Missionary and saint. The first American citizen to be canonized
a saint (1946). Mother
Cabrini came to the US in 1889 to help Italian immigrants.
She died at Chicago in 1917.
Together with her Missionary Sisters of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, a religious community she had founded in
Italy in 1880, Mother Cabrini established a network of educational,
health care and social service institutions and programs
for Italians across the United States.
Early Life- Maria Francesca Cabrini was born
in 1850 at Sant’ Angelo Lodiginano in the province of Lombardy
in northern Italy. From
infancy she experienced delicate health and remained frail
throughout her life. Her father, a prosperous farmer, was able to
provide a good education for his children.
In 1868 she became a licensed public education teacher. Third Order Franciscan and active laywoman
in parish ministry, she held in heart a dream to become
a religious sister and a missionary to the Orient.
She realized part of her dream in 1880 when she established
a new sisterhood dedicated to the missions. Mother Cabrini relinquished her desire to evangelize
to the east when urged by Bishop John Baptist Scalabrini
of Piacenzaa to go to the aid of the Italian immigrants
in America, and mandated to do so by Pope Leo XIII who knew
the needs of those who had gone West to the US to build
new lives in a new land.
New York-On Mar. 31, 1889, Mother Frances
Xavier Cabrini and six missionary Sister companions arrived
in Manhattan. The first works entrusted to them included
an orphanage for daughters of Italian immigrants and ministry
among poor Italians in St. Joachim’s Parish. Hearts aflame with love, she and her sisters
cared for the poor orphans and began religious instruction
for children and adults in the parish.
They also visited poor families in their homes, the
sick in hospitals and the incarcerated in city jails.
Elementary education was started in the orphanage
and the parish. Additional
sisters were called to help in the works. An American novitiate was soon opened in West
Park, New York. New
York city became the site of the first of Cabrini’s Columbus
Hospitals, intended primarily for immigrants but opened
to all nationalities. It was also in New York that she took on the
administration of additional parochial schools and industrial
schools, where embroidery and other practical arts were
taught. She and her sisters assumed responsibilities for religious societies
for boys and girls, retreats for women and begging expeditions
among the poor to provide the wherewithal for the works
on their behalf.
Missionary to America- Mother Cabrini
was not one to stay put.
Determined to be a bearer of the love of Christ to
mankind despite a strong fear of water growing out of a
near drowning accident as a child, would in her lifetime
undertake twenty-three ocean voyages to Europe, North, Central,
and South America bringing the Good News of God’s love to
those in need. Her
main focus of attention was, however, the United States
of America and her nine missionary journeys to the USA were
marked by prodigious accomplishments on behalf of her beloved
immigrants. After New York, the outreach went to New Orleans, which followed
a lynching of eleven Italian men.
They gave courageous service to two yellow fever
epidemics, set up an orphanage and schools and visited immigrants
in rural Louisiana. In response to pleas from Italian clergy, parish schools were opened
in Newark, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. With fathers becoming victims in coal mining
accidents while mothers were succumbed to tuberculosis,
orphanages were set up in Denver, Arlington, New Jersey,
Seattle, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.
Additional hospitals were opened in Chicago and
Seattle and included outpatient dispensaries and training
for nurses. To generate
income for the medical care of the poor, private facilities
were furnished for paying patients.
Sisters assigned to the hospitals, like those associated
with schools and orphanages, took on catechetics in Italian
parishes and visited Italian prisoners. Mother Cabrini made frequent visits to all
of her foundations in the United States and paid careful
attention to the details of administration and the expansion
of facilities.
Education of the Heart-While responsible
for healthcare, childcare and social service institutions,
Mother Cabrini remained first and foremost educator.
Her philosophy of education was based on pedagogy
of love. Her profound
religious faith gave her vitality to her educational ideals.
All education was to be God-centered.
She adopted a holistic approach to education, advocating
instruction in science, math, art, language, sports etc.
She did not separate intellectual education from
what she termed “education of the heart”.
She characterized this by stating, “feeling for God
in an environment of affective relationships in which education
becomes an act of love.” She wanted both her sisters and lay teachers
to speak not just of values but to create an environment
of love. She was also an advocate to a degree for bilingual
education. While English was to be a basis of all instruction,
some time was devoted to learning to read and write in Italian.
She wanted to give them a deeper sense of their cultural
heritage.
Evangelization-The institute of the Missionary Sisters
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was founded to spread the reign
of Jesus Christ by means of evangelization, which Mother
Cabrini saw as inflaming all those with whom they came in
contact with the love of Christ. Italian immigrants who had little instruction in their faith were
prepared for the sacraments of penance, Holy Communion,
and Confirmation. Those who knew their faith were gently
evangelized. They
encouraged baptism of children, regularizations of marriage
in their church and the return to the practice of the Catholic
religion. The sisters bought clothing, groceries for
the poor and helped the unemployed to obtain jobs. They
became advocates among the immigrants.
Later Life, Death and Glory-During her years in the
United States, Mother Cabrini extended her contacts throughout
the country with members of the American clergy, hierarchy,
civil leaders, and Italian American Communities, where she
was much loved. She
took pride in the fact that graduates of her schools and
orphanages were making their way in life.
Mother Cabrini brought hope and help to those in many countries,
but her greatest achievements, and the ones for which history
will remember her, are her pioneering missionary works among
the Italian immigrants in the United States.
Following exhaustive Vatican processes of beatification
and canonization, Mother Cabrini was declared Blessed on
Nov. 13, 1938, only twenty-one years after her demise at
Columbus Hospital, Chicago, and July 7, 1946, she became
the first United States citizen to become a saint.
In 1950 Pope Pius XII formerly proclaimed St. Frances
Xavier Cabrini the “Patroness of Immigrants.”
