The Saints: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

1850 - 1917 / Feast - Dec. 22

Born to a prosperous Italian farmer, Francesca became a schoolteacher, then was refused admission to two religious orders due to poor health. In 1880 she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart; with six sisters she established a convent and orphanage in New York in 1889 to address the needs of Italian immigrants. Over the next 28 years, Mother Cabrini opened Catholic institutions across the United States, and in Europe and South America. She became a U.S. citizen, and was the first to achieve sainthood.