Today we celebrate the Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, who shows us another example of today's gospel of living our faith. Born in Lombardi, Italy in 1850, she desired to be a nun by the age of eighteen, but her poor health prevent her. St. Frances helped her parents until their death and afterwards worked on a farm with her brothers and sisters. Following the request of a preach, St. Frances began to teach in a girl's school, and she taught there for 6 years.
Later, at request of her Bishop, St. Frances Cabrini founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, a religious order to care for poor children in schools and hospitals. At the urging of Pope Leo XIII she came to the United States in 1889 with six nuns to work among the Italian immigrants.
She lived tirelessly for the poor and founded 67 institutions to help the poor and misfortunate in a period of 35 years. At the time of her death, on December 22, 1917, in Chicago, Illinois, her institute numbered houses in England, France, Spain, the United States, and even South America. St. Frances became the first US citizen to ever be when Pope Pius XII canonized her in 1946.
Prayer:
"Holy Spirit, when Saint Frances was a child, she pretended she was a missionary to China as she sailed paper boats on a stream. Although You eventually sent her west to America instead of East to the Orient, her childhood games shaped her desire to serve You. I ask her to pray for our children to be protected from the lure of games that are worldly, violent, or occultic. O Lord, prevent society’s influences from blocking their desire to serve You when they grow up. Touch their souls to make them uneasy about games that erode their love for You and teach them to listen to Your guidance. Saint Frances, pray for us. Amen."
Image Source: Photo believed to be in the Public Domain
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