November is Black Catholic History and Native American Heritage Month

November is a month devoted to Black Catholic History and Native American Heritage. Saint Katharine would not have required a month dedicated by others to celebrate these two ideas.

November is also the month of Thanksgiving. For Saint Katharine, any day she received Eucharist was a Thanksgiving day. “Eucharist” in Greek means “Thanksgiving.”

St. Katharine didn’t just hold parties to celebrate these ideas. She devoted her life to evangelizing and teaching Black Catholics and Native Indians. St. Michael Indian School, St. Michaels, AZ, was opened in 1902. Students were taught in English but were not prohibited from using their original languages. St. Katharine remembers hearing a student chanting in his own language while he did his chores around the school. In another mission, St. Katharine thought she had a problem with her hearing because she didn’t understand the sermon. The priest was preaching in the original language of the Indians of his church.

The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament opened schools for Blacks throughout the country. Xavier University of Louisiana began as a high school and Normal school. The Normal school (a year after high school) soon became the Department of Education in Xavier University. Black students graduated and became role models as well as teachers for younger Black students. Elementary education was a way of opening doors to higher education and professional training.

Bringing more people to the Eucharistic table of the Lord was St. Katharine’s way of celebrating Eucharist/Thanksgiving. St. Katharine said that the Eucharist is “a proof of Our Lord’s unselfish love for each one of us” (emphasis in the original). St. Katharine believed in the equality of all people, regardless of skin color or income. She and the Sisters worked to instill this self-respect and respect for others in all of their students.

November brings election days. St. Katharine would ask that we pray for enlightened voters and compassionate representatives of the people.

“I beg [thee] through Mary, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, to enlighten the minds of our president & congress … in such clearness that they & the people of the U.S. may follow all they must do for our country to bring to it religion, justice and peace.”

November is also the month of the holy souls. Let us remember the holy souls this month in our rosaries.

St. Katharine would pray for the soldiers and their chaplains when she heard troop trains rumbling past the Motherhouse during World War II. We could pray for the armed forces and veterans this month.

May we always pray for peace and with gratitude. Best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving.

Stephanie Morris, Ph.D., ASBS

800th Jubilee of Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi

 

In 2026, the Church is celebrating the 800^th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi. His name immediately conjures up images of speaking to animals, poverty and a brown habit. St. Katharine Drexel was, prior to entering religious life in 1889, a Secular Franciscan.

In discerning her vocation, Kate wrote to Bishop James O’Connor:

“I want a missionary order for Indians and for Colored People. I know we have this order in Philadelphia in the same order of Franciscans you have secured for Winnebago. … You know I admire the spirit of the Franciscans of Philadelphia – I admire what I see of their character on the outside – but I do not know what means are taken to produce such heroines as that order produces.”

Kate as a Secular Franciscan would have experienced some of the prayer life and charism of the Franciscans.

This connection with St. Francis and his spirit of poverty was so important to St. Katharine that she obtained permission for the earliest Sisters to wear the Franciscan cord. This cord has knots for the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. With the wearing of the cord came special prayers and blessings to be obtained by saying the prayers.

Whenever Mother Katharine donned her habit with the Franciscan cord, she was reminded on her vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and “To be the Mother and Servant of the Indian and Negro races, according to the rule and constitutions of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People.”

St. Katharine corresponded with many Franciscan missionaries, e.g., Fr. Anselm Weber, O.F.M., and frequently visited them on her visitations to SBS missions and schools around the country. St. Michael Indian School opened on the site of a Franciscan mission, St. Michael’s. In one way her relationship with the Franciscans was as a sponsor or contributor to their work. But she was more than just a financial partner, she prayed with and for them, as a spiritual partner as well.

During the month of October, the month of the Holy Rosary, perhaps we can remember Franciscan priests, sisters and brothers in our rosaries. We can also continue to pray for vocations. We can thank our Guardian Angels for watching over us and walking with us along our path of life.

Stephanie Morris, Ph.D., A.S.B.S.

 

September remembers important times of Our Lady’s life. September 8 celebrates her birth. September 15 is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.

From the joy of the beginning of a new life to the sorrowful days of the end of earthly life. Our Lady has seen it all. She knows how we have felt at various times in our lives. She has felt it all.

Bishop Futon J. Sheen (to be beatified Sept. 24, 2026) noted that God had chosen Mary to be His Beloved Mother and ours. We can go to her as our own dear Mother for help and support.

St. Katharine noted that “God has helped all who hope in Him.” The Blessed Mother believed deeply and hoped fully in God. God supported her during her struggles on the earth. St. Katharine wrote that “We must leave ourselves in God’s hands with confidence.” Whatever we do, if we place our actions in God’s hands, God will use our actions for His benefit.

Sometimes we try to do what we think is God’s will but meet with obstacles and sorrow. St. Katharine said: “Don’t be discouraged!! That will not help you one bit and would be the worst thing you could do. Put yourself into Our Lord’s Hands and lean on Him. Ask our own dear Mother Mary to help you and keep you faithful.”

As we begin the autumn season, we also begin school and perhaps new jobs. We can ask Mary, the Seat of Wisdom, to guide us as we proceed.

 

Stephanie Morris, Ph.D., A.S.B.S.

Summer Saints

August includes some important feasts – the feast of the Transfiguration and the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Some saints remembered include St. John Vianney (August 4), St. Clare (August 11) and others.

St. John Vianney is a patron of parish priests. We would do well to remember to pray for our parish priests, men and women religious, and for vocations that day and always.

During this Jubilee year of St. Francis of Assisi, we could celebrate with St. Clare, foundress of the Poor Clares. May we enjoy the beauty of God’s creation as the Franciscans and Poor Clares have. May their love of poverty of spirit help us to enjoy the simple joys of life.

St. Pius X (August 21) is known for lowering the age at which children might receive their first Holy Communion. St. Katharine received her first Holy Communion at eleven years old, one year earlier than the norm of twelve in 1870. Pope St. Pius X reigned from 1903 to 1914 and lowered the normal age to seven. Saint Katharine reflected: “How I would miss Our Lord if He were to be away from me by His bodily presence in the Blessed Sacrament! O Joy, today I shall see Him lifted up in the white consecrated Host and His Precious Blood in the Chalice. Would that I could meet Him truly as His handmaid, His pleasure, in my soul. Make me faithful to Him even as she [Mary] was to Him at Bethlehem and on the Hill of Skulls. I am needy and poor and I seek the strength to do this.”

May we always receive Holy Communion with the fervor and joy of those receiving Communion for the very first time!

The feasts of St. Monica and St. Augustine remind us of the power of a mother’s prayers. St. Augustine walked away from the church for thirty years before his mother’s prayers brought him back to the practice of his faith. May we share St. Monica’s perseverance in praying for family members or friends.

The end of summer is coming and soon the schools will welcome the return of students. May Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, be with the students, teachers, staff and parents in the coming school year.

Stephanie Morris, Ph.D., A.S.B.S.

250th Celebration

This summer we will celebrate America’s 250^th Birthday. Saint Katharine would enjoy the celebrations with us. As a young woman, Kate attended the 1876 Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. She reacted with “three hearty cheers” as the Centennial procession passed her family’s balcony on Walnut Street. At that time, Kate was a little uncertain about the protocol as she and her family shared Uncle John Lakenau’s carriage with the German ambassador. She trusted she had acted as a polite young lady and not as a child.

In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI canonized St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint in the United States and Canada. Her feast is July 14^th. St. Katharine hoped, in 1937, that St. Kateri’s canonization would show that there is no distinction with God as to persons and that no race had a monopoly on sanctity.

Saint Katharine prayed that the hearts of our government officials would bring religion, justice and peace to our country. We can do the same.

July 16 is the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Many Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament professed their vows on this day. Our prayers and best wishes are with the Sisters celebrating jubilees this year.

Many of us are planning or have planned vacations for the summer. As a young woman, St. Katharine anticipated having “nothing to do,” aside from one hour’s practice and one hour’s sewing. She did keep up with her prayers and daily Mass attendance. She knew that God works 24/7 and is always waiting for us to think of Him.

May your summer be a time of “re-creation,” providing opportunities to re-create yourself both physically and spiritually. May your summer be blessed and fun!

Stephanie Morris, Ph.D., A.S.B.S.

Corpus Christi

Pentecost recalls the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and the Blessed Mother. St. Katharine wrote that “the Holy Ghost is ever within me – the presence of God.” Like the Apostles, we have received the Holy Spirit; like the Apostles, we each have our “own particular work to do for the Church.” Spending a little time with the Holy Spirit, after Communion or whenever we have some quiet time, we may hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit, inviting us to work with God to do what God has asked us to do. We will find joy in using the gifts and talents that God gave us in doing what God asks us to do.

St. Katharine prayed: “O most holy and most adorable Spirit of my Jesus, let me hear Your sweet voice. Oh, Divine Spirit I wish to be before Thee as a light feather, so that Your Breath may carry me where you will.” May we have the faith to trust God’s will to see us through whatever storms enter our lives and to rejoice with God when blessings come our way.

As a young woman, Kate wrote in her diary: “Do not let a day pass in … June without saying a fervent prayer to the Sacred Heart. Let nothing worry you.”  For St. Katharine, the Sacred Heart was “the center, the power of the Eucharist.” Devotion to the Sacred Heart had come easily and early to Kate. Kate had had an aunt – Emma’s sister – in the Religious of the Sacred Heart. Kate and her sisters did their sacramental preparations with the Religious of the Sacred Heart.

In her travels, St. Katharine tried to schedule daily Mass along her journey. She checked train schedules and would squeeze a daily Mass in between connections. She felt the omission of a daily reception of the Eucharist would be a great loss to her. St. Katharine had daily Mass and Communion written into the earliest rules of the congregation, something usually reserved to the cloistered communities in her day. She had originally considered entering a cloistered community for this reason.  Bishop O’Connor, her spiritual director, assured her that she could write that into her new congregation’s constitution.

The feast of Corpus Christi – the Body and Blood of Christ – is important to the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. St. Katharine wrote that “Each single Communion ought to be a real event in our life.” Do we feel as inspired each time we receive Communion as we might on Christmas or Easter? The gift of God Himself is the same, any day we receive Communion.

 

Stephanie Morris, Ph.D., A.S.B.S.

A Moment with Saint Katharine for May

   

  The daughter born to Francis Anthony and Hannah Langstroth Drexel on November 26, 1858, was baptized “Catherine Mary Drexel.” 1858 was the year of the appearances of Our Blessed Mother in Lourdes. Kate, as the child was affectionately called, and her family visited the Shrine at Lourdes in 1875. As a young woman, Kate and her two sisters returned to Lourdes in 1884 and 1886.

         Is it any wonder that St. Katharine had a great devotion to Our Lady?

         St. Katharine urged the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to “not forget to propagate as much as possible devotion to the Rosary and meditation on the mysteries.” We can imagine the various stages of Our Lord’s life from His Birth to His Ascension into heaven, seating at the right hand of God the Father. We can also imagine Our Lady’s role in Jesus’ life from the Annunciation, the Wedding Feast of Cana, the establishment of the Eucharist, and her Assumption and Coronation as Queen of heaven and earth. At the Wedding Feast of Cana, somehow Mary learned of the newly wed couple’s dilemma – they were out of wine! Mary merely mentioned it to her Son; He brushed her off, saying, in effect, so what? Nonetheless, Jesus changed water into fine wine. And fine it was; the in-laws noted that most hosts serve the best vintage first and the lesser vintages after the guests had been drinking awhile. With the help of Mary and Jesus, the newly weds served the best last. We may have to go through a few struggles like running out of wine but if we go to Mary, she will intercede with her Son to help us through any dilemma. St. Katharine noted: “If God the Father deemed Mary holy enough to Mother His only Son, who is there who may not confide ourselves to her – we are her children.”

         We have recently celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday. St. Katharine noted that the Heart of God was “full of pity and mercy,” an “ocean of mercy.” In traveling to Rome to get the Constitutions approved, St. Katharine would have spent days and weeks surrounded by only the ocean. But she knew that God was always with her, on land or on an “ocean of mercy.”

         May we grow to feel the presence of Jesus and Mary around us at all times.

         In May we also celebrate Memorial Day, remembering all the deceased members of our military. St. Katharine could hear the rumble of troop trains, traveling on the tracks just beyond the Motherhouse. She prayed for the soldiers and their chaplains. We can also pray for members of our armed forces and their chaplains, living and dead, each day.

         Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for us.

Stephanie Morris, Ph.D., ASBS
April 26, 2026