March 3 | Saint Katharine Drexel

Welcome, young history buffs and curious minds, to My Daily Saint, the podcast that digs deep into the incredible lives of the saints, those remarkable people who shaped history and continue to inspire us today. Forget dusty old portraits and boring stories. Today, we are talking about an American woman who had absolutely everything the world tells us we should want, and decided it wasn't enough. We are talking about private jets, well, in her day, private train cars, vacations all over the world, and a bank account that never runs dry.

Imagine walking into a room and everyone knowing your name, because your family is practically royalty. Now imagine walking away from every single cent of it. This is the incredible life of St. Catherine Drexel. Catherine was born on November 26, 1858 in Philadelphia into a world of massive wealth. Her father, Francis Drexel, was a wealthy investment banker and philanthropist. This was the era of high society, and the Drexel family were multi-millionaires.

Tragedy struck almost immediately. Her mother, Hannah, died only five weeks after Catherine was born. Her father eventually remarried a woman named Emma, who lovingly raised Catherine and her sister alongside their new sibling. The Drexels were a family that sought to put God first. They didn't just write checks to charity. They opened the actual doors of their home three days a week to serve the poor directly.

Imagine that, living in a mansion, but three days a week, your living room is filled with people who have nothing. That was the example Catherine grew up with. While Catherine was traveling cross-country, something caught her eye that she couldn't ignore. She saw the desperate plight of Native Americans living on reservations. It broke her heart. So, being a woman of action and influence, she decided to go straight to the top. She traveled to Rome and managed to get a private audience with Pope Leo XIII.

This is the dramatic turning point of her life. Picture the scene. The young, wealthy American heiress kneeling before the leader of the Catholic Church. She pleads with him, asking him to send more missionaries to the United States to help the Native Americans.

The Pope looked at her and asked a simple, life-changing question. Why don't you become a missionary? That question stopped her in her tracks. She wasn't asking to be a nun. She was asking for someone else to go help, but the call was undeniable.

After her father died, Catherine inherited a vast fortune. But instead of buying yachts or islands, she used her vast inheritance to found schools and churches for the underprivileged. She initially thought about living a quiet, contemplative life, basically praying in silence away from the world. And she even entered the Sisters of Mercy. But her spiritual director, Bishop James O'Connor, had other plans. He asked her to start something brand new, a religious order dedicated specifically to serving African Americans and Native Americans.

In 1891, she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. She started with just a band of 13 sisters, but they were fierce. They set about a massive ministry, founding schools and convents all over the country. This is also where the story gets dangerous. Catherine was fighting for racial justice in a time when many people in America were violently opposed to it. She was attacked by segregationists. These people hated her work so much that they even burned down one of her schools.

But Catherine didn't back down. During her lifetime, she established Catholic schools in 13 states and opened 50 missions for Native Americans. Eventually, the physical toll of this hard work caught up with her. After suffering a heart attack, she had to retire from the active mission efforts. But she didn't stop working for God. She spent the last 20 years of her life devoted to prayer and writing. Catherine died on March 3, 1955, at the incredible age of 96. In October 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized her, making her the second American-born saint.

Because of her incredible work fighting for equality and using her money for others, Saint Catherine Drexel is the patron saint of racial justice and philanthropists. It's easy to look at St. Catherine and think, well, she had millions of dollars, so of course she could do big things. But remember the story of her parents. Before she started building schools, her family opened their house three days a week to serve the poor. They didn't wait for a special organization to do it. They just opened their doors.

This week, find one way to open the door of your life to someone who needs help. Maybe you have extra time, maybe you're good at math, or maybe you just have a listening ear. Like St. Catherine, don't wait for someone else to solve the problem.

Ask yourself the Pope's question, why don't you do it? Thank you for joining us on My Daily Saint. We look forward to sharing another incredible story of faith and courage with you tomorrow.