Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first United States citizen to become a saint, was born on July 15, 1850 in S’ant Angelo Lodigiano, a small village near Milan, Italy.

Inspired with a missionary zeal at a young age and intrigued with the future of religious life, she studied ar­duously at her school, run by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart. She graduated with high honors at 18 and immediately applied for admission to the religious order but was turned down due to her poor health.

Undeterred, she devoted herself to a life of lay service. She accepted a substitute teaching position in a village school, where she met Father Antonio Serrati, the rector of the parish run by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart. Fr. Antonio took notice of her missionary heart, and when Frances attempted to join the religious order again, he gave her a different mission: travel to Cadagono, Italy in order to help restore a disorganized and poorly run orphanage called the House of Providence.

At 24 years old, she journeyed to Cadogno for a six-year period of training, teaching, and building a community of women who were devoted to a life of charitable work. In September of 1877, she became Mother Cabrini, making her vows at the House of Providence, and putting on her religious habit for the first time. She also added “Xavier” to her name, in honor of St. Francis Xavier.

Frances was named Mother Superior of the House of Providence, helping train seven young nuns before the orphanage was abruptly closed in 1880. Now homeless, Frances would soon receive a suggestion from the Bish­op of Lodi: found a missionary order of women to serve in his diocese.

She accepted, moving with the nuns into an abandoned Franciscan friary. They became a hub of activity - re­ceiving orphans, opening a day school, teaching classes in needlework, and doing everything they could with few resources to serve those in their area. At the same time, Mother Cabrini was beginning to draw together a simple rule of life for the institute, choosing St. Francis de Sales and St. Francis Xavier as their patrons. She composed the rule and constitution of their religious institute, designing a simple habit to wear, and they be­came the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

In its first five years, the institute would open seven homes, a free school, and a nursery, with many postulants flocking to Cadogno to join. Mother Cabrini traveled to Rome in 1877 to seek papal approval for her order from Pope Leo XIII, who encouraged her to take her missionary zeal “not to the East, but to the West.”

At that time, millions of Italians had emigrated to the United States seeking new opportunities for their families, but found only hardships and cruelty. Lured by the enticements of a fresh start, they were immediately exploited and pulled into exceedingly dangerous jobs while living in clusters of overcrowded, disease-filled “Little Italy” slums. Most Italians found their dreams unmet, and were lonely and homesick in a new, vast country.

On March 31, 1889, Mother Cabrini and six other sisters arrived in New York, ready to serve the Lord. They were met with challenges immediately, when a misunderstanding at the time of their arrival revealed that the building originally intended to be their orphanage was no longer available. The Archbishop suggested that the nuns should return to Italy, but Mother Cabrini refused. Thanks to a generous donation, the brave nuns pur­chased their first house, and an orphanage was soon taking root in West Park, New York, which is now known as the Saint Cabrini Home.

Mother Cabrini would go on to open numerous orphanages, hospitals and schools around the world. She trav­eled vigorously, leaving a wake of care and support to those in need behind her. Even where she didn’t have an established institution, her presence alone led many groups and governments to take constructive steps to remedy any suffering or shortages in their area.

In 1909, Mother Cabrini took the oath of allegiance to the United States in Seattle. Eight years after becoming a U.S. citizen, she was in Chicago when she suffered a recurrence of illnesses related to a previous bout with malaria. She died on December 22, 1917, in one of her own hospitals in Chicago. She was 67. St. Frances made an indelible impact on countless lives, and she is an incredible witness of a citizen-servant who was unafraid to serve God and neighbor alike.