Saint Francesa Xavier Cabrini

Francesca Cabrini (1850-1917) was born in Lombardy, Italy, one of thirteen children of rich cherry farmers Agostino Cabrini and Stella Oldini. Sadly only four of eleven survived beyond adolescence. Small and weak as a child, born two months premature, she remained in delicate health throughout her 67 years.
Francesca had been a devout child who took a vow of chastity at the age of 11. She took religious vows in 1877 and added Xavier to her name to honor the Jesuit saint, Francis Xavier. Trianed as a teacher, she became the mother superior of the House of Providence orphanage in Codogno, where she taught.
In 1880, the orphanage was closed. She and six other sisters that took religious vows with her founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC). Mother Cabrini composed the rules and constitution of the order, and she continued as its superior-general until her death. The order established seven homes and a free school and nursery in its first five years. Its good works brought Mother Cabrini to the attention of Pope Leo XIII.
The Pope sent Cabrini to New York City on March 31, 1889, along with six other sisters, to help the Italian immigrants. There, she obtained the permission of Archbishop Michael Corrigan to found an orphanage, which is located in West Park, Ulster County, New York, today and is known as Saint Cabrini Home. Battling money problems, she continued to found orphanages, schools and charitable institutions to serve poor immigrants in New York and other cities. She also dispatched missionaries to other countries.
Francesca was naturalized as a US citizen in 1909 and died in 1917 of complications from dysentery in Columbus Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, while preparing Christmas candy for the local children.
Francesca was beatified on November 13, 1938, and eight years later was the first American citizen to be canonized on July 7, 1946. She is the patron saint of immigrants.