Last week the Shrine was thrilled to welcome the Italian Colony of St. Lucy’s, who drove 124 miles to visit Mother Cabrini’s remains. Their devotion to the patroness of immigrants runs strong, through many generations. Hailing from Scranton, PA, some of the pilgrims had attended the school Mother Cabrini opened…
The groups started arriving in late June: a busload of youth from Massachusetts, a bus from Virginia, a group that came by train from the South Bronx. They were all heading to the 50th anniversary of the Neocatechumenal Way, which was to be celebrated on Sunday, July 7 in the…
A nor’easter on November 26, 1950 made driving from Mulberry Street to Columbus Hospital difficult. The labor that Mrs. Fusco endured once she finally made it to the hospital Mother Cabrini founded was not easy, either. Complications arose: the umbilical cord was wrapped around baby Joseph’s neck. As Joseph, now…
They arrived at 7:45 a.m., having already been to Mass and walked two miles from the Bronx. Their backpacks were the sole indicator that they had four days and 100+ miles to go to reach their destination: the National Shrine of St. Rita of Cascia, in Philadelphia. We gave them…
Ana (not her real name) knocked loudly on the door before the Shrine officially opened. She knelt in front of the altar as soon as we let her in, and remained in prayer a long time. I happened to be going to get a cup of coffee around the time…
If we’d seen them come in on their bicycles, the three religious who visited at around noon yesterday might have been our pilgrims of the month. But it was only as they departed, helmets strapped over their veils, that we realized how they’d arrived. The octave of Christmas is always…
When Claire learned she’d be part of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade this year, her mom emailed us. Claire had a special request: in between tightly-packed rehearsals and tours, she wanted to visit the Shrine. It’s not every teen who puts visiting Mother Cabrini on her bucket list for what to…
Last week New York City was deluged for days. On Friday some parts of the city had 8″ of rainfall. Streets flooded; many subway lines shut down. Needless to say, all our pilgrimage groups either canceled or rescheduled. On Friday as I left I stopped to say good night to…
Every now and then someone comes into the Shrine who has a direct relationship to Mother Cabrini. This month we greeted a gentleman named Michael Ragaini. Mike came in and began to tell us about his grandfather Hugo, a dentist. In 1914 Hugo Ragaini had a dental office down in…
This is the first in a series about visitors to the Shrine By Julia Attaway, Executive Director An elderly woman came into the Shrine last Sunday having traveled here – alone – by mass transit from New Jersey. We see her fairly regularly. She is so frail it is hard…