Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Bringing Christ's love to the world

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National Shrine Brims with September Events

September was a busy month for the National Shrine of St. Frances X. Cabrini in Chicago, IL.

• Our Shrine hosted our first ‘Coffee with the Exec’ on September 7th, where our community joined Laurie A Halaska, National Shrine Executive Director, to dialogue on current and future areas of focus.
• Two pilgrimages, one of 150 Hispanic pilgrims and the other of 180 Italian Americans visited our Shrine on September 13th and September 21st respectively. Both groups were treated to an in-depth tour of our chapel, museum area, Mother Cabrini’s room and meditation garden, followed by Mass.
• Two different speakers joined us after our 10 am Mass.
o Sr Patricia Godoy, MSC, General Councilor, visited on September 14th and shared her excitement about her time in Rome with the many young people at the Jubilee Week for Young People.
o Fr Corey Brost, CSV, who is the Executive Director of Viator House of Hospitality for young men seeking asylum joined us on September 28th. Fr Corey shared the work he and his staff are doing to promote interfaith relationships, reverence and leadership.
• Finally, the month of September ended with our annual dinner/fundraiser, Pilgrims of Hope, held on September 25th. Final amounts are still being calculated but we anticipate that well over $100,000 has been raised due to the generosity of our attendees and sponsors.
These and other happenings at our Shrine can be found here:

Meditation and Art Create Connections

Last week, four members of our Justice for Immigrants program, Silvia, Ciria, Antioneta, and Angeles led a workshop titled “Memoria y Archivo” – “Memory and Archive” at the Mexican Consulate. The session began with a guided meditation inviting participants to create a narrative about a place in their mind. Participants then worked on art projects that encouraged reflection on how we understand and tell the stories of where we come from.

As part of the workshop, we printed photos of our homes onto fabric pieces that will be sewn together, symbolizing how our homes, stories, and lives are connected. ~submitted by Amelia Scdoris, Justice for Immigration Coordinator, Cabrini Immigrant Services, NYC

October – the Month of the Holy Rosary

October is recognized as the Month of the Holy Rosary in the Catholic Church. This month-long devotion is intended to encourage the faithful to pray and meditate on the lives of Christ and Mary.

This devotion emphasizes seeking the Blessed Virgin Mary’s intercession for protection of the Church and for personal intentions.

The practice of the daily rosary is encouraged for promoting peace in families, communities and throughout the world. Mary, Our Blessed Lady, in her appearance to the children at Fatima, urged the daily recitation of the rosary for world peace.

In the late 19th century, Pope Leo XIII enthusiastically promoted the rosary by issuing multiple encyclicals on the devotion. It was he who officially dedicated this month – October – to its devotion.

This week, Pope Leo XIV implored people to pray the rosary daily for peace in our world.

To learn more about Pope Leo’s appeal please click here

CAVS Social Justice Ambassadors host CIS on Zoom

The Cabrini Social Justice Ambassadors of the Cabrini University CAVS (Cabrini Alumni, Volunteers and Supporters) under the direction of Dr. Jerry Zurek, former Chair of the Communications Department, hosted a Zoom with Cabrini Immigrant Services (CIS) leaders Lorraine Campanelli, Director of Cabrini Immigrant Services, Dobbs Ferry, NY and Amelia Scdoris, Justice for Immigrants Coordinator, at Cabrini Immigrant Services-NYC.

With small-but-mighty staffs, Lorraine and Amelia shared the many services and outreaches that CIS-Dobbs Ferry, NY and CIS-NYC provide for immigrants ranging from reading programs for children, to nutrition classes, to food pantries, to field trips for families, to help with citizenship test preparation, to assistance with visas.

The Cabrini Immigrant Services staff members also provide educational programs on knowing your rights as well as active engagement in rallies and advocacy with legislators.

This was the sixth in a series of social justice webinars sponsored by the CAVS Social Justice Ambassadors.

DC Archbishop, Sisters Denounce Assault of Migrants

~ by Rhina Guidos, Global Sisters Report

Cardinal Robert McElroy wasted no time pointing out that this year's World Day for Migrants and Refugees is not like the others — at least not in the U.S.

"For this year we are confronting — both as a nation and as a church — an unprecedented assault upon millions of immigrant men and women and families in our midst," McElroy said during a Sept. 28 homily at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, as the archdiocese in the nation's capital observed the church event that celebrates, on Oct. 4-5 this year, the resilience of displaced people around the world.

Though McElroy has been steadily defending migrants, the archbishop of Washington on Sunday focused on the government's actions that kept many in his flock from attending the event, following reports of catechists and ministers detained on their way to Sunday Mass and other church activities.

No one argues that removing those convicted of serious crimes is a legitimate national goal, McElroy said, but the way he sees it, what the administration is doing in Washington and the rest of the country has a different goal.

During a procession — from Washington's predominantly immigrant Shrine of the Sacred Heart to Mass at the cathedral that hosts Masses for government officials and workers — women religious and priests shared anecdotes about massive drops in church attendance, parishioners detained and others afraid of leaving their homes.

Holy Cross Sister Ruth Nickerson said she took part in the procession to "support the migrants and refugees, especially those who are being disappeared in our own city here in D.C. We're hoping that the prayer and coming together will help people to understand that this is really about human rights for everyone."

To read the entire account, please click here
~ article by Rhina Guidos reprinted with permission from Global Sisters Report

Refugees & Migrants in Our Common Home’ Conference

From October 1–3, 2025, just before the Jubilee for Migrants (October 4–5), a 'Refugees & Migrants in Our Common Home,' conference is being held in Rome. This will be the first in-person gathering of a three-year initiative uniting higher education institutions, NGOs, and community partners to address the urgent realities of migration and displacement.

Michele Pistone, is the law professor at Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law, and founding faculty director of Villanova's just-launched Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration.

The Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration will be based on the Villanova University CABRINI Campus, the site of the former Cabrini University in Radnor, Pennsylvania. Attending the conference in Rome are several Missionary Sisters.

 

World Day for Migrants and Refugees

The World Day of Migrants and Refugees is a Catholic Church event established in 1914 to bring attention to the challenges of migration, raise awareness about the opportunities migration offers, and encourage prayer and action for migrants and refugees worldwide.

To read a message from Pope Leo XIV on the World Day for Migrants and Refugees please click here

 

Celebrating Distinguished CHS Scholars

AP Scholar Awards
• AP Scholar: 10 students earned recognition by receiving scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams.
• AP Scholar with Honor: 4 students earned this award by maintaining an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on four or more exams.
• AP Scholar with Distinction: 3 students achieved this honor by maintaining an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on five or more exams.

AP Club of Excellence
This honor recognizes students who earned a 4 or 5 on any AP Exam during their time at Cabrini. This year, 16 students were inducted, representing excellence across a wide range of subjects including AP English Literature & Composition, AP English Language & Composition, AP Psychology, AP World History, AP U.S. History, AP Biology, and AP Spanish Language & Culture. We also proudly recognize our Cabrinian educators whose commitment to preparing students for success makes these achievements possible.

College Board National Recognition Program
Cabrini High School is also proud to celebrate juniors and seniors who earned the 2025 College Board National Recognition Program Award for their exceptional academic accomplishments. To qualify, students must take the PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, and/or AP exams by the end of 10th grade, maintain a GPA of 3.3 or higher, and demonstrate academic excellence by either scoring among the top 10% of test takers or earning a score of 3 or higher on two or more AP exams taken in 8th–10th grade.

This prestigious recognition reflects not only their academic strength but also their determination and Cabrini spirit. We are thrilled to honor these outstanding Crescents for representing Cabrini on a national level.

Jubilee for Consecrated Life

The Holy See has designated a number of Jubilee Days throughout 2025 to recognize and celebrate different groups of people and various ministries in the Church. The Jubilee of Consecrated Life will be held from Wednesday, October 8, to Thursday, October 9, 2025.

Consecrated life is the permanent state of life in which a person deepens their baptismal consecration through profession of the three evangelical counsels: poverty, chastity, and obedience (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 915-930).

Consecrated men and women, “like the Apostles... have left everything behind in order to be with Christ and to put themselves, as he did, at the service of God and their brothers and sisters” (Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Vita Consecrata, no. 1).

Through a commitment to a form of life patterned on Christ, "the consecrated life thus becomes one of the tangible seals which the Trinity impresses upon history, so that people can sense with longing the attraction of divine beauty" (Ibid., no. 20). Consecrated persons, in a “spirit of the beatitudes,” visibly witness to the Church and the world the invisible reality of heaven (Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, no. 3).

In lives engaged in active ministry or in hidden prayer, consecrated men and women perpetually proclaim the Gospel by virtue of their consecration.

Next week, Missionary Sisters from across the worldwide Cabrinian Institute will travel to Rome for the Jubilee. There will be 25 Sisters from the Guadalupe Province alone in attendance. ~ USCCB website

To learn more and to access resources about the Jubilee of Consecrated Life please click here

Cabrinian Communicators Attend Virtual Seminar

Those in the global MSC Institute who are responsible for communications gathered via Zoom on Wednesday, September 24th for the first of a seven-part instructional seminar on communications sponsored by the MSC Generalate in Rome.

The first session was entitled The Foundations and was presented by Sr. Therese Raad, a Sister of Charity of Sr. Jeanne Antide Thouret, and covered such topics as: ● Why do we communicate externally? ● What are different ways we can communicate externally? ● What are the essentials for good external communication? ● How to develop priorities in building a communication function. ● Building a shared language and vision for Cabrini communication.

In future sessions the instructional course will address deepening the Cabrinian heritage, storytelling, and practical elements of communications.

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