Frances Xavier Cabrini
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Virgin, Foundress | |
| Born | July 15, 1850 Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Italy |
| Died | December 22, 1917 (aged 67) Chicago |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | November 13 1938 |
| Canonized | July 7 1946 by Pope Pius XII |
| Major shrine | Chapel of Mother Cabrini High School, New York City |
| Feast | November 13, December 22 |
| Patronage | immigrants, hospital administrators |
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (July 15, 1850 – December 22, 1917) known during her life as Mother Cabrini, was the first American citizen to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
Early Life
She was born Maria Francesca Cabrini in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, in Lombardy, the youngest of thirteen children of Agostino Cabrini and Stella Oldini who were farmers. Two months premature, she remained in delicate health throughout her 67 years. As a young girl, Francesca was taken care of by her older sister Rosa, because her mother was 52 when Maria Francesca was born.
At 13, she was sent to Arluno to study under the Daughters of the Sacred Heart at the Normal School, and in 1868, at 18 she was certified as a teacher. Four years later she contracted smallpox. When she tried to enter into the Daughters of the Sacred Heart, Mother Giovanna Francesca Grassi refused admission, even though she saw potential in her, because of her frail health. She said, "You are called to establish another Institute that will bring new glory to the Heart of Jesus." She was rejected by the Canossians as well. Instead, she supported her parents until they died and helped the family on the farm. She taught at a private school that was founded by a fellow sister in Sant’Angelo. In 1871, she became a public school teacher in a nearby village at the request of her pastor.
She took religious vows in 1877 and added Xavier to her name to honor the Jesuit priest, Francis Xavier. She became the mother superior of the House of Providence orphanage in Codogno, where she taught.
In 1880, the orphanage was closed. She and six other sisters that took religious vows with her, founded the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC) on November 14. Mother Cabrini composed the rules and constitution of the order, and she continued as its superior-general until her death.
The order established seven homes and a free school and nursery in its first five years. Its good works brought Mother Cabrini to the attention of Giovanni Scalabrini, bishop of Piacenza and of Pope Leo XIII.
Missionary Life
Although her lifelong dream was to be a missionary in China, the Pope sent her to New York City on March 31, 1889. There, she obtained the permission of Archbishop Michael Corrigan to found an orphanage, which is located in West Park, Ulster County, New York, today and is known as Saint Cabrini Home, the first of 67 institutions she founded in New York, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia,[1] and in countries throughout South America and Europe. Long after her death, the Missionary Sisters would achieve Mother Cabrini's goal of being a missionary to China. After much social and religious upheaval and only a short time, the sisters left China, and subsequently a Siberian placement.
She was naturalized as an American citizen in 1909.
Her Death
Mother Cabrini died of complications from malaria at Columbus Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on December 22, 1917. Though originally entombed in West Park, New York, her body was exhumed in 1931 and is now enshrined in the church's altar at St. Frances Cabrini Shrine, part of Mother Cabrini High School, at 701 Fort Washington Avenue, in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. The street to the west of the shrine was renamed Cabrini Boulevard in her honor.
Veneration
She was beatified on November 13, 1938, and canonized on July 7, 1946, by Pope Pius XII. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants. Her beatification miracle involved the restoration of sight to a child who had been blinded by excess silver nitrate in the eyes. Her canonization miracle involved the healing of a terminally ill nun. Her body is not incorrupt; although it is often said to be so, signage around her shrine and resting place in Washington Heights make it very clear that she is not. The date fixed at the universal level for Mother Cabrini's feast day is December 22,[2] but other dates may be assigned at a local level.
The Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago is named after her, due to her work with Italian immigrants in the location. It has since become a haven for underprivileged and poor people and the MSC sisters still work there. Cabrini College, in Radnor, Pennsylvania, also bears her name.
The Cabrini Mission Foundation is an organization committed to advancing St. Frances Xavier Cabrini's mission and legacy of healing, teaching, and caring around the world.
Notes
- ^ Mothers Cabrini's Life Story on the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus website
- ^ Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)