Saint of the day November 13: Saint Francis Javier Cabrini. Catholic Saints

Every November 13, the Church celebrates an exceptional nun, whose life was dedicated to the service of immigrants, that is, those who left behind the land in which they were born in search of a better life: she is Saint Francis ‘Xavier’ ( Javiera) Cabrini MSC

Pope Leo XIII said: “Mother Cabrini is a very intelligent woman of great virtue…she is a saint.” Today, this determined woman is considered the patron saint of immigrants. That flattery from Pope Leo was neither occasional nor gratuitous; Leo

As a result of that missionary zeal, Mother Cabrini became the first American citizen to be canonized and reach the altars.

If one door closes, another will open

Maria Francisca Saverio Cabrini was born in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy (Italy), on July 15, 1850, into a wealthy family. Since she was little, she was fascinated by the readings and stories of men and women who left their homeland and undertook missionary enterprises in distant lands with the purpose of announcing the Gospel. As a young girl, Francisca had concerns about following that path, but her parents sent her to study with the nuns of Arluno to become a school teacher.

In 1870, some time after the death of her parents, Francisca tried to enter the congregation with which she studied, but was not admitted due to her health problems. He then made another attempt at a different order, but it was also not received.

Saint Francis Xavier, model missionary

In the midst of disappointment due to the refusals he suffered, he received an invitation from a bishop and a priest friend to start working at the “Casa de la Providencia” orphanage, where the founder of the facility, Mrs. Tondini, had carried out poor administration. The saint accepted and with a group of companions who already worked there, a spiritual project matured that would lead to the founding of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

The inspirer of the project, to whose intercession they consecrated it, was Saint Francis Xavier, the famous evangelizer of Japan. In honor of the Jesuit saint, Francisca would add “Javiera” to her religious name.

The signals are getting stronger: towards the West

Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the women’s group, the bishop advised Francisca to leave the institution aside and closed the orphanage in 1880. As a result, Mother Cabrini and her sisters had to move to an empty Franciscan convent. There, he would draft the rules of the new institute, which would ultimately be approved by its bishop. From then on, the spiritual work of the Mother would grow, opening other houses to accommodate new vocations.

In 1888, Mother Cabrini came into contact with the bishop of Piacenza, Saint John Baptist Scalabrini (canonized in 2022), who invited her for the first time to collaborate as a missionary in America. In May of that same year, Bishop Scalabrini once again suggested to Mother Francisca that her congregation would be well received in America, especially among the Italian immigrants who were very numerous and whose children could be at the expense of the Protestant churches. Thus, the idea of ​​sending some nuns to take charge of an orphanage and a school gained greater strength in the mind of the founding Mother.

Bishop Scalabrini had already received several requests to send missions to America, especially from the Archbishop of New York, Michael Augustine Corrigan. The archbishop was thinking of nuns belonging to another congregation, but Scalabrini made the proposal to the institute of Mother Cabrini and her nuns.

Mother Cabrini then embarks on a trip to Rome in search of lights and manages to meet with Pope Leo confident On February 24, the nun has a dream in which the Virgin Mary, the Heart of Jesus and the venerable Antonia Belloni of Codogno (a reference to virtuous living among the Lombards) tell her not to be afraid to go to America.

Certainly, Mother Cabrini’s desire at that time was different, her idea was to go to China; However, Pope Leo XIII – in a second meeting – makes things clearer: «Not towards the East, but towards the West. Your Institute is still young and needs resources. Go to the United States, you will find them and with them, a great field of work.

In the face of doubt, faith and obedience

Thus, the Mother crossed the Atlantic and arrived in New York that same year (1889). There he encountered a very harsh pastoral reality among European immigrants. Many of them lived in moral precariousness and had abandoned their faith.

Given the difficulties, the Archbishop of New York, Bishop Corrigan, began to doubt the relevance of his invitation and thought that it would be best for the sisters to return to Italy. Saint Francis, determined and firm, responded with a refusal. It was the Pope who had sent her there and she was going to stay with her sisters. As the months went by, God provided what was necessary and the nuns opened an orphanage, a house for themselves and a school for the children. That would be the beginning of his great mission in America.

Breaking down walls (and myths)

Little by little, the congregation expanded throughout the United States, growing the work of God, especially among immigrants and the most needy. The people who dealt with Mother Cabrini admired her and loved her. Although strict, Saint Francis had a great sense of justice, a witty sense of humor, a very strong spiritual life and inexhaustible enthusiasm. It seemed that no obstacle could make her back down when she set her mind to something. Neither cultural barriers nor the difficulties of a language that was not hers – English – managed to make her desist from her missionary zeal.

“Love each other. Sacrifice yourselves constantly and willingly for your sisters. Be kind; do not be harsh or abrupt, do not harbor resentments; Be meek and peaceful,” he repeated to his nuns.

Life is a pilgrimage; heaven, the promise fulfilled

As a missionary, she traveled to Nicaragua, Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama, Chile, Brazil, France and England.

In 1907, the constitutions of her congregation were finally approved, when it was already present in eight countries and had more than a thousand nuns at the head of schools, hospitals and other service institutions.

Saint Francis Xavier, Mother Cabrini, left for the Father’s House on December 22, 1917, at the age of 68 – a victim of malaria and dysentery – in the city of Chicago, Illinois.

Mother Cabrini in popular culture

Two films have been made about the first citizen saint of the United States – the Mother was naturalized in 1909. The first of them in 2016 in format of Home videoproduced and distributed by EWTN with the title of “Mother Cabrini” (Mother Cabrini); and another more recent one, “Goats”released in 2024, directed by Alejandro Monteverde, produced and distributed by Angel Studios.