Journeying With The Saints

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, Mother Cabrini and a few of the Sisters get an opportunity to go into the city of Gibraltar for a few hours. Their hope is to get to Mass, but, unfortunately, the priests have all left for dinner.

What I didn't realize is that Gibraltar is still a British Territory. If you were to look at a map of Gibraltar you would see that the port is on the west side of the city and that is likely where Mother Cabrini and the Sisters got off the ship. Right near the port there are quite a few churches, which makes sense. There are at least two that I found that were a possibility for Mother Cabrini to visit, as they were around at that time.

I'll link in the shownotes the oldest one, which is Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned.

Let's hear about Mother's time in Gibraltar by opening to page 87.

Cathedral: http://catholic.gi/diocese/parishes/the-cathedral-of-mary-the-crowned/

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Oh boy, Mother Cabrini gave me the travel bug today. As she's cruising through the Mediterranean Sea, she describes going by the Balearic Islands, the main one being Majorca. She talks about Liguria, Italy which is an area known for its beauty.

I went and looked all these places up and now I need to travel there. I'll link to a few places in the show notes and you'll see. Maybe you've been there. If you have, write and let me know about it.

Enough about me and my travel obsession. Today is the anniversary of Mother Cabrini's profession of her vows. I tried to look up online to confirm the date, but I couldn't find anything. No matter, it's a beautiful day for her at sea.

Let's hear all about it by turning to page 85.

Majorca: https://www.seemallorca.com

Liguria, Italy: https://www.italia.it/en/liguria

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. So, the year is 1894 and Mother Cabrini has been in Italy for two years. I'm assuming—I hope correctly—that she left Nicaragua and traveled back to Italy, where she has been the past two years.

The motherhouse for St. Francis Cabrini's order is in Rome, so I imagine that is where she has been. Again, I'm going to assume, as we don't have any letters between arriving in Nicaragua in November of 1891 and now being in Italy for two years.

Either way, Mother Cabrini is leaving from the port of Genoa, Italy and she is headed back to New York. You can tell that she is sad to leave, but she's a missionary and missionaries must carry on.

Let's hear about the start of this voyage by turning to page 83.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. There is so much going on today in our readings and they are longer, so I don't want to take too much time upfront.

Though we have a longer reading today, you are going to get a detailed snapshot into life in Nicaragua for Italian missionaries in 1891. It really is like going back in time and I find it fascinating. Here we are, over a hundred years later, reading about her time on November 3rd, 1891. Could she have imagined such a thing?

Since this is the end of a voyage, I'll give my reflections after the reading. Let's go ahead and turn to page 76.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another great day with St. Francis Cabrini. Today, the steamer is sitting in the Gulf of Costa Rica which is on the western side of the country. They are there exchanging mail.

Mother Cabrini and her Daughters get a visit from the Bishop and they are very happy to receive his blessing.

Let's hear about this visit by turning to page 75.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. After a few days of waiting to go, Mother Cabrini and her Daughters will head north on the Pacific Ocean towards Nicaragua's western coast.

Mother Cabrini lets us in on one of her weaknesses today—the sea. While they are still waiting around, some of the Sisters want to go visit the nearby islands and explore. Mother Cabrini wants nothing to do with it because she's afraid of the sea and if the adventure has nothing to do with a holy motive, she's not interested.

She'll traverse the sea to live out God's Will, but not for entertainment. She's a woman who knows her limits.

Let's hear about their day by turning to page 74.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Well, today, Mother and her Daughters have entered the port city of Colon, Panama. Now, this is not their final destination, but this is where they are getting off the boat, moving into a train to go across the land to Panama City, and then get on another boat.

It's a longer reading today, but I really think you will enjoy hearing all Mother Cabrini has to say. She gives great descriptions of the land and the environment. Just try to imagine her in the late 1800s making her way through a foreign country such as Panama. You can tell that she is thrilled with the adventure of it all.

Let's get started by opening to page 70.

Colon, Panama: https://www.tourismpanama.com/places-to-visit/portobelo/places-to-stay/colon/

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We've got a bit of a longer reading today, so I don't want to take too much of your time here on the front end.

Today in the readings, it's the feast day of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, who is widely known for her devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This would be why Mother Cabrini most definitely mentions her, because Mother's order is the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

So, today, we are going to hear about St. Margaret Mary, we are going to get some spiritual guidance, and we are also going to hear just about what is going on, on board the ship.

Without further ado, let's turn to page 66.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today's letter is a continuation of what happened on October 15th.

Because I'm a history nut, you get another history lesson today. Mother Cabrini is going to describe steaming past "Fortune Island." This is Long Cay Island located in the Bahamas. It's a tiny thing and today it only has roughly around 50 people living on it. It was named "Fortune Island" by Christopher Columbus because he found a conch shell there.

I'll link a website to Long Cay in the show notes.

Mother then describes passing another island called Castel or Castle Island. This island is directly south of Long Cay. It doesn't look inhabited today from what I can see, but it does have a lighthouse that reportedly was the hideout location of pirates looking to attack ships that passed by.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, I think it's super cool and I think it puts us back in time with her. She is describing real places that she saw and I think that helps connect us to her through all the years between us.

But, enough with the history lesson, let's hear Mother Cabrini by turning to page 64

Long Cay Island: https://www.bahamas.com/en/plan-your-trip/things-to-do/long-cay

Castle Island: https://bahamasgeotourism.com/entries/castle-island-lighthouse/978e9218-643a-4cb1-9f05-ed6bd788b38f

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. It's October 15th, 1891 and it's the Feast Day of Season Three's saint—St. Teresa of Avila.

As I've been doing these five seasons now, it's been so wonderful to see Saints talk about Saints. Mother Cabrini valued what insights and witness St. Teresa brought to the world and I think that shows her great humility.

The steamer that Mother Cabrini and her Sisters are on is getting closer and closer to the equator which means it's hot and if you are a religious sister, its not like you can just go put on some shorts and a tank top. This is just another example of the way these holy women suffered for the sake of souls.

Let's open to page 63 and begin.