By Peter Finney Jr | OSV News

NEW ORLEANS (OSV News) — In a city renowned for its seemingly genetic ability to parade, party and partake, the 100th anniversary of Xavier University of Louisiana has focused on the gifts of faith, love and reading the signs of the times.

Xavier was established in 1925 by St. Katharine Drexel on the financial strength of the multimillion-dollar inheritance she received from her Philadelphia father’s banking estate,

Stories are legendary about how the socially conscious heiress — a slight but energetic nun who overcame the hostility and indifference of society and the church — established an amazing network of schools, churches and missions specifically for Blacks and Native Americans.