Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

National Catholic Sisters Week

January 25, 2020

Catholic Sisters Week, March 8-14

Catholic Sisters Week (CSW) invites all to celebrate women religious from March 8-14.

CSW is an annual celebration that began in 2014 to honor women religious with a series of events that instruct, enlighten, and bring greater focus on the lives of these incredible women. It’s a chance to recognize all that they do, with the hope that as more young women learn about women religious, more will choose to follow their example.

Visit the CSW website to learn about the organization, find an event near you and join in honoring women religious, or plan an event of your own and spread the word.

Pope Francis’ 10 Secrets to Happiness

March 12, 2015

Members of the Stella Maris Province Vocation Promotion Team (VPT) are always seeking opportunities to engage others in conversations about faith and discernment – prayerfully seeking guidance from God on all matters of life.

One such gathering happened this week at The Cottage in Radnor, PA where the MSC Mission Offices are based. VPT member Sr. Patricia Spillane shared Pope Francis’ 10 Secrets to Happiness with a small group of Cabrini College community members, CMC missioners and Mission Office staffers. Sr. Christine Marie Baltas, MSC and Sr. Grace Waters, MSC joined in the conversation.

Sr. Patricia was full of missionary zeal as she spoke about her call to religious life and the many roles she has held throughout her years as a Missionary Sister. She told the group that she has had a wonderful life – some years spent as Superior General and Assistant General of the Missionary Sisters, some years in the Philippines and early years spent on the Cabrini College campus as a student and as the Dean of Students.

Sr. Patricia led a dialogue on the 10 Secrets to Happiness by Pope Francis. Members of the group read each “secret” and a discussion ensued. For each secret, Sr. Patricia offered her own insights and wisdom. All of the participants were fully engaged in the discussion and the interaction was animated and heartfelt. We felt blessed by Sr. Patricia’s presence and so grateful for this opportunity to share these practical aspects of our faith journey.

As Sr. Patricia reminded us, “all of this challenges us to be authentic disciples of Jesus in the 21^st Century and to promote true peace and reconciliation wherever we can.”

Pope Francis’ 10 Secrets to Happiness are:

1. Live and let live. – How would your life be happier if you stopped trying to change the lives of others?

2. Be giving of yourself to others. – How have you experienced happiness through reaching out to help others?

3. Proceed calmly. – In what ways can you cultivate peacefulness in your life?

4. Develop a healthy sense of leisure .- How do you balance work and leisure in your life?

5. Make Sunday a holy day. – What kinds of things would you have to change in your life in order to reclaim Sunday as a holy day?

6. Create jobs for young people. – How can you help young people find dignity and happiness through meaningful work or service?

7. Respect and take care of nature. – What is something you can do to become a better steward of God’s creation?

8. Stop being negative. – What steps can you take to eliminate negativity in your life?

9. Respect others’ beliefs. How do you respect others’ beliefs and at the same time witness to your own.

10 Work for peace. – In what ways do you work and pray for peace?

Cabrini HIgh School Students Embark on Multi-faceted Mission Trip

March 9, 2015

A group of nine students and two chaperones from Cabrini High School in New Orleans sacrificed their Mardi Gras opting instead to go on a mission trip to Cabrini College in Radnor, PA and snowy New York City. The trip’s purpose was evangelization, direct service, and future discernment.

During the New York leg of their trip, the Cabrini High School “missioners” spent a day with the Missionary Sisters at Sacred Heart Convent, performing service at Cabrini Immigrant Services, and praying at the St. F. X Cabrini Shrine. The girls spent a second day visiting Fordham, New York University (NYU), and Columbia Universities, and Parson’s College of Design, and managed to visit Times Square to catch the Broadway Show, “On The Town.”

Next on the itinerary was Radnor, Pennsylvania where students toured Cabrini College and nearby Villanova University. At Cabrini, the girls met with several Cabrini New Orleans alumnae currently attending Cabrini College. There, they joined the Cabrini Mission Corps missioners and experienced the Cabriniana Room with many of Mother Cabrini’s most sacred artifacts. Cabrini College President Dr. Donald Taylor greeted all the participants.

A second day in Pennsylvania was spent historic Philadelphia, where the group visited Love Park, the Liberty Bell and the Reading Terminal Market.

Record snowfall – and Southwest Airlines – allowed us to spend a few extra days at Cabrini College, during which the students relaxed and reflected on the experiences of the previous days. The girls also found time to ride the subways and explore the community, ponder college life, perform service, engage in nightly reflection, and to pray. Meeting girls from other Cabrini schools on similar mission trips was a special treat, one that broadened their idea of what it means to be Cabrinian, and to live out Mother Cabrini’s legacy.