Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini – Virgin (1850-1917)
Feast day is November 13
Maria Francesca Cabrini (Frances) was born in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy, modern-day Italy. As a child, she listened attentively to her father’s inspiring stories about foreign missionaries. Her mother and older sister Rosa taught her to pray and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Of her Confirmation at age eight, Frances said, ‘from that moment I was no longer of the earth.”
Frances’ convent education inspired her to become a sister, but she was rejected because of poor health. Earning a teaching certificate, she taught in parish schools. After her parents’ deaths and her own recovery from smallpox, yet another convent turned her away. While Frances was assisting at a girls’ orphanage in Codogno, she saw that some of the girls were interested in religious life. She and five of the girls professed vows in 1877. Frances added Xavier to her name to honor the Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier, and she became mother superior. In 1880, the bishop invited Mother Cabrini to form a convent in Codogno that would become the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, where she would serve as mother superior for thirty-seven years.
With very little means, Mother Cabrini quickly arranged the new convent. An altar with an image of the Sacred Heart became the source of meditation and prayer for the young sisters. The order experienced rapid growth, supported by the sisters’ needlework and embroidery. Within a year, an orphanage and day school were added. Within five years there were seven convents.
While on a visit to Rome where Pope Leo XIII approved her rule and constitutions in March 1888, Mother Cabrini told the pope of her desire to establish a mission in China. The Holy Father quickly replied, “You will go not to the East, but to the West!” Mother Cabrini and her sisters soon sailed to the United States. Facing the unexpected challenge of serving destitute Italian immigrants, she would remind herself, “I can do all things in Christ Who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
When Mother Cabrini and six sisters arrived in New York on March 31, 1889, the convent wasn’t ready, and Archbishop Corrigan urged them to return to Italy temporarily. Mother Cabrini refused, saying that she must obey the pope. Eventually, the archbishop permitted the sisters to move into the convent in the poor Italian section of Manhattan. They started a free school, taught in the local parish, founded an orphanage for hundreds of children, begged for alms, and attracted more sisters.
Over the next twenty-seven years, Mother Cabrini sailed across the ocean about twenty-five times, founding over sixty hospitals, orphanages, schools, and convents in the United States, South American, and Europe. While at sea, she wrote thousands of letters to her sisters that document her travels and work. She relied on the Holy Spirit to direct and empower her tireless work and learned compassion and humility from her continuous meditation on the Sacred Heart. She drew more than 1,000 young girls to join her mission. Nine years after her death, her sisters established their first home in China. In 1946, she became the first United States citizen to be canonized.
Courtesy of MyCatholicLife.com: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/november-13-saint-frances-xavier-cabrini-virgin-usa-memorial/#short
Who is the Real Mother Cabrini? An American Saint (4:59)
Three Lessons We Can Learn from Mother Cabrini:
1. Mother Cabrini teaches us how to face adversity and difficulties.
Regardless of her circumstances, Mother Cabrini never wavered in her commitment to helping others. Although she struggled with poor health, she never let it hinder her ability to fight for what she believed in. Cabrini always found a way to achieve her goals. It is this fervor that we should exude in what is most important to us.
Mother Cabrini’s devotion to God was not only evident in her words but also in her actions. She dedicated her life to serving others, especially the marginalized and forgotten. Her compassion and selflessness were the result of her deep love for God and her commitment to living out his teachings.
“Do not be afraid of difficulties; let them be enemies of your perseverance. Do not be negligent in serving the Lord; for they are enemies of fidelity to Him. Every creature that wants to honor the Lord is oppressed by the world, by those who live in the world, by the worldly, by the diabolical, by those who are compelled by their diabolical reserve to hide from others that they are his own.” ― Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
2. Mother Cabrini teaches us to believe in the Divine.
Mother Cabrini made the impossible possible by arriving in New York City with nothing but a suitcase. Then, with an unrelenting passion to help others and her dedication to God, created 67 institutions worldwide. She taught us to surrender control of the future and trust that our Lord has a divine plan for us, we just need to believe and have faith.
Her tireless efforts to establish schools, hospitals, and orphanages in the United States and other countries show her unwavering commitment to improving the lives of those less fortunate. Her determination and strong faith allowed her to overcome obstacles and make a lasting impact in the communities she served.
“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.” ― Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
3. Mother Cabrini teaches us to display compassion.
Compassion is the ethos of all of the monumental work Mother Cabrini accomplished during her years of service, going to the ends of the earth to help those most in need. She responded to the Gospel call for the love, honor and dignity of all persons. In a world full of injustices, we seek to embrace this and stand in solidarity with the homeless, immigrants, and all who need the love of Christ.
Mother Cabrini taught us that love is not just a feeling, but an action. It is shown through acts of kindness, selflessness, and empathy. Her life was a testament to this, as she tirelessly worked to improve the lives of others, regardless of their background or circumstances.
“To love is the most beautiful vocation of all. No matter who we are or what we do, we are called to love.” ― Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
Prayer: Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, in your humility and obedience you became a founder of an army of holy women who went forth across the globe to bring the Mercy in the Heart of Jesus to those in need. Please pray for me, that I will discover that same abundant mercy in Jesus’ Heart and will become an instrument of that love to all. Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.
Life of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (9:53)
