Dear Friends,
A couple of weeks ago we had two young women from the John Paul II Newman Center at Masses to
talk about the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal. They both read a beautiful quote at the beginning of their talk from an Italian American female saint which spoke of her commitment to reach out to others. The statement was, “I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him.” I am not sure if you caught that this statement was made by St. Frances Cabrini. It is a beautiful statement. It is a good question for us: do we know some of the more famous things said by Mother Cabrini? Most of you may notice on our sign in front of the church, the saying of St. Paul, which was one of Frances Cabrini’s mottos, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Maybe we should, as a parish, work to memorize some of the sayings of Frances Cabrini. Then we would
recognize when people are quoting our patron to our face. Here are a few of her more famous comments:
“The world is too small for me. I want to bring the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to all people.”
“As sailors are guided by star to the port, so are Christians guided to Heaven by Mary.”
“We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on
sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus
alone.”
“He who is faithful to God is faithful to his country and to his family, and the more the fear of God animates the citizens of a country, the greater and the more respected will the nation be. Moreover, as it is said that nations are formed on the knees of the mother, it follows that the more the mother is venerated in the family, and the more she herself conforms her conduct to that sublime model that we have in her, who, repairing the faults of Eve, raised the status of humanity, so much the greater will be those future generations who will form the glory and the prosperity of their country. These principles…you should teach in your school, because as educators, you must not only form good Christians, but good citizens for the State, which we wish to be great and respected.”
And then, there is the prayer that she prayed so often and taught to her sisters and is still used by people who are seeking God’s help in overcoming some worry:
Fortify me with the grace of Your Holy Spirit
and give Your peace to my soul
that I may be free from all needless anxiety,
solicitude and worry.
Help me to desire always
that which is pleasing and acceptable to You
so that Your will may be my will.
Good luck committing these to memory or at least knowing that they come from our patron saint!
Peace,
Fr. Damian