There are few things that bring more joy in Community life than sharing in each other's joy. On the feast of Mary, Help of Christians, we collectively entered into the joy of Sister Mary Catherine of Mary, Mother of the Church and Sister Mary Emmanuel of Mary, Cause of Our Joy as they made their first profession of vows.
Sister and her class At the culmination of several years of serious study, our dear Sister Mary Vianney graduated from Divine Mercy University this month at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. The Most Reverend Joseph E. Strickland, Bishop of Tyler, TX, celebrated the baccalaureate Mass.
"Spiritual elevation to union with God through the power of Christ is what this holy night accomplishes...we must believe firmly that now, at Easter, God enters the world and our souls, to consecrate and sanctify." Fr. Pius Parsch
Resurrexit sicut dixit! Alleluia! May the grace of the resurrection of our Lord fill your hearts this joyous season! As might be imagined, the Sacred Triduum is a most beautiful and very full time for the Sisters. Living as we do at the service of the Sacred Liturgy, there was scarcely a breather between Palm Sunday and the present moment for side duties (such as blogging), but now that we are basking in the glow of the Easter season, there may be time to share a little about our Holy Week and Easter, beginning with a few highlights.
The Son of God has come down upon the earth, in order to restore man to Life; and yet, here we have this creature of death daring to summon his Divine Benefactor before a human tribunal, and condemning him to Death! And Jesus is silent! - Dom Gueranger
This past Thursday, we gathered with a full Cathedral of faithful to join our Bishop and priests for the annual Chrism Mass.
At the gateway of Holy Week stands Palm Sunday. Holy Mother Church celebrates with triumphant joy Christ's Kingship, and simultaneously calls to mind the mystery of His reign on the Cross. From her we receive the blessed palms, carrying them in procession as a proclamation of our readiness to die and for Christ, that dying with Him we may also rise with Him. Concerning this mystery, Fr. Pius Parsch writes: "We cannot separate the Cross from the resurrection; they belong together. They belong together, too, in the life of the Christian, a life of grace which consists in conforming to “the likeness of Christ’s death and resurrection”.
On the First Saturday of April, Our Lady of Grace Sodality celebrated the consecration of one of the Sodalists.
Saturday, traditionally dedicated specially to the honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Marian day in the convent as well. Together we renew our total consecration to Jesus through Mary and honor her by our devotional practices. In imitation of her hidden life, we thoroughly clean the convent each Saturday, but the day is also marked by a wide variety of apostolic activities.
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