Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
December 4, 2002
Mass caps yearlong observance of Cabrini Sisters' 100th anniversary in state
Hundreds attend liturgy at the cathedral honoring Mother Cabrini and her nuns
By Roxanne King
Friends and supporters of the Cabrini Shrine in Golden flocked to Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Nov. 24 for a Mass honoring the hundredth anniversary of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini's arrival in Colorado and the continued ministry of her sisters.
Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., was principal celebrant of the afternoon Mass for the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the order Mother Cabrini founded. Capuchin Father Harvey Dinkel and Msgr. Raymond Jones, V.G., moderator of the curia, were concelebrants. The Capuchin friars provide sacramental ministry at the shrine, which is a popular pilgrimage site that attracts visitors from across the globe who go there to pray and to drink from the spring Mother Cabrini discovered.
"St. Frances Cabrini was the first American citizen to be canonized," Archbishop Chaput said about the Italian nun who immigrated to the United States in 1889 and became a naturalized citizen in 1909.
"The best way for us to be good citizens is to be saints," the archbishop said.
In her 35 years of ministry in the United States. Mother Cabrini established 67 institutions, mainly schools, orphanages, hospitals and convents, "nearly two a year," the archbishop noted.
Her childhood dream was to serve as a missionary in China.
"Sisters, we're very glad that more than a hundred years ago Pope Leo (XIII) didn't send her to China, but to here," he added.
Bishop Nicholas Matz invited Mother Cabrini to Denver in August 1902, said Sister Bernadette Casciano, Cabrini Shrine administrator, as she welcomed the Mass attendees. Bishop Matz sought the nun's aid primarily to serve Italian immigrants. She arrived on Oct. 24, 1902.
"Cabrini loved Colorado," Sister Casciano said. "She had a practice of writing letters to the sisters, helping to inform them, to form them and describing her travels."
Within weeks of her arrival, Sister Casciano said, an enthusiastic Mother Cabrini wrote: "I saw the highest mountains in the United States, among them Pikes Peak. I really like Colorado and I hope we strike a gold mine here."
And a few days later, she wrote: "I am so happy to have a mission in the Rocky Mountains where I have always desired to go. May God be blessed!"
Acknowledging the saint's status as patron of immigrants, intercessory prayers were read in German, Polish, Spanish, Italian, Vietnamese and English. A globe was taken up during the offertory representing the 15 countries the Missionary Sisters serve and also symbolizing the saint's oft-quoted remark: "The world is too small for me. I want to bring the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to all people."
The three sisters who staff the Cabrini Shrine continue the Cabrinian mission by ministering to the 150,000 native and immigrant pilgrims who trek to the shrine each year.
Joining the trio at the Mass were six nuns from out of town, including Sister Diane Dalle Molle, provincial of the Stella Maris Province in New York City.
The archbishop thanked the sisters for "embodying" the missionary zeal and love for Christ that made Mother Cabrini a saint. At his request, the sisters stood and received a hearty, spontaneous round of applause from the congregation.
"Sisters, know that you're very much loved by the community," Archbishop Chaput said.
The joyous Mass and subsequent reception at the downtown Knights of Columbus hall capped a string of events that commemorated the centennial anniversary throughout the year.
"It's been a time for us to reflect on Cabrini and the legacy that she started here in Denver," Sister Casciano told the Register. With a smile, she added, "And it gives us a chance to do some planning for the next hundred years."
First on the list is raising the $250,000 the shrine needs to tap into Golden's water supply, which will bring irrigation to the drought-parched mountain, allowing the sisters to preserve the precious spring water that some believe has healing powers for use by pilgrims.
"We're about a third of the way there," Sister Casciano said.
A thousand-dollar donation the Metro Denver Knights of Columbus Councils presented to Sister Casciano during the reception will help.
Originally, the Missionary Sisters, commonly called the Cabrini Sisters, served orphans in Denver, Sister Casciano said, "now our focus is on welcoming and providing hospitality to people at the shrine."
One of the recipients of the nuns loving care at Queen of Heaven Orphanage, the home for girls Mother Cabrini established in North Denver and for which she purchased the Cabrini Shrine property to serve as its summer home, is Perla Arellano, who now works as event coordinator at the shrine.
The centennial year has provided numerous opportunities to educate people about Mother Cabrini and her namesake shrine, Arellano said.
"Today, the sisters mean success to me," she said. "Success is that I've been able to grow into a successful adult woman and give back to the community."
Abandoned as an infant, the now 50-year-old grandmother said gratitude impels her to share her love, time and treasure with the order, which was the only family she knew growing up and which equipped her with the skills to nurture a loving marriage and family of her own.
Sister Alberta Surico was among the nuns who traveled from out of state to attend the festivities. Now working in Immigration Services for the order in New York City, Sister Surico had previously spent three years at the Cabrini Shrine.
"People have enriched their lives just by praying there," she said. "They are touched by the quiet and the sisters' hospitality.
"They walk up to the top of the mountain and get a lot of graces," she said of the 373-step climb adorned with the stations of the cross that lead to a 22-foot tall statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and a heart of white stones that Mother Cabrini helped form.
Although she has been gone two years, Sister Surico said she still gets letters from shrine pilgrims, who have been touched by the warm care of the Cabrini Sisters.
"What's most wonderful is the people who are here celebrating," said Sister Eileen Currie, a new Castle Rock transplant from Philadelphia. "The people whose lives were somehow touched by Mother Cabrini, they're the living legacy."
Contact Us
