First American Saint

Maria Francesca Cabrini was born in Lombardi, Italy on July 15, 1850, the youngest of thirteen children. She was of delicate health her whole life yet longed to be a missionary sister to China from an early age. After her education, she continued to work on the family farm and take care of her parents. The bishop of her area asked her to superintend an orphanage in a neighboring town and when that closed, he suggested that she begin her own order. With seven other nuns, she began the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. At the request of Pope Leo XIII, she went to New York City to serve the large population of Italian immigrants that were settling there. She established orphanages, schools, colleges, and other organizations to help the poor in that city and various other cities in the US, and in other countries.

Mother Cabrini saw a need and stepped forward to help the poor and the lost. Despite her frailty, she knew that with care, concern, and God's love, the poor could be served, children could be taken care of, and hope could be restored. Her willingness to serve where there was need reminds us that doing God's work requires only that we be willing to make ourselves available to God's grace. If we want to accomplish God's work, we can do so by offering ourselves where there is need.

Reflect on the Word

I have learned to be satisfied with whatever I have. I know what it is to be poor or to have plenty, and I have lived under all kinds of conditions. I know what it means to be full or to be hungry, to have too much or too little. Christ gives me the strength to face anything.

Philippians 4:11b-13 (CEV)