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There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship. ~ St. Thomas Aquinas  Friendship is the basis of authentic deeper relationships, including the spousal relationship of a Sister with her Spouse. A woman called by God into spousal union with Him is first called to develop a sincere and affectionate friendship with Him. One does not simply wake up one morning and tell God that you are ready to be His bride - the espousals follows upon the maturation of affectionate, trusting friendship with the God Who Is Love.
Our Lord desires a life of friendship with each of us. He desires to give Himself and to receive us in return, to be with us always and to have us with Him always, to share our interests and to have us share His. When this relationship has been well developed and fostered in prayer, for as St. Teresa tells us prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God, He invites some souls to deepen this friendship into a spousal love where this exchange is ratified by vow and expressed in a life of loving contemplation and service as consecrated brides of Christ. I am all Thine - give me Thy Heart in return!  Most Holy Trinity, blessed and the source of all blessedness, bless your sons and daughters
whom you have called to praise the greatness of your love, your merciful goodness and your beauty...we pray to you for all consecrated persons. Fill their hearts with the deep certainty of having been chosen to love, to praise and to serve. Enable them to savor your friendship, fill them with your joy and consolation, help them to overcome moments of difficulty and to rise up again with trust after they have fallen; make them mirrors of the divine beauty. Give them the courage to face the challenges of our time and the grace to bring to all mankind the goodness and loving kindness of our Savior Jesus Christ." ~ Vita Consecrata, 111 Through obedience they [consecrated religious] find their deepest configuration to Christ in the most fundamental expression of His union with the Father in fulfilling His Father's will: "I always do what pleases Him" (Jn. 8:29). It is especially through obedience that Christ Himself offers to religious the experience of full Christian freedom. ~ Essential Elements  It is in obedience to God that we discover our most profound personal freedom. Each summer presents a unique opportunity for the Sisters to rediscover this profound truth as they are sent out in obedience to fulfill a variety of apostolic missions that are unique to the summer season. The first two weeks of July included excursions to Washington and Oregon as well as well as several events within our diocese, all opportunities to bear witness to Christ and bring those we encounter closer to Him through His Mother.
At the same time, several other Sisters were sent to participate in the Ignite Your Torch Youth Conference in Lacey, WA, an excellent Catholic conference for high school youth that engages enthusiastic religious men and women from all over the country to share the faith with the conference attendees through a variety of talks, small groups, communal prayer, meals and recreation. The conference generally invites one religious brother or sister or diocesan priest for every 10 attendees so that the young people have plenty of opportunities to ask questions and become familiar with the different vocations. The conference is always centered on the Eucharist and the Sacraments with a strong Marian dimension, but this year the theme of the conference specifically highlighted the message of Our Lady at Fatima and our Sisters' presentations were able to include aspects of the message. One Sister spoke on the value of redemptive suffering while another team of Sisters was able to share about sacramentals and the valuable place they hold in our spiritual lives. The Sisters utilized their experience with sacred music to join with other religious and staff to assist in making the conference prayers and liturgies beautiful and reverent for the glory of God. Photos by Ignite Your Torch Staff
Perhaps the most exciting adventure for the younger Sisters was Magnificat Days, a series of catechetical days for the youth of Our Lady of Good Counsel parish in Fort Bragg. The Sisters were again privileged to share the story and message of Fatima with their students through catechetical presentations, music, activities, and prayer. Full picture gallery of Magnificat days here Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us! Mary, Queen of Religious, pray for us! Mary, Model of Catechists, pray for us!
"By immersing yourselves in the Paschal Mystery of the Redeemer through the consecration of the religious vows, you desire, through the love of total giving, to fill your souls and your bodies with the spirit of sacrifice..." ~ St. John Paul II
Professional Photo Gallery here. Religious profession creates a new bond between the person and the One and Triune God,
in Jesus Christ. This bond develops on the foundation of the original bond that is contained in the Sacrament of Baptism. Religious profession "is deeply rooted in baptismal consecration and is a fuller expression of it." In this way religious profession... becomes a new consecration: the consecration and giving of the human person to God, loved above all else. The commitment undertaken by means of the vows to practice the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience... is the expression of a total consecration to God and, at the same time, the means that leads to its achievement. This is also the source of the manner proper to consecrated persons of bearing witness and of exercising the apostolate. And yet it is necessary to seek the roots of that conscious and free consecration and of the subsequent giving of self to God as His possession in Baptism, the sacrament that leads us to the Paschal Mystery as the apex and center of the Redemption accomplished by Christ. ~ Redemptionis Donum, 7  Bishop Robert Vasa & the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa Invite you to our 6th annual barbecue
The favor of your reply is requested by July 20, 2017. Please call Carole Duncan at 707-944-9540 or send an email to dincan@aol.com for Reservations and or Raffle tickets. Join us for a fun-filled afternoon of fellowship featuring:
We continue to grow! Please join us in praising God for His blessings and in helping to raise much needed funds for our community. Please invite Family and Friends.  BBQ 2016
"The Eucharist is the inexhaustible source of fidelity to the Gospel..." ~ St. John Paul II  "I would like to urge all men and women religious to establish an ever more profound communion with Christ by sharing daily in the sacrament which makes him present, in the sacrifice which actualizes the gift of his love on Golgotha, the banquet which nourishes and sustains God's pilgrim people. 'By its very nature', as the Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata affirms, 'the Eucharist is at the center of the consecrated life, both for individuals and communities' (VC 95)....
"Brothers and Sisters, let us penetrate the mystery of the Eucharist guided by the Blessed Virgin Mary and following her example! May Mary, Woman of the Eucharist, help all who are called to special intimacy with Christ to participate diligently in Holy Mass and obtain for them the gift of prompt obedience, faithful poverty and fruitful virginity; may she make them holy disciples of Christ in the Eucharist." ~St. John Paul II (excerpts from his address to religious February 2, 2005)
"For this is my blood of the new testament, which stall be shed form many unto remission of sins." ~ Matthew 26:28
May every heart, every tongue, now and forever, praise and thank this priceless balm, this saving Blood, this fountain of crimson Mercy welling up from the fountain of infinite Love. Amen.
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