To view a video presentation on the move from West Park:
A Feast Day Message from the Provincial
November 13, 2019
Dear Sisters and those co-responsible with us in Mission,
[Yesterday] we celebrated the Feast of Mother Cabrini. In these recent days I have had various experiences which have touched my heart and soul – a gift of Jesus and Mother Cabrini on her feast
• ➢ I listened to a webinar from an organization called “No more deaths” during which they spoke of a member of the organization who was being charged with a felony simply because he provided compassionate care to two undocumented migrants he discovered in the desert. I asked myself: What has become to the moral fabric of the USA that we would criminalize compassion?
• ➢ I listened to Sr. Yolanda, MSC who returned from a meeting in Matamoros, Mexico of those organizations who give assistance to migrants along the USA-Mexico Border. My heart was filled with hope as I heard of the generous service of so many volunteers and organizations who day by day offer care and compassion to our suffering brothers and sisters. My heart was also full of deep sadness that the immigration policies of the USA have created a humanitarian crisis for hundreds perhaps thousands of men, women and children who are stranded along the Mexican border. They are living in tents, inhumane conditions, without adequate food or health care. The tragedy is the number of children! They can’t go forward and they have no money to go back home! At that moment we made a decision to try to partner with one organization who is providing much needed help.
➢ Yesterday, Sr. Antonina, Sr. Pietrina and myself joined staff and clients from CIS of NYC, together with the New York Immigration Coalition, to go to Washington, D.C. to stand in solidarity with DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) young adult recipients as they persevered in their struggle to gain a path to citizenship. We also met a group from Cabrini University!
For years this group of young people have lived in constant uncertainty that their status would change and they could be deported. The persistent hope and courage of those who are DACA recipients as well as those who fight for their cause was an incredible witness. Once again, the question surfaced in me: How is it that a nation formed and built by immigrants is now so closed to immigrants?
➢ Finally, today I listened to a webinar offered by the UISG (International Union of General Superiors) which shared the challenges, vision and horizon of CLAR (Confederation of Latin American and Caribbean Religious) for consecrated religious life for the years 2018-2021. There were many themes that confirmed our Provincial Chapter outcomes. What touched my heart was the vital call to be witnesses of Communion and Hope based on our belief in Jesus and to continue to live with enthusiasm the gift of our consecrated life as missionary disciples. We are further called to weave relationships that foster communion, reconciliation, inclusivity, and compassion. Finally, we are called to renew our option for the vulnerable and excluded of our world. For those who understand Spanish, I encourage you to go to www.clar.org and look under “Horizonte Inspirador” for more resources around these themes.
As I live these various moments, I find myself called to conversion. It is not enough for me to see or to hear/listen but my heart must be “moved to compassion” and action. Going to Washington, D.C. was one small action but I and we are called daily to go out of ourselves in love. When we go out the door of our room, our heart, our minds let us be credible witnesses – missionary disciples of God’s love in the world. If we do this – we give honor to God and honor the memory of Mother Cabrini.
Happy Feast Day!
United in the Heart of our loving God!
Sr. Diane Olmstead, MSC , Provincial, Guadalupe Province
Drawing Inspiration from Our Foundress
They will draw water from the source…
From different countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua we have reached Codogno, the cradle of the Institute, to delve into the spirituality of our Foundress. In the company of the sisters María Barbagallo, Regina Canale, Lucy Panettieri and Gilda Mendoza, in the first week we deepened the gift that the Lord has given us. We are thirsty to drink from the source that gave rise to our Cabrinian being and that has given us our missionary identity. We have been given the following topics: the Person of Jesus, the School of the Heart of Jesus, Christian Virtues, Cabrinian Vision of life and the history, foundations in Italy, the Great Mothers, Mysticism of the change of hearts.
As part of our studies and with a grateful heart we visited Sant’Angelo, Vidardo, Livraga … How much emotion invaded our being in the birthplace of Our Mother! With how much enthusiasm each one put in the river the small paper boats full of flowers, as did “Cecchina”, sending us as missionaries to the whole world and praying for new violets for our Institute !
Towards the end of the week, a rich and unforgettable experience awaited us: we had to open our hearts to share the treasures of our “personal Galilee”, that is, that first call made by Jesus in a sweet “follow me! ” The first to share were: Mother Lina Colombini, Sr. Elena Lo Brutto and Sr. Francesca Cremonese, who with their testimonies motivated us and inspired us to continue living the Cabrinian Charism, to the rhythm of Love, that is to say ardently and swiftly. All the MSC Sisters of Codogno have taught us, even without words, that the Charism is the way to love, to dream, to serve today in that corner of the world where the Lord wanted to put us.
We feel very happy and grateful to the Lord, with our sisters from Codogno, from Sant’Angelo and with each of our Provinces for allowing us to live this unforgettable experience. It has been a rich, intense week, full of enthusiasm and gratitude to get closer to Our Foundress whose experience became Charism … and that Charism made its way!
“Oh my Jesus: how kind, good and adorable you are.
Greater is the care that You take of me and my things.” (PP Mother Cabrini)
Mother Cabrini Highest Vote Getter in She Built NYC Statue Contest
~by Katie Honan, WALL STREET JOURNAL
Across New York City, there are nearly 150 statues that honor men and just five dedicated to women.
A citywide initiative plans to shift the ratio and will start with a statue of Shirley Chisholm, the first black congresswoman in the U.S., who represented New York’s 12 congressional district which at the time was centered in Brooklyn.
The statue honoring Ms. Chisholm who ran for president in 1972, is the first selected through a city-led initiative called She Built NYC, which was created to commission a public monument or piece of art that honors women’s history.
In June, the city asked New Yorkers to submit nominations of inspirational and influential women. They received 326 eligible nominations representing a diverse list of women, from celebrities to schoolteachers to suffragettes.
The woman who received the most nominations through She Built NYC was St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, known as Mother Cabrini, who founded the Missionary Sisters and was a supporter of Italian immigrants. Author and activist Jane Jacobs came in second, and Ms. Chisholm came in third. [Read more…]
Mother Cabrini Tribute Room Opens at Cabrini High School, New Orleans
One hundred years after her death, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, still keeps watch at Cabrini High School. Her presence has been highlighted in a permanent exhibit of her life in New Orleans on the school’s Esplanade Avenue campus.
The idea for the exhibit dawned on Jack Truxillo when he became president of Cabrini High School a few years ago and he realized that many of Mother Cabrini’s artifacts were scattered around campus.
A more fitting home was in order, he though considering the contributions St. Cabrini had made in the lives of so many through her establishment of orphanages, schools, hospitals and clinics worldwide.
Truxillo chose a little-used room overlooking Esplanade Avenue and began in late 2016 assembling the pieces which were relics since she either touched or wore them. A timeline of her life was written and the room was formally unveiled on March 13 at a benefactors’ reception.
Among Mother Cabrini’s relics are her habit, cape, umbrella and shoes, a head garment and veil, a fan, a desk statue, rosary, reading glasses, sewing scissors, pocket watch, personal prayer cards, a Canal Louisiana Bank & Trust Company bank book, and an orphanage checkbook signed by Mother Cabrini.
It’s very special and an honor to have these artifacts of a saint who actually stayed, prayed and ministered in this very building,” Truxillo said. “Ourstudents, faculty, staff and administration get to experience this every day, and we want to share it with
the community.”
To read the entire article: https://clarionherald.org/2018/05/03/tribute-room-to-mother-cabrini-open-to-public/
~ by Christine Bordelon of the Clarion Herald
Cardinal Timothy Dolan presides at closing Mass for Centenary Year
St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in New York City rang with the voices of friends, volunteers and Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus who gathered to celebrate the end of Mother Cabrini’s Centennial year. On December 16, sisters from Cabrini missions in Argentina, Central America, Australia, and all over the Eastern United States gathered in Cabrini Shrine Chapel, greeting each other with open arms, wide smiles and many stories of their ministry around the world.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan officiated at the Mass in both English and Spanish. During the Mass, Cardinal Dolan said of Mother Cabrini, “We love her. We need her. We thank God for her… She herself became an immigrant, in search of the immigrant.”
The centennial theme song from Argentina, “¡Y Emprendemos un Viaje!” and the Cabrini Shrine song, “Go Where I Send You” were loudly sung by the happy congregation.
The immigrant community that joined with the sisters for the mass was encouraged and uplifted by their continued commitment to the work that Mother Cabrini began among us so long ago.
It was a glorious day.
Here is a link to the story in Catholic New York:
http://www.cny.org/stories/centenary-mass-cites-mother-cabrinis-care-for-immigrants,16604
Photo credit: Anthony Jalondi
Pope Francis Meets with MSCs at close of centenary year
From Vatican Radio by Sean-Patrick Lovett
Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini is an Italian-born saint who dedicated her life to helping thousands of immigrants living in the United States in the late 19th century. She died in Chicago exactly one hundred years ago. [December 22, 1917]
On Saturday morning in the Vatican, Pope Francis met members of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The congregation is present today on 6 continents and 15 countries throughout the world.
During his discourse in Italian, the Pope recalled the holiness of their Foundress and praised her tireless work with migrants and the poor. He held her up as an example for today, adding that the reality of migrants has evolved and is now “more current than ever”. Migrants, said the Pope, “need good laws, programs of development and organization, but, above all, they always need love, friendship, human closeness; they need to be heard, looked in the eye and accompanied.” They need God, he said, “encountered in love that is freely given”. We must do as Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini does, concluded Pope Francis: “be capable of responding to the signs of our time, reading them in the signs of our time. Reading them in the light of the Word of God and living them in such a way as to provide an answer that can reach the heart of every person.
To read the English translation of the Pope’s address: http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/12/09/pope_meets_sisters_of_congregation_founded_by_mother_cabrini/1353887
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- Pope Francis greets Sr. Barbara Staley, MSC, General Superior
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- General Superiors former and present and Assistant Councilors have an audience with Pope Francis
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- Welcoming the Pontiff.
Greetings on the Feast Day from the General Superior
CURIA GENERALIZIA – MISSIONARIE DEL SACRO CUORE DI GESÙ 00135 ROMA
Feast of Mother Cabrini
Dear Sisters, Cabrini Lay Missionaries and Partners in Mission,
Rome, November 13, 2017
Happy Feast Day to all of you. This Centenary year celebrating Mother Cabrini’s passage from this life to the next has been one of tremendous grace. Let’s unite in thanksgiving for all of the wonderful consolations that the Sacred Heart of Jesus has given to us throughout this year.
May we be worthy of all that God has given to us and have the courage to collaborate with His desire for us, that we truly be Bearers of the Love of God to the World today. Now is the favorable time; we must continue to move towards the future with love, humility and missionary audacity.
It is with great joy that we also announce the founding on this date of the new Santa Francisca Cabrini Province that is comprised of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The discernment for the major superior will take place November 25-27. I ask that we all join in praying for this new province, and offer my gratitude for the work that the sisters have done to bring about this new canonical entity. I am sure that our Mother Foundress, for whom the Province is named, will bestow on this province special help at this time of building something new for the good of the Institute and for the good of mission.
In this time of unprecedented human migration and displacement we must continue to look for ways of deepening our response to those who are without home or country. This is our charism. Let us work together with courage and energy to respond to the beginning of two new missionary endeavors; A house for refugees in Rome, and new mission in Uganda on the Sudanese border. It will take all of us together to make these missionary dreams become a reality.
The General Council and myself want to thank all of you for all that you do every day. Be assured of our pray, support and love as we together move towards the future in this favorable time in our MSC Institute.
United with you in the Heart of Christ,
Sr. Barbara Staley, MSC
General Superior
A Feast Day Message from Sr. Pietrina, Provincial
Dear Sisters and Cabrini Lay Missionaries;
It is with great joy that we celebrate the feast of our foundress during this centenary year. Truly, we have been gifted with a foundress and a charism that is as relevant today as it was in 1880.
Our Holy Father, Francis, takes every opportunity to praise Cabrini for her life of foresight in addressing the needs of migrants saying that she is an example of how to treat people with both charity and justice.
Recently our foundress has been featured in many articles including the Share the Journey campaign website and in many talks given by Pope Francis. This should inspire us to rededicate ourselves to a life of prayer and action on behalf of justice.
Our world is in need of healing especially after the natural disasters and acts of violence that have been inflicted here in the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Wars continue to force people out of their homelands into refugee camps, risking their lives in boats and through deserts.
What would Jesus do? What would Cabrini do? These are questions we need to reflect on and ask Jesus to give us the courage, energy and strength to respond in a way that we are able to with our time and talents. We are not asked to cure all the ills of the world but we are called to be bearers of the love of Jesus to all we encounter and do our part to spread unity and not division.
Our lives of prayer, sacrifice and service are means by which we can be builders of peace and justice. Let us move out of our comfort zones and give to Jesus our sufferings, prayers and actions in order to be part of the healing process.
Thank you for all that you do for the mission of Jesus. Your sister in the heart of Jesus,
Mother Cabrini Way Dedicated in NYC
The sidewalk at the corner of East 19th Street and 3rd Avenue was packed with people in a jovial mood well before 11:00 am on October 20th. A covered sign had been conspicuously placed below the one indicating 19th Street with a long rope coming from its corner wrapping around the pole. After months of hard work, this section of street in New York City would be dedicated to Mother Cabrini.
The people gathered were indicative of the Cabrini reach over the last 100 years. In addition to Sisters the guests included a group of retired Cabrini nurses and staff, police officers in uniform, and representatives from a number of NYC institutions including the Archdiocese of New York and Sacred Hearts-Saint Stephen’s Parish in Brooklyn. All of these had experienced Cabrini in some way and were now present to celebrate this momentous occasion.
A brief program led by Sr. Pietrina Raccuglia, MSC started at 11:00 am. Speakers of note included Father Arthur Golino, formerly of Epiphany Parish, who blessed the sign, Sr. Catherine Garry, MSC who gave a stirring reflection on the life of Mother Cabrini, and Kathleen Kelly from Community Board 6 who wrote the resolution requesting the City Council honor our foundress in this way. The keynote comments were provided by Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, who highlighted the continuing work being done by the Missionary Sisters in support of immigrant communities. Finally, all Sisters in attendance were invited to participate in the removal of the sign cover. “Mother Cabrini Way” was revealed to a resounding countdown from 10 and cheers from the over 100 people present.
The celebration continued during a reception at Cabrini Senior Apartments, where people could take photographs with the duplicate sign. The community room and outdoor patio was filled with laughter and happy chatting. This coming together as one showed a true Cabrini spirit, which doubtless caused Mother to smile upon the occasion.
To view a Smilebox presentation on the dedication:
http://play.smilebox.com/SpreadMoreHappy/4e4455334f4455344d445a384d5441304d7a6b7a4e5445770d0a?title=Mother%20Cabrini%20Way&image=4e4455334f4455344d445a384d5441304d7a6b7a4e5445770d0a.jpg
