St. Frances Cabrini
1850–1917Feast: November 13
Frances Xavier Cabrini was an Italian missionary who spent much of her life working with immigrants in the United States. Orphaned before she was 18, she joined the Sisters of the Sacred Heart and took on the name “Xavier” in honor of St. Francis Xavier, the great missionary to Asia. From a young age, she had longed to be a missionary in China, but at the advice of Pope Leo XIII, she focused her missionary efforts on America. She spent nearly 30 years traveling around the United States setting up orphanages, hospitals, convents and schools for the often marginalized Italian immigrants. Mother Cabrini became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1909, while living in Seattle. She died in 1917 and was canonized in 1946. She is the patron saint of immigrants.
-Catholic News Agency
Northwest Catholic - November 2018