Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Bringing Christ's love to the world

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Cabrini University Community Gathers for Alumni Weekend

 

The CAVS (Cabrini Alumni Volunteers and Supporters) were warmly welcomed to the Villanova University campus for an evening of dinner, awards, friendship and memories.

CAVS Leadership Chair Hollie Havens ’98 and CAVS Event Committee Co-Chair Andrea Rodgers ’99 extended a warm welcome to all. Highlights of the evening included a warm welcome-back to faculty members who had taught at Cabrini College/University for 50 years or more: Jim Hedke, PhD; Marilyn Johnson, PhD; Kathleen McKinley, PhD; Joseph Romano, PhD, Sharon Schwarze, PhD, Anthony Tomasco, PhD and Jerry Zurek, PhD.

Alumni were honored for Community Service – Craig Vagell, ‘05; Distinguished Alumni Service - Jackie Marciano, ’10; Career Achievement - Robin Larkins, ’85; Urban Education – Alycia Plowman ’15, and Young Alumni Award – Treci Butler, ‘18, Jason Fridge '25 (St Joe's University) and Mother Ursula Award Sam Sturkey '25 (Eastern University).

Honorary Alumni Awards were presented to Kate Corcoran, former Cabrini University Vice-President of Athletics and StudentEngagement, and posthumously to Larry Stauffer, who had served as the electrician for Cabrini College/University for forty years. Larry’s award was accepted by his wife Kate Connolly Stauffer ’83 and his daughter Liz Stauffer, G ’15.

The spectacular evening was followed up the next day with a tailgate and outing to the Philadelphia Phillies baseball game.

CIS-NYC Staff Attends Center for Migration Studies Conference

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Last week, members of our CIS-NYC team attended the Center for Migration Studies Conference on Immigration Integration. On Sunday, we were honored to welcome a group of conference participants to our office. Visitors toured the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Shrine, joined us for a presentation on our work, and participated in a thoughtful Q&A.

Attendees came from across the country, including as far away as Seattle, Washington. It was an opportunity to connect in a small group, share strategies, and discuss how to move forward together in support of immigrant communities.

On Monday and Tuesday, we joined the rest of the conference at Fordham University, where we listened to compelling panels on immigration, integration, and Catholic teachings, and engaged in regional discussions. Especially in times like these, knowing we are unified in our work and faith brings hope for a way forward where everyone in this country can live with dignity, care, and respect.

This is National Migration Week 2025

For 45 years, the Catholic Church in the United States has celebrated National Migration Week (NMW). This is an opportunity to reflect on our history as an immigrant Church and the ways in which our country has been enriched by generations of immigrants, including the many Catholics who have adopted this land as their own. It is also an occasion to grow in appreciation of the challenges faced by migrants and refugees, both in the United States and beyond, and to express solidarity through prayer, accompaniment, and advocacy. Pope Francis had chosen “Migrants, missionaries of hope" for this year's theme.

This year, National Migration Week takes place September 22-28 and culminates with the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR). Although WDMR typically occurs on the last Sunday of September, this year it will take place on October 4-5 to coincide with the Jubilee of Migrants. The primary theme for this year’s WDMR is “Migrants, missionaries of hope,” which “highlights the courage and tenacity of migrants and refugees, who bear witness daily to hope for the future despite difficulties.”

In solidarity with the Holy Father, National Migration Week is using the same theme as WDMR and emphasizes the ways in which this theme and its application to the migration question is important for the Church in the United States. Given the timing of WDMR this year, we have developed resource for the Jubilee of Migrants, “Pilgrims on the Way of Hope”, which will help people to prepare both for the Jubilee and WDMR.

One concrete way to participate in this year's NMW is by signing The Cabrini Pledge that appears on the USCCB website:

The Cabrini Pledge

The Cabrini Pledge on the USCCB website is both a reminder of our immigrant heritage and a call to deeper engagement with our faith in response to current events. At a time when our culture is dominated by deep political divisions and reasonable disagreements about immigration policy, progress can feel impossible. But by witnessing to the God-given dignity of every person, including the migrants and refugees in our midst, we pave the way for an approach rooted in mercy, justice, and the common good. And together, like Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, we can be keepers of hope. To take the pledge online, please click here

I PLEDGE:
• To affirm, in word and deed, the inherent dignity of every person, regardless of immigration status or country of origin, seeing each as a child of God before all else.

• To engage with Scripture and the Church’s social teaching, reflecting on the role of migration in salvation history, the history of the United States, and the history of my own family.

• To listen and learn about the circums tances facing migrants and refugees, including those in my community, with an open heart and mind.

• To seek opportunities for encounter, so as to grow in deeper understanding and communion that leads to an authentic solidarity with those in need.

• To consider what it means to be a good neighbor and how I am called to reflect the love and hope of Christ to others.

• To encourage civic dialogue that places the human person and the sanctity of families at the center of policymaking, especially toward the end of meaningful immigration reform.

• To join with Pope Leo in praying for all migrants and refugees as fellow travelers on the journey to our true homeland.
• © 2025 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops -reprinted with permission of the USCCB

 

Academic Engagements Kickstart the New CHS Year

Our teachers spent the summer enhancing their mastery and expanding their instructional impact across subjects. Several completed ACT Instructional Mastery credentials. Some earned AP Certifications while others trained in TestBright ACT/SAT Curriculum. One faculty member completed ASCA Training to better support student transitions into high school.

Our world language faculty deepened cultural immersion abroad. Dr. Loreque Colimon studied French language and culture at the Université libre de Bruxelles. Vivian Coutin explored Spain from Santiago de Compostela to Salamanca, and Maria Vargas spent a month in Madrid. Cabrini faculty also represented the school at the national AP Annual Conference in Boston.

Student Crescents made their mark across the city, nation, and globe through Xavier University’s dual enrollment program, Xavier University’s College of Pharmacy and Tulane University’s neuroscience program.
Other students trained with Broadway Artists Alliance and made sure to make time for a visit to the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Shrine, as well. Student leadership flourished at Louisiana Girls State and at the Louisiana Youth Seminar.

From Brussels and Madrid to Broadway and Louisiana leadership camps, Cabrini students spent the summer expanding their knowledge, talents, and personal impact. Our faculty and students’ collective efforts inspired our community and ensured the 2025 school year began with energy, confidence, and pride.

Continuing to Share the Birthday Bounty

 

week, Karol Brewer of the Cabrini Immigration Commission, made a delivery of school supplies, healthy snacks, toiletries and clothing items to the Norristown School District in PA that had been donated by Cabrini University and Villanova University alumni, faculty, staff, and friends to commemorate the 175th Birthday of Mother Cabrini on July 15th.

The outpouring of support was overwhelming.

Michael Evans, Family Support Specialist will oversee the distribution of these items to students of immigrant families in the district.

School Bells are Ringing!

As each child entered the room, they were greeted by resident, Sr. Wilda Asfour, who provided bags in which the children collected their bounty. All of the items were coordinated by category to make the selection process easy.

The collection was made possible by a school supplies drive that was held in the nursing home to benefit the Cabrini Kids at the Cabrini Immigrant Services Program. Throughout the month of August, residents, staff, family members, volunteers and other visitors donated various necessities to assist these children in preparing for a new school year. The response to the supplies drive was overwhelming and each child was able to take several trips around the table to collect items such as pens, pencils, binders, notebooks, crayons and so much more!

Thank you to all those who contributed to this Mission in Action event and best of luck to the Cabrini Kids as they embark on the new school year!

9/11 – A Day of Remembrance

Most people will remember exactly where they were on the morning of September 11, 2001, when they heard the news about the first of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center tower.

Some witnessed the attack firsthand in Manhattan and scrambled for shelter as debris rained down upon them. Others looked across the New York Harbor from New Jersey in horror and disbelief. Sirens wailed throughout New York City as first responders rushed to the scene threading through throngs of people dazed and injured.

The first plane hit the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. At 9:03 a.m. the second plane hit the South Tower. Then, at 9:37 a.m. a plane crashed into the Pentagon followed at 10:03 a.m. by a plane plunging into the field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Life would never be the same. Today, we remember. We remember all those who lost their lives, their loved ones, the survivors, and all those who risked their own lives to save others.

And so, we pray…

On this day of solemn remembrance:
May we honor the lives that were lost in these tragic acts.
May we give thanks for those who served and saved, rendered aid and assistance.
May we give comfort to those who live with loss.
May we seek justice and peace where it is within our ability,
and rely on you when the ability escapes us.
On this day of solemn remembrance:
May we build what has been torn down.
May we mend what has been broken.
May live your love when hate seems to reign.
May we bear witness to the cause of peace.
By Derek Weber, JesuitResource.org – Free Resources online

Creating Comfort for God’s Littlest Ones

Knitting Group at Cabrini Immigrant Services (CIS) - Dobbs Ferry, NY continues to work on outreach projects that benefit others. The group crocheted sixty octopuses for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Octopus Project. The octopuses are given to premature babies to provide them with comfort. The babies hold on to the tentacles, which resemble an umbilical cord. This helps to calm the baby down. It also distracts them from pulling on their medical equipment. In addition to comfort and security, it has been found that the babies who hold the octopus experience better breathing, more regular heart rates and improved oxygen levels.

Before donating the octopuses to the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, NY, everyone prayed over the octopuses and asked God to bless and heal all the babies who will be receiving them. We also prayed for strength for the parents who are journeying with their children.

We are so proud of our Knitting Group. They live the Cabrinian mission of bringing the love of God to others.

Music to Their Ears!

The captivating music of Liszt and Debussy has echoed around the corridors of Cabrini Malvern in the past week or so as concert pianist and Cabrini patient Pauline Pidgeon practised for her upcoming recital in the hospital Chapel.

Pauline, an acclaimed pianist who has played with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and is a Conservatorium of Music alumnus, fell and broke her pelvis late last month, but her Cabrini doctors uncovered something far more sinister after a series of scans.

“They found I have stage 2 lung cancer,” the award-winning pianist said. “I’m having radiation treatment and chemotherapy here at Cabrini, but fortunately they’ve found it’s only spread to one lymph node, so that’s good news.

“I guess God wants me to keep playing music and make more people happy.”

It’s hard not to be happy listening to Pauline play the piano and watching her fingers effortlessly glide over the keys.

Pauline, originally from regional Victoria, began playing piano before the age of three, and was recognised early as having an extraordinary gift.

“When I was growing up, I had no idea that my ability to play was anything special,” Pauline said. “It was a natural gift, but I took it for granted to be honest. I just went up to the piano and played by ear. But by the age of seven, I was playing for the school dances.”

[Years later], she made her debut as a soloist for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra playing Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 in 1966 under the baton of Sir Bernard Heinze, and even accompanied acclaimed Australian ballerina Kathleen Gorham.

Since retiring to Melbourne, Pauline has generously gifted audiences, both large and small, her incredible music, including our Cabrini patients and staff.

“Playing while I’m having my treatment is helping me,” she believes. “And I think people here at Cabrini are also enjoying listening.”

was invited to play by Cabrini’s Manager of Pastoral and Bereavement Service, Michael Taylor.

Pauline, who is still a patient on 5 West, didn’t hesitate to offer her services – until she realised something significant.

“I didn’t have any clothes and would be wearing my spotted dressing gown, so I asked Michael if that would be OK, and that’s when he told me that that our gathering hymn for the Mass was ‘Come as you Are,’” Pauline laughed.

And so, she came as she was. The wonderful Pauline went along to Mass in her spotted dressing gown and accompanied the choir during the very special service.

“It was the least I could do,” Pauline said. “Everyone here at Cabrini has been so wonderful to me – and it also gave me some valuable practice before my recital.”

To read the entire account please click

Cabrini Mission Foundation Baseball Fundraiser – A Real Grand Slam!!

 

Great company, the great American pastime, and a perfect summer evening “on deck” — Cabrini Mission Foundation’s 4th annual baseball fundraiser was a hit. Guests enjoyed ballpark favorites including hot dogs, popcorn, braided pretzels, and our new favorite: mac-and-cheese bites.

The game didn’t disappoint, with plenty of home runs and even a foul ball landing right in the suite. One lucky guest also snagged a t-shirt launched from the t-shirt cannon — a true souvenir moment.

Fittingly, it was Italian Heritage Night at the ballpark. Local Italian musicians delighted the crowd with beloved cultural tunes, and the night ended with an Italian-themed fireworks show lighting up the sky in the flag’s iconic red, white, and green.

The evening was another wonderful opportunity for Sisters, family, and friends to gather in support of a great cause — making the night a true grand slam!

 

1260 Upper Gulph Road, Wayne, PA 19087
Phone: 484-581-7163   Fax: 484-581-7164
info@mothercabrini.org