St. Frances Xavier Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants and hospital administrators. She was born as the 13th child of wealthy peasants Augustine and Stella Cabrini on 15 July 1850. She received a convent education at the Daughters of the Sacred Heart and graduated with high honors at 18. She was denied entry into the order she grew up with, but instead of being disheartened, she took up teaching at the House of Providence Orphanage in Cadagono, Italy, run by the Sisters of Providence. When the orphanage was dissolved in 1880, the then Bishop asked her to form a congregation; the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was thus born. Continuing her mission of working for the needy, Sr. Frances desired to serve in the Chinese missions, but Pope Leo XIII advised her to go to the United States. Mother Cabrini and her Sisters provided support for Italian immigrants in the USA, who were exploited by deceitful agents and were losing their faith due to Protestant influences. She traveled across Europe, Central and South America, and throughout the United States, establishing institutions and serving the poor. She was driven by an intense desire to serve Jesus in all ways. In 35 years, she founded 67 institutions dedicated to caring for the sick, the abandoned, and the uneducated. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini passed away on 22 December 1917, in her own hospital in Chicago. In light of her exemplary holiness and charitable service to mankind, she was canonized by Pope Pius XII on 7 July 1946, becoming the first American citizen to be raised to sainthood. In 1950, she was given the title of "Patroness of Immigrants."
Prayer:
God our Father, who called Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini from Italy to serve the immigrants of America, by her example, teach us to have concern for the stranger, the sick, and all those in need, and by her prayers help us to see Christ in all the men and women we meet.
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