A woman well ahead of her time, Mother Ursula Infante, MSC, lived her life to the fullest. 104 years of service to the Lord, she helped pave the way for humanitarians to come. Those of us who knew her personally can not help but light up when talking about her. Her funny jokes, those strong hugs, and those blue eyes always wide open when she smiled. She was always happy to see everyone and always sought to do what was best for each individual. When she was president of Cabrini College, she always had her office door open, and was always willing to lend a helping hand to any of the students.
For those of us, who were not lucky enough to form such a tight bond with this wonderful woman, we can not help but feel as if we did know her. Alumni from this school, faculty and staff will help keep Mother Ursula’s spirit alive.
As students of Cabrini College, we could not help but get excited when hearing that Mother Ursula would be attending an event. Can she walk? What does she look like? Many of us were stunned to see how vibrant, pleasant and healthy looking this woman who had lived to see the turning of two centuries was. She would look these students directly in the eyes and ask them questions. How are you doing? How do you like Cabrini? Whenever girls would visit the convent, Mother Ursula would ask how are the boys. She always referred to her students when she was president here as “her girls.”
It was as if she was looking directly inside of you. She cared about what was going on in your life. We have heard the stories about her remembering students that she taught 40 years ago. One woman walked up to her and said, “you may not remember me but I was one of your students.” Mother Ursula responded “of course I know who you are.” And she knew her first name, last name and maiden name.
Half of us can not remember our friends from home’s phone numbers when we are at school, and here this woman can remember a woman that she knew as a girl 40 years ago. For those of us who never met Mother Ursula we look to those who will keep telling us stories about our great foundress. Requiem in Pace Sister Ursula Infante, MSC.
