Pilgrimage to Cabrini Shrine in NYC
Highlight of the summer for Kean Catholics was the pilgrimage to the St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in New York City at the end of July, meeting up with fellow Catholic college students from nearby campuses to pray, learn and reflect together.
Students from MSU, NJIT, RCNJ, and KeanCatholics gathered for the pilgrimage.
Following our movie theater trip at the end of the Spring 2024 semester to see “Cabrini,” incoming Fall 2024 Newman Club President Mariana recommended that the group took a summer pilgrimage to the shrine to continue learning about this incredible saint. The movie follows the saint’s life after her arrival into NYC in 1889 as an Italian immigrant, with a mission to care for immigrants, children, and the most vulnerable. Of course, we know now the bold lasting impact she had on the world! Seeing this film was a great segue to our shrine pilgrimage.
We invited the Campus Ministers and students from nearby public campuses to join in on our trip, from Montclair State University, Ramapo College of NJ, NJIT, and Stevens Institute of Technology.
Who is Mother Cabrini?
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, also known as Mother Cabrini, was born in 1850 in a small village in Italy, and grew up with a strong desire to become a missionary and join a religious order. In 1880, with seven other women, she founded the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. After becoming known for her resourcefulness and outreach, she and approached Pope Leo XIII with a request for her and her sisters to become missionaries in China. He famously told her, “not to the East, but to the West,” and instead sent her to to help thousands of immigrants in New York unexpectedly.
In 1889, Mother Cabrini and her sisters “stepped into a new world” of chaos and poverty. They organized catechism and education classes for the immigrants, and tended to the needs of many orphans. Cabrini established schools and orphanages- and soon after, word spread about the holy work she was doing. Throughout her life, she “made 23 trans-Atlantic crossings and established 67 institutions: schools, hospitals, and orphanages” around the world.
Mother Cabrini passed away on December 22, 1917 in Chicago. Later, she became the first United States citizen to be canonized a saint in 1946 by Pope Pius XII. She was named Patroness of Immigrants in 1950. According to the New York Times, about 45,000 people came to venerate her relics that day!
There was time for reflection, prayer, & Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the presence of Cabrini’s remains.
Our Experience at the Shrine
The Shrine dedicated to Mother Cabrini is located in a quiet area of upper Manhattan, overlooking the Hudson River. Mother Cabrini actually purchased the property herself! Once we arrived, the Executive Director of the Shrine gave a small tour to start our day. The tour led to the chapel, where visitors can sit in the pews and see Mother Cabrini’s remains in the altar. This was built in 1959, and houses a majority, about 80%, of her remains. Her heart was found to be incorrupt when her body was exhumed for her beatification- so it remains intact in a reliquary in Codogno, Italy. At the NYC shrine, visitors can see what she looked like at the end of her life, with a wax recreation of her face and hands. In front of the altar with her remains, we sat and listened to a talk on her life, the shrine, and participated in a Q & A with the shrine’s Director. We then were fortunate to attend their daily noon Mass here as well. Following Mass, we were happy to have the chance to be blessed with a relic from St. Peter Chrysologus.
Around the shrine there are many small exhibits of relics and information on Cabrini and her life. Students were able to sit on the bench she meditated on at the shrine, see the carriage she drove, her clothing, watch a video on the miracles that led up to her canonization, and more throughout the building. The Shrine also holds relics and memorabilia of many other saints, besides those of Mother Cabrini. After exploring the exhibits, students and campus ministers gathered for some New York pizza for lunch and the long anticipated gift shop. As a “farewell” to Mother Cabrini and our day at the shrine, the shrine staff kindly arranged for the group to be blessed with a first-class relic of Mother Cabrini before we departed.
It was truly a wonderful time with all of the schools coming together at the shrine! KeanCatholics encourages readers to check out the shrine for yourselves and support their work and ministries. We can’t wait to see where our next pilgrimage leads us.
Students listening to Executive Director Julia Attaway describe the conditions and poverty Cabrini served in NYC.
Details about Cabrini’s life taken from https://www.mothercabrini.org/
Details about the Shrine taken from http://cabrinishrinenyc.org/