Interim periods out of office allowed Mother Catherine to return to Louisville to her beloved orphans, more numerous as immigrants from Ireland and Germany arrived in the 1840s. As superior of the orphanage—"the only place on earth to which my heart clings"—she accepted, loved, and nurtured hundreds of children, directed Sisters and lay assistants, collaborated with all sorts of professional men and their wives, who became her friends, best supporters and fund-raisers at the annual Orphans' Fair. On the streets of Louisville, she became a recognized figure, either visiting businesses to beg for the orphans or attending to the poor in their homes. It was said that "Every orphan in the city claims you as their mother."