Wondering how God is calling you? Are you curious about how your job or set of relationships is really a vocation? Do you want some awesome discussions around faith in real-life and more? Think hanging out with Catholic sisters and a fun thoughtful, faith community is cool? Then you are in the right place! Welcome! Explore and be sure to visit with us every weekday at 6 pm CT in our chat room.
Saint Katharine Drexel
Happy feast of Saint Katharine Drexel, foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Saint Katharine was canonized on October 1, 2000, by Pope John Paul II. Here is a bit about Katharine Drexel from the Vatican website.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, on November 26, 1858, Katharine Drexel was the second daughter of Francis Anthony Drexel and Hannah Langstroth. Her father was a well known banker and philanthropist. Both parents instilled in their daughters the idea that their wealth was simply loaned to them and was to be shared with others.
On February 12, 1891, she professed her first vows as a religious, founding the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament whose dedication would be to share the message of the Gospel and the life of the Eucharist among American Indians and Afro-Americans.
Katharine left a four-fold dynamic legacy to her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, who continue her apostolate today, and indeed to all peoples:
- her love for the Eucharist, her spirit of prayer, and her Eucharistic perspective on the unity of all peoples;
- her undaunted spirit of courageous initiative in addressing social iniquities among minorities — one hundred years before such concern aroused public interest in the United States;
- her belief in the importance of quality education for all, and her efforts to achieve it;
- her total giving of self, of her inheritance and all material goods in selfless service of the victims of injustice.
For more information about Saint Katharine, check out the following resources:
KatharineDrexel.org
Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
SQPN on Saint Katharine Drexel
National Catholic Reporter article on Katharine Drexel (March 3, 2010)
* * *
Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer at 6 p.m. Central Time
(your time zone).
Previous post: Catholic Sisters dealing with and fighting Racism
Next post: Another A Nun’s Life Photo Caption Contest
Get your nun schwag! -- We've got cool nunly items including this awesome mug at 
{ 2 comments }
Great post! Thanks. I find this woman amazing. I feel she is one that should be well portrayed in US history books (Anyone out there with connections in the textbook publishing industry???). And not only because she is a woman or a Catholic, but because she made a huge impact on the lives of so many people – especially on minorities when noone else seemed to care. She was a pioneer in the field of social justice.
My daughter took St. Katharine as her confirmation name last year.
rose
The day I entered my congregation, I sat with some of her sisters on the flight from LAX to ABQ. Then when I got to the convent, I found out that our aged chaplain had chauffered St. Katherine all over New Mexico and Arizona while she toured the pueblos.
Sadly, one of the SBS sisters was murdered on November 1, 2009. I went to her funeral in Gallup, NM and got to experience firsthand the love and forgiveness of these sisters and the love they had engendered in the Native American people there.
St. Katherine Drexel, pray for us!