Mother Cabrini and the Sisters of the Sacred Heart
Feb 28, 2011 Michael Streich
Francesca Xavier Cabrini was canonized July 7, 1946 by Pope Pius XII. Foundress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, Mother Cabrini knew as a teenager that God planned for her a life of missionary service. By the time she died in 1917 in Chicago, Mother Cabrini, despite great obstacles that included poor health, supervised over fifty houses in Europe and South America, but her legacy was built in the United States.
The Call to Serve God Beset by Obstacles
In her early life, Francesca Cabrini was a schoolteacher as well as the organizer of a poorly facilitated orphanage in Codogno, Italy. This orphanage was her testing ground and out of it grew her community of Sisters.
Both experiences helped shape her vocation. Throughout her life as Superior General of the Missionary Sisters, Mother Cabrini opened schools and orphanages, most notably among the teeming Italian immigrant communities in America.
Mother Cabrini never entered a project with enough money to sustain the new institution. Her deep and abiding faith resulted in open hearts whether from the poorest of immigrants who gave their last pennies to the wealthy purses of benefactors.
She also encountered severe opposition from Nativist groups in America that saw immigration as a threat as well as business concerns eager to exploit the unskilled migrants and resented the education of immigrant children and the charity of the Sisters.
Mother Cabrini’s Poor Health Did not Impact her Ministry
History is replete with the lives of great men and women of faith who suffered from personal frailties but saw only the love of God and the salvation of souls. Mother Cabrini was one of these women of faith, weakened at an early age by illness. Her physical frailties resulted in her rejection by two religious communities.
Led by God, Francesca started her own community in Codogno. It was a dream and the strong encouragement of Pope Leo XIII that confirmed her resolve to go to the Italian immigrant communities in America. Pope Leo would become a lifelong friend and confidant, always encouraging her to build God’s kingdom in a modern world dominated by greed and atheism.
Throughout her life she was exposed at various times to smallpox, yellow fever, and malaria. But each new epidemic witnessed Mother Cabrini nursing the sick. Ultimately, on the recommendation of American prelates, she founded several hospitals.
Contracting malaria while visiting her Sisters in Brazil took a tremendous toll on her overworked body, but she never allowed physical weakness to slow down her ministry.
Missionary Sisters Minister in Europe and South America
Wherever Italian communities existed, there was a falling away from the faith as men were drawn to the promises of a better, wealthier life. Mother Cabrini and her sisters rekindled that faith, seeing many return to the Mass and sending their children to parochial schools.
Her work in Brazil and Argentina resulted in the establishment of schools and orphanages. England was a particularly desired mission field and had been a personal request of Pope Leo XIII.
The Work of Mother Cabrini in the United States
Ministry among Italian immigrants began in New York. From that great metropolis, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart established houses in New Orleans, Denver, Chicago, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Mother Cabrini loved America and eventually became a U.S. citizen.
In some cases, as in Seattle, the support of local archbishops was lukewarm. Some were tied to local business concerns that did not want to see competition, especially as Mother Cabrini began to open hospitals. In several instances, it was Protestants that helped her, sensing her sincere charity and love.
In Chicago, arsonists attempted to burn down a new hospital built by the Sisters. Banks worked silently in partnership to deny Mother Cabrini loans. In every case, her determination, fortified by her deep faith and the intercessions of Saints Ann and Teresa of Avila, prevailed.
The Death of Francesca Maria Cabrini in 1917
At the time World War I began, Mother Cabrini was already weakened by her many worldwide visits to the community’s houses. The senselessness of the war weighed heavily on her. In December 1917 her body gave out while in Chicago and she was transported back to New York.
Mother Cabrini left her Lombardy farm village Sant’ Angelo never to return. She never owned any personal possessions excepting her rosary. In all things, she relied upon her “Spouse,” following a life of obedience, reflection, and love.
Sources:
- An American Saint of Our Day: Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart (Kessinger Publishing, 2007)
- John J. Delaney, Dictionary of Saints (Doubleday & Company, 1980)
- Pietro Di Donato, Immigrant Saint: The Life of Mother Cabrini (Chapell Books, 1960)
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