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A Convent Christmas

12/27/2016

Christus natus est! Alleluia!

Christmas is a day and season dearly loved by the Sisters. Beginning with the procession of children presenting Father the Christ Child before Midnight Mass at the Cathedral, the Christmas season stretches to Candlemas and is filled with beautiful liturgies and little convent customs. One of our favorite Christmas day practices is our communal veneration of the Christ Child in His little crib. After Mother reverences Him, she holds Him so that each Sister can give Him a personal Christmas greeting before we all sing favorite Christmas hymns in His honor.

"Through sin, humanity separated itself from God. But God, because of his great love for us, came from heaven to seek us.
Why? In order that we might realize how much God loves us, and in gratitude love God in return. Any time a cat or dog comes to us from across the room, we can't help but respond by petting it and speaking to it. So why do we ignore God, who comes to us all the way from heaven?"
~ St. Alphonsus on the Incarnation

A Convent Christmas pictures

O Emmanuel

12/22/2016

O Emmanuel,
God with us,
our King and Lawgiver,
the expected of the nations
and their Savior:
Come to save us,
O Lord our God.

"O Antiphon" for December 23rd

O Rex Gentium

12/22/2016

O King of the Gentiles
and their desired One,
the Cornerstone that
makes both one;
Come, and deliver man,
whom You formed out
of the dust of the earth.

O Rex Gentium,
et desideratus earum,
lapisque angularis,
qui facis utraque unum:
veni, et salva hominum,
quem de limo formasti.

O Oriens

12/21/2016

O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:
veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Day-Spring, splendor of Eternal Light, and Sun of Justice,
Come, and shine on those seated in darkness, and in the shadow of death.

"O Antiphon" for December 21st

O Clavis David

12/20/2016

O Key of David,
and Scepter of the House of Israel,
who opens and no man shuts,
who shuts and no man opens;
Come and bring forth
the captive from his prison,
he who sits in darkness
and in the shadow of death.

O Clavis David,
et sceptrum domus Israel,
qui aperis, et nemo claudit,
claudis, et nemo aperuit:
veni, et educ vinctum
de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebirs,
et umbra mortis.

"O Antiphon" for December 20th

Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter

As sung by the Dominican student brothers in Oxford

O Radix Jesse

12/19/2016

O Root of Jesse,
who stands for an ensign of the people,
before whom kings shall keep silence
and unto whom the Gentiles
shall make supplication:
Come to deliver us,
and tarry not.

O Radix Jesse,
qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos,
jam noli tardare.

"O Antiphon" for December 19th

Christ the True Vine

Missa Aurea ~ The Golden Mass

12/13/2016

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just:
let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior."

Rorate, caeli, desuper, et nebes pluant justum,
aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem."

~ Introit from the Advent Ember Wednesday Mass

Situated at the heart of this season of expectation, the Advent Ember days have a Marian tone. The Gospels for Ember Wednesday and Friday, the Annunciation and Visitation, highlight Our Lady's preeminent role in our salvation. Today's Mass, that of Ember Wednesday, is full of Marian references and is dearly loved by the community. It is traditionally the first time in the liturgical year that the Gospel of the Annunciation is proclaimed, pointing us to the imminent coming of our Savior. Falling the day after the feast of St. Lucy, the virgin of light who announces the coming of the Light, our Mass is illuminated by candles alone. The soft glow of the candles and the gentle beauty of the sung Mass seem to enrich and enhance the intrinsically rich texts of the Mass and aid the soul to enter into communion with its Divine Spouse. May we, like our Lady, ever offer Him a home in our hearts!

"Oh, come Divine Messiah, the world in silence waits the day when hope shall sing its triumph and sadness flee away! Sweet Savior haste! Come, come, to earth! Dispel the night and show Thy face and bid us hail the dawn of grace..."

Immaculate Conception

12/8/2016

From all eternity Father, Son, and Holy Spirit chose Mary to be the Mother of the Word Incarnate. It was unthinkable that she be defiled by sin, in any way or for the least second of time. Therefore, in the instant of creating Mary's person, the Trinity made her immaculate. This grace, like every other grace granted since the fall of Adam, was given her through the merits of Christ. She was truly saved, redeemed, not from an evil already present, but from an evil that threatened.

~ Introduction to the Mass text

O God, Who by the foreseen merits of the death of Christ, You shielded Mary from all stain of sin and preserved the Virgin Mother immaculate at her conception so that she might be a fitting dwelling place for Your Son. Cleanse us from sin through her intercession so that we also may come to You untainted by sin.

~ Collect from the Mass for the Immaculate Conception

O Mary, conceived without sin, Patroness of the United States of America,
Pray for us, intercede for our country!

First Mass at Regina Pacis ~ Deo Gratias!

12/5/2016

Religious life is a life lived for God, a life where the God Who loved us first is loved above all else, and thus a convent is to be a place where Christ reigns, a place where He is loved above all else, a place where life is centered on Him. With the blessing of a new convent, the Sisters have been able to experience anew this reality. The Sisters ordinarily make a little visit to the Blessed Sacrament throughout the day and when coming and going from the convent, asking Him to bless the souls encountered and to receive all that is done as an act of love. During the move while the Chapel was still being prepared, our Lord was not physically present in the Sacrament of His Love and His absence was tangible. How very grateful we were when Father brought us our Eucharistic Lord! And how much more grateful we are for the gift of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, offered for the first time this morning in our new chapel! Now our new earthly dwelling is truly a convent, a place where our Lord may be loved above all else.

"Its [the religious community's] center is the Eucharist in which the members of the community participate daily as far as possible and which is honored by having an oratory where the celebration can take place and where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved."
~ Essential Elements, 20

In Imitation of Jesus Christ

12/2/2016

"Lord, look upon these religious who wish to imitate Your Son more closely by professing the evangelical counsels in the presence of Your Church today. Mercifully grant that their manner of life may bring glory to Your name and further Your loving plan of redemption."

"What do you ask of God and of His holy Church?"

"My dear Sisters,
by water and the Holy Spirit you have already been consecrated to God's service.
Are you resolved to be more closely united to God by the bond of religious profession?
In your desire to follow Christ more perfectly, are you resolved to live in
chastity as a sign of the kingdom of Heaven,
to practice voluntary poverty,
and to offer the sacrifice of obedience?"

"May almighty God grant you His grace to fulfill your resolutions"

Bearing a lighted candle blessed on the feast of the Presentation, the novice approaches the altar. Kneeling before the Mother Superior, she vows to give herself to Almighty God, seeking perfect charity in His service by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The blessed candle is a symbol of the life of the consecrated woman in that as it gives light at the cost of its very substance for the benefit of others, she is wholly consumed by charity in God's service.

After the newly professed Sister signs her vows before her Eucharist Spouse on the altar, the Bishop blesses the emblems of profession and presents them to the Sister.

"...May this veil be an emblem
of lowliness of heart and separation from the world..."

"Receive this veil which proclaims that you belong entirely to Christ the Lord in the service of the Church. In imitation of your immaculate Mother Mary may you be an image of the Church: wholly given in humility of heart to Christ who is loved above all others."

After the blessing, the Mother Superior, assisted by the Mistress of Novices, changes the white veil of a novice for the Marian blue veil of the professed and crowns the Sisters with a delicate crown of white and red roses. The white roses represent the Sister's total gift of self while the red represent her willingness to shed her blood for her Spouse.

Please join us in praying for our newly professed Sisters! We beg Almighty God to grant them the grace of final perseverance and a crown of glory hereafter!

First Profession of Vows
First Sunday of Advent
November 27, 2016

Sister Mary Vianney of Our Lady, Queen of the Clergy, MSSR
Sister Caritas Marie of Mary, Mother of God, MSSR

Celebrant: The Most Reverend Robert F. Vasa, Bishop of Santa Rosa
Assisted by Father Moses Brown

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