When working in New York’s Little Italy, Mother Cabrini once said, “I am merely watching God perform wonders through us.” After 60 years of dedicated service as a Missionary Sister of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a Cabrini Sister, in several different ministries, Sr. Frances Xavier Brogan, MSC is surely one of God’s “Wonderwomen!” At Mother Cabrini High School in upper Manhattan, she started an English as a Second Language Program, (the only such program in the Archdiocese of New York) that produced successful young women, some of whom now have master’s degrees.

Devoted to the award-winning Mother Cabrini High School Drum Corps, a school where Sr. Frances taught for many years (and was a student herself), Sr. Frances mended uniforms, gave blessings and helped in parades. Even though she served in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Rome and other missions, she always came back to Mother Cabrini High School.

Now, always continuing Mother Cabrini’s mission to serve immigrants, she still teaches English as a Second Language at Cabrini Immigrant Services, an outreach to immigrants on the lower East Side of Manhattan. She also prepares fourth graders for their first Holy Communion and still is a most ardent ambassador for her beloved high school. She recently sent a wonderful student from Ecuador to join the junior class at Mother Cabrini High School and the student went on to earn first honors.

Her determination, sense of humor, loving nature, devotion to students and tireless work ethic will always serve as examples for her fellow Cabrinian colleagues. When Mother Cabrini said, “Rest? We have all eternity to rest. Now let us work,” she must have been thinking about Sr. Frances. However, I don’t think even eternity will slow Sr. Frances down one bit.

This story was written about Sr. Frances by a long time colleague of hers, Ellen Clancy, from Mother Cabrini High School, as a Story of the Heart to commemorate the 125th Anniversary of the Founding of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1880, by Mother Frances Cabrini.

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Stories of the Heart: The Missionary Sisters are as diverse as the ministries in which we work. We are educators, nurses, social workers, campus ministers, pastoral care workers, spiritual directors, and administrators. We invite you to share in our stories.