our disobedience, we become aware of our pride, we become aware of all our worldly attachments and all these mountains and all these distances that that involves. Pride involves barriers and mountains and walls, distances. and the desires of the world the same thing. They are apt to whirl us around in circles when we get dizzy from the tempo and from the distances and that we turn away from this way of disobedience.

[09:33]

And we go in obedience, that means in giving up our self-will, in confidence and trust and in faith, we turn towards the Son of Justice, Oriens Ex Alto, that rises from the East, the Anatole, the Dawn, the Pater Futuris Egoli, the Father of a New World, of the World to Come, and towards that we turn. But we cannot approach the father of the new world, Christ. We cannot approach him if we want to remain a member of the old world. A new world means a change. A new world means a new beginning. A new world means a conversion. Without a conversion we cannot reach the new world. The new world means death. Without dying we cannot reach it. So in that way we go towards the East, again against the sun, as it were, in this spirit of our vows, in the obedience and in faith.

[10:46]

And the totality of our surrender, that determines the speed and that determines our closeness to Christ. So let us remember that, that is the essence of our offertory. But then there we receive then, receive at the altar and we go in and through the offertory into the death and the resurrection of this Father of a new age, our Lord Jesus Christ. Going through it, we reach Him. And He comes to us. He gives Himself as our food. And there we go then with the Son. With the Son. Because He gives Himself to us. He gives His charity to us. And charity is the bond of perfection. in that bond we go and we take up just exactly the way that he comes and that he goes we go with him in the same direction that means in the direction of the eternal life you would have words of eternal life in that eternal life in that union and unity

[12:06]

We go and we are in that way witnesses to the world. We have a mission. We are sent to help in the work of redemption and of sanctification. and therefore that also, as it was yesterday so clear, I mean, in this whole life, the formula of the little brothers, there are these two things. The one thing is the solitude, that is the abandonment, that is the detachment, that solitude, that means our going to meet Christ against the clock, against the sun. Hence then, there we meet him, there he speaks to us, there he fills us with true charity, and that means with himself. And then with himself we go and to spawn there, he's kindled here and there, as we have seen it yesterday.

[13:10]

here in a slum, and there in a slum, and here for poor people, and this all over various places all over the world. We feel them, and we become brothers, and this our brotherhood is not limited, not limited to those whom we have chosen, but it is really in us and others, it embraces the whole of mankind because the sun of justice shines over the just one and the unjust one, over the good ones and over the sinners. And that is also our mission in our own monastic life. We must always keep that in mind. Our way of life really contains these two elements. They are essential for it. They must make the cause of the here. They are really and truly our life.

[14:13]

Confidence in the charity and in the Lord who comes to us. We go out, we leave the Father's house and our kindred and the whole realm of the world in order to seek Him. And then He comes and He gives to us through charity. And that means Himself. And then we go with the Son. We enter into that beautiful dance of of those souls that are united and that follow the Lamb, the new canticle, wherever it goes. That is really our goal. That's also in our monastic life. So let us take also the little inconveniences and the little adversities that these last days have brought upon us and so many the icy gale that we have to

[15:19]

against in order to keep up our erection and so many pipes frozen and so many things that require extra sacrifices from the part of so many of our brethren, let us rejoice in them. That is part of our going in order to meet the Son of Jesus. And in this winter time we should think of that. We go towards the East. And the East will come. Easter will come after this winter is over. But let us really not in any kind of complain, you know, meet the situation but let us meet it in true generosity, grateful for those who do so many things so that life for the others can go on as usual. And also thanks to all those who help in a situation like that.

[16:27]

The winter and the frost and the cold, that is our desert. That's the part of the labor that we have to take upon ourselves. I say that the moment comes where the Easter sun rises again, where we then go with the sun, where we rejoice in our own family, that mutual charity that the Lord is really. love one another and that consolation and that warmth and that light which all these things really throw and with which we are blessed so abundantly in the monastic community life. So let us think about this and looking forward to the new year, you know, just take a good look at the chapel in which we worship and the whole mystery of the year of the Lord is there before us under the Pantocrator, the all ruler

[17:38]

the order in the center, united in the circle, we do these two things. We go to meet him, to seek him, we receive him, and we carry him then wherever he wants us to carry him. But this first day of the year, I can fly again in the world. You know that it is not so secret in Principium. We knew our days as in the beginning. In Principium, a surprise. To whom will we return and to whom We are renewed at the celebration of the sacred mysteries in our chapel.

[18:41]

The chapel itself, such a perfect picture of the canopy over us is love, the altar of sacrifice, the center, and we the circle around it, the perfection, the fullness of Christ's sacrifice. and they are a two-fold movement that takes place, that one against the sun, which leads to the offertory of the young Christo, Lord Christ, in faith and in hope, in dedication, and the one with the sun, the communion, the receiving him with him, in the oneness of character. Now our offertory culminates in the act of profession. The profession is the principium of all that's to lie, not only in the sense of a temporary beginning in time, unless in the sense of a constant source, something, a blessing that abides with us, that accompanies

[19:59]

The first day of the year is, I think, a day to renew interiorly this act of profession, the act of our vows, the custom of votive offerings, known, as you know, in many religions, with the idea to give support to prayers, to our petitions, but through the coming of Christ. The Kingdom of God has been established through Christ's total perfect surrender to God and His exaltation at the right hand of the Father and the sending of His Spirit. The Spirit who comes to us to fill the whole earth Therefore not to come and to go again, but to stay, to rest in the church, whereself is called dawn.

[21:11]

The faithful spouse that is forever adorned for the delight of her bridegroom. That is the new situation that Christ has created, becoming the presence of the Kingdom in the fullness of the Spirit. And that is also a gift, a completely new character really to our thoughts. The vows and the monastic vows, the vows of perfection are not in the same line. as the vows to which one promises this or that infinite object to God, and in that way gives it to Him. But this here is a new thing. It is really and truly a mystery. It is the fulfillment of, and we have to see it in the background,

[22:18]

But already the prophet Jeremiah said, I shall make a new covenant after those days. Not like the covenant I made in Egypt, and you did not keep it, and I had to force you. But I shall write my law into your hearts, says the Lord. This new law as you know, has been promulgated in the Sermon on the Mount. If we consider, study it a little, then we realize that this Sermon on the Mount is not a law as given on Mount Sinai demanding, condemning, but it starts with the declaration blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven and then it goes on and if you look at the structure of the Sermon on the Mount you see that it really centers in a prayer a prayer of a special kind I mean a prayer of which Jesus himself is a part

[23:49]

He enters into it as the Son. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And then, if one takes the Sermon on the Mount under the aspect of, and as far as it demands, it culminates in a rather we may say impossible demand if one looks at it with the eyes of the old testament or let us say with the eyes of man in the state of fallen nature I mean the demand be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect so it is in just briefly this declaration, the Sermon on the Mount, will be the declaration, the promulgation of the presence of the Kingdom of God in power.

[24:54]

The whole Sermon on the Mount ends with that verse that he spoke not as one of the rabbis but he spoke as one who had power. Exusiai that means his words were not words speculations but they were words of eternal life that means this was the congregation and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven in the Now out of this presence of the Kingdom, and we see there right away the, as I say, the load, the new load of the, let us say, of the mobility of the Kingdom of Heaven. It's not in that way a demand which is directed from the outside, but it is something which grows

[25:57]

of the innermost heart. It is written in the heart. The serving of the mouth is written in the heart. It is not a law written on stone. It is therefore a vivifying power in itself. And it causes one character, and that is not only the interiority that comes from within, that it goes into the heart, not only to the external actions, but it is sent into the center of the person, has also the character of totality, something absolutely universal in the sense of taking in everything, the whole of mankind, not directed to a specific people, as the constitution of the social life of that people but it is directed to the ecclesia universalis universal that new israel that third generation and totality also in the way of actually of intensity taking in the whole mass

[27:24]

Therefore, it is only natural that when this kingdom is then realized, as in the apostolic community in Jerusalem, this community gives the witness of perfection in the form of spontaneous renouncement of even of basic human rights, which are being absorbed, as it were, swallowed up in the perfection of the new law, of the new rule of the Spirit, which makes and constitutes the Kingdom of God. Therefore, this apostolic community is co-unum ed anima unum, and therefore they have all things in common, and still each one receives as he needs.

[28:29]

They are persevering, firmly established in the obedience towards the teaching of the apostles, and in prayer, devotion. Those are the characteristic notes of that original apostolic community, that nucleus of the kingdom of God created by the fullness of the Holy Spirit. It is then, and should not surprise us, that the entering into that kingdom of God is done through the sacrament of baptism and proceeded by the baptismal vows. That is a new thing. Let us say the continuity of the Old Testament was given by bodily birth.

[29:39]

The stability of the New Israel is given by the votum. baptismal vow. A baptismal vow is, of course, here in the context of the whole action of baptism. It is certainly pledging oneself freely, not by carnival, but freely, ex propria voluntatem, out of the, one can say, the sovereignty of the will, pledging oneself to Christ, to Christ as a person, renouncing naturally the devil, those two things belong together, a total commitment to Christ, a dedication, a dedication which is sealed with the chrism, therefore clearly marked

[30:46]

as a priestly consecration, as a priestly service. For them I sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified. This sanctification in baptism, of course, takes place with the power of Christ's death and resurrection, of Christ's sacrifice. sanctifies Himself for us, so that in and through His sacrifice in baptism we also may be sanctified, dying with Him, rising with Him, and being filled with the Spirit. And this Spirit then enables the Christian to fulfill that old and ever new commandment to love God with one's whole heart, one's whole soul, and with all one's power.

[31:53]

That is the totality which already is gathering foreshadows in the Old Testament, because it's one and the same God in the Old and in the New Testament, but really put and appears in all its reality and presence in the New the Testament. Therefore the totality of love takes on in Christianity the form of a vow and of a vow of perfection which is therefore beyond the baptismal vows or one can say a specific and large and perfect realization of the baptismal vows. But what is in the Old Testament a commandment in the New Testament becomes a vow. And what is a vow but the highest priestly act of dedication to the exclusive service of God of the entire person and its personal freedoms or rights.

[33:09]

The freedom as it were of the heart is given up, promised to God in the vow of obedience. To love God is one's whole soul, that means one's soul, that means one's life is dedicated to God in the vow of chastity. The power, one's power, the position is dedicated to God in the vow of poverty. Now let us just consider very briefly the nature of the vow, not only psychologically, but also theologically. Psychologically, naturally, the vow is, and that must always again be emphasized, an act of absolute highest personal freedom.

[34:14]

Therefore it can only grow out of a long continuous deliberation which constitutes this freedom in man. That is the reason why the church does not allow anybody to take this vow of perfection without the novice, without a long preparation. deep, lasting deliberation. Then, out of that deliberation, that deliberation may grow and may widen, mature into the resolve, the resolution, what we call the proposito. But that propositus is not yet and is only then followed by the promissio, the promise, the vow in the proper sense. Because the resolution, yes, that is putting the hand on people, not yet, they be going into action.

[35:28]

The promise is really the obligation to action. while the resolve leaves that still free. So this promise then, and there we have to look a little now into the theological nature of that votum, this promise is again, let us say, first gives and is a realization and unique realization of the totality which through the Spirit of Christ has been made present in the Church. And of course the Spirit is at home in the heart. Therefore it has been made present in the hearts of the Christians. The totality, because what is the nature of the promise of the Inverter, it in some way anticipates

[36:33]

it takes in the entire life of man. See, in our natural course, in our natural life, naturally our natural life is composed or is spread through the currents of time. And therefore it happens one thing after the other, one hour after the other, one day after the other, one year after the other, and every hour is different, and every act and all the doings of man are different, spread out through time, following one after the other. The promise, however, anticipates the entire life of man, takes it and all concentrates it in this one act of the votive And therefore, what is necessarily divided by the course of time, as far as we live in this iron, in this age, in this age of time, that is in the bottom, the limits, or the extension of that,

[37:59]

form of life, of our temporary life, is overcome, and is overtaken together, gathered into one moment. And that is, of course, important that we see that. That is deep, I would say this, that that is possible, really, in the full sense, only in the age of Christ. Only in that new age that he has brought only in the wholeness, fullness of His Spirit, this totality of the Proton is possible. But in Him and through Him, it is possible. You can see that clearly. The more man loses contact with Christ, the more they are lost in themselves, and that means in their temporary life, in this one moment following the other, the more things become, naturally, become dubious, doubtful, insecure, with all kinds of possibilities that nobody foresees.

[39:21]

And therefore we see this common kind of critical attitude of the world, worldly man, towards taking a vow. It seems, if one looks at the unstable, extremely unstable nature of man, it seems a very risky, if not impossible, thing. And therefore one must keep that in mind, that this totality of the promise of the votum is really, seems to me, possible in the full sense only there where the Spirit of Christ fills the church and the soul, where this new law is written in the hearts of man. There he can really anticipate and gather his entire life into one law.

[40:24]

And in this moment then, of course, that is the other, one can say, fruit of the vow, that through this moment of a supreme, free, total dedication to God, the will is then immovably established in God. Firmata in pomono, as we say. established, confirmed in the service of God. That is the essence of the vow. And one can see right away that this vow cannot be simply, let us say, an empty human resolve. It must be at the same time also a divine consecration. Those two things, and that is of course also in the ideas of St. Thomas, we consider the question of the solemnity of the vow.

[41:28]

What makes a vow solemn? To St. Thomas, the vow is solemn through the divine consecration, the divine, as you said, benediction, which is connected, which confirms and seals the vow. and that of course makes these two things that we have spoken about that before the totality of the promise and the divine consecration makes the fullness of the vow and therefore through this vow then establish the one who makes it in the status of perfection. Now if we consider still more this act, this votum, then one thing is clear, and that we must keep that in mind, that to St. Thomas in the idea of St. Lawrence, evidently, this act is an act of worship.

[42:34]

The vow, therefore, is essentially and is, in that matter even, the highest total act of Latria, of worship. And that is very important. Here, man dedicates himself totally to the service of God with all his liberties, with all his various domains that he has before. They belong and they are put under the direct rule of the will of God. And that, of course, is true in the divine service. Therefore, the vow gives that. to every act of the one who has taken the vow, or better, who is consecrated by the vow, is to every act the character of the shikun. Therefore it is on the basis of this, let's say, this power of the vow that, for example, Zinbandi can speak about the vessels in the kitchen as vows are altars

[43:45]

Everything, every surface is really outer surface through the vow. And that's of course one of the great privileges, one of the power one can say of the vow, which is unique and which cannot be compared and is not given to a life which in that way is not put under this vow. not only this, but the vow only also is, of course, a dedication of the entire man. That means that the vow does not only give the actions to God, but also gives, one can say, the fruits to God, but also gives, as St. Thomas says so beautifully, the tree to God. It is the tree and the fruits which are beautiful.

[44:47]

And of course, as he says, that makes the excellence of the vow, another aspect of the excellence of the vow, that while man, without a vow, does the actions, his daily actions, may very well do them, under the command of God, Still, the entire tree is in that way not given and not dedicated to God. So, and finally, this vow establishes man, the one who is consecrated in the voluntas firma, in the immobilitas. He pledges just because the vow is an act of the highest personal freedom, therefore is also the obligation so strong and so deep.

[45:55]

The will is, through this vow, in a much deeper way obligated to the fulfillment of the vow than it could ever be through any external law. The vow engages the entire person of freedom and puts it into the immobilitas of the divine service. And that is important too. I can say the purity of the will, the voluntas, as we say then, we have that beautifully in the dedication of the church. custodii domine han voluntatæ. Now, the vow is that completeness, holiness, sanctity of the will, the one who consecrates himself in the act of solemn profession to the service of God, is by that, you know, in this highest act of freedom, in the gladness of his heart,

[47:12]

consecrated, dedicated to God forever. And that means that one can say the splendor of this act throws its light into all following actions of the book. In the real life, let us say, in the concrete development of the book. There might be periods, you know, where, let's say, routine takes over, where the constant obligation day by day causes a certain sadness, a certain tristizia, even a certain accedia, even a certain aversion at times. One should not be mistaken. Any life that is dedicated to God by the vow is seen by God and is accepted by God in the light of that original vow, of that original consecration.

[48:23]

Therefore, the goodness of the will which is put, declared before God and before the Church, at the moment of the profession, call us the entire life and all the actions of the monk, and has an influence on. It is in the light of his profession that the actions of the monk are considered and accepted by God. And therefore moments of tiredness, moments of discouragement, are in that way not as I say, acts or moves, you know, which would interfere with the power of the profession. But on the contrary, they are transformed in the power of the profession. What is before God is that radiant, goodwill, zeal, that total dedication of the monk at the moment of his profession, that stage.

[49:33]

And that, as we said before, in that act the monk anticipates in the power of Christ's Spirit his entire future. And therefore the entire future is under that sign, is characterized by him. And when he later on, therefore, he might psychologically, he might Now, grow sour for one reason or the other, or my tenoriness, later he'll say, or that in that moment, I was as one of our fathers, you know, I was put on the dead-end road. There was a dead-end track. And little things, you know, resentments and so on, may be there and may color very much psychologically. the, let us say, the life of the monk. Disappointing experiences may cool off the zeal, but one should not be mistaken.

[50:42]

This, for the monk, of course, is near free, and therefore a day of recollection like this here, too, is good for us. It is necessary to go back to new, renew, O Lord, in my heart the joy of my salvation. and therefore the professed monk also should go back to his profession and he should in himself renew the spirit and the zeal of that profession. But if, let us say also for simple all kinds of reasons over which the monk doesn't have any control Let us say that zeal or that splendor would be kind of tarnished by all kinds of experiences. This moment there is the valid one. And that will shed its light on the later life of the monk. So that just in the power of this vow, it is for the monk relatively easy

[51:49]

to renew in himself the joy of his salvation. So let us therefore do that and think and start to hear in this, in going back and renewing to us the splendor of our original total dedication to God and to see it in that way as the moment which anticipates our entire life, gathers it up in Christ and in the curious, in the Lord, in the All-Ruler and therefore gives to every single act that we do during the day and it may be of what nature ever it is. If it's done in obedience, if it's done in the fulfillment of our vows, It gives it a completely unique character of direct worship of God. This glory of the Latria, of that profession, of this original act of surrender to God, is and spreads over entire, over the whole life, may it be important or unimportant in the

[53:07]

eyes of the world, or maybe interesting or non-interesting, maybe fascinating studies, or maybe daily drudgery. In that way, every act participates in and is transfigured and transformed by this original act of solemn profession of the monastic vow. and therefore it also is in that way we are established in the immobility of that goodwill that the fullness of the Spirit has brought about in our heart and that also the Lord who wants to rest in our soul, who wants to remain with us, also will preserve. Some people have just been asking me about the order of the officer tomorrow.

[54:12]

The scheme of tomorrow's office is given on the page facing the indication for the particular date, the scheme of the office for the next few days.

[54:22]

@Transcribed_v004
@Text_v004
@Score_JJ