St. Frances Cabrini was a saint who never slowed down. Born in Italy in 1850, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart at the age of 27.
She took the name of Frances Xavier after being inspired by that great Jesuit missionary. In 1889, Pope Leo XIII told her to go to America and work there among Italian immigrants. Within a year in New York, she opened a Catholic school and founded an orphanage. Her fundraising skills soon enabled her to open her first Catholic hospital, Columbus Hospital. She got doctors to agree to donate their services and later built other Columbus hospitals in Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Seattle, New Orleans, and Chicago. She also sailed to Brazil and Argentina to expand the work of her community there. She worked tirelessly and was constantly on the move. St. Cabrini never saw obstacles as barriers but as opportunities for God’s grace to work through her. She became a US citizen in 1909 and died in 1917, having founded 67 convents with 1500 missionary sisters. In 1946, she was the first American citizen to be canonized as a saint.
Pope Pius XII said she achieved all this through a vibrant faith, divine love, and constant prayers that closely united her with God. May we each achieve sainthood by following her example of uniting our hearts with God and never ceasing to listen to and act on his call.
From: United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, USCCB, Washington DC. 2020 pp. 201-202
