What does a Franciscan Sister do on the weekend?

Saturday, September 27th was a very busy one. It began with 9:00am Mass at St. Andrew's Church with Sr. Joellen, who is the DRE here.

 

The Mass led into the March for the Poor with our students, parents, and faculty taking part in it along with members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society from both parishes. Food was collected all week at All Saints Catholic School and at St. Andrew's Parish. The food was put into grocery carts and pushed as we all marched one mile from the church to the
St. Vincent de Paul Store in Sierra Vista.

After that I changed clothes and went to Our Lady of the Mountains Parish for a Baptism of two children. The parents are on the Strong Catholic Family Committee with me.

Then it was back in the car, stop at Our Lady of the Mountains Convent to pick up Sr. Joellen and off we went again to St. Andrew's Parish. We were invited to the San Lorenzo Feastday celebration planned by the Filipino community. It was held with the 5:00pm Saturday night Mass.
The Filipino teens carried the statue of San Lorenzo in the entrance procession.

 

Fr. Ariel Lustan, a Filipino priest who was pastor at Our Lady of the Mountains, was invited to come back to Sierra Vista from his new parish in Casa Grande to celebrate this special Mass.

On Sunday, I am enjoying a great day off while I watch the Packer and Bears game and we are doing great this Sunday!!

INSTALLATION OF A PASTOR

Fr. Mike Bucciarelli was installed as the 4th pastor of Our Lady of the Mountains Parish in  Sierra Vista by the Bishop of Tucson-Bishop Gerald Kicanas. The event took place on Friday night, September 12th at 6:00pm.

Before the festivities began there was time for Fr. Mike to meet with his fellow priests from the vicariate that he serves as their Vicar and also with the deacons from our parish and the neighboring parishes (  a large group of them).

The altar servers were ready in time along with the Knights of Columbus who served as Honor Guard for the evening.

There were many church items that symbolized the role of a pastor that were brought up as part of the installation ceremony. 

These are just a few of them.

Mass began and all church choirs were present and sang different parts of the Mass.

 The Bishop during the installation ceremony kneels to the side in the sanctuary. The new pastor celebrates the Mass.

 Some students from All Saints Catholic School waiting for their turn in the presentation of symbols.

The Bishop begins by reading the promises Fr. Mike takes as pastor.  (See how bright it is outside)

After Fr. Mike makes his promises to the Bishop he is presented with the symbols of his role as pastor. The Bishop reads about each one as they are brought forth to Fr. Mike.

The first to be presented was the key to the church and the key to the tabernacle.

After that the ceremony veered from the ritual by having Sr. Carol and students present the mortgage to Fr. Mike. It was paid in full as of September 2014!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The people in the parish gasped and clapped. They were surprised it was paid off in 5 years and it was a 15 year mortgage.

 We presented a symbol of our school's Mission Statement .

 Such beautiful words!!

The Gospel Book was presented next followed by a purple stole.

A shell representing Baptism was next and then the three jars of the Precious Oils.

The Mass continued with our newly installed pastor. It was now dark outside our beautiful church window.

This is the Body of Christ, Do This in Remembrance of Me.

The Blood of Christ.

After Mass, time to greet the Bishop, congratulate Father Mike and enjoy some of his cake.

Sr. Carol and Sr. Joellen with Bishop Kicanas

CONGRATULATIONS FATHER MIKE -- OUR NEW PASTOR!!

Santa Rita Abbey

Labor Day weekend is always a good time to get together with our Sisters in Tucson. This year we met at Santa Rita Abbey in Sonoita.

Santa Rita Abbey in Sonoita

We met there so we could visit with Sister Hannah who is in our community but is currently in transition to the Cistercian Sisters at the Santa Rita Abbey. We had a very lively 50 minute visit. We found out all about her new lifestyle. She rises at 3:10am every morning for prayer with the community and goes to bed at 7:30pm. Quite a change in her lifestyle.

 

 The parking lot. As you can see the Abbey is out in the country and in the hills.

She works during the day helping to make the altar breads that provide the income for all the Sisters.
Once a month she is allowed to use the internet and email.

She is very happy and smiles a lot.

Guest Chapel

Sanctuary

The altar and ambo were carved out of wood by one of their own Cistercian Sisters.

 

Choir Stalls for the Cistercian Sisters

 

The Sisters also run a retreat center on their property. Here is the long outdoor hallway to the bedrooms and chapel.

 

 

 Their Chapel, with lots of windows to view the hills, which are now green due to the monsoon season.

 The Word of God is enthroned on a simple wooden bench.

 

 

After our visit, we went to the town of Sonoita to eat and then on to Patagonia.

In Patagonia we visited a bird sanctuary for hummingbirds

People come from all over the world to see the many varieties and colors of hummingbirds.

 

There was a rodeo going on in Sonoita but we chose not to stop and see it, but it looks tempting for next year.