Journeying With The Saints

Welcome to another voyage, Catholic Pilgrims. So, Mother Cabrini got to Panama at the start of June of 1895 and she is already leaving in October of 1895.   Where is she headed? Over the Andes mountains and on to Buenos Aires, Argentina. That sounds like some serious traveling and, consequently, this voyage has a lot of information in the writings. She's not just out on the open ocean waiting to g...

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims, the final day of our voyage to Panama. As this is the last day, I will offer my reflection after our readings.   One thing to note: Mother Cabrini arrives at the port of Colon, which is in Panama. However, even though she's there, she keeps talking about how she needs to get to Panama to see the house where the Sisters stay. Just to be clear, she is talking about P...

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. We have a long reading today, but a very interesting one.   Mother Cabrini is finally on the steamer and she has time to write. A couple of voyages back we went to Nicaragua with her and learned about how she was setting up a school. Today, she is going to tell us about how the Sisters in Nicaragua were banished because of a rebellion. It's called the Nicaragua C...

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Mother Cabrini is still in Costa Rica and the locals are trying very hard to make up for the distasteful way she was treated because of the Freemason.   While Mother appreciates their kind offers, she is anxious to be on to Panama and must decline their offer to stay longer in their country.   You know, something I learned living in Turkey was to meet each opportunity t...

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.   Today is not a day that Mother Cabrini is interested in talking about her travels. Today is June 1, 1895 and she is interested in talking about the Sacred Heart of Jesus.   What could be better to hear about? So, let's open our books to page 128.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. In our reading today, Mother Cabrini is still in Costa Rica waiting to go to Panama. She spends time explaining the weather, the views, Mass, and the people to her daughters.   She is trying to be patient, as she very much wants to get to Panama.   Let's hear about her day as we turn to page 126.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. I think you are really going to like today's reading. Mother and the Sisters reach port in Costa Rica. At first, everything seems to be going well, but then… A sneaky and cunning Freemason tries to sabotage Mother's short visit. She handles it like a champ, as I'm sure you can imagine.   I'll link to some information on Port Limon in the show notes, so you can read about...

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we hear a lot about what it was like to travel around the Caribbean Sea. It's very pretty, but it can be tough to navigate the sometimes shallow waters. Can you imagine how many things are at the bottom of the Caribbean?   I have this daydream that I often draw to mind of draining certain seas and parts of different oceans. After they are drained, I imagine mysel...

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back to another beautiful day at sea with Mother Cabrini.   One of the biggest hurdles for me to get over with Catholicism was the papacy. Truly, I believed all the misconceptions about the pope. I thought Catholics believed the pope was God, that he was perfect. I didn't get the point of him. I didn't have any clue about the biblical significance of giving the ke...

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims! Mother Cabrini is feeling well. She's got those sharp pencils and ruled paper and is putting them to good use.   It's a longer reading today, so I want to jump right in.   Please open to page 111.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.   Mother Cabrini is not feeling well, so we have a short reading for today, as she was unable to write much.   I'm continually impressed with how she accepts whatever comes her way without complaining. She explains her predicaments, but doesn't wallow in misery. A good example for us all.   Let's go ahead and open our books to page 110.  

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the start of another voyage. We left our last voyage in September of 1894 and now we are in May of 1895.   Mother Cabrini is headed to Panama and she's leaving from New Orleans. At the time of this recording, I've never been to New Orleans, though I would like to go. I really, really want a beignet and I've heard that they have   gluten-free beignets there and so I f...

Welcome to the final day of this voyage, Catholic Pilgrims. I feel like this trip was quick. We've been all over the place with Mother Cabrini. We started in Genoa, sailed through the Mediterranean, steamed by the Balearic Islands, Gibraltar, Morocco, the Azores, and now we will read about Mother and her Sisters docking at Hoboken.   I went to look Hoboken up. It's in New Jersey, which I didn't kn...

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are nearing the end of this journey. I told my daughter the other night that Mother Cabrini has really made me want to travel with this voyage. There's just so many places to see and so little time.   It's funny, as I was reading through today's letter, I realized just how far I've come in understanding our Catholic faith. Had you given me today's letter to read when...

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back. As Mother Cabrini declares, it's another gorgeous day at sea. Also, of note, we've read 100 pages of the book.   Mother Cabrini is going to talk about the Holy Souls in purgatory today and how it's so important to offer prayers for them. Purgatory is actually a place of mercy. We know that Heaven is perfect and therefore nothing imperfect can enter Heaven. M...

How are you today, Catholic Pilgrims? I hope well. I hope you are feeling better than the poor seasick Sisters on board the Fulda. Yes, as they've reached open ocean, the waves have picked up and so has the nausea.   One of the hardest things to be good at in the spiritual life is praying. You simply cannot get better if you don't keep at it and discipline yourself. You also won't grow in it if yo...

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Well, again, today, you are going to want to travel. The ship is steaming by the Azores and the description of them sound amazing.   They're so amazing, in fact, that people on board are begging the Captain to stop off and let them explore for just one hour. Even Mother Cabrini admits that the sight of them does make one desire to "visit the charming islands." So, let's...

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. I'm not going to say a whole lot here because we have a long reading today.   This reading is one part saint-pep talk and one part friendly letter. Both are valuable and offer us great insight into the spiritual life.   So, let's get right into it by turning to page 89.

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 o...

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 se...

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 arriv...

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...

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 sh...

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 give...