Sister Mary (Nancy) Cabral, fmm

As a child, Nancy was enamored of saints and the missions. Her catechism teachers were Sisters of St. Dorothy and later, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. Sr. Ansovina, one of her teachers, hinted that when she was an adult she should enter the FMM. This was always Nancy’s goal when she was growing up. She taught and was the director of the Religious Education program in St. Anthony of Padua Church. Nancy helped as a member of the Women’s Guild, Director of Catholic Charities and was on numerous committees.  She and her mother were also members of the Secular Franciscan Order at St. Louis Church in Fall River.

Nancy’s desire to realize her vocation as a Franciscan Missionary of Mary was delayed since her mother depended greatly on her after her father’s death. When her mother died, she was able to send in her request for entrance into the FMM. She lived with the sisters on Second Street in Fall River for a year before she was accepted. Nancy entered the pre-novitiate in Chicago, Illinois. She worked part-time at Alverno’s Religious Store, one of the largest in Chicago.

As a ministry during the Novitiate, she worked at Good Shepherd House for abused women. During the summer she worked with the migrant workers in North Carolina. Nancy made her First Vows in 1988 and was sent to the Pre-novitiate house in St. Jerome’s Parish to attend the Lay Ministry Course of the Archdiocese of Chicago and to attend Harry S Truman Community College where she studied for her Associate’s Degree. She was editor of the college paper and served one year on the Community College Board of Chicago.

In 1994, Sr. Nancy was sent in mission to St. John the Baptist Convent in Pawtucket so that she could study at Providence College, receiving her B.A. two years later. Her greatest experience was to attend the “Sorgente” program in Rome.  This program was an in-depth study of the Foundress of the Institute of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Bl. Mary of the Passion.  She went on to receive her Masters degree a year later. After studying, she continued working as the director of the Religious Education program in the parish of St. John the Baptist in Pawtucket.

She was sent on mission to Our Lady of Guadalupe Community in Chamberino, New Mexico.  Her ministries were faith formation and adult catechesis at Albert the Grat Newman Parish in Las Cruces, NM.

In 2007, her community relocated to Las Cruces, NM.  Sr. Nancy presently serves as the local coordinator of her community and continues her ministry in adult catechesis.