March Drinking Companion

St. Katharine Drexel, an American saint who asked the pope at the time, to send missionaries to the U.S.A. The pope simply responded, “Why not you?” Shortly after Katharine took her Drexel family inheritance and began investing in the education of the indigenous people and poorly treated blacks in the south. Her inheritance in modern estimates would have exceeded $400 million dollars. Schools like Xavier University in Louisiana and Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, were some of the beneficiaries of Katharine’s generosity. Why does someone sacrifice their own indulgences of life, for those who are poor and neglected?

For Katharine it revolved around what she named her religious order after, “Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.” To Katharine it was this time in adoration of the Real Presences of Jesus Christ that stirred her heart to sacrifice. In this time of contemplation, she learned to order her life around the priorities of God (God’s will), instead of her own. Upon visiting her shrine prior to its closing you saw a woman who didn’t waste anything, despite her vast resources. Every pencil was used down to the nubs.

By the time of her death at age 77, she had 500 sisters assisting the 63 schools and 50 missions over 16 states. During my travels I have encountered many of color who were not Catholic, but had shared they were educated through the Catholic school system. This can in large part be contributed to the 2 great saints of Philadelphia. St. John Neumann being the founder of the parochial school system, and St. Katharine Drexel who saw value in education as a way to lift oneself out of poverty, despite the environment around them oppressing them. Sadly as modern times have changed, her group has as well. Dwindling numbers have led to the closing of her shrine in Bensalem, PA and soon the end of her order. In the meantime, the institutions she built live on. There are less than 100 sisters left today, many in their later years. Sadly as these religious groups moved away from their charism, so too have the people willing to join a counter cultural movement.

St. Katharine Drexel, pray for us.

This picture is taken in front of the basilica that St. Katharine was responsible for funding.

The tomb of St. Katharine Drexel in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. The box on top are as special holy cards I made for her with an image from St. Katharine Drexel in Fredrick, MD.