Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
July 17, 2002
Celebrating 100 years with St. Cabrini
Saint's legacy includes prayerful mountaintop shrine
By Alice M. Dempsey
This year marks the 100th anniversary of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini's arrival in Colorado. After investigation of her life, work and miracles, Mother Cabrini was the first American citizen elevated to sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII on July 7, 1946.
Leaving her home in Codogno, Italy, in 1902, she worked with thousands of immigrants who landed alone and bewildered on American shores. She opened the first of her Columbus hospitals in New York.
In Colorado she worked with Italian miners and railroaders. She focused her attention in Denver and Golden on orphans and children in need of love and support.
As a little girl Francesca wanted to become a missionary. She put violets in paper boats and sailed them downstream, dreaming of going to China. After many struggles, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, eventually opening 67 houses throughout the world.
Although fearful of water, she crossed the Atlantic Ocean 24 times to open schools, hospitals and orphanages staffed by her Missionary Sisters, commonly called the Cabrini Sisters. Just 5 feet tall, and always frail, she left a tremendous legacy of Catholic education, health care and concern for the destitute.
In 1902 St. Cabrini opened Mount Carmel School in north Denver, which operated for 24 years. Two years later, she took in her first two orphans and soon opened Queen of Heaven Orphanage for girls in a farmhouse on several acres at West 48th Avenue and Federal Boulevard. In 1921 the farmhouse was replaced with a far larger brick building. In 1967 the orphanage became a parochial school. The orphanage closed in 1968.
In 1909 Mother Cabrini set out for Golden. She was looking for a summer home for her orphans. Traveling over a narrow, winding clay path, she found an inexpensive abandoned ranch in Mount Vernon Canyon that had two stone barns. She purchased the tract of land on Aug. 10 and eight days later a second tract, even when warned that no water was available. A third parcel further down a cattle path had an icehouse and stagnant pond beside it. In March 1934 the Missionary Sisters acquired a fourth tract of land for $1.
With some of her orphans and nuns, Mother Cabrini visited the mountain property, now known as the Mother Cabrini Shrine, for the last time on Nov. 12. When her horse and creaky buggy could make it no further they climbed to the top of the mountain. The group enjoyed a picnic and gathered white rocks that Mother Cabrini arranged in the shape of a heart. The rocks remain just as she placed them.
During that outing, tapping a spot with her cane, Mother Cabrini told the group to dig and they would find a spring. The spring continues to flow today. Many miracles are reported to have occurred in association with the water. The miracles are attributed to the faith of the people, not to the water.
A grotto shrine of native rock built in 1929 near the spring was replaced in 1959 with a sandstone chapel that seats 100 people. The spring runs into an 8,000-gallon glass-lined tank donated by Adolph Coors II.
Early in the 20th century, the orphans traveled to the mountain from Denver in a covered wagon and camped in tents. They ate in the barn with the nuns, who shared living quarters with the chickens. The children helped feed the chickens and milk the cows acquired with the ranch.
In 1913 and 1914 children gathered rocks to build a three-story stone house Mother Cabrini wanted as a summer home for the orphans. The stone house was completed in 1952. When the orphanage closed, the stone house was opened to the public for retreats. It was renovated and rooms were added in 1986.
Mother Cabrini died Dec. 22, 1917, at Columbus Hospital in New York, which she founded.
Following her death and canonization, as the mountaintop shrine dedicated to her grew in popularity, the St. Frances Xavier Shrine Committee and a group of dedicated postal workers from Denver completed extensive projects. In 1954 redwood Stations of the Cross, each 10-feet high, were installed along the 373 steps to the top of the mountain. At the summit a 22-foot marble statue of the Sacred Heart was erected.
In 1962 the mysteries of the rosary were added along the walk. A three-story convent and chapel were dedicated June 12, 1970. The building includes a gift shop and a glassed-in museum with a bed, dresser and desk used by St. Cabrini. On her chair rests the cane with which she tapped the red rock and found the spring. A pair of her shoes lies on the footstool, and a clothes rack holds a religious habit worn by her.
Sister Bernadette Casciano, M.S.C., is the present administrator of the Mother Cabrini Shrine. It continues to be a popular place for quiet retreats, and for visitors who want to enjoy the awe-inspiring beauty of the mountaintop so loved by St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.
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