Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Multi-Day, Multi-Lingual Feast Day at NYC Shrine

November 16, 2023

Last weekend was busy, joyous, and celebratory as St. Frances Cabrini Shrine held five Masses over two days for Mother Cabrini’s Feast. Thank goodness for collaboration! Shrine staff extend special thanks to the MSC novices, Sr. Bernadette Anello, MSC and Sr. Ayantu Abera, MSC for their epic effort and endurance.

The marathon weekend began with the Mass in Italian. In addition to two van loads of people from Cabrini University we welcomed the knights of the Sacred Order of Constantinian and St. George and busloads of people from two of the original Cabrini churches: Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Newark, NJ and Our Lady of Pompeii in Manhattan. A group from the Church of St. Frances Cabrini in Brooklyn also attended.

Next up was the Filipino Mass, featuring a Filipino choir from Staten Island and a Franciscan priest from Queens.

The final Mass on Saturday was the high-energy French Mass, led by a French African choir that had everyone dancing and singing, even if we didn’t know what we were saying.

Sunday’s English Mass had a full house (the chapel’s capacity is 375). The girls from the Ursuline School sang, and Fr. Brain McWeenie, the Director of the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, celebrated. Finally, the Spanish Mass was celebrated by Bishop Josu Iriondo was attended by roughly 300 people.

Mother Cabrini in the Spotlight at USCCB

November 15, 2023

This week the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (the USCCB) began their plenary session on Mother Cabrini’s feast day. The homily at the opening Mass by the president of the USCCB, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, mentioned Mother Cabrini several times. He concluded by saying, “Saint Frances Cabrini even obliged the poor to give from their poverty to help those more needy than they. It was also a way of insisting on the dignity of all and the common responsibility for others. It is a message that is very appropriate today and every day…Charity demands our attention to the little ones, the weak, the simple, fraternal correction and unlimited pardon to those who ask.”

The stained-glass image of Mother Cabrini at St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in NYC was included on the slides used at the plenary session. Each bishop attending received prayer cards from the Shrine: one with a Cabrini prayer of thanksgiving for receiving communion, and one designed for use by new migrants containing the location of each of the three shrines.

Asylum 101

October 11, 2023

Asylum 101

On October 5, Cabrini Immigrant Services-NYC and St. Frances Cabrini Shrine hosted Asylum 101, a program designed to help our neighbors untangle what’s going on with immigration.

The program began with CIS-NYC attorney Ariana Salas defining what asylum is, and discussing common myths about asylum-seekers. She described how the process works and told the audience the extent of the logjam in processing cases.

Tiburcio Segoviano, a CIS-NYC social worker, then gave an overview of how Cabrini Immigrant Services supports new migrants and helps them adapt to life here. Community advocate Amelia Scodoris finished up the program by speaking about ways people can volunteer or advocate for change. She also invited them to sign up to for an upcoming advocacy training session to be held at the CIS-NYC offices.

It was a lively, engaging evening, and our guests had a range of opinions and many questions. We were fortunate to have an immigration case manager from Congressman Adriano Espaillat’s office in the audience. His perspective from a Federal level complemented the expertise of the presenters and led to animated but thoughtful discussion. We look forward to continuing to engage our broader community in topics related to immigration.

Consecration to Jesus through Mary

September 14, 2023

On Saturday, September 9, a group of 24 adults completed the Consecration to Jesus through Mary at St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in NYC. The participants, who ranged in age from teens to grandparents, had met for nearly a year in preparation to make this commitment. It was a beautiful and moving Mass. The instruction was led in Spanish by missionaries from Bonds of Marian Love.

A Citizenship Collaboration

March 22, 2023

On March 18, 2023 over a hundred people eligible for U.S. citizenship arrived at St. Frances Cabrini Shrine where they were helped by pro bono attorneys and volunteers to complete the complicated application. They were also able to apply for fee waivers, sign up for citizenship classes, and enroll in English classes. Many thanks to the good people at Dominicanos USA and CUNY Citizenship Now for their collaboration on this event!

Sharing Stories that Inspire

January 26, 2023

On Sunday, January 15 MSC novices Evon Somirla, Evarlyn Ndeti, and Bezunesh Elias spoke at St. Frances Cabrini Shrine about their faith and how they discerned the path to follow in the footsteps of Mother Cabrini.

Eager attendees provided a delicious potluck lunch that featured Filipino, Ethiopian, Dominican, and American dishes. The most common comment: “This was so inspiring!”

Collecting Winter Clothing for Bused-in Migrants

December 8, 2022

St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in New York has been collecting toiletries and other items for migrants bused-in from the southern U.S. border since August. Now with colder weather setting in, the Shrine reached out to neighbors for donations of gently-used coats, sweaters, boots, hats, scarves and gloves. What generosity!

All these items are heading downtown to a parish situated between two huge migrant shelters, where it will be distributed to people in need.
~ submitted by Julia Attaway, Executive Director, St. F.X. Cabrini Shrine

To view a brief video of the many donations please click here

Sharing Precious Cabrinian Artifacts

June 9, 2022

On June 7th, Julia Attaway, Executive Director of the St. Frances Cabrini Shrine, NYC receives a document case from Janet Bauman, Scanning Specialist Holy Spirit Library, Cabrini University. The document case contains materials from the St. Frances Cabrini Collection at Cabrini University.

The materials which include Mother Cabrini’s business card, checks and promissory notes signed by Mother Cabrini, and a facsimile of the Saint’s will are on loan to the shrine for the upcoming exhibit, “The Everyday Life of Mother Cabrini.” The exhibit is set to open in July.

Cabrini Immigrant Services – NYC Offices are Truly Blessed

May 26, 2022

On Friday, May 20, the beautiful new offices of Cabrini Immigrant Services of NY at 701 Fort Washington Avenue were blessed by Fr. Tom Faiola, OFM, Cap. The ceremony was followed by a picnic on the lawn with the Missionary Sisters and staff from CIS-NYC and St Frances Cabrini Shrine.

Cabrini Immigrant Services-NYC relocates to St. F.X. Cabrini Shrine

May 5, 2022

Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC has finally moved to our new location!

We opened our doors on the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Shrine property on Monday, May 2nd.

After almost 23 years at 139 Henry Street, we saw the need to move our offices to the upper side of Manhattan. We believe the services we offer are also needed by the community of Inwood and the surrounding neighborhoods. The big difference is that our food pantry needed to be relocated at 207 Street at the Good Shepherd Parish to share the space with their food pantry however, it will continue to be under our care.
The legal services are now offered at our new location.

As we opened our doors we welcomed our clients with joy and a sense of newness since the place is brand new to all of us. In our new surroundings, sometimes we get lost searching for someone’s office – but, we just laugh about it.

Now we are able to offer to our clients a better space in which to visit and to receive the services they need.

All of us are happy for having a place where we feel at home.