Santa Francesca Saverio Cabrini, Saint of the day for 13 November

Saint of the day for November 13
(15 July 1850 - 22 December 1917)

The story of San Francesco Saverio Cabrini

Francesca Savierio Cabrini was the first citizen of the United States to be canonized. Her deep trust in the loving care of her God gave her the strength to be a courageous woman doing Christ's work.

Refused admission to the religious order that had educated her as a teacher, she began charity work at the Orphanage of the Casa della Provvidenza in Cadogno, Italy. In September 1877 he made his vows there and took the religious habit.

When the bishop closed the orphanage in 1880, he appointed Francesca prior to the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Seven young women from the orphanage joined her.

From her early childhood in Italy, Frances had wanted to be a missionary in China but, at the urging of Pope Leo XIII, Frances went west instead of east. She traveled with six sisters to New York City to work with the thousands of Italian immigrants who live there.

He found disappointments and difficulties at every step. When she arrived in New York, the house destined to be her first orphanage in the United States was not available. The archbishop advised her to return to Italy. But Frances, a truly valiant woman, left the archbishop's residence all the more determined to found that orphanage. And it did.

In 35 years, Francesca Xavier Cabrini has founded 67 institutions dedicated to the care of the poor, the abandoned, the ignorant and the sick. Seeing a great need among Italian immigrants who were losing their faith, she organized schools and adult education courses.

As a child, she was always afraid of water, unable to overcome her fear of drowning. Yet despite this fear, it has crossed the Atlantic Ocean more than 30 times. She died of malaria at her Columbus Hospital in Chicago.

Reflection

Mother Cabrini's compassion and dedication are still present in hundreds of thousands of her fellow citizens who care for the sick in hospitals, nursing homes and state institutions. We complain about the increase in medical costs in a wealthy society, but the daily news shows us millions of people who have little or no medical assistance and who ask the new Mother Cabrinis to become citizen-servants of their land.

Santa Francesca Saverio Cabrini is the patron saint of:

Hospital administrators
Immigrants
Impossible causes