Journeying With The Saints

Journeying with the Saints is a podcast that picks a Saint for a year to walk with through their writings. Each episode, there will be a short reading and then a reflection. This podcast helps to move through the writings of the Saints and understand how their wisdom applies to our lives today. Each Saint has a unique insight into living out the Catholic Faith well and a deep understanding of how to draw closer to Christ. This podcast offers a great opportunity to learn from them.

London to New York: August 23rd, 1902 07/07/2025

London to New York: August 23rd, 1902 Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. It is time to travel with Mother Cabrini from London to New York. Today, in the letter, Mother Cabrini is going to make mention of persecutions happening in France to Catholics. I’m really only familiar with the French Revolution and the persecutions that happened then, but it’s 1902 in our reading for today. So, it can't be the French Revolution. I went to look it up. Yes, between the years of 1900-1906, there was intense persecutions in France targeting the Catholic Church and specifically religious orders. It stems from a law passed in 1900 called the Associations Law of 1901. This law, passed because secularism was on the rise and anti-clerical sentiment, severely restricted the activities of religious orders, including requiring them to register as associations and limiting their ability to operate schools and other institutions. So, based off what I found in researching this, many Catholic schools and institutions were closed. The Jesuits were expelled because they are a teaching order in many ways and the State couldn’t have that. I wanted to bring this to you attention so that you understand the context of today’s letter. To be honest, the negative effects of the French Revolution and this persecution that Mother writes about can still be seen in France today. Let’s go ahead and open to page 271 and begin. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36948700

Buenos Aires to Genoa: August 22, 1901 06/30/2025

Buenos Aires to Genoa: August 22, 1901 Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome! So, we just finished up the voyage that brought Mother Cabrini to Buenos Aires and now we are starting one that takes her from Buenos Aires to Genoa. It’s August of 1901, so about nine months from when she landed. This is just one letter. It’s unfinished, but there is only one date entry. That means we will read the whole thing today and then I’ll give my reflection. That’ll be the end of this voyage. Mother Cabrini is going to talk about visiting a church called Our Lady of the Candelaria or more appropriately, La iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria. It’s in Rio de Janeiro. She talks about counting the candle sticks that are shaped like a pyramid. I went to go see if I could find pictures of the church and, sure enough, Mother Cabrini’s description is spot on. I’ll link it in the show notes. So, let’s get started by turning to page 265. Candelaria Church: /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36928710

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 10th 06/23/2025

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 10th Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a long reading today and it’s also the end of a voyage…sort of. This letter and voyage are incomplete, so we never really hear about Mother Cabrini getting to Buenos Aires. Because it’s the end, we also have my reflection. We’ve got a lot to cover today, so let’s get started by opening to page 258. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36878610

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 8th 06/22/2025

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 8th Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today in our reading, it is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1900. Mother Cabrini has a lot to say about Our Blessed Mother Mary. It’s always a good day to honor her and stand in awe that she is the Mother of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s open to page 255 and begin. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36854585

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 7th 06/21/2025

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 7th Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today is a super short reading and there’s not too much to say. So, let’s jump right in by turning to page 255. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36835885

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 6th 06/20/2025

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 6th Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a short reading today. Mother is sitting on the steamer near Cadiz, Spain, which is on the western side of Gibraltar. Malaga is on the eastern side, so that means that the steamer passed through the Straits of Gibraltar. Mother Cabrini has a cold and she says she is curing it with milk. Tinned milk to be exact. I’ve never heard of that being a cure, but who knows. Let’s go ahead and open to page 254 and begin. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36835645

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 5th 06/19/2025

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 5th Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. We are going to hear a lot about raisins today in our short reading. Raisins are not my favorite and by that I mean I really can’t stand them. My favorite comedian is Brian Regan and he has a skit on raisins which pretty much nails my feelings on the matter. I’ll share the link in the show notes. Anyway, this is a short and sweet reading, so let’s get started by turning to page 254. Brain Regan: Raisins /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36825245

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 4th 06/18/2025

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 4th Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, and welcome back. As the steamer lifts anchor and begins the journey, Mother Cabrini has a bit of a reunion with two priests. At first, they don’t quite recognize each other, but then the pieces start to fall into place. One of the priests is the Provincial of the Scolopi in Buenos Aires. So, Scolopi is a Religious order, also known as the Piarists. Piarists are the oldest religious order dedicated to education, specifically to children and youth. This religious order was founded by St. Joseph Calasanz in Italy in 1617. So, just a small history lesson for today. I was unsure of what Scolopi meant, so once I found out, I knew I had to share it with you to help today’s reading make more sense. With that, let’s open to page 252 and begin. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36809970

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 3rd 06/17/2025

Genoa to Buenos Aires: December 3rd Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another day in the Mediterranean Sea with Mother Cabrini. Today, in the readings, it is the feast day of St. Francis Xavier. Mother is very excited to celebrate because St. Francis Xavier is who she modeled her name after. Remember, St. Francis Cabrini wanted to go to the East, like he did. St. Francis Xavier was born on April 7th, 1506, so he was born 344 years before Mother Cabrini. He was Spanish and is one of the founders of the Jesuits. He was encouraged to become a priest by St. Ignatius of Loyola. He was sent to India because Portugal was colonizing India and the Portuguese there were losing their faith or not living up to it. So, St. Francis Xavier went as the Papal Nuncio to India in 1541. It was not an easy time for him there. He had to deal with government officials that didn’t like him being there. He was upset by the poor moral lives of many Catholics living in the area. And he had to build a lot of churches which wasn’t easy. He died in China on December 3rd, 1552 from being ill with fever. He is buried in India. He has a fascinating story as a missionary and he most definitely met with many struggles and hardships in his time. It’s not surprising Mother Cabrini looks to him as a model to imitate as a missionary herself. Let’s hear about her time today as we turn to page 250. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36803040

Genoa to Buenos Aires: 2nd December, 1900 06/16/2025

Genoa to Buenos Aires: 2nd December, 1900 Hello and welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Are you ready for another trip? This time, we are going from Genoa to Buenos Aires. Here we are in the year 1900. Think back to all Mother Cabrini has done in our time with her and we are just getting a taste of all her works through her letters. She did so much more than is written down here. As we sail from the Northern Hemisphere to the South Hemisphere, we are going back to the mission field Mother Cabrini set up nearly four years ago in 1896. So, let’s join her now as she boards the Alphonsus XIII by turning to page 247. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36795855

New York to Havre: September 9th 06/08/2025

New York to Havre: September 9th Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to our last day of the this voyage from New York to Havre. Maybe it’s just me, but on this voyage, I wasn’t really paying attention to the trip. Maybe it’s because we’ve done the New York to Havre trip with Mother Cabrini already, but I almost forgot she was cruising across the Atlantic. Sure, there were the storms and wind and such, but I wasn’t as keyed into that. It was more her thoughts. Anyway, this is one of the incomplete letters, so we won’t get a report of entering the final port or a sign off. We will however get my thoughts at the end. So, let’s open to page 246 and see this voyage out. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36761850

New York to Havre: September 8th 06/07/2025

New York to Havre: September 8th Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to a beautiful day at sea with Mother Cabrini. In our reading for today, it is September 8th and that is the day that we celebrate Mary’s birthday. This got me thinking, “Why this day?” So, I went to look it up. I'll read for you an answer from Catholic Answers. With all that, let’s hear about Mary from Mother Cabrini by opening to page 244. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36749650

New York to Havre: September 7th 06/06/2025

New York to Havre: September 7th Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back to another day at sea where the steamer is rocking around. It’s not because of the water today, but because of the wind. Today, Mother is going to talk about grace. Grace was not something I understood until I became Catholic and started homeschooling my kids. The good ‘ole Baltimore Catechism teaches you all about grace. Essentially, grace is the Divine Life within you. There is Sanctifying Grace, Sacramental Grace, and Actual Grace. It is grace—the Divine Life—which enables us to do good things beyond the natural law. Let’s hear about grace and gratitude as we turn to page 243. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36706030

New York to Havre: September 6th 06/05/2025

New York to Havre: September 6th Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a very short reading today as the sea is rocking so badly Mother Cabrini can’t really do anything at all. At one point, she calls a steward to ask if they should prepare for an emergency and he tells her in a calm and collected way to just ‘remain calm, everything is all right.” It’s a good thing she didn’t get someone like me when she called because I would be freaking out. I’m not known for having a reassuring voice in intense times. Let’s go ahead and open our books to page 242. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36705790

New York to Havre: September 5th 06/04/2025

New York to Havre: September 5th Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we will hear about how fog rolls in, the air grows cold, the steamer is rocking pretty substantially, and there is an air of nervousness throughout the steamer. Mother takes this time to speak about being thankful to Jesus. Something I’ve really been trying to do is to thank God when I can see that a prayer has been answered. Oftentimes, we ask God for something, but we forget to thank Him. I’ve been trying really hard to remember to give thanks. Let’s see what is going on out in the fog near Newfoundland by turning to page 240. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36695655

New York to Havre: September 4th 06/03/2025

New York to Havre: September 4th Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. As we’ve traveled around with Mother Cabrini, you may have wondered how she handles leaving behind the things she has started up. How does she feel about starting something up and then leaving it in the care of others? That takes a great amount of trust. I do think there are people who can handle starting something up and then once it’s up and running, moving to the next thing. My husband is that way. I am not. But, each of us have our role to play. Mother will share with us how she handles this in our reading today. So, let’s turn to page 237. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36681715

New York to Havre: September 2nd, 1899 06/02/2025

New York to Havre: September 2nd, 1899 Welcome to our 10th voyage with Mother Cabrini, Catholic Pilgrims. This voyage is from New York to Havre. We’ve made this voyage with her before but that was a decade ago. She has grown wiser and more experienced. I suspect that will show up in her writings. Mother is plain worn out as she boards the steamer for this trip and she falls asleep as soon as she waves goodbye. Let’s join her leaving the port in New York, as we turn to page 235. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36662115

Liverpool to New York: November 10th 06/01/2025

Liverpool to New York: November 10th Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the end of another voyage. Though it is the end of the voyage, you will find that the letter is incomplete. We get no sign off as is typical of the other letters. Who can say why? Maybe the letter was destroyed or lost over time. Anyway, it will end a bit abruptly. Obviously, Mother will have made it to New York, but we won’t hear about that. Since it is the end of a voyage, I’ll be giving my reflection at the end. Let’s open to page 231. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36632685

Liverpool to New York: November 9th 05/31/2025

Liverpool to New York: November 9th Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. It just dawned on me the other day that we started this book with Mother Cabrini in the year 1890 and now we are already in 1899. Nearly a whole decade has passed. This writing during this voyage is very different. We only get small little snapshots about what is actually going on with the trip across the Atlantic. The rest of the time, Mother Cabrini is giving her Daughters the back story of what she was doing in Europe. The first voyage we went on with her, we got lots of information about the waves, the seasickness of the Sisters, the look of creation as Mother looked out over the ocean. This time, we don’t get much of that. Maybe that’s fitting because she’s already spoken a lot about crossing the Atlantic. Let’s go ahead and join Mother Cabrini on a calm day at sea by turning to page 224. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36595585

Liverpool to New York: 8th November 05/30/2025

Liverpool to New York: 8th November Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. If you ever thought Mother Cabrini was lazy (which I doubt you did), today will put those thoughts to rest. Nearly everywhere she goes, she wants to open a school, a house for Sisters, or something to help bring the faith to people. Her energy seems endless. Today, we will hear more about her time in Paris. Let’s open to page 219. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36571445

Liverpool to New York: On the 20th August 05/29/2025

Liverpool to New York: On the 20th August Bonjour, Catholic Pilgrims. Bienvenue. Welcome. At the beginning of this letter, Mother Cabrini is again telling her dear daughters about what she was doing in Europe before leaving from Liverpool. We are getting up to speed, shall we say. Today, we will briefly hear about her time in Paris. Then, we will move up to the current voyage. Let’s go ahead and open to page 216. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36555835

Liverpool to New York: On the 25th August 05/28/2025

Liverpool to New York: On the 25th August Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a super short reading, so today, we get a bit of a break from a longer reading. As a reminder, this trip started on November 6th, 1899, but the date for today’s reading is August 25th. The reason for this jump back in time is that Mother Cabrini is filling her daughters in on what she was doing before heading out from Liverpool. So, yesterday, we heard about how she took a retreat. Today, she’s going to continue on with what she was doing after that. Mother Cabrini gets to help do some preparation work for an upcoming pilgrimage to Lourdes that Monsignor Radini Tedeschi is taking. She doesn’t get to go on the pilgrimage, but she is still helping out for just a bit. Let’s hear about this as we turn to page 215. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36540170

Liverpool to New York: November 6th 05/27/2025

Liverpool to New York: November 6th Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. As we’ve been traveling around with Mother Cabrini, you may have wondered, “Does this woman ever rest?” Well, yes, she does. Today, we are going to hear about how she took a retreat when she was in Rome at the Mother House. She recognized that her body was wearing down and she just needed to be calm and rest for awhile. She understands how refreshing this is to the mind, body, and soul. It’s true. If you’ve ever been on a spiritual retreat, it does help to calibrate you back into a place of harmony. Even if it’s only for a few days. So, let’s hear about the benefits of retreats by opening to page 210. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36518645

Liverpool to New York: November 5th, 1898 05/26/2025

Liverpool to New York: November 5th, 1898 Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, we are starting on a new voyage with Mother Cabrini. Two years have passed since her last voyage. This time she is leaving from Liverpool, that city made famous the Beatles. As you may know, all four Beatles’ members were born and raised in Liverpool. Mother Cabrini is going to tell us that this is her seventh time leaving Europe and before she goes, she has an audience with Pope Leo XIII. At the time of this recording, we just got our new pope, Pope Leo XIV. The St. Francis Cabrini Shrine in New York, recently posted these thoughts from a fellow Catholic: “The last Pope Leo the world knew, sent a woman named Francesca X. Cabrini to the United States to care for the poor, hungry and marginalized. He sent her to bring them the hope of Jesus. That very woman died in the city of Chicago after being a missionary spreading the love of God, through the Sacred Heart of Jesus to those in need…May the new Pope Leo XIV from Chicago, who has been sent to Rome, also be a missionary spreading the love of God to all, because we are all in some need. Amen.” Those are some great connections for us to ponder as we turn to page 207 and begin our journey across the Atlantic. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36513525

Buenos Aires to Barcelona: August 8th, 1896--Part 2 05/20/2025

Buenos Aires to Barcelona: August 8th, 1896--Part 2 Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, and welcome back. Today, we will read the second half of the letter for this voyage. Remember this is just one long letter for the Buenos Aires trip to Barcelona. Since we will finish this letter today, I’ll be giving my reflection once we are done. Let’s open to page 199 and start where it says, “We had no sooner left.” /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36509805

Buenos Aires to Barcelona: August 8th, 1896--Part 1 05/19/2025

Buenos Aires to Barcelona: August 8th, 1896--Part 1 Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims, to our next voyage. We are headed with Mother Cabrini from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Barcelona, Spain. We are about 8 months removed from the end of the last voyage, so the year is 1896. This reading will be a bit different than other ones. This letter is just one long big letter and to read it all would take a good long while. So, we are going to split it up. We will read from page 189 to the middle of 199. It’s a longer reading, but we will get some info on what went on in Argentina, which will be insightful. So, this letter will take us just two days to work through and then that’s it. Without any further delay, let’s open to page 189 and head to Barcelona. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36461550

Panama to Buenos Aires: 23rd of November 05/13/2025

Panama to Buenos Aires: 23rd of November Welcome back to the end of this voyage, Catholic Pilgrims. There is so much exciting stuff going on in today’s reading. We’ve got mule rides over foggy mountains, jumps across deep chasms, drunken men, and scant food and sleep for Mother Cabrini and Mother Chiara. We are reading an adventure tale today that could totally be a movie. We have a lot to read, but you are really going to be amazed at what a Religious Sister is willing to do to save souls. Let’s join her on the caravan by opening to page 176. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36447005

Panama to Buenos Aires: October 31st, Iquique 05/12/2025

Panama to Buenos Aires: October 31st, Iquique Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today is a longer reading, but I invite you to sit back and just imagine Mother Cabrini traveling around off the coast of Chile. Her descriptions are really quite interesting. She’s going to spend some time in Antofagasta and if you go look at the city online, you will find that, other than modern day buildings, her descriptions are very accurate. She has some choice words to say about a Protestant pastor that is on board and, as a former Protestant, I don’t blame her for her feelings on Protestantism. It has led millions away from the Eucharist and there’s just no benefit in that at all. Since this is a longer reading, let’s go ahead and get started by turning to page 168. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36416000

Panama to Buenos Aires: October 29th 05/11/2025

Panama to Buenos Aires: October 29th Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today, we are going to get a major geography lesson. I used to be horrible at geography—horrible. Once I became a military spouse, I started to get better, mostly because I was traveling a lot and I started really looking things up on a map and caring about what I was looking at. I imagine that most of us listening to this book have not traveled down the west coast of South America. As Mother describes it, it sounds very, very different than what most of us are used to environmentally and geographically. So, let’s settle in and hear about that part of the world through a missionary's eyes by turning to page 165. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36403815

Panama to Buenos Aires: Always Late 05/10/2025

Panama to Buenos Aires: Always Late Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a long reading today filled with all kinds of good information and descriptions. Even though it’s a longer reading, I think you are really going to enjoy hearing about Mother being in Peru. Since, it will take more time to get through, let’s go ahead and get started by turning to page 158. /episode/index/show/journeyingwiththesaints/id/36364880

Journeying With The Saints

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