Journeying With The Saints

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a very short reading today as the sea is rocking so badly Mother Cabrini can't really do anything at all.

At one point, she calls a steward to ask if they should prepare for an emergency and he tells her in a calm and collected way to just 'remain calm, everything is all right."

It's a good thing she didn't get someone like me when she called because I would be freaking out. I'm not known for having a reassuring voice in intense times.

Let's go ahead and open our books to page 242.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we will hear about how fog rolls in, the air grows cold, the steamer is rocking pretty substantially, and there is an air of nervousness throughout the steamer.

Mother takes this time to speak about being thankful to Jesus. Something I've really been trying to do is to thank God when I can see that a prayer has been answered. Oftentimes, we ask God for something, but we forget to thank Him. I've been trying really hard to remember to give thanks.

Let's see what is going on out in the fog near Newfoundland by turning to page 240.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.

As we've traveled around with Mother Cabrini, you may have wondered how she handles leaving behind the things she has started up. How does she feel about starting something up and then leaving it in the care of others?

That takes a great amount of trust. I do think there are people who can handle starting something up and then once it's up and running, moving to the next thing. My husband is that way. I am not. But, each of us have our role to play.

Mother will share with us how she handles this in our reading today. So, let's turn to page 237.

Welcome to our 10th voyage with Mother Cabrini, Catholic Pilgrims. This voyage is from New York to Havre. We've made this voyage with her before but that was a decade ago. She has grown wiser and more experienced. I suspect that will show up in her writings.

Mother is plain worn out as she boards the steamer for this trip and she falls asleep as soon as she waves goodbye. Let's join her leaving the port in New York, as we turn to page 235.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the end of another voyage.

Though it is the end of the voyage, you will find that the letter is incomplete. We get no sign off as is typical of the other letters. Who can say why? Maybe the letter was destroyed or lost over time.

Anyway, it will end a bit abruptly. Obviously, Mother will have made it to New York, but we won't hear about that.

Since it is the end of a voyage, I'll be giving my reflection at the end. Let's open to page 231.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.

It just dawned on me the other day that we started this book with Mother Cabrini in the year 1890 and now we are already in 1899. Nearly a whole decade has passed.

This writing during this voyage is very different. We only get small little snapshots about what is actually going on with the trip across the Atlantic. The rest of the time, Mother Cabrini is giving her Daughters the back story of what she was doing in Europe. The first voyage we went on with her, we got lots of information about the waves, the seasickness of the Sisters, the look of creation as Mother looked out over the ocean.

This time, we don't get much of that. Maybe that's fitting because she's already spoken a lot about crossing the Atlantic.

Let's go ahead and join Mother Cabrini on a calm day at sea by turning to page 224.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. If you ever thought Mother Cabrini was lazy (which I doubt you did), today will put those thoughts to rest.

Nearly everywhere she goes, she wants to open a school, a house for Sisters, or something to help bring the faith to people. Her energy seems endless.

Today, we will hear more about her time in Paris. Let's open to page 219.

Bonjour, Catholic Pilgrims. Bienvenue. Welcome.

At the beginning of this letter, Mother Cabrini is again telling her dear daughters about what she was doing in Europe before leaving from Liverpool. We are getting up to speed, shall we say. Today, we will briefly hear about her time in Paris. Then, we will move up to the current voyage.

Let's go ahead and open to page 216.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. It's been awhile since we've had a super short reading, so today, we get a bit of a break from a longer reading.

As a reminder, this trip started on November 6th, 1899, but the date for today's reading is August 25th. The reason for this jump back in time is that Mother Cabrini is filling her daughters in on what she was doing before heading out from Liverpool. So, yesterday, we heard about how she took a retreat. Today, she's going to continue on with what she was doing after that.

Mother Cabrini gets to help do some preparation work for an upcoming pilgrimage to Lourdes that Monsignor Radini Tedeschi is taking. She doesn't get to go on the pilgrimage, but she is still helping out for just a bit.

Let's hear about this as we turn to page 215.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. As we've been traveling around with Mother Cabrini, you may have wondered, "Does this woman ever rest?"

Well, yes, she does. Today, we are going to hear about how she took a retreat when she was in Rome at the Mother House. She recognized that her body was wearing down and she just needed to be calm and rest for awhile. She understands how refreshing this is to the mind, body, and soul.

It's true. If you've ever been on a spiritual retreat, it does help to calibrate you back into a place of harmony. Even if it's only for a few days.

So, let's hear about the benefits of retreats by opening to page 210.