Welcome to The Friends of ST. FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI, Inc.

27 Hood Road • PO Box 129 • Scituate, Massachusetts • 02066 • 781.544.4544

Catholics at St. Frances are Home!

It's Not Over

"We find ourselves in this building with the grace of God. We are here, we are going to fight for our church."
- Jon Rogers, quoted in
The Patriot Ledger,
October 26, 2004

Welcome

We have a story to tell...

The Friends of St. Frances X. Cabrini, Inc. is a non-profit organization formed in 2004 to save the St. Frances X. Cabrini Scituate parish, which was officially closed by the Archdiocese on October 26, 2004.

Every Friday night, an hour after their usual 8 o'clock bedtime, [7-year-old triplets] Sean, Scott, and Christian Arnold arrive at church, clad in Disney, motorcycle, and Shrek pajamas, respectively. The triplets patter down the aisle in slippers or bare feet, dragging sleeping bags behind them. Sometimes they remember to genuflect before turning left at the altar and -- trying not to run -- laying claim to the bouncy air mattresses that fill the sacristy.

The boys are among the dozens of people who are maintaining a 24-hour vigil at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. They take turns on mattresses...put together thousand-piece jigsaw puzzles, and pass time quilting, crocheting, or praying, as part of a campaign to save the church, which was closed by the Archdiocese of Boston [in 2004].

--The Boston Globe, October 23, 2005

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On May 24, 2004, St. Frances received a letter from Archbishop Sean O’ Malley, stating it would be one of the 85 churches slated to close in the reconfiguration process.

It was determined that the church would remain open till Friday October 29th. However, on Monday October 25th - four days early - the locks were changed at night.

The next day a parishioner found a door open that had not been closed properly, other parishioners were alerted and the vigil began. To be in vigil is to maintain a 24-hour watch at the church.

"This bungee cord saved our church"

-Maryellen Rogers, in an interview with NOVA Dutch TV
April 12, 2008

On April 26, 2011, the Friends of St. Frances X. Cabrini, Inc. marked 2,272 days and nights of vigil. Because of the dedication and faith of its parishioners, the church has been manned 24-hours a day for more than six and a half years, while they attempt to present viable solutions to the Archdiocese to "officially" reopen and continue to serve the Catholics of Scituate as a fully functioning, vibrant parish community.

"On each wall at the front of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Catholic Church...

eye-catching and complex quilts hang near pews, pedestals, and stained glass windows. Each quilt tells the story of the Boston Archdiocese’s closing of churches five years ago, and the 24-hour vigils held by the people who are still fighting to keep their houses of worship open."
-The Patriot Ledger 10/23/09-
Read more media coverage

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Inspiration of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini:
"I can do all things in Him who strengthens me."
- Phil. 4:13

In vigil for

Read our
Mission Statement
here

“The longer this goes on, the more determined we become and the more we will
dig our heels into the sand.”
-Margy O’Brien, quoted in
The Patriot Ledger
August 22, 2008

"The people here are living their faith, they walk the walk everyday."
-Maryellen Rogers, quoted in
The Patriot Ledger
July 21, 2007

Hope Soars:
The Sixth Anniversary in Vigil Quilt
All quilts

It's Not Over

Recent Media Coverage

Archdiocese Turns to Evangelizing

Critics Fear New Plan Will Close Churches

Archdiocese calls on critics in tax dispute with Scituate

Scituate claims win against Archdiocese to tax the closed Cabrini church

Welcome

We have a story to tell...

"This bungee cord saved our church"

"On each wall at the front of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Catholic Church...