On Friday, June 12, 2015, the Administration and staff Cabrini of Westchester celebrated the Feast of the Sacred Heart with a beautiful Mass in the Chapel. Several Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as well as four Cabrini Lay Missionaries donned red corsages and renewed their vows and commitments to Jesus and the work of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini. A celebratory luncheon followed in the Board Room.
June 12th is the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Ad Majorem Gloriam Sacratissimi Cordis Jesu
In this Cabrinian motto, “for the greater glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” we understand the passion of Mother Cabrini for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: a passion which pervaded her whole missionary life and which overflowed into everything that she did and wrote.
Mother Cabrini fully corresponded with the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which motivated her to translate into action the mystical experience of loving communion with Jesus.
For Mother Cabrini, words, movements, and thoughts were the field of action in which the Heart of Jesus could work especially in people who were open in expectant faith and love. Those who love Jesus are happy when He is loved by others. ~ Remembering the Journey
On this Feast of the Sacred Heart, we give thanks for the abiding faith, zeal and activism of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Cabrini Lay Missionaries.
May His Sacred Heart bless you always!
Advocacy Day – Anti Human Trafficking
The Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition joined with advocates from all over Pennsylvania at the Capitol Building in Harrisburg on Tuesday, June 9th, to visit legislators to discuss Senator Greenleaf and Senator Leach’s upcoming Safe Harbor Bill to protect minors who have been trafficked.
What does Safe Harbor do?
S.B. 851 would require law enforcement to report to the Department of Human Services any encounter with a minor who has been subject to sexual exploitation. The Department will develop and implement a state-wide protocol to deliver safe long-term housing, education, life-skills training, and counseling to the children who have been exploited. The bill would require that police be trained to identify and assist sexually exploited children. Most importantly, the bill would require that sexually exploited children be diverted from the criminal justice system to more appropriate human services.
Senator Daylin Leach (shown at podium) said, “There is no such thing as a child prostitute. There are only victims and survivors of child rape. S.B. 851 would establish a non-punitive response for juvenile sex-trafficking victims, and provide them with support to address their trauma and specialized services, which would be partially funded through enhanced penalties for traffickers, facilitators, and patrons of prostitution wherein the victim was a minor. Juveniles involved in sex-trafficking are already considered crime victims under international and federal law. Pennsylvania must advance anti-human trafficking reforms such as this legislation to protect these innocent children.”
Sharing an experience of Guatemala
It was the start of the Memorial Day weekend. When so many people were beginning the unofficial start of summer, many of our adult tutors and friends attended an ev
ening presentation on Guatemala. Sr. Christine Marie Baltas, MSC, from Cabrini College in Radnor, PA, presented her experience while in Guatemala with a college class.
Cabrini Immigrant Services in Dobbs Ferry, NY, serves a large population of people from Guatemala. It was felt that we needed to know more about the people we serve and what better way to learn than by someone who has had the experience of being in their country of origin.
Throughout Sr. Christine Marie’s presentation, we were brought to different areas of Guatemala. We saw how the people of Guatemala live. They experience injustice in so many ways. The people have been deprived of food and water, things that we take for granted. One could understand their fears especially when they arrive in a new country.
Sr. Christine Marie shared some of the student’s videos of their experiences on You-Tube. You can tell that each of them were touched in a very deep way through this experience. We, too, were affected very deeply by the presentation. Those who attended have asked that we meet again to share all that we learned. I believe that this presentation opened our eyes even more to what our clients have dealt with in their lives.
Thank you Sr. Christine Marie for sharing your experience with us!
Joy Abounds at Profession of Vows
Joy! Joy! Joy!
No other word can sum up what the perpetual profession of Sr. Laura Baldini, MSC was like. Even before the day – May 31st – came, our house was filled with greeting the many guests for the occasion. The guests came from Argentina (Laura’s home country), Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Rome, and the United States. Among the guests from Argentina were Laura’s mother and aunt.
The mix and mash of English-Spanish, Spanish-English reverberated everywhere and always with a joyful sound. It gave us here in the U.S. a great opportunity to get to know our Latin American Sisters.
When the time came for the vow ceremony all plugged into the prayer and the solemnity of the occasion. There were three con-celebrants: Fr. Kirk Reynolds, S.J. and the two OFM Caps: Fr. Thomas Faiola and Fr. Michael Ramos. The chapel was full – downstairs and up in the choir loft. The liturgy was bi-lingual and inclusive.
After liturgy, all were treated to a sumptuous meal where the camaraderie continued with festive joy.
Join us in praying the Sacred Heart Novena
red Heart is celebrated this year on Friday, June 12th. Please join the Missionary Sisters and the Cabrinian community in praying the novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.MSC Offices Celebrate One Year Anniversary
Last year, just as the Cabrini College graduates were leaving campus, the moving vans were arriving and a series of over 50 campus office re-locations was about to begin. First up, the move of the MSC Mission Offices from the College’s historic Mansion to the Cottage located on the northwest corner of campus.
After a spectacular renovation of the property by the College’s Facilities Department, The Cottage was ready for us. It’s hard to believe that a year has gone by! Given the natural setting of the Cottage, we have delighted in all four seasons here.
Fittingly, on this Monday, we had international MSC visitors with us to help commemorate this happy occasion. Sr. Lucy Panettieri, MSC, Provincial Councilor, brought
Sr. Laura Baldini, MSC, Sr. Hanna Dima, MSC and Sr. Amarech Herego, MSC for a visit to Radnor. They toured the campus and met many members of the College community who impressed the Sisters with their mission spirit. They also spent time at the Cottage. Following their visit to the Cottage, Sr. Lucy and the sisters travelled to Langhorne, PA for a visit with Sr. Arlene Primus, MSC and Sr. Stephanie Kabacinski. MSC.
Another exciting development at the Cottage is the inauguration of a new container garden. The backyard of the Cottage is blessed with southern exposure. The sunlight streams down all day. When Cabrini College acquired the property, the vestiges of a vegetable garden were in place. Over the course of the past year, the MSC Mission Offices staffers had dreamed of reconstituting the garden in order to grow vegetables for the various shelters in the nearby city of Norristown with whom the College’s Wolfington Center for Service partners. Collaborating with Wolfington Center Director Tom Southard, “Francesca’s Garden” as Sr. Grace Waters has dubbed it, will provide fresh produce for the guests at these various organizations.
In consultation with Gus Feudale, the head groundskeeper at Cabrini College, and Cabrini student Stan Thompson, plans have been developed to prepare a full vegetable garden for which the prep work will begin later this summer. Members of the College community will be invited to work in the garden and the future bounty will be given to Catholic Social Services of Montgomery County, PA, the Norristown Hospitality Center and Coordinated Homeless Outreach Center (CHOC ) and other homeless shelters with whom the College has an on-going relationship.
Jumpstarting the garden this month was the gift of heirloom tomato plants from Cabrini College alumna and trustee Elizabeth Riley Bell ’69 and her husband Ray. Elizabeth delivered the plants cultivated by her husband to campus and Gus Feudale took it from there. Different varieties of heirloom tomato plants are now in place in large containers at the Cottage made secure from the many deer and fox visitors that frequent the property.
Spire of Mother Cabrini to be restored in Milan
NY Times columnist Michael Luongo has written an article which will appear in this Sunday’s Times. It tells the story of why Mother Cabrini — her statue atop one of dozens of saint spires on the Duomo — was picked for special restoration efforts this year.
For Milan’s Duomo, beauty has its price. The city’s massive Gothic cathedral on which construction began in 1386, is undergoing a restoration, and the marble that provides its celebrated luster is a particular challenge.
Monsignor Gianantonio Borgonovo, president of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano, the organization that has been responsible for the cathedral’s construction and maintenance since 1387, said: “Restoration is the main work for the Fabbrica, because this marble from Candoglia is not hard. In 50 years, in maximum one century, you have to change all the stones.”
The marble, which is quarried in Candoglia, near Lake Maggiore, about 65 miles northwest of Milan, “is not so strong as Carrara marble,” which is more commonly used in Italy, he said.
Milan’s Duomo is among the world’s largest churches and took nearly five centuries to complete. It will receive renewed attention throughout Milano Expo which began last week and will run through October 31.
A statue of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, which adorns one of the cathedral’s 135 spires, is also about to undergo restoration. Mother Cabrini was born in Lombardy, the province of which Milan in the capital. She lived and worked in New York beginning in 1889, Pope Leo XIII to help the Italian immigrants. She died in 1917 in Chicago, and in 1946 became the first American citizen to be canonized.
The restoration of Mother Cabrini’s statue is the centrepiece of a crowdfunding campaign by the International Patrons of Duomo di Milano, a United States charity created in 2014 that works with the Fabbrica to raise funds for maintenance of the cathedral. Called the Save the Saint, the campaign was launched in conjunction with ForItaly.org, which works to preserve Italian cultural heritage. The group met its $150,000 target for the Cabrini spire and has a fund-raising goal of $1 million.
Alessandra Pellegrini, chief development officer for the Patrons, said 23 percent of Duomo visitors are from the United States, which is why the Italian-born American saint was chosen for the campaign. She added that by visiting the cathedral, “Americans can understand how deep and rich is the culture and history around Milano.
To raise awareness of the restoration, the statue of St. Lucia and gargoyles from one of the Duomo’s spires are displayed in the Eataly food complex in New York City. Dino Borri, an Eataly partner, said the company donated $100,000 to the Patrons for the Duomo project.
Some of our Update readers may recall the appearance of Sr. MaryAnn Hawes, MSC as our spokesperson at there US kickoff and fundraiser earlier this year.
To read Michael Luongo’s article in its entirety: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/08/travel/anticipating-a-crowd-milans-cathedral-undergoes-a-restoration.html?_r=0
Serving with the Sisters – Celebrating The Year of Consecrated Life
In celebration and commemoration of Pope Francis’s declaration of this year being the Year of Consecrated Life, the National Religious Vocations Conference Region 3 hosted an inter-congregational day of service on Sunday, May 3rd in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.
Sisters from eight religious congregations and young adults were invited to join each other in serving communities in need of some TLC and what a beautiful day we had!
We kicked off the day at 11 a.m. with a gathering at Community Center at Visitation where we had a lovely “sending forth” with our groups to our respective worksites. The air was palpable with excitement for what the day was to hold for each of us.
When I signed up for the event, I really had no idea what kind of impact we were going to have on the communities in which we were going to be serving. [However, due to the cadre of volunteers] La Salle Academy now has fresh, new ground murals of the United States and the world, a new foursquare court, and a beautiful hopscotch court. Several local churches have fresh coats of paint on their walls and doors and the Providence Center has a charming community garden.
I had the great honor of floating from worksite to worksite, taking photos of what was being done at each place. Leaving each site, my heart was filled with joy and gratitude to be able to witness the good work that was being done with a shared objective – to permeate each location with the insurmountable love, joy, and hope of Jesus. Throughout the day, a verse from the book of Matthew kept coming to mind – “For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them.” What a privilege to serve alongside Jesus.
Around 3:00 p.m., we once again gathered at the Community Center at Visitation for pizza, snacks, and group sharing. The room buzzed with enthusiastic chatter as each person described their individual experiences from the day. Throughout the time of sharing, there existed a common thread of beauty seen in these communities that have been hit so hard by poverty; beauty in the people they encountered, beauty in the sites themselves, and beauty in the experience of service. Each reflection contained not only pride in the work that had been done, but a sense of privilege to have been a part of it all. With humble gratitude, I can say that I am so very blessed to have had this opportunity to serve alongside so many beautiful servants of the Lord. What a privilege, indeed! ~ submitted by CMC missioner Ashley Block
Love through Service – Cabrini Mission Corps Holds Fundraiser
The Cabrini family knows no boundaries, and the Cabrini Mission Corps has long embodied this beautiful characteristic of our community. On the evening of Friday, April 17th, the Woodcrest Mansion at Cabrini College came alive with the energy of current and former missioners, board members, family, and friends in celebration. In reflecting upon her experience with the young men and women who have served alongside the Missionary Sisters, Sr. Diane Olmstead, MSC, beautifully captured what the gathering was meant to recognize in the Cabrini Mission Corps: relationship.
As current missioners Ashley Block, Martin Garcia, Matt Kaehler, and Connor White each offered a moment of reflection on their experiences with Cabrini Mission Corps, it was clear that Sr. Diane had hit the nail on the head.
“Cabrini College challenges us to do something extraordinary, but Cabrini Mission Corps challenges us to be something extraordinary,” shared Martin Garcia. Cabrini Mission Corps, for those currently or formerly involved with the program, has served as an extraordinary source of love for the world around it. As Sr. Christine Marie Baltas, MSC, phrases it, these young men and women, “bloom where they are planted.” The beautiful presence of relationship continues to blossom wherever missioners find themselves planted.
An enormous credit for the evening must be handed to our beloved director, Gina Scarpello, whose guidance has seen to the growth and presence of Cabrini Mission Corps for years. Throughout the evening, a slideshow displaying photos of former and current missioners all over the world played as a backdrop to the festivities. Each smiling face in these photos served as testament to the life and love, which Gina has infused into the Cabrini Mission Corps.
Another huge thank you is to be directed towards the people who supported the mission through the event. Proceeds from the evening will go to support future missioners in their endeavors to be bearers of the love of Christ in the world.
As Friday evening showed, the Cabrini family knows no boundaries for the love that it cultivates. Music, food, and drink were accompanied by conversation and laughter, but one thing stole the evening more so than any of those: relationship.