After her first hearty Italian meal on U.S. soil, Mother Cabrini was tired. She asked the Scalabrinian Fathers who had met the Missionary Sisters at the dock to escort them to their lodgings. An uncomfortable silence ensued. Bishop Scalabrini of Piacenza, whose idea it was for Mother Cabrini to come to New York, had assured her everything was ready for her arrival. In this he had been misled.
As a result, Mother Cabrini and the Missionary Sisters were brought, late at night and in heavy rain, to a “hotel” where the seven of them occupied two filthy rented rooms.
Looking for a Home
Mercifully, the next day the Sisters of Charity took the Sisters in and tended to their needs. This allowed Fr. Felice Morelli, the pastor of the Italian parish of St. Joachim, time to search for a house suitable for use as their convent.
Fr. Morelli did so without much enthusiasm. The options he presented to Mother Cabrini were so scandalous that she refused to even enter one of them, since it was clearly being used as a house of ill repute.
Mother Cabrini visited the Archbishop to voice her concerns. “The holes, as [Mother Cabrini] calls them,” Archbishop Corrigan wrote wryly to Scalabrini, “are so low that Fr. Felice is unable to enter without removing his hat.” Mother Cabrini also wrote to Scalabrini herself, tactfully lauding Fr. Morelli’s zeal but lamenting that thus far he had proven better at promises than results.
She later reported that a “salty letter” from Scalabrini to Fr. Morelli ensued, with the result that the priest finally got busy. When all was ready at the new convent, Archbishop Corrigan came personally to inspect the site.
A Change of Plans
But just as the Sisters were about to move in, Fr. Morelli abruptly decided the Scalabrinian priests should live in the house, instead. Mother Cabrini knew what to do: she turned the matter over to the Sacred Heart. “Trust him especially when you are in difficulty,” she wrote to the Sisters in Italy, “and realize that those disturbances which we term difficulties are nothing but children’s toys for our dear Jesus.”
The Sisters found temporary quarters in a “discreet but filthy” house on White Street. It took another week for Fr. Morelli to provide them with beds and a few kitchen utensils.
Additional Challenges to Mission
Despite these challenges, Mother Cabrini remained eager and determined to proceed with the mission. The school the Sisters began lacked books, pens, and ink, yet quickly grew to more than 100 students. With no other space available, the students met for class in the balcony of St. Joachim’s.
The children in the small orphanage also blossomed. It was at this time that Mother Cabrini decided that each of the nuns would bear the title of Mother instead of Sister, “to better impress upon us that we truly ought to be such to the children who would be confided to our care.” Gentleness and abundant love were the greatest gifts they could offer.
Fr. Morelli refused to pay the Sisters a stipend for teaching. Left without a reliable income, they had to resort to begging after a long day of teaching in order to make ends meet. Morelli, who hailed from northern Italy, also created division within the parish, disparaging Italians from the south. This also made the Sisters’ work harder. Yet they chose to focus on the good they could do rather than the difficulties they had to overcome.
Matters are Resolved
Matters with Fr. Morelli were ultimately resolved when he was removed as pastor of St. Joachim’s at the end of 1890. The priest had contracted enormous debts which were too heavy for the Scalabrinians to support, and a scandal ensued. The relationship between Mother Cabrini and the Scalabrinian Fathers improved and became mutually supportive. And the lessons Mother Cabrini learned during the first phase of the mission in New York stayed with her: get agreements in writing, stay as independent as possible, speak up when needed, and always trust your frustrations to the Heart of Jesus.
St. Frances Cabrini, pray that we may imitate your patience, resilience and trust in Jesus in the face of difficulty.
Thanks to St. Frances Cabrini Shrine for this article.
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