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Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa
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"Be Still and Know that I Am God."

9/25/2016

 
"Whoever wishes to come after me must take up his cross daily and follow me."
Following Christ calls for a daily conversion to Him, a daily dying to self in order to live with and for Him. This daily death can only be sustained by a generous spirit of asceticism. Our Constitutions call us individually and as a community to make our whole life a sacrifice of praise. This joyful following of Christ marks both our interior and exterior as from morning until night we lovingly fulfill all that obedience requires.
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One notable expression of individual and communal asceticism is the practice of silence. Silence has been seen as a necessary foundation of the spiritual life from the earliest times. The first monastics valued silence greatly, not as an end to be sought for its own sake, but as a means. It is a means of coming to know one's self better, of letting go of our unnecessary attachments, and of coming to an openness to God. In true silence, both interior and exterior, one is able to confront weaknesses and faults which are so easily masked by noise and haste.

Most importantly, silence provides a space for an encounter with our loving God. As Elijah experienced in the desert, God does not speak to us in tumult and noise, but in the stillness. If the body is noisily bustling, if the soul is busy chattering to itself, there is no space for God to speak. In silence we can come to an awareness of God's presence leading to a recollected repose in God. We pray that Mary, Mother and Model of Religious, will give us a share of her own silence that we may ever be recollected in the presence of God.

Parish School of Religion

9/20/2016

 
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​St. John Paul II, in his apostolic exhortation Familaris Consortio, states that the family is the basic cell of society, that it is the fundamental school of social living, and that parents are the first heralds of the Gospel to their children. The Saint goes on to say that the parents of the family are the primary but not the only educators of the family, pointing out that the Church and society have a duty to assist parents by fostering programs that will complement the education provided by the parents. This is the purpose of the Parish School of Religion established at the Cathedral of St. Eugene - to continue and reinforce, not replace, the invaluable witness to and training in the faith provided by the Catholic family. Many of the Sisters are blessed weekly to teach classrooms of enthusiastic children, sharing with them the beauties of our faith and the riches of the liturgical life. We entrust them daily to the care of Our Lady, praying that through our witness and love of the faith, they may learn to love Jesus more ardently and to follow Him more closely all the days of their lives.
May our Lord, the Divine Teacher, instruct the hearts of these His children, that by increasing in knowledge of Him they may also grow in love of Christ and of His holy Church.

Our Sorrowful Mother

9/13/2016

 
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To Our Sorrowful Mother

​Remember, O Virgin Mary, the sword of sorrow that pierced your heart with the prophecy of Simeon who foretold to you the death of Jesus; pierce our hearts with the sword of contrition.

Remember, O Virgin Mary, the sorrow you felt when obliged to flee into Egypt; bring us, your exiled children, back from the darkness to the light, and lead us to the splendors of our eternal home.

Remember, O Virgin Mary, your sorrow when you sought Jesus for three days before finding Him in the temple; grant that we may thirst for Christ, that we may seek Him always and everywhere, and that our search may be crowned with success.

Remember, O Virgin Mary, the sorrow you felt when Jesus was seized and bound, then scourged and crowned with thorns; heed your children's cries and break the bonds of our sins.

Remember, O Virgin Mary, your sorrow when Jesus was raised on the cross and, amid unspeakable spasms, gave up His spirit to the Father; grant that we, too, may benefit from the sacrifice of the cross

Remember, O Virgin Mary, your sorrow when the sacred body of Jesus was placed in your arms with sentiments of profound devotion; embrace us, too, O Mother, so that we may enjoy your love.

Remember your sorrow, O Virgin Mary, when Jesus was wrapped in a sheet and laid in the sepulchre; cleanse our souls with His Most Precious Blood, and at the end of our lives fill us with deep compunction, so that the gates of Heaven may be opened to us. Amen.
From a Medieval Canticle

Blessed Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross!

9/13/2016

 
We adore Thee, O Christ,
And we praise Thee...
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... Because by Thy Holy Cross
Thou hast redeemed the world!

The Most Holy Name of Mary

9/11/2016

 
When the storms of temptation strike, when you run against the reefs of affliction, look to your Star, call upon Mary. When tossed to and fro by the waves of pride, of hate, of envy, of greed, look to your Star, call upon Mary. When anger, or jealousy, or the enticements of the flesh rock the boat,
​look upon Mary...

​​If you have fallen victim to some heinous crime, if you are overwhelmed by the reproaches of an evil conscience, if you fear being engulfed in the whirlpool of doubt or an abyss of sorrows, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name leave your lips, hold it to your heart. You will win her wonderful intercession if you but follow in her footsteps. If you imitate her, you will never go astray. If you implore her help, you will never need to waver. If you keep her in your thoughts, you will never sin....
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If she assists you, you will never stumble. If she protects you, then never fear. If she guides you, you will never tire: if she befriends you, the attainment of the goal is assured. Make it, then, a personal experience of how rightly the evangelist wrote: The Virgin's name was Mary. ~ St. Bernard on the Most Holy Name of Mary
​

May the Most Holy Name of Mary
be ever in my heart and on my lips!

​Image from Holy Cards for Your Inspiration

Deo Gratias!

9/4/2016

 
​With hearts full of profound gratitude, we thank Our Lord for the immense gift our diocese received this past week with the ordination of a new class of permanent deacons. Our Lord called these men apart for His service and they responded by giving up their lives in imitation of Him for our salvation. We pray with Holy Mother Church that they may be faithful to the calling they have received to be examples of charity and ministers of His Word and Sacraments.
O God, who have taught the ministers of your Church to seek not to be served but to serve their brothers and sisters, grant, we pray, that these your servants, whom you graciously choose today for the office of Deacon, may be effective in action, gentle in ministry, and constant in prayer. Amen.
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​

​May God, who has called you to the service of others in His Church,
give you great zeal for all,
especially the afflicted and the poor.

May He who has entrusted you with preaching the Gospel of Christ,
help you, as you live according to His word,
to be its sincere and fervent witnesses.

May He, who has appointed you stewards
of his mysteries,

make you imitators of His Son, Jesus Christ,
and ministers of unity and peace in the world. Amen.

~The Solemn Blessing

Monthly Devotion: Our Lady of Sorrows

9/2/2016

 
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew,
Of my Savior crucified.

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Pained Madonna by Plautilla Nelli
Another Marian month, the month of September centers upon the dual feasts of the Exultation of the Holy Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows, September 14th and 15. This month presents us with an opportunity to consider Mary as our model of patience and to be fortified to imitate her in all of the trials of our daily life, until we too come to the joys of the resurrection.

"Mary has three loves in her heart," Father James Alberione reflects, "Jesus, Souls, and God." Loving God, she submitted her heart entirely to His will and sought to imitate Him in all things. We know from experience that the greater one loves, the greater one may suffer. Mary loved Jesus with a depth and purity of love that we cannot know, and for this reason she suffered more intensely than we can fathom. Mary also loves us. She loves souls. By becoming the Mother of Life, she gave us life, and her heart is ever zealous for the salvation of our souls. Ever so gently, but persistently, she calls us and yearns to lead us to her Divine Son. Let us always cling to our good Mother!
"O sorrowful Virgin, unite me at least to the ignominies and wounds of your Son, so that both He and you may find comfort in having someone sharing your sufferings. Oh, how happy I would be if I could do this! For is there perhaps anything greater, sweeter or more advantageous for man? Why do you not grant me what I ask? If I have offended you, be just and pierce my heart. If I have been faithful to you, leave me not without a reward: give me your sorrows."
​~ St. Bonaventure
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