St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
Born: July 15, 1850
Died: December 22, 1917
Feast day: November 13
Patron saint of: immigrants, hospital administrators
The grown-up St. Frances Cabrini was considered too frail for convent life, so she started the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. When the pope turned her dreams away from China and toward America, Mother Cabrini and six former orphans sailed for New York City in 1889, ministering to Italian immigrants holed up in steerage with their cardboard suitcases. My aunt, uncle, grandparents, and father followed not too long after.
The sisters passed through Ellis Island and landed homeless and penniless in New York City’s Little Italy. There they found women and children in rags raiding garbage cans and sleeping in doorways. After a night on a bed of straw and leaves, the sisters brought empty baskets to be filled by the Italian grocer, the fish monger, and the baker down the street. There was never enough food or heat but more than enough reason to trust God and the goodness of others.
They taught catechism in a church basement and ended up building a school. That was just for starters. “Like St. Teresa, with five pennies and God, I can accomplish many things,” Cabrini said. She and her community were like loose change in God’s pocket, and God worked wonders through them.
More about St. Frances Xavier Cabrini:
Frances Cabrini: Mother to the masses
The immigrant saint welcomed and cared for the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses.
How Mother Cabrini helped lead an immigrant to his vocation
Even in the complete unknown, God is guiding our footsteps.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
