St Frances Cabrini

13^th November is the official day for the first saint who was an American citizen, albeit a naturalised one. This is Saint Frances Cabrini, a nun who died in 1917.

Born in July 1850 in Lombardy, Italy, Frances Cabrini became a nun after a short career as a teacher. She was invited by the Bishop of Todi to start an order of missionary sisters who would concentrate their efforts on the education of girls. The movement, The Sisters of the Sacred Heart, soon spread across northern Italy.

Although she originally wanted to expand her efforts to China, Frances Cabrini became aware of the needs of Italian migrants to the United States, so she emigrated to the States with six of her fellow nuns in 1889. This was where her ministry would continue for the rest of her life and the reason why she became an American citizen.

She travelled widely throughout the United States, setting up four hospitals as well as many orphanages, convents and schools. The movement also spread to Great Britain, France, Spain and South America.

Frances Cabrini was canonised in 1946 and is recognised as a patron saint of immigrants.

© John Welford