Background
Maria Francesca Cabrini was born on July 15, 1850, at Sant'Angelo Lodigiano.
Maria Francesca Cabrini was born on July 15, 1850, at Sant'Angelo Lodigiano.
The young girl was drawn toward a life of religious service at an early age, influenced by her older sister, a schoolteacher; her uncle, a priest who captured her imagination with tales of missionary work; and the Daughters of the Sacred Heart, who prepared her for a normal school diploma in 1870. Francesca, who had already vowed herself to virginity at the age of 12, tried to enter the Daughters of the Sacred Heart in 1872 but was denied on grounds of health.
She had contracted smallpox while caring for the sick during an epidemic, and though recovered she did not seem physically strong. After brief employment as a teacher in Virdardo, she was persuaded to do charitable work in an orphanage at Codogno, where in 1877 she made her vows. In the same year she was appointed prioress of her new foundation, the Institute of Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, which consisted at the outset of seven orphaned girls whom she had trained. As head of a religious order, she was entitled to be called "Mother. " Mother Cabrini had much to do in Italy, but she soon craved fulfillment of a lifelong wish to do missionary work in China. Pope Leo XIII and Bishop Scalabrini of Piacenza instead urged her to carry her talents to Italian immigrants in the slums of the United States, and dutifully but reluctantly she sailed in 1889 with six sisters.
From modest beginnings in the New York City area Mother Cabrini and her followers gradually built a national and international network of some 70 institutions. In 1909 she became an American citizen. Her journeys in behalf of her mission, including 30 crossings of the Atlantic, occupied much of her time and energy, though she remained physically frail throughout her life. When World War I broke out in Europe, she dedicated her hospitals and nuns in Italy to the war effort there. On Dec. 22, 1917, after a brief illness, she died of malaria in her own Columbus Hospital in Chicago.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini became famous as the "the saint of the immigrants" during nearly 3 decades of service in the United States.
Cardinal George Mundelein of Chicago and others launched the process of her canonization in 1928. She was pronounced venerable in 1933, beatified in 1938, and canonized in 1946. Her remains, originally at West Park, N. Y. , are now enshrined in the chapel of the Blessed Mother Cabrini High School in New York City. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, though declared to have effected the two miracles necessary for canonization, is best remembered for her energetic labors among immigrants and the poor in the United States and for the establishment and staffing of orphanages, schools, hospitals, convents, and other facilities throughout the world.
The Cabrini Mission Foundation, founded in 1998, is a non-profit organization that raises funds to support Cabrini programs and institutions focused on health care, education, and social services.
Cabrini was honored in 1996 when she was listed in the National Women's Hall of Fame.
There are some Churches and parishes named after Frances Xavier Cabrini: St Frances Cabrini Parish (parrocchia Santa Francesca Cabrini), Rome, Italy; St Frances Cabrini Parish (parrocchia Santa Francesca Cabrini), Lodi, Italy; St Frances Cabrini Parish (parrocchia Santa Francesca Cabrini), Codogno, Italy; St Frances Cabrini Catholic Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Church of St. Frances Cabrini in North Haven, Connecticut. Saint Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Littleton, Colorado. St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Paris, Missouri. Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini Catholic Church in Yucaipa, California. Saint Frances Cabrini Parish in San Jose, California. St. Frances Cabrini Church in Savannah, Georgia. St. Frances Cabrini Church in Tucson, Arizona. St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Allen Park, Michigan. St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Lebanon, Tennessee. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Parish in Lorain, Ohio. St. Frances Cabrini Church in Omaha, Nebraska; St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Conneaut, Ohio. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Catholic Church located in El Paso, Texas. St. Frances Cabrini Church (New Orleans) in New Orleans, built in 1953 and destroyed in Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The former St. Frances X. Cabrini Church in Scituate, Massachusetts, which was closed in 2004 and was kept open by parishioners until 2016.
The Scalabrini Fathers, founded by the Blessed Giovanni Scalabrini, run St Francesca Cabrini Italian Church in Bedford, England, which is named in her honor. St. Frances Cabrini Church, Brooklyn, New York. St. Frances Cabrini Parish, Springfield, Illinois. Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini Catholic Church, Parrish, Florida.
Also there are some educational institutions named after her: Cabrini University in Radnor, Pennsylvania. Cabrini High School in New Orleans. The former Mother Cabrini High School in New York City, which closed in 2014. Saint Frances Cabrini Catholic Academy in Brooklyn, New York. Cabrini High School in Allen Park, Michigan. St. Frances Cabrini School in Savannah, Georgia. Mother Cabrini School in Caparra Heights, Puerto Rico. Colegio Santa Francisca Javier Cabrini in Madrid is named in her honor. Saint Frances Cabrini School on St. Frances Cabrini Ave in Scranton, PA. St. Frances Cabrini Academy elementary school in St. Louis, MO.
In her honor were also named some hospitals: Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana. Santa-Cabrini Hospital, in the east end of Montreal, Canada, is named in her honor due to her popularity amongst Canadians of Italian descent.
The central station of Milan is now named Stazione Francesca Cabrini.
Quotations:
"I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him. "
"We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend upon material success . . . but on Jesus alone. "
"Prayer is powerful! It fills the earth with mercy, it makes the Divine clemency pass from generation to generation; right along the course of the centuries wonderful works have been achieved through prayer. "
"If you are in danger, if your hearts are confused, turn to Mary; she is our comfort, our help; turn towards her and you will be saved. "
"I travel, work, suffer my weak health, meet with a thousand difficulties, but all these are nothing, for this world is so small. To me, space is an imperceptible object, as I am accustomed to dwell in eternity. "
"They who pray with faith have fervour and fervour is the fire of prayer. This mysterious fire has the power of consuming all our faults and imperfections, and of giving to our actions, vitality, beauty and merit. "
"The world is poisoned with erroneous theories, and needs to be taught sane doctrines, but it is difficult to straighten what has become crooked. "
"Did a Magdalene, a Paul, a Constantine, an Augustine become mountains of ice after their conversion? Quite the contrary. We should never have had these prodigies of conversion and marvelous holiness if they had not changed the flames of human passion into volcanoes of immense love of God. "
"In other countries they speak of nobility and courtesy, in London they practise it. "
