Stewardship Saint for November: Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini

St. Frances Cabrini was the first American citizen to be elevated to sainthood. Born in northern Italy in 1850, she was one of 13 children. When she was 18, she wanted to become a nun but was unable to because of poor health. She worked on a farm with family members until she was asked to teach in a girls’ school which she did for six years. Her bishop asked her to establish a religious community and she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to care for poor children in schools and hospitals.

Sister Frances Cabrini dreamt of being a missionary in China, but Pope Leo XIII had other plans for her. He asked her to come to the United States and minister to the Italian immigrant community. She made that journey in 1889 with six members of her community.

Said to have possessed remarkable administrative abilities, Frances Cabrini was responsible for the establishment of nearly seventy orphanages, schools and hospitals, scattered over eight countries in Europe, North America and in parts of Latin America.

There is much that can be learned first-hand about Mother Cabrini because of the letters and diaries she left behind. A very prayerful person, she was able to accomplish in her work what others said could not be done. And even as she was maintaining schools and hospitals and in charge of hundreds of nuns, she was ever mindful to care for the poor, the homeless and immigrants who were without jobs.

Frances Cabrini’s legacy continues today through the Missionary Sisters, their lay collaborators and in the innumerable religious institutions that bear her name. Her charism continues to inspire thousands who serve the poor in schools, hospitals and other ministries around the world.

St. Frances Cabrini died in Chicago on December 23, 1917 at the age of 67. She was proclaimed a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1946. She is the patron saint of immigrants and her feast is celebrated on November 13.

 

Stewardship Saint for October :  Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus, or Theresa of Lisieux  Because of her simple and practical way of life, Theresa of Lisieux, better known as the "Little Flower", was an extremely popular saint in the first half of the 20th century.  Born in France in 1873 to a very pious family, Marie Francoise Therese Martin became a Carmelite nun at Lisieux, France, at the age of fifteen.  She dedicated her life to growing in holiness in a very simple and straightforward way.  She meditated on the Sacred Scriptures as well as the writings of famous saints such as Theresa of Avila, Francis de Sales and John of the Cross.  She was faithful to the Carmelite Rule and the rhythm of daily worship in her religious community.  Theresa believed that authentic holiness could be grasped by anyone.  It was not just a pious ideal available only to clergy and religious.

In 1895, she suffered the initial stages of tuberculosis, the disease that eventually caused her death.  And in the last 2 years of her life she remained at Lisieux and wrote a spiritual autobiography, The Story of a Soul, which became immensely popular and was translated into several languages after her death.  She made a well known promise to spend her life in heaven continuing to do good works on earth, "as long as there were souls to be saved."  She said she would let fall a "shower of roses" from heaven.

St. Theresa died in 1897 at the age of 24.  She was canonized in 1925, an amazingly short length of time since her death.  She was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul !! in 1997.  Theresa of Lisieux is the patron saint of the missions, florists, aviators, and the countries France and Russia.  Her feast day is October 1.

Stewardship Saints for September :  The Saints of Korea

Catholicism came to Korea almost totally by lay evangelization.  Because of the secrecy involved, it is impossible to date its origin with any precision.  It may have started in the early 17th century.  for centuries, Korea was closed to outside influences, and all contact with foreigners was forbidden.  Evangelization was difficult.  No missionaries went there.  Korea refused all contact with the outside world except for an annual journey to Beijing, China, to pay taxes.  It was here that educated Koreans, hungry to learn about this outside world, obtained Catholic literature and began to study.  From these small beginnings, a home church grew.

A strong Catholic community flourished in Korea under lay leadership before and after missionary priests arrived in the early 19th century and introduced them to the sacraments.  However, Korean Catholics continued to practice their faith secretly, knowing they might be killed if they were discovered.  Catholicism was seen as a threat to the state ideology of Confucianism and during this century, over ten thousand Korean Catholics were executed with great cruelty and many others perished.  It wasn't until 1883 that religious freedom finally came to Korea.

In 1984, Pope John Paul II, canonized 103 of these Korean martyrs in Seoul, South Korea.  Most prominent among these saints are St. Andrew Kim Taegon, the first native Korean priest, St. Paul Chong Hasang, a Catholic lay leader.  The feast day for these magnificent stewards of the faith is September 20.