Saint Frances Xavier Carbini
Saint Frances Xavier Carbini was born in Lombardi, Italy in 1850, one of thirteen children. At eighteen, she desired to become a Nun, but poor health stood in her way. She tried to gain acceptance at a second congregation but was refused there too. She helped her parents until their deaths, and then worked on a farm with her brothers
and sisters.
In 1874 she was asked to manage a small orphanage called the “House of Providence.” She had various obstacles and abuse in her work, but she stuck to it and, with several others that she recruited, took her first vows in 1877. The bishop put her in charge as the Superior. Three years later the effort to build up the orphanage failed, and the Bishop gave up and ordered the place closed. He sent for Sister Cabrini and told her now was the time to become a missionary sister since he did not know of any institute that had one.
Mother Cabrini and seven followers moved into a forgotten Franciscan friary to set up a community to teach Christian education to girls and named the community “The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.” Within two years more houses were opened.
In 1887 she went to Rome to ask the Holy’s See’s approbation of her congregation and to obtain permission to open a house in Rome. She opened two houses in Rome, a free school and children’s home.
She continued to express her interest toward missionary work in China. Various people were trying to change her views to work with the Italian immigrants in America and to help the priest there. She consulted Pope Leo XIII, and he directed her to go to America. On March 31, 1889, she and six sisters landed in New York. In New York they found a warm welcome but no home was ready for them to stay in and plans for them to open an orphanage had to be abandoned. Within four months, Mother Cabrini and her followers established a day school and made a start with an orphanage on a modest scale.
Mother Cabrini went back to Italy in July 1889 to take care of her houses and to get help in America. She came back nine months later to continue to expand her prospering work. She went to Monogura, Nicaragua, in 1891 where she established an orphanage and also a boarding school.
Little is known of the early life of the Flemish Cistercian nun, Blessed Beatrice of Nazareth. Beatrice of Nazareth was born in the year 1200 in the town of Tienen, Belgium (Lindemann Ph.D n.d.). She was the youngest of six children (Lindemann Ph.D n.d.). De Ganck (1991, xiii) concludes that Beatrice is of middle class, “well-to-do, but not wealthy as has sometimes been asserted.”
Frances Xavier Cabrini was born two months prematurely on July 15, 1850 in the providence of Lombardy, northern Italy. She specifically was born in Santa’ Angelo Lodigiano, which is in the providence of Lombardy. Cabrini growing up was the tenth of eleven brothers and sisters. Out of all of mother Cabrini’s sibling only four survived past adolescence. Frances Xavier Cabrini’s spirituality stemmed from the word and example her parents demonstrated as a child. Her father told her many stories while she was child of these great mi...
Mary MacKillop was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne on January the 15th 1842. She was the first child to Alexander MacKillop and Flora MacDonald. Mary was one child out of 8 and spent most of her childhood years looking after and acting like a second mother to her siblings. The MacKillop family were quite poor so at the young age of 14, Mary got herself a job as a governess and as teacher at a Portland school. All the money Mary earned went towards her families everyday living. While working as a governess, Mary met Father Julian Tension Woods. By the time Mary had reached the age of 15 she had decided that she wanted to be a nun. She also wanted to devote her life to the poor and less fortunate. So upon meeting Father Julian Tension Woods she told him her hopes and dreams, and together they decided to set up a school. In 1861, they worked together and opened Australia's first free Catholic school. At the time only the rich could afford schooling. But at the school Mary opened anyone was welcome. Mary was a great teacher and became very popular within the community. Although Mary was very pleased with her work she still felt a religious calling. So Mary and Father Woods started their own order, 'The Sisters of St. Joseph.' In 1867 Mary then moved to Adelaide where she opened another school. Before long there were 17 schools open across Australia. Mary's followers grew and by 1909 she had followers all over Australia. Mary later died on the 8th of August 1909.
...She was preparing candy for the local children around Christmas time. For about thirty years, Mother Cabrini had traveled regularly from place to place where her schools, orphanages, and hospitals were located. During her second mission, she started writing letters to the missionary sisters telling them about her travels and the daily events. To this day, the letters are still in great condition and still legible. Since Mother Cabrini died, she was sixty-seven years old and because of that, sixty-seven missions of the Institute have been established. Each is a different category of ministry including healing, teaching, caring, giving, and helping in the cities of United States as well as in Europe and South America. Her legacy still lives on to this day and as do her schools, hospitals, and orphanages.
born to the Empress Maria Theresa and Francis I, the Holy Roman Emperor. She lived a carefree
She was to die twenty–one years later in 1879 after a prolonged and painful illness. She remained hidden in a convent about 300 miles from home, a refuge from the interrogations and the pilgrims that never ceased seeking her. At thirty–five, her strong–willed manner gave way to her frail body, and she finally entered into her eternal happiness.
the Puritan timeline in early 17th century. She was born and raise by the Dudley family in
That was the beginning of Our Blessed Mother at Fatima. She visited the children six times bringing them messages for the world. In all Her appearances at Fatima, Our Mother repeatedly emphasized the necessity of praying the Rosary daily, of wearing the Brown Scapular of Mount Carmel and of performing acts of reparation and sacrifice.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia. She later considered August 27, the day she was baptized, her "true birthday." Saint Teresa received her first communion at the age of five, and was later confirmed on November of 1916. In her early years, Saint Teresa was fascinated by stories of the lives of missionaries, their services, and contributions to the world. By the age 12, she had become convinced that she should commit herself to a religious life. Saint Teresa left home at the age of 18 to pursue her dream of doing missionary work, and joined the Institute of Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto. On May 24, 1931, she took her first religious vows as a nun; at that time
Contrary to common belief, saints are not perfect. Saints simply seek Christ more than anyone else. Saints understood the need for Christ in their own lives through their own experiences. St. Teresa of Avila did not live a perfect life, although she strived to after her conversion. St. Teresa, after living in the world, realized her desperate need for a personal relationship with God, but by no means was she perfect.
In the early stages of Catherine's life the surfacing modern age was bringing with it social turmoil which spread throughout Europe (Giordani 3). During Catherine's lifetime, according to Mary Ann Sullivan in her essay “St. Catherine of Siena,” the center of Catholic rule fluctuated between Rome and Avignon and contributed to a schism between popes in Italy and France (1). Catherine was born 23rd in a line of 25 children and, according to Sullivan “even at a young age, [she] sensed the troubled society around her and wanted to help” (1). While her parents were not exceptionally religious, St. Catherine's biographer Blessed Raymond of Capua discusses Catherine's early zeal for Catholic practices: “When she was about five she learned the Hail Mary, and repeated it over and over again as often as she could…she was inspired by heaven to address the Blessed Virgin in this way whenever she went up and down stairs, stopping to kneel on each step as she did so” (24). Her devotion to the Virgin Mary would become especially important in a vision she had around this time while walking with her brother to visit one of her sisters.
Being raised in a highly religious oriented family Callista reached a crossroads in her life and after much soA deep spirit of faith, hope, love and commitment to God and service to others was central in this family of seven boys and seven girls. Her mother was a licensed vocational nurse and instilled the values of always seeking to know more about people and their care and of selfless giving as a nurse. Dr. Roy notes that she also had excellent teachers in parochial schools, high school, and college. At age 14 she began working at a large general hospital, first as a pantry girl, then as a maid, and finally as a nurse's aid. After a soul-searching process of discernment, she decided to enter the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet, of which she has been a member for more than 40 years. Her college education began in a liberal arts program, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts with a ...
It all started in 1922 in Skopje, Yugoslavia. One day while, the soon to be known as, Mother Teresa was walking, she felt God call her to serve the poor at only the age of 12. Seven years later she discovered her calling was to serve the poor in Calcutta, India and prepared to leave her comfy nunnery in Loretto. As she walked through the beautiful garden in the nunnery, before she left, she questioned leaving all of this beauty for the slums of Calcutta.
Many different people and events influenced Mother Teresa to becoming a figurehead of charity around the globe but one of the first were her parents. Mother Teresa’s father was wealthy so Mother Teresa’s mother would bring her along to distribute supplies such as food, medicine, clothes, and money to the poor in the cities’ worst neighborhoods. Mother Teresa’s parents would make sure to give anybody who asked food and money. When her father died expectantly, Mother Teresa became more religious and she started spending more and more of her free time in the church. Every year Mother Teresa’s family made the pilgrimage to pray at the statue of the Madonna of Letnice. At the age of twelve while she was praying she heard the voice of God calling her to Him and to the service of her neighbors.
Florence Nightingale was born on May 12,1820 in Italy. She was with a very wealthy family who always went to and had very expensive parties. During Florence’s childhood she was known as Flo! She is still known as Flo when people talk about her today. Florence’s parents names were Francis Nightingale, and William Nightingale. They had two children named Florence and Parthe Nightingale. She was a very smart girl and wanted to read and study all the time when her mother and sister wanted to socialize. Florence and Parthe had always fought with each other. Soon their mother sent them to live with different relatives. When Florence was growing up no one really had dreams of being a nurse but Florence wanted to follow her dreams! When Florence was nineteen her and her sister got introduced to Queen Victoria of Britain! Florence and her sister were taught by a governess for a while then their father decided to teach them because he thought they were not learning anything! Even though Florence did not go to an actual school she was very very smart in all subjects. Her favorite subject was Mathematics. Florence refused to marry anyone she just wanted to follow her dreams of being a nurse. She thought that getting married would interrupt her studies.