Born in Raywick, Ky., on July 19, 1901, Catherine was the daughter of Milburn and Anna Bartley Miles. Before the Ursuline Sisters opened St. Francis Xavier School in Raywick, Catherine attended public school in Marion County. After she finished the eighth grade at St. Francis Xavier School, she kept house for the Sisters at Raywick so she could observe what religious life was about. At the age of 24, Catherine entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph. On March 19, 1926, she received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Francis Xavier.
Sister Francis Xavier was prepared for the teaching apostolate and spent most of her teaching years in lower and middle grades. Her first assignment took her to St. Lawrence, Ky., for one semester in 1928. She was then missioned to Browns Valley, Ky., for a year, followed by one year at Jeffersonville, Ind., and another year at Hardinsburg, Ky. She left Kentucky and went to New Mexico for eleven years, teaching at Farmington and at Blanco. She came back to Kentucky and taught three years at Peonia. In 1945, she was missioned to Glennonville, Mo., for one year and returned to Kentucky to teach at St. Charles, Lebanon, for one year. She returned to Blanco, N.M., in 1949, came back to Kentucky in 1950 and remained teaching in the state until she retired from teaching in 1981. During that time, she taught at Holy Cross, Knottsville, Calhoun, Fredericktown, Calvary, and Leitchfield (St. Paul). In 1970, she was assigned to Loretto (St. Francis) where she spent 11 years before retiring in 1981.
In October 1981, Sister Francis Xavier suffered a broken leg and a broken arm at the Ursuline Convent in Lebanon. She came to Mount Saint Joseph as a patient in the infirmary for the last eight years of her life. Sister died on October 18, 1989. Her funeral Mass was celebrated by Msgr. Bernard Powers. Sister Francis Xavier’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery.