St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850 – 1917)

Feast Day: November 13
Canonization: July 7, 1946
Patroness of Immigrants

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Italian-born foundress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was drawn to religious life as a little girl, and dreamt of being a missionary.

Born in Italy in 1850 with 10 siblings, she was often ill. When existing religious orders turned her away, at 30 she founded her own order with a few other strong women.

Mother Cabrini’s order focused on helping Italian orphans and teaching school. A few years later, she went to Rome to petition Pope Leo XIII to allow her to open a convent in China. Instead, he told her to “go west, not east.”

Mother Cabrini and six sisters sailed for America in 1889, where they worked among Italian immigrants in New York City. Initially with almost no money, she began catechism and education classes. She ultimately built over 67 schools, hospitals, convents, and orphanages throughout the U.S., Europe, Central America, and South America.

In 1909, Mother Cabrini became an American citizen. She died suddenly on Dec. 22, 1917 while planning a children’s Christmas party at a Chicago hospital. In 1946, Pope Pius XII canonized her as the first U.S. immigrant-citizen saint. He later named her patroness of immigrants.