• Our Life
    • Our Story
    • Our Day
    • Apostolates
  • Charism
  • Vocations
  • Blog
    • Subscribe
  • Giving
    • Donate
    • Growth
  • Contact
    • Message us
    • Request a Prayer
    • Vocation Inquiry
    • Newsletters
Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa
Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa
  • Our Life
    • Our Story
    • Our Day
    • Apostolates
  • Charism
  • Vocations
  • Blog
    • Subscribe
  • Giving
    • Donate
    • Growth
  • Contact
    • Message us
    • Request a Prayer
    • Vocation Inquiry
    • Newsletters

Blog

Holy Saturday

3/26/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Body of Christ Anointed by Two Angels by Alessandro Allori
"'And they departing
Made the sepulchre sure
Sealing the stone
And setting guards'...
... Meanwhile
the King lay in state,
with His guard about Him,
​as became a king."
From The Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Archbishop Albin Goodier, S.J.
0 Comments

Holy Thursday

3/24/2016

0 Comments

 
With the celebration of the Holy Thursday Liturgy begins the shortest of the Church's Liturgical seasons: the Sacred Triduum. We remember our priests particularly today as we celebrate the institution of the Holy Priesthood and the Holy Eucharist. 
Picture
In the convent, Holy Thursday is a special day of prayer. Along with our daily Holy Hour for priests, each of the sisters has a private hour with her Spouse. It is a very special time to thank Him for the very gift of Himself given this day, to thank Him for His priests who bring Him to us, and to beg of Him all the graces necessary for ourselves, our priests, and the Church to live out His New Commandment of Love.
After a beautiful "family" dinner, we will gather with the faithful around our Bishop to celebrate this holy day and to thank God for the priceless gifts we received from Him. Below is an old reflection on the priest:
"A Memorial of the Priestly Life"

​In the center, and below each of the vignettes showing events in the life of a priest, are words taken from a very old devotional work:

"O Priest, who are you?
"You are not from yourself, because you are from nothing.
"You are not directed toward yourself, because you are a mediator for men.
"You are not wed to yourself, because you are the spouse of the Church.
"You are not your own, because you are the servant of all.
"You are not yourself, because you are 'God' [when playing the role of Jesus in the Sacraments].
"Thus, you are nothing and yet everything."
"This is how a man should regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."
Picture
Image and translation from Holy Cards for Your Inspiration
0 Comments

A Day of Preparation

3/23/2016

0 Comments

 
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?".... The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.
(Matthew 26:14ff)
Picture
Tribute Money by Mattia Preti
In the Ordinary Form Gospel for Wednesday of Holy Week, the Church poses us this question: How are you preparing to celebrate the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ? Are you preparing like Judas to betray your Friend and Savior? Or are you preparing like the faithful disciples to do His Holy Will?
Along with the sisters' ongoing spiritual preparations for this holy season, there are many practical preparations to be made so that the liturgies can be celebrated appropriately. Today, the Cathedral Altar of Repose is prepared to be a fitting resting place for Our Lord after the Mass of Holy Thursday. The convent chapel has been cleaned from top to bottom and is ready to be stripped for Good Friday and later decorated for Easter. Fresh linens have been prepared for the Cathedral and the Convent. The lilies have arrived but are hidden away until the Resurrection. The choir is preparing the glorious music appropriate to the feast and for the liturgies leading up to it. Each of these joyous preparations, done in union with our Lady, can assist us to prepare our hearts to enter more deeply into the Paschal Mysteries we long to celebrate with reverence and recollection.
Picture
Preparing the linens
Picture
Choir practice
.
Picture
A previous Altar of Repose in progress
​

O Mary, Mother of Sorrows
and my Mother,
obtain for me a heart
​filled with compassionate love for your Son.
0 Comments

Palm Sunday

3/21/2016

0 Comments

 
The gateway to the Passion, Palm Sunday begins triumphantly with the crowd acclaiming Jesus as King and strewing palm branches before him. We received our palms today blessed with the beautiful blessings of the Church. As with other sacramentals, the blessed palms can dispose us to receive grace and by the power of Christ exercised through the Church they can be the instruments of God's protection, as is reflected in the traditional Collect at the end of the procession:
​
"O Lord Jesus Christ, our King and Redeemer, in Whose honor we have borne these palms and gone on praising Thee with song and solemnity: mercifully grant that where ever these palms are taken, there the grace of Thy blessing may descend, and may every wickedness and trickery of the demons be frustrated; and may Thy right hand protect those it hath redeemed....Amen."

​The welcome rain prevented us from having a procession outside the Cathedral, but we received our palms chanting, "Hosanna Filio David!" and singing the beautiful Gloria Laus:

"Glory, praise, and honor to Thee,
O King Christ, the Redeemer:
To Whom children poured their glad and sweet hosanna's song...
On Thy way to die,
They crowned Thee with praise;
We raise our song to Thee, now King on high..."


For more pictures, see the gallery.
Picture
Father Keyes blessing the palms
0 Comments

Happy Feast of St. Joseph!

3/19/2016

0 Comments

 
We began this great solemnity with a beautiful Missa Cantata in honor of good St. Joseph. It was a small foretaste of the glories to come - flowers on the altar, white vestments, the statue of St. Joseph unveiled, and the Gloria ringing out like the welcome voice of a long-absent friend, but in the midst of the festivity the shadow of the Passion was still present in the violet and veiled images. Today was a particularly full day of doing God's holy will with sisters going to the sacristy to prepare for Palm Sunday, moderating the young ladies' Sodality, presenting to the Little Flowers girls, practicing for choir, and giving retreat talks, all flowing from our precious time with Our Lord. It was a pleasure to go from duty to duty with St. Joseph, asking that we may perform each one with the sentiments of love with which he would have performed them for the love of the Divine Child.

Good St. Joseph, be our model. Obtain for us the grace to rise each morning eager to do God's will as thou rose from the profound silence of the night to obey God's command with all your heart. Thou who loved the Divine Child so tenderly and His Mother so purely, obtain for us like sentiments and an ever-increasing fidelity to the interior life.
Picture

Grant us, dear Joseph, to run life's pathway in innocent fashion:
May we forever be safe under thy blest patronage.
​

Picture
The Dream of St. Joseph by Anton Raphael Mengs
0 Comments

Our Lady of Sorrows

3/18/2016

0 Comments

 
The Friday before Good Friday we commemorate Our Lady in her sorrows. It was her habitual disposition to carry the mysteries of Jesus' life in her heart. By contemplating her, may we too learn to constantly ponder His life in our hearts, praying,

"Mary, Mother of Sorrows and my Mother, who kept pondering all these things in your heart, accompany me as I retrace the sorrowful journey of your divine Son... Obtain for me the grace to carry my cross in the footsteps of your divine Son... Help me to accept all the sufferings of this life for love of your Son... Obtain for me the grace to see Jesus in others and to come to their aid... Help me to give and not count the cost in the service of Your Son... Hold me in your arms and press me closely to your heart that I may never be separated from your Son 'Who loved me and delivered Himself up for me.' Amen."
Reflection from a Way of the Cross with Mary
.
Picture
The Madonna in Sorrow by Sassoferrato
0 Comments

Chrism Mass

3/17/2016

 

​One of the great blessings of being closely connected to the Cathedral is the ability to participate in the major Diocesan liturgies. The Chrism Mass is one of the most beautiful celebrations of the year. Traditionally celebrated on the morning of Holy Thursday, but transferred to allow the presbyterate and the people to gather around the Bishop, the entire Mass emphasizes the splendor of the holy priesthood and the duties of the priest to the people of God (and our duties toward our priests!). 
​
Picture
Picture
The Procession of the Oils
The Preface of the Mass affirms:

"For Christ not only adorns with a royal priesthood the people he has made his own, but with a brother's kindness he also chooses men to become sharers in his sacred ministry through the laying on of hands.

"They are to renew in his name the sacrifice of human redemption, to set before your children the paschal banquet, to lead you holy people in charity, to nourish them with the word and strengthen them with the Sacraments.

"As they give up their lives for you and for the salvation of their brothers and sisters, they strive to be conformed to the image of Christ himself and offer you a constant witness of faith and love..."
"Are you resolved to be more united with the Lord Jesus, and more closely conformed to him?"

​​"Beloved sons,
on the anniversary of that day
when Christ our Lord conferred his priesthood
on his Apostles and on us,
are you resolved to renew,
in the presence of your Bishop
and God's holy people,
​the promises you once made?"

The priests respond: "I am."
Picture
The Renewal of Priestly Promises
The sisters were honored to be able to serve our priests and the people of the diocese by assisting to prepare the Cathedral and participating in the choir. May God bless each of our priests and reward them for their selfless service!
Picture
The Oils waiting to be blessed

​O Mary, Queen of the Clergy,
pray for us, obtain for us many and holy priests.

Welcome, Father Keyes!

3/14/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Our first Mass with Fr. Keyes
We are delighted to welcome Fr. Jeffery Keyes, CPPS, as our new chaplain! Fr. Keyes is a member of the Congregation of Missionaries of the Precious Blood. During his priesthood, Fr. Keyes has been assigned to several parishes and has held offices in his community. Most recently, Fr. Keyes was on Sabbatical at the North American College in Rome and Composer in residence at St. Mary Church in Norwalk, CT. He shares our love for Sacred Music and the beauty of both forms of the Latin Rite. We thank Father in advance for bringing us Jesus, without Whom our life has no Life.
0 Comments

A Snapshot of Our Lives...

3/13/2016

0 Comments

 
As women religious, our primary duty is the contemplation of divine things and assiduous union with God in prayer (cf. Canon 663), but from this union with God flows an abundance of apostolic works.

This past week, the sisters...
...traveled to Eureka for the freshman retreat at St. Bernard's Academy...

"Who do you say that I am?
Am I your Friend?
Your God?
Do you know Who I Am?
I Am always with you,
I Am always there for you,
I loved you from the beginning
and long for you to be with Me.
Come."
Picture
In Adoration with the students
Picture
Reading His Word
Picture
Presentation to the Student Body

​... presented at the Queen of the Angels Girl Club retreat...
Picture
"I am the daughter of the King..."
Picture
Picture

​... assisted
in veiling the statues and images at the Cathedral...
Picture
Picture

​...veiled the images in the convent chapel...
.
Picture
"O Sacred Head surrounded..."
Picture
Picture

​...said farewell to our dear Chaplain, Fr. Christopher Henderson...
Picture

​...all for Jesus!
Picture
0 Comments

"God Be With You"

3/12/2016

0 Comments

 
We sadly bid farewell to our chaplain, Fr. Christopher Henderson, as he returns to the headquarters of his community. A member of the Congregation of the Fathers of Mercy, Fr. Christopher has truly been a gift from God. We thank him for providing us with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the sacraments and will continue to grow spiritually from the wisdom he has shared with us.

The Cathedral of St. Eugene is hosting a reception for Fr. Christopher on Sunday, March 13, after the Extraordinary Form Latin Mass. The reception will be in the Parish Life Center. Please join us in thanking Fr. Christopher for his loving service of the sisters and the parish.
Picture
0 Comments
Previous
    Subscribe

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Advent
    Christmas
    Easter
    Events
    Feast Days
    Image Insights
    Lent
    Liturgy
    Mary's Hands & Heart
    Monthly Devotion
    Our Lady
    Our Lord
    Photo Journal
    Prayer
    Reflections
    Religious Life
    Saintly Sayings
    St. Joseph
    True Devotion

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

Picture

Navigation


  • Home
  • Our Story
  • Giving
  • Blog
  • ​Donate
  • Contact
  • ​Privacy

Stay Connected



Copyright 2018 Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa
Website by Fitz Designz