One of the many beauties of our Catholic faith is the fact that, very often, those who rise to the heights of the altar of saints have the humblest beginnings. A case in point can be found in the life of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850 – 1917), whose feast day is today.

Born prematurely into a large farming family outside of Milan, Italy, Maria Francesca Cabrini suffered from frail health throughout her life. From a very young age, however, she felt in her heart a great desire to enter religious life with the goal of serving as a missionary.

Francesca was educated by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart, graduating with honors and earning certification as a teacher. When she expressed her desire to join their Order, though, she was refused due to her health issues. For a time, she worked as a teacher and then as supervisor of an orphanage.

Strengthened by a devout prayer life, and determined to serve God in religion, Francesca eventually gathered a small group of like-minded young women. At age 30, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, adding the name Xavier to her own in honor of Saint Francis Xavier, the trail-blazing patron of missionaries. In their common desire to serve as missionaries to China, her group traveled to Rome to seek the approval of the Holy Father.

Having presented her petition to Pope Leo XIII, Mother Frances received an unexpected response: “Go not to the east, but to the west.” She was being asked to journey to the United States to minister to the many Italian immigrants in great need here.

Arriving in New York in 1889, Mother Cabrini immediately confronted truly challenging conditions – dire poverty, desperate need, and loss of faith. Undaunted, practically penniless, she and her six Sisters forged ahead into action. Mother Cabrini made good use of her deep faith, intelligence, determination, and resourcefulness, conquering the odds to acquire and staff one building after another for schools and orphanages. She set up catechetical and adult education programs wherever she saw a need.

Mother’s name quickly gained recognition, and soon she was inundated with requests from countries of Europe, Central America, and South America, as well as other areas of the U. S. She traveled widely, crossing the Atlantic multiple times to oversee the founding of numerous schools, orphanages, and hospitals in response to the needs of the poor and underprivileged.

Her all-consuming work finally at an end, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini died on December 22, 1917, in a Chicago hospital which she had founded. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1946 and was named patroness of immigrants in 1950.

From humble beginnings emerged a holy, courageous woman – the first citizen of the United States to be raised to the altars of the Catholic Church.

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, pray for us!

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