Saint: Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini

FEAST DAY: NOV. 13

St. Frances was born in Italy in 1850. Although she tried to join two religious orders as a young woman, her true yearning was to become a missionary. She told this to her bishop, and he said: “I know of no institute of missionary sisters, so found one yourself.”

And so she did. Together with six girls from an orphanage at which she had worked, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in 1880. At this time, there was a pressing need for help in the United States, where millions of Italian immigrants had flocked in the 1800s, and so they went. They had been told they would find an orphanage, school, and convent waiting for them in New York, but there was nothing. But Mother Cabrini’s missionary zeal was strong, and she was determined to do the work she had been sent to do. Within a few months, she had secured the land and buildings for an orphanage and school.

Mother Cabrini founded schools, hospitals, and orphanages in New York, Chicago, Denver and Seattle. Although she had no means of support, she knew that God would provide her with whatever she needed to do his work. She and her sisters also opened houses throughout the world. Although Mother Cabrini traveled back and forth between Europe and America several times, she always considered the United States her home. And so, in 1909, she became a U.S. citizen. She continued her work until her death in Chicago in 1917. During her lifetime, Mother Cabrini founded 67 institutions – one for every year of her life. Canonized in 1946, Mother Cabrini became the first U.S. citizen to be proclaimed a saint.

Author: Faith Catholic

Faith Catholic is a national Catholic publishing company based in Lansing, Michigan.

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