Journeying With The Saints

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.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, Mother and her Sisters will be off for Nicaragua. Everything is going well, until at night, a serious storm hits.

Mother Cabrini describes how the waves are like mountains and the steamer is in deep valleys. For me, that is one of the most terrifying experiences I can think of, but what does Mother Cabrini and the Sisters choose to do? Pray. They pray fervently.

I think the last line of today's letter is the most important to focus in on. She likens the terrible storm to a soul agitated with remorse and pride, but that never finds God.

Let's here all about the start of this voyage by turning to page 61.

*Ave Maris Stella preformed by the Benedictines of Mary

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back to another great day with Mother Cabrini.

If you happened to look at the dates for this voyage things may seem a bit messed up. The voyage starts out on the date October 15th, but then the next letter is dated September 21st. Then it moves to October 10th and then back to October 15th. So, probably what happened is that she wanted to catch her Sisters up on what happened before they set sail and that is reflected in the back and forth with the dates.

What you'll find is that Mother wants to share with the Sisters about new postulants entering the order. Also, side note: The feast day she is speaking of is the Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle. So, let's hear about that as we turn to page 60.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the start of our 4th voyage with Mother Cabrini. This time she is traveling from New York to Nicaragua.

Very briefly, I want to give a short history lesson. Today, Mother is going to talk about visiting Manresa and I want you be clear on what she means by that.

If you saw the movie, you saw Mother Cabrini buy a big home that had been abandoned by Jesuits. She got it for a good price because it lacked fresh water. In the movie, the Sisters dig tons of holes looking for a well, but that is not an accurate description as to what happened. Mother pointed out pretty quickly where the well should be dug and it was a correct spot.

Anyway, Manresa is the name of the property and home that Mother bought. Why the name Manresa? Well, the property was owned by the Jesuits and the Jesuits were founded by the Spaniard St. Ignatius of Loyola. Manresa is a city in Spain and a sight of pilgrimage because of St. Ignatius' time there. Manresa doesn't translate into anything in Spanish, it's just the name of a city.

So, I will provide a link in the show notes from the Cabrini Shrine in New York that gives some more information on Manresa and the finding of water there.

With all that, let's begin our next voyage with Mother to Nicaragua by turning to page 59.

https://cabrinishrinenyc.org/a-new-home-for-the-orphans/

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. This is the last day of this voyage. Mother and her Sisters will be in port very soon.

Today, we will get another roll call from Mother. She will give an account on how the different Sisters on board are doing. It's easy for us to think of these women almost like fictional characters in a novel, but they were very real and did very real work.

Since this is the end of the voyage, I will read and then give a short reflection. So, let's head into New York with Mother by turning to page 56.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are only 55 pages into this book and already Mother Cabrini speaks directly to my heart.

She is going to talk today about how we, as Catholics, need to be bold in speaking the truths of our faith. We can't worry about offending people. We do worry about that, though, and we need to ask why? We don't need to be off-putting offensive people, but we can't be afraid to let people be offended by the truths of our faith.

I think most often we are afraid because we care so deeply as humans about being accepted and liked. But, when we refuse to tell people the truth—not all forms of Christianity are right—we leave them ignorant and in danger of losing the inheritance of Heaven.

Let's learn from Mother Cabrini as we turn to page 55.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are on the 5th day out at sea and things are going pretty well. We will get a bit of a roll call and hear how some of the others Sisters are doing. Mother will stress the importance of humility, so be sure to take note on that.

There is a lot in our readings today. Mother clearly is feeling good because she has a lot to say and write about. This is a longer one, so let's jump right in by turning to page 51.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a bit of a longer reading today, but its packed with great spiritual direction. Mother Cabrini was writing to her daughters, but it's pertinent to all of us.

She focuses on prayer and obedience. Prayer is one of those things where we want immediate returns on our investment. What if that doesn't happen? Mother Cabrini will touch on that.

And obedience. Quite possibly the dirtiest word in the modern age. We pride ourselves on being independent, self-willed people, but that does not make for a faithful Christian. We must, even if it goes against modern culture, be obedient to Christ and His Will.

Great thoughts are packed into our readings today so let's hear all about them by opening to page 49.

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

Our reading today is from the Feast of the Nativity of Mary in September 1891. There are five priests on board the ship, but Mother Cabrini writes that none of them can say Mass. The only thing I can think is that they are all too seasick to get up and say Mass. So, spiritual communion is what Mother has to be content with.

Today, we will hear beautiful words written about Our Lady. She is a wonderful mother and role model for us all.

Grab your book and open to page 47.

*Salve Regina music provided by Harpa Dei

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a very short reading today. I think since Mother and everyone else is feeling better she just wants to enjoy the fresh air and the sights.

This is a good reminder to us that all difficulties eventually pass, though when you are in the moment, it seems they will never end.

Let's open to page 47.