how did saint katharine drexel die

Their father, Francis, founded an orphanage for boys, and their Uncle Anthony started Drexel Institute, which over the years evolved into a university whose work-study programs still give the city's working class the chance for a higher education. This amazing woman was an heiress to a large bequest who became a religious sister and a brilliant educator. According to the terms of a will meant to ward off fortune hunters, none would ever inherit the principal of his $15.5 million estate, but they were to control equal shares of its considerable interest during their lifetimes. Saint Katharine Drexel summary | Britannica [7] Peter Finney Jr.,The Legacy of Saint Katharine Drexel, St. Anthony Messenger; October 2000. In January 1887, the sisters were received in a private audience byPope Leo XIII. Sister Barbara, a sister of St. Agnes who lives with Drexel's Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Michael's Convent, tells the kids she's pleased with their liturgical paces. In the last 20 years of her life, Katharine was forced into retirement after suffering a severe heart attack. Youve successfully signed in. (November 26, 1858 - March 3, 1955) Saint Katharine Drexel's Story If your father is an international banker and you ride in a private railroad car, you are not likely to be drawn into a life of voluntary poverty. Latest news. "She was for social justice, for the rights of the individual. The news traveled quickly among the social elite. In 1910, Drexel financed the printing of 500 copies ofA Navaho-English Catechism of Christian Doctrine for the Use of Navaho Children. In those days, a stone gatehouse was all that remained of the Drexel estate, but we heard tales that it had been the home of Mother Mary Katharine Drexel, the motherless orphan having taken on a matriarchal title. Saints Stories for All Ages Saint Katharine Drexel, 1858-1955 Saint Katharine Drexel, 1858-1955 Feast day March 3 Printer Friendly Contemplation and generosity vied for first place in St. Katharine Drexel's life. Most campers return and become counselors. She went to both St. Michael's and St. Catherine's from the time she was 6 or 8. Step three: Show proof of a life of 'heroic virtue'. The Philadelphia papers have all made the trek to the windy bluff near Window Rock, and so have CNN, the Albuquerque television news and Arizona Highways. Francis will set up trust funds that stipulated that each daughter would equally receive the income produced by his remaining $14 million estate, which translated into about $1,000 every day for each daughter. St. Katharine Drexel is well known for being a trailblazing figure in the early 20th century, championing the needs of Native Americans and Black Americans, but few know she may have the most . --Letter from Catherine Drexel, March 19, 1889, to her spiritual advisor, Bishop O'Connor. She knew she would have the means to help them, but she would need the Lords help to do it. "I went here K-12," she says proudly. Their work was not always welcomed; segregationists went so far as to burn one of her schools in Philadelphia. The school regularly sent out a wagon to pick her up. "It enhances the Catholic liturgy. They carry eagle feathers and shells filled with cedar chips, which will be lit to give off incense. (Matthew 19:24). All Right Reserved, Blessed Maria Crocifissa Curcio: A Carmelite Missionary Founder, Servant of God Auguste Robert Nonco Pelafigue: A Cajun Missionary Called Uncle. The three sisters received the income produced by $14 million, or about $1,000 a day for each woman. From heiress to God's servant: St. Katharine Drexel Step one: Wait five years - or don't. The Cause for Canonization was opened by John Cardinal Krol in 1964 and came full circle with the canonization of Saint Katharine Drexel by Pope . Whether you are rich or poor, your happiness comes from lovingly serving the will of God. Robert J. Wister, Hist.Eccl.D. "When a person is canonized, she becomes a model for us to emulate," Sister Kathleen Kajer, principal of St. Michael's elementary school, tells me in her office. She'd get fed, and they'd have one less child at home. Three days a week, the Drexel home was opened to the . St. Katharine Drexel - Saints & Angels We must share what we have. She lived her last years in prayer, in personal poverty, simplicity, and charity, giving all she had and all she was to the poor. 1910-1920. In a 1996 article in The Journal of Arizona History, historian Sally J. Southwick writes that the Catholics at St. Michael's were actually more accommodating to local culture than the Protestants were. She realized that all the money in the world could not buy happiness and security. St. Katharine Drexel is the second American-born saint to be canonized by the Catholic Church. In order to protect his daughters from ruthless men only seeking to get to their money through marriage, he set up his will so their inheritance would go to children or grandchildren upon their deaths. Please pray for me, that I may never give my heart over to worldly and passing goals, but will seek only a life of selfless service to all whom you give me to love. She's handled more than one reporter in recent months. These achievements in themselves were not enough for sainthood in the Catholic Church. He died in 1890. Wait and pray.[4] Katharine and her sisters, Elizabeth, and Louise, were still mourning their father when they sailed to Europe in 1886. $24 per year, or as part of each Although many missionaries are called to serve in foreign lands, some are called to be home missionaries, serving in their own land. Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. Her family was very rich, but they were very generous with their time, talent and treasure. Her son believes that she spent a lifetime putting back together her Navajo identity. They were soon visited by two hopeful priests raising funds for the Bureau of Catholic Missions. Some believe that God allowed her to live until the age of ninety-six so that her annual earnings from her trust fund could be used for the ongoing charitable work of her order. This was a major turning point in her life. Although she could not lead her order, she left her sisters with a deep concern and love for their mission. Generations of orphans, not so well-heeled as the Drexel girls, came there to live in the care of nuns, until orphanages fell out of fashion. .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} It's an ecumenical idea that might have raised eyebrows in Drexel's time. Mother Katharine Drexel died at the age of 96, on March 3, 1955, at her orders motherhouse in Cornwells Heights, Pa. Pope John Paul IIformally declared Drexel Venerable on Jan. 26, 1987 and beatified her on Nov. 20, 1988. Our mission hero today was one of those. Brother Andr Marie, M.I.C.M." His especial devotion was to the Holy Name of Jesus, which he insisted that everyone should say devoutly, reverently and with the bending of one's head. Her father died the next year, 1885. Katharine Drexel was inducted into the National Womens Hall of Fame in 2011. The three girls had what many would describe as an ideal childhood. When St. Katharine Drexel Defeated the KKK - ChurchPOP Her family was very rich, but they were very generous with their time, talent and treasure. Second, she developed a passion for Native American Indians. Several times a week the family opened the doors of their own home to those in need. catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=193, catholicsaints.info/saint-katharine-drexel/, franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-katharine-drexel, The Vatican will establish a new commission to identify and catalogue Christians who have died for their faith in [], Christopher and Delana Braves of Richmond recently established two funds in the Vermont Catholic Community [], Pope thanks Poland for welcoming Ukrainian refugees. God would soon set her on a new path. Soon after that she and her sisters traveled to Europe and were granted a private audience with Pope Leo XIII. A $1,000 college scholarship and a $500 high school scholarship will be awarded to two Saint Katharine Drexel members on the basis of their essay. They taught the girls that their wealth was a gift to be used for the good of others. Francis Drexel died two years later, and his sudden death left his three daughters almost unbelievably wealthy. They gave her an enduring example of how to be a wealthy person but also be a good Catholicby not becoming attached to material belongings. Watching her suffer made Katharine realize money cant buy you an escape from pain or from death. The spectacle of Catholic Sisters serving African Americans enraged them. She always says if it wasn't for the study habits she was taught here, she wouldn't have made it. She died on March 3, 1955 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000. The Philadelphia Public Ledgercarried a banner headline: Miss Drexel Enters a Catholic ConventGives Up Seven Million.[6], On Feb. 12, 1891, Katharine Drexel professed her first vows as a religious, dedicating herself to work among the American Indians and African Americans in the western and southwestern United States. Burton Penn, an 84-year-old retired postal worker in Tucson, says he went to a Drexel school for black children back in Cincinnati. Sister Loyola, a St. Michael's nun who devotes her energies to an early-bird intervention program for preschoolers, sighs when asked about the past. Most of us will never have the kind of wealth Katharine had, but that doesnt mean we cant give from what we do have. This can be a hard thing for many of us to grasp and maybe harder to actually accomplish. The money gave all three women, in their 20s by this time, the means to embark on charitable careers. By providing these links, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington assumes no responsibility for, nor does it necessarily endorse, the organization, its mission, content, or sponsoring/associated organizations. Nevertheless, Southwick concludes that all four religious groups "cooperated in furthering the government's goal of transforming the Navajos by supplanting tribal culture." They were made to work in the kitchen. The daughters, and a third sister, lived on Drexel Hill again briefly years later, when they were well and truly orphans, having lost mother, stepmother and father. Her mother opened her home to the poor three days each week, and her father spent at least a half-hour in prayer every evening. The sisters encouraged us more so; the public schools might not have encouraged us to succeed.". Her path became clear. This amazing woman was an heiress to a large bequest who became a religious sister and a brilliant educator. Having seen some of the poverty among American Indians on a western trip by private railway car the previous year, Kate persuaded her sisters to put some Drexel money into the project of bringing education and Catholicism to the Indians. Religious instruction was in the native language; the Franciscan fathers Katharine had lured to nearby St. Michael's mission had composed the first Navajo dictionary. Be inspired by this holy woman and learn from her example by choosing the poverty of Christ over the riches of the world, and you will discover the true riches of Heaven. Jersey Catholic is the official online news site of the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J. For editorial submissions, email submissions@rcan.org.
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