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A member of our parish, presents an article about the first U.S. Citizen who was canonized.
Image Source: https://www.mothercabrini.org/who-we-are/our-history/
Born in Lombardo, Italy on July 15, 1850
Died in Chicago, Illinois on December 22, 1917
The first U.S. citizen to be canonized as a Saint on July 7, 1946.
Named Patroness of Immigrants in 1950
Mother Cabrini as a child
Source: https://www.mothercabrini.org/who-we-are/our-history/She was born Maria Francesca Cabrini, in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, in the Lombard Province of Lodi, near the city of Milan, Italy. She was the youngest of the thirteen children of farmers Agostino Cabrini and Stella Oldini.
Only four of the thirteen survived beyond adolescence. She grew up delighted by the stories of missionaries and made up her mind to join a religious order.
She applied to join the Daughters of the Sacred Heart who had been her teachers, but was turned down because of her frail health.
However, later Cabrini took religious vows in 1877 and added Xavier to her name to honor the Jesuit saint, Francis Xavier.
In 1880, with seven young women, Cabrini founded the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She and her sisters wanted to be missionaries in China; she visited Rome to obtain an audience with Pope Leo XIII.
The Pope told her to go “not to the East, but to the West” to New York rather than to China as she had expected. She was to help the thousands of Italian immigrants already in the United States.
The Pope told her to go “not to the East, but to the West” to New York rather than to China as she had expected. She was to help the thousands of Italian immigrants already in the United States.
A tenement in New York
Jacob Riis, How the other half lives
In 1889, New York seemed to be filled with chaos and poverty. She found disappointment and difficulties with every step. When she arrived in New York, the house intended to be her first orphanage in the United States was not available. The archbishop advised her to return to Italy. But Cabrini departed from the archbishop’s residence all the more determined to establish that orphanage. And she did.
Her skillfulness in acquiring property for these institutions and raising funds to pay for it made her seem to many a sharp business person. She was an American after America’s heart, and in 1909, in her 59th year, she became a U.S. citizen. Soon, requests for her to open schools came from all over the world. She traveled to Europe, Central and South America and throughout the United States.
Sister Frances Xavier Cabrini founded 67 institutions dedicated to caring for the poor, the abandoned, the uneducated and the sick. Seeing great need among Italian immigrants who were losing their faith, she organized schools and adult education classes.
Sister Frances Xavier Cabrini founded 67 institutions dedicated to caring for the poor, the abandoned, the uneducated and the sick. Seeing great need among Italian immigrants who were losing their faith, she organized schools and adult education classes.
Her activities were relentless until her death. On December 22, 1917, in Chicago, she died. In 1946, she was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XII in recognition of her holiness and service to mankind and was named Patroness of Immigrants in 1950.
Today the Missionary Sisters, their lay collaborators and volunteers work as teachers, nurses, social workers, administrators and members of institutional boards of trustees. They can be found on six continents and 15 countries throughout the world.
Though she had been born in Italy, citizenship earned her the title of the first American saint. The first saint born in the U.S. would come later, when Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized in 1975.
Though she had been born in Italy, citizenship earned her the title of the first American saint. The first saint born in the U.S. would come later, when Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized in 1975.
EWTN: 11/07/2020, 8 PM - Mother Cabrini
An EWTN original movie on the life of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, who founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and established missions around the world. (105 minutes)
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