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The patients huddled in the waiting room of Mercy Hospital in Buffalo had no idea of the effort made by the religious sister tending to their needs. Sister Donna Lord, GNSH, fought the Snowvember storm of 2014 to reach the hospital to fulfill her duty as a chaplain.

Father Bill Quinlivan, newly appointed Pastor of St. Martin of Tours and St. Thomas Aquinas parishes in South Buffalo, talks about his new book, Coming Home to Christmas Through Advent.

Our Lady of Fatima Shrine's 26th annual Festival of Lights opened on Nov. 26, with an eye towards celebrating the upcoming 100th anniversary of Our Lady's apparitions to the three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal.

Advent is when we prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of the Lord on Christmas, and there are many things we can do. Even watching special programming can help put our minds and hearts in the right place. With that, I offer you this list of programming.

Msgr. Thomas Walsh died Dec. 2, 2016, in Cuba Memorial Hospital. He was 90.

A published author and enthusiast of world religions, Sister Mary Francis "Sister Fran" Gangloff, OSF, currently manages health insurance and government benefits for women religious in the Western New York region. Sister Fran discussed her ministry, as well as seeing firsthand the great need for the Retirement Fund for Religious, last month at her office at St. Mary of the Angels Convent in Williamsville.

Throughout her years of serving as a Sister of Mercy in the Diocese of Buffalo, Sister Mary Ann Schimscheiner, RSM, has made many contributions to the field of health care in the Western New York area, including serving as the chief executive officer of Kenmore Mercy Hospital for 18 years. Last month, she spoke with the Western New York Catholic about the history of the hospital, as well as the Retirement Fund for Religious.

TONAWANDA — All are invited to attend two programs offered at St. Christopher Parish to bring people closer to the true meaning of the Advent and Christmas seasons.

The Harmonia Chamber Singers will present their annual Christmas concert, featuring music from the Medieval period through the present, throughout the Diocese of Buffalo this Christmas season.

The D'Youville College Board of Trustees has named Lorrie A. Clemo, as the 15th president of the private college.

Bishop Richard J. Malone interacted with students from Catholic schools during the Diocese of Buffalo 3rd Annual X-Stream Games and Expo. Area Catholic elementary and middle school students competed in the county-wide science fair Sunday afternoon at St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute. Look at our exclusive photo gallery here.

The presidency and staff of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious congratulate President-elect Donald J. Trump and promise to work with him to build a society worthy of our values where the dignity of each person is respected and all can flourish.

The Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, one of the smaller orders of religious women in Buffalo, live with the charism "love and service to the poor." Ten sisters from the Italian-based order serve in Lewiston. Most teach at Sacred Heart Villa, but one sister offers a ministry of prayer and crafting in Our Lady of Peace Nursing Home. Sister Elena Sinatra, SSHJ, lives with cancer and asthma that keeps her tethered to an oxygen tank. A teacher for 52 years, she now volunteers at the very same nursing home where she lives.

Last year at this time, it was a picnic area. Now the expanded rehabilitation center of Catholic Health's McAuley Residence provides physical, occupational and speech therapy to injured and ailing Western New Yorkers. It shows that wonderful things can happen with patience and hard work.

The third annual X-STREAM Expo rolled, bounced and rose through the halls of St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in Kenmore on Dec. 4. Nearly 1,000 students from more than 25 area Catholic schools demonstrated their knowledge of science, technology, religion, engineering, arts and math while competing in robotic, cooking and bridge-building activities.

Twenty-nine years ago, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops had the foresight to anticipate the retirement needs of congregations of women and men religious who had worked for the Church in the United States since the late 18th century.

Bishop Richard J. Malone has declared Father Michael H. Burzynski's relic collection a diocesan shrine to be housed at St. John Gualbert Parish in Cheektowaga. The bishop approved a decree designating the Shrine of the Holy Relics of the Saints in November.

On this week's podcast we talk about Gala 22:6, the annual event supporting Catholic Education scholarships.

Parishes throughout the Diocese of Buffalo will join parishes across the country on the weekend of Dec. 10 and 11 in holding a special collection for the Retirement Fund for the Religious. The collection, which was initiated in 1988 by Catholic bishops of the United States, helps underwrite retirement and health care expenses.

You are reading this shortly after the U.S. presidential election. America's next leader will have the means at hand to do tremendous good or tremendous harm.

ORCHARD PARK — The start of the new school year can be overwhelming, especially at a STREAM school. At a welcome-back meeting at St. John Vianney School, faculty informed parents of the fun opportunities it will be offering its students this year. These opportunities have allowed the school to take STREAM to the next level.

The 27th Annual Night of Prayer will be observed Thursday, Dec.8, at 9 p.m. to Friday, Dec. 9, at 1 a.m., Feast of the Immaculate Conception with the Feast of St. Juan Diego.

WASHINGTON—A Day of Prayer with a focus on the plight of refugees and migrants will take place across the United States on December 12, 2016, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It will be a time to place before a merciful God the hopes, fears, and needs of all those families who have come to the U.S. seeking a better life.

In honor of its 140th anniversary as an official diocesan parish, St. Mary of the Angels in Olean held a special Mass on Oct. 30 that rolled out the red carpet for descendants of Father John Hamel, the parish's first pastor. Current pastor Father Gregory Dobson honored Father Hamel's legacy by using his refurbished chalice in the Mass, a gift from parishioners for Hamel's 25th anniversary, viewing his crypt and historical artifacts and visiting the Oratory of the Sacred Heart in Portville, which Father Hamel built generations ago.

WASHINGTON - Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), welcomed Pope Francis' November 20 apostolic letter "Misericordia et Misera" ("Mercy and Misery"). In his letter, Pope Francis extended the Year of Mercy provision granting priests worldwide a faculty related to the sin of abortion: "Lest any obstacle arise between the request for reconciliation and God's forgiveness, I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve those who have committed the sin of procured abortion."

The artist in Father Bill Quinlivan cannot be silenced, nor can his love of the Advent and Christmas season. The Singing Priest of South Buffalo has released a book for the season, called "Coming Home for Christmas Through Advent," which offers reflections on themes of the season that come from his two Christmas albums. Topics span the range of holiday ups and downs from gift-wrapping and cooking baking, to nativity sets and being alone.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - While signs of bustling pilgrims who came for the Jubilee of Mercy are mostly gone, new signs of Christmas are springing up around St. Peter's Basilica, including the construction of the large Nativity scene in the middle of the square, and the placement of a Christmas tree alongside it.

EAST AURORA — For six, third-year seminarians finishing their pastoral year at Christ the King Seminary, the inaugural "Spiritual Summer" program was a transformative step on their paths to the transitional diaconate and ultimately priesthood.

WASHINGTON—The USCCB Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America approved 204 grants totaling over $3.8 million at its meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 12th. The total awarded this year is an historic high of over $8 million.

Bishop Richard J. Malone has announced that during the Advent season (Nov. 27 - Dec. 24), parishes throughout the eight-county Diocese of Buffalo will have additional hours for confession.

WASHINGTON - The following statement has been issued by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap., and Bishop Frank J. Caggiano in response to Pope Francis' call to begin preparations for the international World Youth Day (WYD) being held in Panama in 2019.

St. Michael's Jesuit Parish in Buffalo will reach out to a growing downtown faith community during Advent with a series of liturgies and programs designed to prepare for the celebration of Christmas.

Among the most recent appointments made by Bishop Richard J. Malone are some priest reassignments and new assignments for seven deacons.

Deacon Paul Francis Carmody, a permanent deacon, died Nov. 21, 2016, at age 75.

Mount St. Mary Academy in Kenmore will host a Holiday Bazaar and Craft Show on Sunday, Dec. 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The board of directors of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Buffalo has named Mark Zirnheld as the society's chief executive officer.

CINCINNATI — Topping this week's Billboard Classical Album chart is Dynamic Catholic's new Advent and Christmas CD, "O Emmanuel," which sold 2,600 copies in its first week.

While repentance is a constant theme of the Christian life, the Catholic Church gives the faithful two extended seasons of the liturgical year for the specific purpose of examining our lives and changing our ways. Lent may be better known, but Advent is also a time for sacrifice and humility.

Bishop Richard J. Malone talks about Thanksgiving and the beginning of Advent in "Consider This."

As the cold weather began to hit Buffalo and the first snow fell, members of the Polish community of Western New York came together on Nov. 20, at St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown Buffalo, to celebrate the 1,050th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity to Poland. Many Polish-American Western New Yorkers joined Bishop Richard J. Malone, the principal celebrant at the Mass, in honor of both this anniversary and the Feast of Christ the King, which has been an American Catholic tradition since 1925.