Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Bringing Christ's love to the world
Hundreds of students and pilgrims made their way to the St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in Upper Manhattan on Wednesday for Mass to mark the feast day of a saint who changed New York.
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Mother Cabrini Feast Day Mass
11.13.24
Photo: Tyler Kaufman
Cabrini High School in New Orleans enjoyed an unforgettable Mother Cabrini Week,
a heartfelt celebration of Mother Cabrini’s enduring legacy of faith and service. The week overflowed with activities honoring Mother Cabrini’s influence and impact on our community, culminating in moments of reflection, generosity, and lots of school-wide fun.
Each day highlighted a class mascot—Hearts, Doves, Violets, Stars, and Angels—symbols drawn from the school crest and Mother Cabrini’s life experiences. Students, faculty, and staff also participated in lunchtime activities, from chalk art depicting Mother Cabrini’s life to trivia games, and crafting paper boats with violets, inspired by Mother Cabrini’s childhood imagination of missionary journeys. The celebration also featured an Italian-American heritage table, honoring her Italian roots. The week was capped off with moments of quiet reflection in the Sacred Heart Chapel for adoration and personal prayer.
A special Feast Day Mass brought the entire Cabrini family together, where alumnae from the Class of 1974 received their 50-year pins, designed to reflect Mother Cabrini’s devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. During the Mass, interim president Deacon Durr announced his new leadership role and later that evening shared thrilling news: a multimillion-dollar investment by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to enhance Cabrini High School’s campus and educational facilities.
Within days, construction cranes arrived, marking the start of an exciting chapter on the holy ground where Mother Cabrini lived, worked, and prayed.
The week concluded with the Love Your Neighbor Food Drive, embodying Mother Cabrini’s example of service. Proceeds supported Love Your Neighbor NOLA, a nonprofit founded by Nadia Sanchez, Class of 2005, in honor of her mother, who was tragically lost to violence in 2018. The organization disrupts cycles of trauma and violence through acts of love and radical generosity, bringing hope to underserved communities.
A truly special thanks to Campus Minister Ms. Nicole Jouandot and the extraordinary Campus Ministry Team of students for organizing this faith-filled week, and to everyone who joined in celebrating Cabrini High School’s heritage and legacy of service in action.
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Sue Williams, the CEO of Cabrini Health in Australia, advised that the Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Hub Service won a Commonwealth award for our primary care team of GPs and refugee health nurses in the category of “Ensuring all Australians have access to quality healthcare, wherever they live”.
This is an outstanding achievement given there were more than 140 submissions for this award, which was presented in Canberra by Prime Minister Albanese. Mark Butler Minister for Health and Ged Kearney Assistant Minister for Health were also in attendance.
On Friday, November 8, St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in Upper Manhattan welcomed approximately 150 newly-arrived immigrants for a special Mass to introduce them to Mother Cabrini, Patroness of Immigrants. Bishop Edmund Whalen, who has visited the Shrine since he was as a young boy, gladly celebrated.
The joy and hope in the chapel was palpable. After the Mass, a spread of empanadas and pupusas provided ample opportunity for community and conversation. One comment overheard between a visitor and his priest (translated from Spanish), “We don’t have a statue of Mother Cabrini in our church! We need to get one!”
The reply: “Absolutely!”
The National Shrine of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini welcomed over 170 people for the Fra Noi pilgrimage on September 15, 2024. Fra Noi Editor Paul Basile organized the pilgrimage to the National Shrine. The Shrine welcomed Italian Americans from several different areas across Chicagoland. They came from Casa Italia, Highwood Bocce Club and the Old Neighborhood Club for Mass, tours of the Shrine, and a visit to the gift shop. A classic Italian feast, prepared and executed by Mr. Ron Onesti, President of Onesti Entertainment Corporation was enjoyed after Mass.
Monsignor Ken Velo, who celebrated Mass, is chairman of the Big Shoulders Fund, and DePaul’s university liaison to the archdiocese Catholic life. He gave an inspiring homily on the extraordinary and tireless work of Mother Cabrini in Chicago and beyond.
Fra Noi Magazine has been the cultural magazine in Chicagoland for the Italian American community for many decades. It was started in April of 1960 as a newsletter for an elderly facility in Melrose Park, Illinois. Since its meager beginning as a newsletter, it has very quickly morphed into a magazine read by thousands, but it had remained a newsletter for many years.
The editor of Fra Noi, Paul Basile, has published articles on St. Frances Cabrini several times in the past few years. Those articles have stimulated a great deal of renewed interest and memories of stories about Mother Cabrini among Chicagoland’s Italian community, as they recall the devotion their parents and grandparents had for Chicago’s own saint. Many of their ancestors actually knew Mother Cabrini and were beneficiaries of her kindness and love at the “three C’s” —Columbus Hospital, Cabrini Hospital, and Cuneo Hospital, as well as Assumption School.
It was a very special day at the Shrine, as excited attendees were embraced once again by the love of Mother Cabrini. Many of them expressed that they were so grateful to come to the place they had heard about since they were little children, and that they enjoyed themselves immensely. Paul Basile reported that everyone thought it was an extraordinary pilgrimage and would like to make it an annual event.
The Cabrini Choir and St. Joseph’s Music Ministry’s Soiree at Cabrini Chapel Malvern raised $2400 for the Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project.
The event, attended by 180 people, continues a decade-long tradition of support.
Sr. Brigid Arthur praised the arts’ role in creating a better world.
The collaboration aligns with St. Frances Cabrini’s mission as Patron Saint of Immigrants.
Cabrini Outreach also supports refugees through their Health Hub in Northcote.
The National Shrine of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, located in Chicago, undertook a backpack initiative to benefit underprivileged children in the city of Chicago who are preparing for school. Recently, volunteers who attended Mass at the Shrine joined with Sister Laura Baldini, MSC to assemble the backpacks to be distributed before school started. Over 120 backpacks were filled with school supplies and distributed. This was done with the partnership of the national charity Cradles to Crayons, which helps to provide essentials for daily living to underprivileged children from birth to age 12.
This backpack initiative was motivated by Mother Cabrini and her work as an educator and servant of God through helping children. The Shrine presented this initiative to its congregation. The response was nothing short of amazing. The Shrine had a goal of 100 backpacks, with a $30 donation for each backpack. In two weeks, The National Shrine of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was able to provide 120 backpacks filled with school supplies donated to Cradles to Crayons.
With the help of several volunteers, we were able to buy the necessary supplies for the backpacks, as well as assemble them and drive them over to Cradles to Crayons Chicago branch.
Cradles to Crayons is a wonderful organization that has a branch here in Chicago. Their [focus] is to provide children with necessities they need for daily living. Their efficient and effective 3 step model helps to provide these items to children free of charge. This model includes new and gently used items that are donated through fundraising, and corporate donations; donations that are packed and distributed by volunteers in their warehouse; as well as packages from the Giving Factory, their warehouse, that are distributed to local children in need.
Our Shrine’s goal for 2025 is to partner directly with a Catholic school in an underprivileged area and provide backpacks to multiple grades.
Cabrini Malvern’s Patient Services Volunteer Team shone brightly at the City of Stonnington’s 2024 Volunteer Awards, clinching the Community Group Award. The spotlight fell on four exceptional volunteers: Katina Yiannoudes, Isabel Kashyap, Jacquelyn Segal, and June Downes, whose combined service spans an impressive 60 years.
These remarkable women have touched countless lives across Cabrini Malvern, from the Emergency Department to the Cancer Wellness Centre. Their adaptability, warmth, and genuine care have been a constant comfort to patients and staff alike.
Recognised for their kind demeanour and heartfelt interest in others, this quartet embodies the true spirit of volunteering. They’ve mastered the art of putting patients at ease, proving that sometimes, the most powerful medicine is a caring presence.
Cabrini celebrates these unsung heroes who elevate the patient experience, one compassionate gesture at a time.
The ongoing war in the Holy Land and its surrounding region has brought immense suffering to people worldwide, including many members of the Catholic Church. What is happening, and how is the Church impacted? We invite you to join us for a Mass for Peace in the Holy Land—and a special time of prayer, discussion, and worship. This gathering will create a space to support Catholics from the countries affected, as well as space for those who grieve and pray on behalf of the region.
The night will feature guest speakers Salem Farmand, a Palestinian Catholic and Campaign Manager for the Archdiocese of New York, and Mother Jesus Doliente, SSVM, whose community serves the sole Catholic parish in Gaza. Both will share insights into the challenges faced by the Church in the Holy Land from a Catholic, personal, and community perspective. The evening will conclude with Adoration with prayerful music led by Catholic musician artist Brianne Nealon.
For two days this week the retreat room at St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in New York is a happy mess, as neighbors bring in their gently-used clothing, toys, and housewares. Tomorrow we will take all the donations down to the Armory, where they will become part of the merchandise at the Uptown Wagon FreeStore.
The FreeStore is an event that is entirely run by volunteers. The concept is “give what you can, take what you need.” There is no charge for anything. Many of the ‘shoppers’ are new immigrants or people on minimal incomes. The layout is carefully set up to look like an actual store, where customers are treated with respect.
This is the third time the Shrine has acted as a drop-off point for donations for the FreeStore. Making it easy for our neighbors to give to others is, we think, part of being a good neighbor ourselves.