A nor’easter on November 26, 1950 made driving from Mulberry Street to Columbus Hospital difficult. The labor that Mrs. Fusco endured once at the hospital Mother Cabrini founded was not easy, either. Complications arose because the umbilical cord was wrapped around baby Joseph’s neck.
As Joseph recently wrote, “Through the screams and anguish my mother prayed for the intercession of Mother Cabrini and vowed that if I were born safe, she would name her first daughter Frances.”
Twenty-two months later a baby girl was born into the family. She was baptized at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral and named Frances Catina Fusco.
Frances (Fusco) Castoro
This morning the family of Frances Castoro (nee Fusco) gathered at the Shrine to remember Frances, who grew up on the streets where Mother Cabrini first worked in the New York. The family’s devotion to the Patron Saint of Immigrants remains alive today, and extends back multiple generations. It seemed fitting to them to celebrate Frances’ life in the chapel dedicated to the woman she was named after: Mother Cabrini.
Mother Cabrini, pray for the soul of Frances Castoro, for the comfort of her family, and for all those who grieve the loss of someone they love.