Saint Frances Cabrini West Bend Wi (2024)

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Frances Xavier Cabrini (born July 15, 1850, Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy [Italy]—died December 22, 1917, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.; canonized July 7, 1946; feast day November 13) was the Italian-born founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and the first United States citizen to be canonized.

Her posthumous miracles included the spontaneous healing of a nun and a child, through prayers requesting her intercession. On July 7, 1946, as the scorching summer heat in Rome caused the candles in St. Peter's to melt, Frances Xavier Cabrini was canonized a saint.

In 1909, Mother Cabrini became a citizen of the United States. She recounted in her letters regarding the country that “there is much to admire and for which to thank God, who has let fall on earth rays of His infinite beauty and power.” In 1917 she died of endocarditis and was canonized in 1946 by Pope Pius XII.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, thank you for the gift of life and for your servant, Saint Frances Cabrini. Fill us with the fire of your love and root in us the same spirit that animated Mother Cabrini. Renew our hearts so that we may live as she did, faithful and open to your will. Amen.

In 1889, Mother Cabrini met with the Pope in Rome who sent her on a mission to New York to help the masses of Italian immigrants who were living in harsh conditions. Upon her arrival in New York City, she overcame obstacles to establish a sorely-needed orphanage for more than 400 orphans of Italian immigrants.

“I trust in you, my Jesus. I place my poor soul in your hands – mold me according to your divine will,” she wrote in 1877. Adopting Mother Cabrini's words as our own can change the focus of our prayers… and the course of our lives.

The National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini was built in 1955 to celebrate the life and accomplishments of Mother Cabrini, a missionary woman religious who helped shape America's social and health care system in the early twentieth century. In 1946, Mother Cabrini was canonized as America's first citizen-Saint.

Local officials decided to bulldoze Little Hell during World War II, paving the way for the development of the Cabrini-Green public housing project, named for Mother Frances Cabrini.