St frances x cabrini biography sample
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Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
Apostle of the
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
"Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, pray for us!" This invocation, pronounced for the first time by His Holiness, Pope Pius XII on the day of her Canonization, found an echo throughout the entire world. On that memorable Sunday, July 7, 1946, the banner of the new saint was triumphantly carried into the Vatican Basilica amidst the applause of 40,000 people. Ordinarily, the Canonization of a saint takes place many years, centuries even, after that person's death. Mother Cabrini's Beatification, however, took place in 1938, only twenty-one years after her death. Pope Pius XII signed the decree of canonization in 1944, and the ceremony elevating her to the altars of the Church was the first one celebrated after the close of World War II.
It would seem that God wished to give the Catholic faithful an example of industriousness. Indeed, those who do the most for God are those who have the desire (if not always the abil
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Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917)
for November 13
Francesca Cabrini was born in northern Italy in 1850, the youngest of 13 or more children. As a child she dreamed of being a missionary to faraway lands. When she was 18, she tried to join a religious community, but was turned away because of her poor health. She taught for a while, and then went to work at an orphanage. At age 30 she took the name of the great missionary Francis Xavier and founded her own religious order. As the head of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, she was called Mother Cabrini. She wanted to travel to China, but when she met Pope Leo XIII to get his approval he sent her to America to help provide pastoral care to the thousands of Italian immigrants settled there. Mother Cabrini and six other sisters arrived in New York in 1889, and soon founded an orphanage for Italian American children. In spite of poor health, a fear of ocean travel, and many other obstacles, Mother Cabrini eventually ope
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Who Is St. Frances X. Cabrini?
God shows up in the most unexpected ways. Recently, it was through my mail slot. The envelope was unassuming, and the return address revealed it was from my childhood best friend. Little did inom know where the contents would lead me.
Inside the envelope was a card and two small items, along with a handwritten note from my friend. She wrote that she found the objects among her deceased mother’s belongings and, as I was a practicing Catholic, thought I would appreciate having them.
One of the items was a small silver figure of St. Anne, and the other was a tiny photo of a religious sister encased in a plastic covering sewn tillsammans by string. The name on the picture was “St. Frances X Cabrini.”
St. Anne was well known to me as the mother of Our Lady. Both the figure and the accompanying prayer were beautiful but familiar. The small photo of St. Frances Cabrini, and the care taken to preserve it, stoked my curiosity. Turning it over in my grabb, I saw th