Born in Italy in 1850, Frances Xavier Cabrini arrived in New York City in 1889, along with thousands of other European immigrants.
But instead of seeking a more prosperous life for herself in America, she came to New York to launch schools, orphanages, and hospitals for the poor—particularly in the impoverished Italian neighborhoods springing up all over the city.
By 1896, she had opened a school on the Lower East Side, an orphanage upstate, and Columbus Hospital in the East 20s. (It eventually morphed into Cabrini Medical Center, which closed in 2008.)
She even became a U.S. citizen in 1909 and lived for a time in Washington Heights.
Her death in 1917 was followed by beatification in 1938. Pope Pius XII then canonized her in 1946 and made her the patron saint of immigrants.
Now, she’s back in Upper Manhattan.
Her body—well, actually a wax replica of it, according to The New York Times—has been on display in a glass box at a shrine at Mother Cabrini High School on Fort Washington Avenue for decades.
Tags: Catholic Missionaries in New York City, Fort Washington Avenue, Francis Xavier Cabrini, Italian immigrants in New York City, Mother Cabrini, Mother Cabrini High School, Mother Cabrini Shrine, Pope Pius XII, U.S.-born Saints, Washington Heights
Ephemeral New York 
January 24, 2010 at 12:30 am |
another to come? pierre toussaint, buried in old st. patrick’s graveyard, has been proposed for sainthood.
January 24, 2010 at 9:07 pm |
I had no idea he was buried at Old St. Patrick’s. It’s one of my favorite churches:
http://www.oldcathedral.org/history.php
Toussaint should have his own Ephemeral posts one of these weeks….
May 11, 2010 at 3:38 am |
[…] slave, now on his way to sainthood By wildnewyork Only two residents, Elizabeth Ann Seton and Francis Xavier Cabrini, have been canonized by the Catholic church. Next may be Pierre […]