Under the Summer StarsUNDER THE SUMMER STARSUnder the Summer Stars

An event benefiting The Friends of St. Frances

Friday, August 20th - 7:00PM - Scituate Country Club

click here for details and tickets

 
Welcome to The Friends of ST. FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI, Inc.
27 Hood Road • PO Box 129 • Scituate, Massachusetts • 02066 • 781.544.4544

Vatican Apostolic Signatura
Ruling

All Boston appeals have been rejected by the Apostolic Signatura.
The community of St. Frances is not surprised by this ruling and is pursuing other avenues of recourse.
Boston Council of Parishes Statement, 5/17/2010

It's Not Over

and
WHY WE'RE STILL HERE

Click here

St. Frances X. Cabrini
 

"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

 

Recent Media Coverage

Church vigils

6/14/2010
WGBH Greater Boston

It's Not Over...and Why We're Still Here

5/24/2010
The Friends of St. Frances X. Cabrini

Church Vigils Continue Despite Rejected Closure Appeals

5/18/2010
WBUR.org

Braude Beat: Vatican rulings

5/17/2010
boston.com

Vatican rejects appeal to keep Mass. parishes open

5/17/2010
7 News

Vatican rejects appeal to keep Mass. parishes open

5/17/2010
MSNBC - WHDH

   
   
   

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 18, 2010, the Friends of St. Frances X. Cabrini, Inc. marked 2,000 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 five 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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Mother Cabrini

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

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The Friends of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Inc. • 27 Hood Road • PO Box 129 • Scituate, Massachusetts • 02066 • 781.544.4544
The Friends of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Inc. ©2007 • all rights reserved
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