An Interesting Historical Footnote…
Countess Spottiswood Mackin, Mother Cabrini and
the MSCs in Paris
~ by Dr. Maria Patricia Williams
125 years ago, on 29th September 1898, Mother Cabrini established the first MSC house in France. It was a short walk from the Arc de Triomphe at 20, Rue Dumont d’Urville, Paris. It was not possible to establish a school in France due to anti-clerical legislation, so Mother Cabrini opened a residence for ladies to gain a foothold and raise funds for an Italian orphanage. The first resident was an American, the Countess Sarah Maria Aloisa Spottiswood Mackin (1850 – 1923).
She was a wealthy widow. Her father had been Mayor of St. Louis, MO, and her late husband, James Mackin, State Treasurer of New York. From a Protestant family, she had been educated by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth at a
Nazareth Academy, Kentucky. She became a Catholic in Rome in 1895. Pope Leo XIII gave her the title of Countess for her charity work for the Church.
The Countess was introduced to Mother Cabrini by Monsignor Montagnioni, the secretary at the Papal Nunciature in Paris. He brought her to collect two letters that Mother Cabrini had brough for her from Rome, a blessing from Pope Leo XIII and one from Cardinal Parocchi, Secretary of the Holy Office, asking the Countess to assist the Sisters. She had an extensive network of contacts. Mother Cabrini wrote in her 1898 Travel Letter that she ‘used all her efforts to bring us into contact with persons who could help us’.
She found other boarders, persuaded a rich Italian to donate 50 Lire, and organized a fund-raising concert. In 1921, in her memories of Mother Cabrini, found in the The Cabriniana Collection, the Countess wrote:
“Madame Cabrini interested all of Paris Society’ and as a result ‘under the presidency of HRH the Infanta Eulalie of Spain and my presidency it was easy to organize concerts and fetes that were very successful.’
Mother Cabrini was impressed by her organization of the first concert:
‘She, the Countess Spottiswood, arrange the affair so well by reason of her excellent and energetic personality and her beautiful disposition, that one would imagine she is capable of putting a whole country into movement when it is a question of assisting those whom the Holy Father favors.’
By 1899, there was enough funding to open the orphanage for daughters of Italian families, requested by Cardinal Richard de Vergne, Archbishop of Paris. It opened at 149, Rue Perronet in Neuilly-sur-Marne, approximately 13 Kilometres (8 miles) from the center of Paris.
The rainy weather didn’t dampen the spirits of the hundreds of Cabrini College/University alumni who returned to campus this past weekend. The weekend had an energetic kick-off at the Philadelphia Phillies game with alumni tailgating at the ballpark. Back on campus on Saturday, sports games, food trucks, tours of the Mansion were on tap followed by a dinner and dance party on Saturday evening in the historic Woodcrest Mansion.
On Friday, September 1st, Cabrini of Westchester celebrated a second group of Nursing Assistant Apprentices as they completed five weeks of training to become Certified Nursing Assistants! In February 2023, we began partnering with the 1199 NationalFund to bring a Nursing Assistant Apprentice Program to Cabrini. This allowed us to bring on eleven additional staff members that received training through a grant initiated by the 1199 National Benefit Fund who contracted with Westchester Community College. All of the eleven staff remain employed full time and all but one are now certified nursing assistants in New York State! The remaining Nursing Assistant Apprentice who has not yet passed the CNA exam will have up to three chances to pass.
They will take the nursing assistant exam this month. This addition to our workforce has helped tremendously to ensure we have the staff necessary to care for our resident population. The success of this collaboration with 1199 and Westchester Community College has allowed us to achieve staffing goals and we are currently offering training to a third group of Nursing Assistant Apprentices.
During he month-long ecclesial events (October 4 – 29) members will focus on five modules as outlined in the working document (instrumentum laboris), which was first published on June 20. The five modules are: “toward a synodal church,” communion, mission, participation and a synthesis document.
Each year, the History and Political Science Department of Cabrini University recognizes a woman who has made a noteworthy contribution to the civic life of her community; local, regional, national, or international. She is invited to Cabrini to speak to our students and receive the Ivy Young Willis and Martha Willis Dale Award.
Ivy Young Willis was a teacher, administrator, and reading consultant whose work, at WQED in Pittsburgh led the way for the teaching of reading on public television. Martha Willis Dale, a much-beloved alumni director at Cabrini College for 26 years, modeled her mother’s teachings through her life of service to students, alumni and the community. This series is dedicated to their memory and the strong belief a that women have a unique talent for improving the climate and conduct of public affairs.
at Cabrini University, recently presented a workshop on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion which was held at the Sacred Heart Novitiate in New York City on Tuesday, September 5th. The workshop focused on the history and current realities of African Americans.
The migratory flows of our times are the expression of a complex and varied phenomenon that, to be properly understood, requires a careful analysis of every aspect of its different stages, from departure to arrival, including the possibility of return. As a contribution to this effort, I have chosen to devote the Message for the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees to the freedom that should always mark the decision to leave one’s native land.