Today is the Feast of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), the first naturalized citizen of the United States to become a canonized saint. Happy feast day! Steve Vaughan, pictured above is the Diocese of Lansing’s Associate Superintendent of Schools and someone who is particularly devoted to today’s saint. He now explains why Mother Cabrini is worthy of veneration and imitation. Steve writes:
“I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him.”
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
Many saints have had the heart of a teacher: Saint John Bosco dedicated his life to the instruction of disadvantaged youth in Italy; Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton founded America’s first parochial school system, and Saint John Henry Newman beautifully proclaimed the higher aims of a university education. In fact, when you take a look back at the history of the Church, you’ll see in the lives and work of many saints that faith and teaching go hand in hand. However, there is one saint whose heart for education may outshine the rest: Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini.
Frances Cabrini was born into a large Catholic family - she was the youngest of 13 kids! - on July 15, 1850 in a small village outside of Milan, Italy. Growing up, the stories of the missionaries captivated her imagination, and she longed to travel the world to win hearts and minds for Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, although she had obtained a teaching certificate from the Daughters of the Sacred Heart, her poor health prevented her from joining the order entirely. Undeterred, Cabrini, along with seven other young women, founded the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with the hope of traveling to China. However, her plans changed when, during an audience with Pope Leo XIII, the pontiff told her to go “not to the East, but to the West.” Her mission: to help the thousands of recently arrived Italian immigrants living in the United States.
In 1889, Mother Cabrini, as she was then known, stepped foot for the first time in New York City, and the pace of her saintly life immediately intensified. She joyfully dove into the work of teaching catechism classes to the youth and caring for the many orphans who either emigrated on their own or whose parents died along the way. She was quickly bombarded with requests to open schools and orphanages across the United States, in places like New York, Chicago, and Colorado, and even around the world. In the course of her life, Mother Cabrini crossed the ocean 23 times and established 67 different schools, orphanages, and hospitals. She did all of this with the great love of our Lord’s Sacred Heart, to whom she had an unwavering devotion.
What can we learn from this saint who responded so willingly to the call to teach and evangelize? First, when we examine her life we can see the power of a good story. Cabrini’s parents and her teachers immersed her in the stories of her Catholic heritage - the stories of the great missionaries and saints whose acts of faith, hope, and love changed the world. These stories belong to us, too, and we should take time to learn them and share them with those around us, especially our children. Saint Frances Cabrini also teaches us about the importance of submitting our will to that of God’s. He is the ultimate Teacher, after all, and His plans for us are always far greater than what we would choose for ourselves. If we, like Mother Cabrini, simply say ‘yes’ to Him at every turn, we will walk the path of sanctity we were born to travel. Finally, the life of Saint Frances Cabrini shows the importance of pouring into the youngest and most vulnerable around us. In working with the Italian immigrants, she could have chosen to help adults find work or a place to live; rather, she gave herself over to the education of children knowing that, by doing so, she was providing something more important than food or shelter: the seed of faith.
As we celebrate the feast day of Saint Frances Cabrini on November 13, let us pray for her intercession for all those who, like her, have a heart for teaching. Most especially, let us commend all of the outstanding teachers and school leaders across the Diocese of Lansing to her prayers, that they may continue to tell their students good stories, plant the seed of faith within their hearts, and say ‘yes’ to the Lord at every turn.
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, pray for us!