Journeying With The Saints

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Okay, today we begin reading the first of three separate letters written to the Teacher's College in Rome.

I went to look up this college on the internet and here is some information that I found:

"Mother Cabrini established a Teacher's College in Rome as part of her broader educational and missionary work. This college aimed to train teachers who would not only impart knowledge but also shape character and morals, reflecting her belief that education should reform manners and educate the heart."

Today, we will read Part One of the letter, starting on page 297 and ending for the day on 302. Let's go ahead and begin.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Last time, we read Part One of Chapter 14 and today we will read the second half. I mentioned last time that this was awesome for me to read, as I was just at Mother Cabrini's Shrine in Golden, Colorado.

I think you will like today's reading; it has interesting bits of information about the conditions of the people in Colorado. After our reading, I will give my reflection, as this is the end of a letter.

Let's go ahead and open our books to page 290 and start where it says "The diocese of Denver…"

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I'm glad to have you with me.

So, today, we are reading a letter that Mother Cabrini wrote to her daughters filling them in on the inauguration of the house in Denver. So, the Mother Cabrini Shrine right outside Denver is what she is referring to and it's what I talked about yesterday in Episode 99.

I recently visited the Mother Cabrini Shrine and it is the site of the school and house that she started there. Like I said yesterday, it's a very special place and if you get the chance, you should definitely go see it.

So, since this is a longer letter, we are going to break it up. Today, we will read Part One. Tomorrow, we will read Part Two. For today, we will start on page 285 and read to near the end of 290.

Let's go ahead and get started by turning to page 285.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back to the last reading from this voyage. This is actually the last letter we are going to read that is designated as being on a voyage from one place other than another.

Mother Cabrini is going to talk a lot about obedience. It's something the Saints bring up pretty frequently. Humility and obedience are two of the virtues that Saints talk about all the time and it makes sense as they go hand-in-hand.

This particular letter, also, is incomplete, but we will end it and have a short reflection from me.

Let's open to page 281.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims.

Fog has rolled in and the doctor on board feels terrible with seasickness. Mother Cabrini is not a sailor, she is an old pro on the sea. In fact, she's told us many times that she feels best when on the sea, which is interesting for someone with a fear of water.

Let's join her on this foggy day by turning to page 280.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Good to have you with me today.

After a short stop at a port in Ireland, Mother Cabrini is off to New York. Some of her Sisters fall ill to seasickness and, man, do I get that.

My family went to Catalina Island one year for our anniversary and you have to ride a boat to get there. So, we left the small port in LA and off we went. It's about a 40-minute ride. Well, I was super worried that I was going to get sea sick, so I had heard that peppermint oil can help stave if off. There I was with my bottle of essential oil, just sniffing away at it. Whether it tricked my mind or it really worked, I didn't get sea sick.

I even shared it with some other passengers. I wish I could give some to the poor Sisters in our reading today.

It's a longer letter, so lets go ahead and get started. Please turn to page 274.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.

Mother is in London and it just so happens that she is there right at the time when the ceremony for the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra is about to take place. Their coronation took place on August 9th, 1902, so you can see that she was there just days before. Naturally, the city of London is full of people.

King Edward and Queen Alexandra are the parents of King George VI who came after them. And, as we all know, King George VI was the father of Queen Elizabeth II who died three years ago at the time of this recording. She died in 2022. It's crazy to think that much time has already passed.

Anyway, we have a short reading today and let's begin by turning to page 273.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. It is time to travel with Mother Cabrini from London to New York.

Today, in the letter, Mother Cabrini is going to make mention of persecutions happening in France to Catholics. I'm really only familiar with the French Revolution and the persecutions that happened then, but it's 1902 in our reading for today. So, it can't be the French Revolution.

I went to look it up. Yes, between the years of 1900-1906, there was intense persecutions in France targeting the Catholic Church and specifically religious orders. It stems from a law passed in 1900 called the Associations Law of 1901. This law, passed because secularism was on the rise and anti-clerical sentiment, severely restricted the activities of religious orders, including requiring them to register as associations and limiting their ability to operate schools and other institutions.

So, based off what I found in researching this, many Catholic schools and institutions were closed. The Jesuits were expelled because they are a teaching order in many ways and the State couldn't have that.

I wanted to bring this to you attention so that you understand the context of today's letter. To be honest, the negative effects of the French Revolution and this persecution that Mother writes about can still be seen in France today.

Let's go ahead and open to page 271 and begin.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome!

So, we just finished up the voyage that brought Mother Cabrini to Buenos Aires and now we are starting one that takes her from Buenos Aires to Genoa.

It's August of 1901, so about nine months from when she landed. This is just one letter. It's unfinished, but there is only one date entry. That means we will read the whole thing today and then I'll give my reflection. That'll be the end of this voyage.

Mother Cabrini is going to talk about visiting a church called Our Lady of the Candelaria or more appropriately, La iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria. It's in Rio de Janeiro. She talks about counting the candle sticks that are shaped like a pyramid. I went to go see if I could find pictures of the church and, sure enough, Mother Cabrini's description is spot on. I'll link it in the show notes.

So, let's get started by turning to page 265.

Candelaria Church: https://www.candelariario.org.br/galeria-de-fotos/

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a long reading today and it's also the end of a voyage…sort of. This letter and voyage are incomplete, so we never really hear about Mother Cabrini getting to Buenos Aires. Because it's the end, we also have my reflection.

We've got a lot to cover today, so let's get started by opening to page 258.