Cabrini, Saint Frances Xavier

Cabrini, Saint Frances Xavier (zā`vyər kəbrē`nē), 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).

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Cabrini, Saint Frances Xavier

 known as Mother Cabrini

(born July 15, 1850, Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy, Austria—died Dec. 22, 1917, Chicago, Ill., U.S.; canonized July 7, 1946; feast day December 22) Italian-born U.S. missionary, the first U.S. citizen to be canonized by the Roman Catholic church. She was determined from childhood to become a missionary, and she took her vows in 1877. She founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in 1880, and in 1889 Pope Leo XIII sent her to the U.S. to work among Italian immigrants. She lived in New York City and Chicago but traveled in the Americas and Europe to found 67 houses of her order.