St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and Her NOLA Connection

Born Maria Francesca Cabrini in 1850 in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy, Italy, Saint Frances Cabrini’s life was a testament to the power of trusting in God’s providence and grace. Her deep trust in the loving care of God gave her the strength to be a valiant woman doing the work of Christ.

First refused admission to the religious order which had educated her to be a teacher, she began charitable work at the House of Providence Orphanage in Cadogno, Italy. In September 1877, she made her perpetual vows and took the religious habit. When the bishop closed the orphanage in 1880, he named Frances prioress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Seven young women from the orphanage joined her.

Since her early childhood, Frances Cabrini had wanted to be a missionary in China. Despite her desires, Pope Leo XIII urged, Frances to go west to the United States. She traveled with six sisters to New York City to work with the thousands of Italian immigrants living there. Seeing great need among Italian immigrants who were losing their faith, she organized schools and adult education classes all while opening orphanages, schools and hospitals.

When tragedy unfolded in New Orleans on March 14, 1891 as 11 Italian men were killed in the largest mass lynching in United States history, Father Giacamo Gambera, a Sicilian missionary working in New Orleans wrote to Mother Cabrini asking for her aid. Mother Cabrini responded by sending three sisters from New York to New Orleans with specific instructions on how to aid the struggling Italian immigrant population that had settled in the city.

Mother Cabrini herself came to New Orleans in 1892 founding her first orphanage on St. Philip Street in the French Quarter to care for the children of Italian immigrants who had died due to the Yellow Fever epidemic. Her second orphanage in New Orleans was opened on Esplanade Avenue in 1905 at the site where Cabrini High School now educates young women in New Orleans. 

In 35 years, Mother Cabrini founded 67 institutions in North and South America dedicated to caring for the poor, the abandoned, the uneducated and the sick. Mother Cabrini died in Chicago in 1917, and was canonized in 1946. Having become a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1909, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini is the first U.S. citizen to be canonized.

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini is known as a patron saint of hospital administrators and immigrants.

Celebrate the memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini by learning more about her legacy of caring for those most in need:

• Visit the Mother Cabrini Shrine at Cabrini High School located at 1400 Moss St., New Orleans.
• Cook a favorite Italian dish to honor her Italian heritage and eat together as a family.
• Donate spare change, collect spare change for a month and donate it to support organizations that help orphans. 
• Learn more about how you can help foster children in Louisiana through Catholic Charities Therapeutic Family Services program.
• Pray for parents and children who are going through the adoption process during the month of November, which is Adoption Awareness Month.

In 1959 the buildings of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini’s orphanage on Esplanade Avenue were reborn as Cabrini High School.

Cabrini is blessed by surroundings that not only had sacred beginnings, but where a canonized saint lived, worked, served and prayed. Cabrini High School is a place to nurture young women in the likeness of God and empower them to excel in whatever passions they hold dear, much like the principles Mother Cabrini lived by in her own life. In essence, the young women of Cabrini High School are the legacy of Mother Cabrini.

As protectors of that legacy, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the faculty and staff of Cabrini High School continue what Mother Cabrini began. They have dedicated their lives to her mission of education through ministry. Each student is precious and watched over as if their own.

The Sacred Heart Chapel, built in 1905 by Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, currently serves as a place of worship in the heart of Cabrini High School's campus. Located in the historic Bayou St.John neighborhood just steps from City Park, the Chapel once served as a place of worship for the original Sacred Heart Orphan Asylum, but now serves as a chapel for Cabrini High School student Masses, prayer services and retreats. Additionally, the Chapel may be reserved for other sacramental activities including Catholic weddings and baptisms for Alumnae and friends of the Cabrini Community. 

Walk in the Steps of Mother Cabrini

In light of the increased interest in Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini following the release of the Cabrini film, Cabrini High School is pleased to offer field trips to their campus to walk in the steps of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini and to learn first-hand about her life and legacy.

Elementary and middle school students and teachers can participate in a guided tour of Mother Cabrini’s bedroom, museum and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Chapel as they experience her testimony as the patron saint of immigrants and first American to be canonized a saint. Classes are also invited to bring their lunches and enjoy a picnic-style lunch on the school’s grounds.

Other groups are invited to schedule a tour of the campus as well.  Visit https://cabrinihigh.com/mothercabrinitour for more information.