As the weather here in Santa Rosa has shifted - from blue, warm, sunny skies to overcast, cold, and rainy - there too has been a shift in the convent atmosphere: Advent has come upon us and the new liturgical year has begun. 

"The royalty of Christ rests upon a twofold basis. He is our King by right of birth and by right of conquest. The first refers us to the personality of the Son of God, whereby, in His divine nature as God and by virtue of the hypostatic union, He is the sovereign Lord and Master. The second places before us the God-Man coming down on earth to rescue fallen man from the slavery of Satan, and by the labors and sufferings of His life, and passion, and death, to win a glorious victory for us over sin and hell." - 1962 Roman Missal
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O Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the deep pit; deliver them from the lion's mouth, that hell engulf them not, nor they fall into darkness, but let Michael, the holy standard-bearer, bring them into the holy light which Thou once didst promise to Abraham and his seed. We offer Thee, O Lord, sacrifices and prayers of praise; do Thou accept them for those souls whom we this day commemorate; grant them, O Lord, to pass from death to the life which Thou once didst promise to Abraham and his seed. 
- Offertory from Daily Requiem Mass

"When we love, we remember; and this memory, the effect of love, is not a barren thought. It resolves itself into deeds for the loved one. Why, when sorrow is united with faith, should not our sad memories resolve themselves into sentiments sweet and precious to the soul? To recall the features, the accents, the manners, and the sentiments of a loved one is still to see him, to hear him, to touch him, and to associate him with the joys and sorrows which he formerly shared." - Gergeres

Barely two years after the devastating fires that consumed neighborhoods in Santa Rosa and the surrounding areas, the area is again threatened by fire. By God's providence, the Community is safe and able to continue our life of prayer and sacrifice on behalf of those more directly in the fire's path.