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January 29
Bl. Archangela Girlani, Virgin
OC: Optional Memorial
Common of Virgins
Born in the town of Trino in northern Italy about the middle of the
fifteenth century, Archangela took the Carmelite habit in Parma and
eventually became prioress there. She held the same office in the new
monastery of Mantua, where she died in 1495. She had a special devotion to
the Holy Trinity.
Office of Readings
Second Reading
>From the Exhortation on the Carmelite Rule of Bl. John Soreth
We read in the Rule, 'Each of you is to have a separate cell, situated
according to the lie of the land you propose to occupy.'
The religious, who is a child of grace, is nourished, developed and
sheltered in the womb of his cell; the cell leads him to the fullness of
perfection and makes him worthy to speak with God. The cell is a holy land
and a holy place, where God and His servant exchange their confidences as a
friend with a friend. It is here, oftentimes, that the soul is caught up in
union with God, as a bride is joined to her husband; it is here that heaven
touches earth, and the divine is united with the human. Indeed, the cell of
God's servant is like a holy sanctuary of God, for both in the sanctuary and
in the cell divine affairs are the chief preoccupation--and this is so even
more frequently in the cell. The cell is the workshop of everything that is
good; it is the assurance of perseverance. In his cell, a man can live in
poverty and yet be rich; and whoever has goodwill has everything that he
needs to live well.
To help you to live safely in your cell, three guardians are given to you:
God, your conscience, and your spiritual director. You owe to God the
devotion of a son, offering to him all that you are; you owe honor to your
conscience, for you are ashamed to sin in its presence; and you owe to your
spiritual director, in whom you should confide before anyone else, the
obedience that comes from love.
I will add a fourth guardian for you: as long as you are a learner and
while the practice of the presence of God does not come readily to you, I
advise you to choose someone for whom you have a high regard, whose example
will be a constant spur to you each time you think of him, just as
effectively as if he were actually present with you.
Let the thought of him and the regard you have for him help to correct
whatever needs correcting in you. In this way your solitude will never be
an occasion for backsliding.
You will try to imagine that he sees your inmost thoughts, and you will be
impelled to fresh efforts, just as if he were present urging you on.
To practice this solitude each one should have a separate cell, just as the
Rule prescribes. Your cell is both interior and exterior. The exterior
cell is the house in which you live with your body; the interior cell is
within your conscience, where the God of your deepest self must be invited
to dwell. The door of the enclosure is a symbol of the door of your inner
cell, and just as a religious cannot go wandering about abroad, so the
interior senses should be curbed and concentrated on God. Therefore, you
should love and cultivate your inner cell, and the exterior one, too.
Let the exterior cell be your hiding place, yet not the kind of place that
enables you to sin without discovery; rather, may it so protect you that you
can live more attentively.
You come to realize what you owe to your cell only when you consider what
personal faults you have been preserved from there, and how you do not have
to quarrel with others. You realize what you owe to your conscience
whenever you experience in your cell a sense of grace and of interior
consolation. Therefore, give to both aspects of your cell the honor that is
theri due, and for yourself lay claim to your reward.
In your cell you learn to be master of yourself, to set your life in order,
to liberate yourself and to deny yourself, and yes, to judge yourself, too:
for no one loves you more than you do yourself and no one will judge you
more carefully. On this topic someone has said: 'Be contented in your cell
and slow to step foot outside; keep continual silence, weep for your faults,
read or pray at the proper times, rise promptly, and from time to time
examine your conscience.'
It is with all these benefits in mind that the Rule lays down. 'Each is to
have his separate cell, allotted by the prior himself with the consent of
the other brothers, or at least of the wisest among them.'
Responsory
R/. I shall set my sanctuary in the midst of them forever more; * my
dwelling place shall be with them.
V/. There is one thing I ask of the Lord, for this I long; to live in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life, to savor the sweetness of the
Lord, to behold His temple. * My dwelling place shall be with them.
Prayer
Father in heaven,
You gave the virgin Blessed Archangela Girlani particular dedication to the
mystery of the eternal Trinity.
Through her prayers
may we taste the delights of Your glory
already here on earth,
and look upon You for ever in heaven.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns
with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
*******
For Mass
Entrance Antiphon
She is led to the king with her virgin companions. They are escorted with
gladness and joy; they enter the palace of the king.
Prayer
(same as above)
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord,
we see the wonder of Your love
in the life of the virgin Blessed Archangela Girlani and her witness of
Christ.
Accept our gifts of praise
and make our offering pleasing to You.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon
I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: Here God lives among men,
and He shall dwell with them.
Prayer after Communion
Lord God,
may this Eucharist renew our courage and strength.
May we remain close to You,
like Blessed Archangela Girlani,
by accepting in our lives
a share in the suffering of Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with You for
ever and ever.
Readings may be taken from the Common of Virgins
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