On Tuesday, February 27, Angel Studios held their “media junket” for the upcoming movie CABRINI at St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in NYC. They filmed interviews with Alejandro Monteverdi (the movie’s director), Rod Barr (scriptwriter), Leo Severino (producer), David Morse (Archbishop Corrigan) and Cristina Dell’Anna (Mother Cabrini). The film will debut in theatres on Friday, March 8, International Women’s Day.
Mother Cabrini Mosaic from School to School to School:
Our Lady of Mercy Academy to Cabrini University’s School of Education
to St. Frances Cabrini Regional Catholic School.
In 2020, the 4th and 6th grade students of Our Lady of Mercy Academy, Forest Hills, NY, created a wonderful artistic rendition of Mother Cabrini under the tutelage of Anna Marie Prono, playwright and artist. In 2021, Anna Marie was looking for a home for the mosaic artwork and connected with Sister Christine Marie Baltas, MSC at Cabrini University. Sr. Christine Marie worked with Dr. Beverly Bryde, former Dean of the School of Education at the University, to find a place for this symbolic piece in the School of Education to represent all children young and old who are educated by the charism of Mother Cabrini’s Education of the Heart.
With Cabrini University closing in 2024, Sr. Christine and Beverly found the perfect home for this special piece of children’s artwork at the St. Frances Cabrini Regional Catholic School in Philadelphia, formerly known as the St. Donato’s School where Sr. Christine Marie once served as principal. St. Donato’s School was founded by Mother Cabrini. St. Frances Cabrini Regional Catholic School is now part of the Independent Mission Schools in Philadelphia. Currently, Ms. Van Robinson serves as principal and welcomed the artwork into their school. On November 9th, Sr. Christine Marie and Beverly met with the principal and Cabrini alumni teaching at the school to share this magnificent mosaic and plaque.
This is all a wonderful way to share the charism of Mother Cabrini from the creative hands of the 4th and 6th graders in one school in 2020, to touch the lives of educators at the Cabrini University School of Education in 2021 and now to have the welcoming hands from a principal and Cabrini alumni in the St. Frances Cabrini Regional Catholic School. From School to School to School, hands, lives and hearts are connected by the charism of Mother Cabrini.
October 2nd is Mother Cabrini Day in Colorado
Have you been to Mother Cabrini Shrine lately? Come and celebrate Cabrini Day with us! On Monday, October 2nd, we will have a special Cabrini Day Mass at 12 noon in our newly renovated chapel. This is a great opportunity to attend Mass, walk the steps, visit our gift shop, light a candle in the grotto chapel, and spend some time on the beautiful grounds that honor Mother Cabrini and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Mother Cabrini dedicated her life to helping the poor, the sick, immigrants, and those in most need. Her story is rich with determination and grit and an unshakable faith in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Cabrini Day is about her story, and we are eager for people to continue to learn of it and be inspired by her life and all that she accomplished.
In March of 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law HB 1031 establishing Frances Xavier Cabrini Day as a Colorado State Holiday. It is the first paid holiday in the nation that recognizes a woman, and is observed on the first Monday in October.
Chapel Dedication
With great joy and gratitude, we will celebrate the rededication of our chapel following the remodel and renovations that have taken place over the last ten months.
The chapel will be rededicated on Saturday, November 18 at 4:00 p.m. Fr. John Lager, O.F.M. Cap. Has been granted a special mandate to perform the rededication since neither Archbishop Aquila or Bishop Rodriguez are available.
We look forward to a wonderful week of celebrations starting with the Feast of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini on November 13, the Gala on November 17 and the chapel dedication on November 18th.
A Woman for Our Times
By Ron Polaniecki, Chicago
(reprinted with permission of StreetWise Magazine, Chicago)
Recently a new sculpture of St. Frances Xavier (“Mother”) Cabrini (1850-1917) was unveiled in the courtyard of Holy Name Cathedral, located at State and Superior Streets.
“The occasion, in part, was the conclusion of a ‘jubilee year’ celebrating the 75th anniversary of Cabrini’s canonization (she is the first American citizen saint). And, in part, it is to recognize a Chicago-based woman who was indefatigable in her service to immigrants at the turn of the century,” says the Rev. Greg Sakowicz, rector of Holy Name Cathedral.
Her relevance is obvious in these times of immigration challenges. And her historic importance is confirmed by her inclusion in such works as Chicago and the American Century, The 100 Most Significant Chicagoans of the Twentieth Century by Richard F. Ciccone, and her listing in the National Women’s Hall of Fame, Seneca Falls, N.Y.
Francesca Cabrini was born prematurely in 1850, outside Milan, Italy, and was sickly throughout her life. Young Cabrini’s goal was to become a missionary to China. However, she was turned away from two religious orders because of her frail condition. Undaunted, Cabrini founded her own group, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (at a time when missionaries where almost exclusively male).
A path filled with twists and turns led her to Chicago where she founded, and then taught at, the Assumption School for Italian immigrant children, originally at 317 W. Erie St. It opened in 1899 with 500 children, and upon Cabrini’s insistence, it was free of charge.
The needs of her fellow Italians in Chicago grew rapidly as Chicago’s Italian born-population rose from 5,700 in 1890 to 16,000 in 1900 and to 45,000 in 1910. Like so many other immigrants, they lived in vastly overcrowded housing and worked for meager wages. One particular challenge faced by Italians was the lack of government or philanthropic agencies to advocate for them. Untypical of the times, Cabrini encouraged her sisters to teach young women industrial arts that would help them support themselves.
In addition to schools, hospitals were needed. Though lacking a healthcare background, her tireless zeal led to the founding of Columbus Hospital in Chicago, at first in Lakeview, and then Columbus Extension, located in a low-income neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side.
Even at a relatively young age, Cabrini was noted for organizational skills – and business instincts. For example, in purchasing the site for Columbus Hospital, she suspected the sellers were being dishonest. At 5 a.m., Cabrini and a fellow sister measured the land parcel themselves and discovered they were being cheated. Faced with the facts, the transaction was corrected.
Another example was her purchase in 1917 of a 102-acre farm in Park Ridge, near Northwest Highway and Dee Road. Her plan was to supply fresh milk, eggs, and chickens to the hospitals and orphanages she had established, according to Milton E. Nelson’s, Milestones of Park Ridge.
However, the other part of Cabrini’s legacy was walking the streets of the Italian district, consoling families, and delivering a message of faith in God to the needy residents. She never tired of asking for funds for the poor and advocating for the marginalized. Her simple motto was, “I can do all things in Jesus who strengthens me.”
Cabrini’s reputation grew. Over the years, she and her sisters founded 67 missions in many American cities, such as New Orleans, Seattle, Colorado mining towns; and in Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua, and other nations.
As remarkable as Cabrini was, in her own realm, so, too, is co-sculptor, Lou Cella. Rotblatt Amrany Studio of Fine Art, Highwood, Ill., is his arena.
While Cella’s name is not well known, his works are. They include the sculptures of baseball legends Harry Caray, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ron Santo outside of Wrigley Field. And Carlton Fisk, Frank Thomas and Paul Konerko at Guarantee Rate Field. And football hall-of-famer Bart Starr for the Green Bay Packers Heritage Trail, plus numerous other famous sports heroes.
While Cella acknowledges that he never sculpted a saint, he said he felt connections to Cabrini. He noted that he was raised Catholic, is a Chicagoan, and is part Italian. Further, he adds, his mother-in-law was an immigrant from Mexico.
Each subject is unique, Cella said. In this case, the goal was to depict Mother Cabrini reaching out from her heart (hence one hand is on her heart) with a deep concern for all people.
“The attention to details and personal touches, which is a hallmark of our studio work, is apparent in the fabric of the habit, her cross and ring,” Cella continues. “Also, she is stepping through delicate violets, which were her favorite flower.
“Cabrini did not check anyone’s credentials before she would help them,” Cella added. “And she had this special focus on immigrants as she was an immigrant herself.” She became a U.S. citizen in 1909.
Co-sculptor Jessica LoPresti, also an artist at the renowned Rotblatt Amrany studio, was, like Cella, new to saints. Like Cella, LoPresti is a Chicagoan, of Italian heritage on her father’s side and raised a Catholic.
A behind the scenes tidbit: LoPresti modeled a habit that was similar to what Cabrini wore. “This helped us capture the pose, the folds of the fabric, the delicate checkered pattern of the veil and other details.”
The statue was made possible by a donation from Dr. Carol Christianson, a former nurse for many years at Columbus Hospital as well as a missionary in service overseas.
LoPresti adds, “Cabrini’s message is relevant to our current society, which could benefit from having more compassion and care for others.”
Mother Cabrini passed away in Chicago in 1917 and her room is part of the National Shrine of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini in Lincoln Park.
11.30.2022
Cabrini High School Celebrates Mother Cabrini’s Feast Day
In preparation for Mother Cabrini’s Feast Day, Cabrini High School hosted a wonderful celebration of the Eucharist where the 50-year graduates (Class of ‘72) joined us in honoring our foundress and received a special pin to commemorate their golden anniversary.
A reception was held following Mass in the lovely Esplanade Courtyard located on Cabrini’s campus.
Happy 172nd Birthday, Mother Cabrini!
Happy 172nd Birthday, Mother Cabrini!
July 15, 1850
“The saint of the immigrants,” “patroness of immigrants,” the “Italian immigrant of the century.” These are some of the phrases used to describe the frail, diminutive (less than five feet tall) Frances Xavier Cabrini, foundress and driving force of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Born in 1850 in the Lombard village of Sant’ Angelo Lodigiano, she became a United States citizen in Seattle in 1909 and died in Chicago in 1917, closing a life of sixty-seven years, twenty-eight of them spent in prodigious religious accomplishment on behalf of her beloved Italian immigrants in the Americas. In 1946, Pope Pius XII declared her a saint. She was the first citizen of the United States to be so honored.
Mother Cabrini was a major agent for change during what has been called “modern history’s greatest and most sustained movement from a single country,” the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century emigration of millions of Italians to the Americas, over 100,000 of whom were located in New York City’s Lower East Side.
It was to this community, and to communities like it across the United States, that Mother Cabrini came. She brought them what they needed, a spirit of compassion and of understanding, as she built orphanages and hospitals, worked in parishes and established industrial schools. She and her sisters, who grew in her lifetime to be over 1,000 in number, fanned the spark of faith among the immigrants and their children. ~ excerpts from the Foreward written by James Hennessey, SJ for Mother Cabrini, “Italian Immigrant of the Century” the book written by Sr. Mary Louise Sullivan, MSC, PhD
Mother Cabrini Canonized on July 7, 1946
Following the exhaustive Vatican processes of beatification and canonization, Mother Cabrini was declared Blessed on November 13, 1938, and on July 7, 1946, she became the first United States citizen to be canonized a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Today we celebrate that anniversary.
In 1950, Pope Pius XII formally proclaimed St. Frances Xavier Cabrini as the “Patroness of Immigrants.”
In his homily, Pope Pius XII said, “She gathered endangered youth in safe houses, and taught them holy and rightful principles. She consoled the spirit of the imprisoned, giving them the comfort of life eternal, and urging them to resume the right path and to remake an honest life. She consoled the sick and the infirm gathered in hospitals, and cared for them assiduously. Especially towards immigrants, who had left their own homes… did she extend a friendly hand, a sheltering refuge, relief and help.”
Pope Francis, in a letter to Sr. Barbara Staley, MSC, General Superior of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, writes, “Catholics today cannot forget that [this] is the vocation of every Christian and of every community of the disciples of Jesus.”
The late Sr. Mary Louise Sullivan, MSC, PhD, writes in her book, Mother Cabrini: “Italian Immigrant of the Century” that “Cabrini was a modern woman. Her interests were extensive. She certainly did not adapt readily to the role expected of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century women religious. She was an entrepreneur and world traveler, keenly aware of the currents of thought in the world of her time. Cabrini foresaw the twentieth century as one of revolution, and tailored her philosophy of education, healthcare, and social service to accentuate the intrinsic value and dignity of each human being touched by her Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
Sharing Precious Cabrinian Artifacts
On June 7th, Julia Attaway, Executive Director of the St. Frances Cabrini Shrine, NYC receives a document case from Janet Bauman, Scanning Specialist Holy Spirit Library, Cabrini University. The document case contains materials from the St. Frances Cabrini Collection at Cabrini University.
The materials which include Mother Cabrini’s business card, checks and promissory notes signed by Mother Cabrini, and a facsimile of the Saint’s will are on loan to the shrine for the upcoming exhibit, “The Everyday Life of Mother Cabrini.” The exhibit is set to open in July.
Playwright Finds Inspiration from Mother Cabrini’s Life
~ by Paula Katinas, The Tablet
FOREST HILLS, NY – Of the numerous stage productions being performed across New York city as the pandemic eases, perhaps only one will star…a saint
“Happening Woman,” a musical based on the life and times of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, better known as Mother Cabrini, the beloved Patron Saint of Immigrants, [was staged] on November 13 and 14 in the auditorium of Our Lady of Mercy Church in Forest Hills.
Featuring 15 songs and a cast of 24, the play spotlights the founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who spent much of her life tending to immigrants and the poor.
It’s the brainchild of AnnaMarie Prono, a parishioner at Our Lady of Mercy, who recalls the point in time when she developed an interest in the Italian-born luminary. During a chat, she asked a friend, “What do you know about Mother Cabrini?”
Her friend answered, “She was a happening woman when women weren’t happening.”
That comment became the inspiration for “Happening Woman,” which Prono has co-written with composer Bob Kaufmann. The show is co-produced with Milini Singh McDonald.
The play features a variety of musical genres – including a traditional Italian tarantella, marching band music inspired by John Philip Sousa, rock and roll numbers and music with a Mexican flavor.
Kaufmann, who said the score is “unapologetically spiritual,” added that his goal was to make the songs “as upbeat and catchy as possible.”
The plot of “Happening Woman” jumps back and forth in time between the past and the present. It depicts Mother Cabrini’s life but also tells the parallel present day story of a 13 year old girl struggling with multiple sclerosis (MS). Prono has MS as does McDonald. They’re both inspired by the legacy of Mother Cabrini who was “sickly her entire life,” Prono said. “And yet she just did so much. She never stopped. People told her no. She didn’t care. She just kept going.”
Prono is hoping “Happening Woman” inspires people, just as she was by St. Cabrini.
The creators wanted the show to bring Catholics closer to their faith.
~ submitted by Sr. Christine Marie Baltas, MSC
Sr. Christine Marie Baltas, MSC and Cabrini University Library Director Anne Schwelm recently traveled to Forest Hills, NY to enjoy this play for which they served as resource persons.
The Feast Day of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini – November 13, 2021
The Feast Day of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
Patroness of Immigrants
November 13, 2021
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, proclaimed a saint in 1946 and Patron Saint of Immigrants in 1950 is best known for her extraordinary apostolic activity in the United States and South America in the service of Italian emigrants to whom she was sent in 1889 by Pope Leo XIII. Her apostolic mysticism matured in the light of two great sources: the spirituality of the Sacred Heart and her missionary life – which force her to travel continuously, crossing the ocean over 24 times, traveling widely by train, carriage, on horseback, and even on foot, all with the sole purpose of bringing the consolation of God’s love to the most lonely, marginalized and desperate people.
In 1880, the Bishop of Lodi, Monsignor Domenico Gelmini exhorted her to fulfill her missionary dreams, saying to her, “I know you want to be a missionary. I do not know any missionary institutes. You shall found one.” Frances simply replied, “I’ll look for a House.” Thus she became the Foundress of the Institute of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and from that moment on was called “Mother Cabrini”.
In this way her missionary adventure began, entirely oriented toward preparing for the missions of China that she had desired since childhood, but the rapid development of her institute and foundations, the fame of her abilities, and the impressive number of young women who asked to join her Institute attracted the attention of Monsignor Giovanni Battista Scalabrini. He invited her to devote herself to Italian immigrants who left of the Americas in search of fortune and who were living in desperate conditions, especially in North America.
Mother Cabrini waited for the illumination of the Holy Spirit before accepting, and, above all, she sought in herself the valid reasons that could have made her consider such a radical change to her missionary course. It took Pope Leo XIII, with whom she had established a deep filial relationship, to make her definitively decide to relinquished her long-cherished dream of missionary work in China.
Her adventure through the Americas and in Europe, underwent no periods of inactivity. The groundbreaking activity in favor of the Italian immigrants prompted her to establish schools and orphanages, educational centers, hospitals and dispensaries. All of these facilities were necessary because of the miserable condition of so many abandoned, uneducated children, sick immigrants who could barely make themselves understood in the public hospitals, families divided by the necessity of work, and entire neighborhoods, victims of organized crimes, so many people, marginalized by prejudice and poverty.
Her work also extended to mines, prisons, cotton plantations and railroad yards – all places where she and her sisters came to the aid of the Italians enslaved by the need to earn a meager living and often overwhelmed by the difficulties of existence.
She fought for them, for their dignity, and for the reconstitution of a cultural identity of which they were ashamed. But, above all, she was fighting so that they would not abandon the Catholic religion. She wanted religious education to be a source of comfort, human and Christian growth, strength to move forward in life, and help for the immigrant to integrate with dignity into the new culture without losing their own.
The Christian synthesis that Mother Cabrini achieved between the overwhelming apostolic activity and contemplation is the basis of her spirituality.
When understood in this way, Mother Cabrini takes on all the richness and depth of spirituality which continually adapts to the requirements of the missionary life, overcoming even valid personal concerns in favor of an active, preventive and curative repair of the difficulties weighing on humanity.
~ from Free Yourselves and Put on Wings, A Journey of Cabrinian Spirituality, by Sr. Maria Barbagallo, MSC
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