This Christmas there will be a Extraordinary Form High Mass and procession at St. Eugene's Cathedral beginning at 8:30 pm on December 24th. A procession of children in Nativity costumes will escort the image of the Infant Jesus to the manger where Father will bless the Bambino and place Him in the crib. At 9 pm Mass will begin and the Sisters and choir members will provide beautiful hymns and carols for this great feast. Mass celebrated that evening will be the Midnight Mass for Christmas. We will joyfully celebrate this Midnight Mass a bit early because there will also be an Ordinary Form Midnight Mass, celebrated by His Excellency Bishop Robert Vasa, at midnight.
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God the Father imparted to Mary his fruitfulness as far as a mere creature was capable of receiving it, to enable her to bring forth his Son and all the members of his mystical body. God the Son came down into her virginal womb as a new Adam into his earthly paradise, to take his delight there and produce hidden wonders of grace. God-made-man found freedom in imprisoning himself in her womb. He displayed power in allowing himself to be borne by this young maiden. He found his glory and that of his Father in hiding his splendors from all creatures here below and revealing them only to Mary. -St Louis Marie de Montfort True Devotion to Mary O Mary, Conceived without Sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Each of our sisters recites this prayer every morning, while putting on her Miraculous Medal and repeats it throughout the day. We love Our Lady very much, and so we are always looking for new ways to honor her. Recently, we have been joyfully preparing physically, and spiritually for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Since she is the primary Patroness of our country, this day is celebrated with even more solemnity. Our preparations began with a special novena, as has become our custom. In the last few days we have been helping prepare our chapel and the local parish Church for this great feast. On this day, we also renew our Act of Consecration according to the method of Saint Louis Marie de Montfort. In the evening, there will, of course, be a very special supper at the convent in honor of our Mother. We strive to keep ever before our eyes Our Lady, who serves as our example and model in all things, allowing her to guide us and lead us ever closer to Christ. She is all pure, without spot or wrinkle, and there is no trace of sin or corruption in her. So we can believe that the more we become like her, the holier we will become. You can never go wrong when you place your trust in the Blessed Virgin Mary and ask for her intercession. This is especially true in this week when we celebrate the Feasts of the Immaculate Conception (Dec 8th), Our Lady of Loretto (Dec 10th ), Our Lady Queen of the Angels (Dec 11th), and Our Lady of Guadalupe (Dec 12th). Our Lady, Madonna of the Americas, pray for us! O come, O come, Emmanuel! And ransom captive Israel... Our monthly devotion for December is to the Divine Infancy of Jesus, our king who saves us from sin. He came not in glory and majesty, but to a cold and lowly manger to show us the way back to God. This way He gave us is that of pure, and simple love. A love without measure or limit, a love that always seeks the good of others. So we should also always try to do the same in our own lives, growing closer to God and seeking ways to show love for others. God did not have to send His son to earth to give us a model for our lives. Yet He did… Why? Because He loves us. As we await the coming of Christ at Christmas, let us pray that this year, we will love Him more than ever before. He loves us so much, may we show our love for God and neighbor by practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, recommitting our hearts and minds to seeking God’s will. When we take a few extra minutes to pray each day it reminds us of all that God has done for us, and deepens our relationship with Him. By fasting we chose to deny ourselves something so that we can begin to overcome our passions. Finally when we give alms to someone it has a double effect, it helps care for their physical needs (a corporal work of mercy), and at the same time it can help keep our hearts detached from the things of this world. All of our sacrifices during the Advent season, are intended to prepare us to participate fully in the joy of Christmas. That day when God’s Son came to earth, and fulfilled the promise He had made. For any important event in our lives we take time to prepare beforehand, if we are expecting company for dinner we carefully plan the menu ahead of time, if we are planning a party it may involve a great deal of effort. So this Advent, we should take time to prepare before the great celebration of Jesus’s birth. Each small sacrifice we make to prepare the way for God will delight the heart of Jesus, so let us set out on this road with all the love of our hearts. |
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