Catholic Message for the Feast of Saint Katharine Drexel

During most of my life before entering religious life, I lived in a part of New Orleans that was conveniently located near several streetcar and bus lines. When we wanted to get to Audubon Park, a wonderful place of greenery with a lagoon, swimming pool, zoo, aquarium, rides for children, and plenty of place to play, we would take the Magazine Street streetcar. It cost 7 cents to ride all over town on the public transit system. That streetcar passed Xavier Prep School on its way uptown to the park. Then, when I went to high school, I took the Louisiana bus every morning and afternoon to get to and from Jesuit High School on South Carrollton Avenue. And that bus passed Xavier University. I was aware that those two schools were founded by a nun who was still alive in those days, but in retirement because of bad health, in Pennsylvania. Her name was Katharine Drexel, but she became “Mother Katharine” in religious life. She came from a very wealthy family in Philadelphia; her stepmother was a Bouvier, possibly related to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy who later became first lady of our country.

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