Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini , 1850-1917, American nun, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, b. near Lodi, Italy. Founded in Italy in 1880, her order was expressly for charitable and religious work among the very poor. She was sent by Pope Leo XIII to the United States (1889) to aid Italian immigrants arriving there. She lived mainly in New York City and Chicago, directing the establishment of hospitals, orphanages, nurseries, and schools in the United States and in Latin America. Her sanctity, highly regarded in her lifetime, became famous after her death. She was beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1938 and canonized in 1946 by Pius XII. Mother Cabrini was the first U.S. citizen to be canonized. Her principal shrine is the Mother Cabrini High School in New York City, where she is buried. Feast: Dec. 22.

Bibliography: See P. Di Donato, Immigrant Saint: The Life of Mother Cabrini (1960).

Cabrini, Saint Frances Xavier (1850–1917) US foundress of orphanages, hospitals, schools and convents, b. Italy; the first US citizen to be canonized (1946). She became a nun in 1877, founded the Institute of Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1880), and moved to the USA (1889). Her feast day is December 22.