Washington Heights & Inwood Online

Francesca Xavier Cabrini was born near Lodi, Italy, in 1850 and was one of 13 children. As a child she wanted to become a nun and go to China. She abstained from sweets because she could expect none of it there. She also liked to dress dolls as nuns.

Francesca applied to religious orders twice and was refused due to poor health. A priest in Codogno asked her to start a community of women who would run an orphanage in his parish. Unfortunately, the orphanage failed and she was encouraged to start a missionary order. This resulted in her becoming the founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Her wish came true but she was not to go to China.

In 1889 at the urging of Pope Leo VIII, Mother Cabrini came to America with a contingent of six nuns and lived mostly in Chicago and New York City. She directed the establishment of 67 hospitals, orphanages, nurseries and schools operated by the sisterhood. Other foundations of her association were located in New Orleans, Louisiana, and in Nicaragua. By 1917 there were 1,500 women who became sisters in the organization, which had expanded to eight countries.

She had become known as the Patroness of Immigrants. She was to succeed in going beyond her goal of aiding immigrants. In 1909 Mother Cabrini became an American Citizen.

In 1892 Mother Cabrini was instrumental in the founding of Columbus Hospital with donations of $250 to purchase 10 metal framed beds. Its name was changed to the Cabrini Medical Center and moved to its present location on East 19th Street, when it merged with the Italian Hospital in the early 1970s.

In 1920 the Convent purchased the Saint Lawrence Hospital located on 163rd Street and Edgecombe Avenue as an extension to the Cabrini Medical Center and was renamed the Mother Cabrini Memorial Hospital in 1958. In time the hospital closed to make way for a correctional facility.

Mother Cabrini proved to be a shrewd businesswoman when she purchased property in Washington Heights from C.K.G. Billings. She had visited the site (190th and Fort Washington Avenue) while traveling there by horse and buggy and fell in love with the view it offered. When the sale had closed, Mother Cabrini opened the Sacred Heart Villa, a boarding school for girls, in 1899. She made it her headquarters in New York City. In 1930 the Mother Cabrini High School opened and was noted for its high educational standards. In time the Mother Cabrini all-girl marching band was organized and appears in many parades in New York City.

Mother Cabrini died of malaria in 1917 in her convent in Chicago and was interred in a mausoleum at West Park, New York. Her body was exhumed in 1933 and her remains were brought to Mother Cabrini High School in Washington Heights, where the students greeted her coffin wearing academic gowns. Her remains were placed in the school chapel.

Mother Cabrini was beatified on November 13, 1938. As part of the beatification process, her remains were examined by Vatican officials. After the examination her remains were reinterred in a crystal coffin beneath the main altar of the school chapel. This event made the school the center of national attention.

His Holiness Pope Pius XXI signed a Decree of Canonization for Mother Cabrini on January 11, 1944, which was based on two confirmed miracles. On July 7, 1947, the Ceremony of Canonization was performed at Saint Peter’s Basilica and was celebrated by Pope Pius. Mother Cabrini had become the first naturalized American citizen to attain sainthood.

On that morning, Cardinal Spellman arrived at Mother Cabrini High School at 7:30 a.m. to spend time with the sisters in residence. A special mass was celebrated at the chapel. A Pontifical Mass was celebrated at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in honor of Mother Cabrini by Cardinal Molloy of Brooklyn. Cardinal Spellman hailed her as “the Apostle of the Americas, the glory of our country.”

The Feast Day of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini is celebrated on November 13. The City of New York anticipated the intentions of the Catholic Church and designated Northern Avenue to be renamed in her honor in 1938.

The present Shrine of Saint Cabrini was opened December 22, 1959, as a chapel in her name. Her remains were reinterred within the altar of the shrine that was to bear her name. A letter dated September 11, 1938, verifies that her remains are in the coffin and shrine and that her head is in repose in Rome. The letter is signed by Monsignor Salvatore Natucci.

The shrine’s gift shop has a permanent exhibit of artifacts owned by Mother Cabrini as well as gifts that were given to her. One of the exhibits contains a diploma that was signed by Mother Cabrini. A copy of her death certificate is on display.

On July 7, 1997, a special mass commemorating the 50th anniversary of the sainthood of Mother Cabrini was held. The main celebrant was His Eminence John Cardinal O’Connor.

The Saint Frances Cabrini Shrine is located at 701 Fort Washington Avenue. The telephone number is (212) 923-3536. The shrine is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Mother Cabrini High School, which is directly south of the chapel, can be reached at (212) 923-3540.

For more information, visit the Web sites of the Saint Frances Cabrini Shrine, the Cabrini Medical Center, and the Catholic Saints Web site.