Cabrini

With the release of the new film on the life of Mother Cabrini, we are filled anew with wonder at how God’s grace could work so magnificently through the life of this Italian-American saint. Though she was set on becoming a missionary to China, she embraced the call of Pope St. Leo XIII to go west to America – and miracles ensued. Not only did she exemplify the corporal and spiritual acts of mercy throughout her ministry in America, but she also solidified the foundations of so many local churches from sea to sea.

America is blessed with a number of shrines dedicated to the life of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, often in the places where she lived and worked among the poor in America’s cities.

NEW YORK

Tomb of Mother Cabrini | COURTESY Shrine of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini

Beyond the northern boundary of Central Park is arguably New York’s most important shrine and ultimate pilgrimage destination: the Shrine of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini.  It is easily accessible by subway (exit at 192^nd street station) and can be combined with a visit to the nearby Met Cloister’s Museum. At the shrine, pilgrims can pray at the saint’s tomb, located in the chapel of the Mother Cabrini high school, built in 1891 by her Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  A carriage used by Mother Cabrini during her journeys is also on display.

CHICAGO

Mother Cabrini frequented Chicago, first arriving in 1899. She opened many schools and hospitals, and ultimately died in the city. She was so beloved by Chicagoans that over 100,000 faithful gathered at Soldier Field to commemorate her canonization.

In 1903, St. Cabrini purchased an abandoned hotel in present-day Lincoln Park, turning it into Columbus Hospital.  The small room in which she lived, and died in 1917, has now been preserved and is at the center of the National Shrine of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. The main chapel of the shrine includes a papal altar with an exposed relic of the saint’s arm, and the church is lined with beautiful stained glass windows depicting the mysteries of the rosary, events in the life of the saint, the popes that touched her life. 

DENVER

Miraculous grotto, Golden | COURTESY Mother Cabrini Shrine

Just outside of the Mile High City, in Golden, is the summer retreat that Mother Cabrini established for her sisters to care for the orphans of Denver. Today, that expansive plot of land is where the Mother Cabrini Shrine is located. One of the miracles that God worked through Mother Cabrini is preserved here at the shrine. The Sisters had complained to St. Frances that there was no clean water at the site and that it was a very trying journey for them to constantly haul water from the creek at the bottom of the canyon. St. Frances told them to turn over a rock next to the cookhouse and there they would find water. After digging underneath the rock, sure enough a spring emerged and to this day, the spring continues to flow. Many pilgrims have attributed miraculous healing to this spring water and a grotto to Our Lady of Lourdes now stands over it.

LOS ANGELES

Cabrini Chapel | COURTESY Italian Catholic Federation Mother Cabrini Chapel and Library Committee

Mother Cabrini arrived in Los Angeles in 1905 and purchased 405 acres in Burbank, planting orchards and vineyards to mimic those found in her native Italy. Within the vineyard, she built California’s first “preventorium” for girls at risk of contracting tuberculosis. A school was later added to the site and the Knights of Columbus built her a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady, where she prayed daily. That chapel was eventually reconstructed at the base of the mountain next to St. Francis Xavier Parish. Today, pilgrims can visit the chapel and museum, which are open on Sundays and by appointment.