by Dick Matulis

In 1979, on his first visit to Boston as the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II proclaimed at the Boston Common, "America the beautiful, even in the rain." I personally witnessed this from a tree that I had climbed to see him better, much as Zacceus had done to get a better view of the Messiah.

This "America" was named after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian navigator who, in the fifteenth century, discovered South America at the mouth of the Amazon River. The Italian connection would continue when a young Italian immigrant would journey to America at the command of the then Holy Father Pope Leo XIII. She would eventually become an American citizen and the first American saint to be canonized. Her canonization took place on July 7, 1946, under Pope Pius XII.

The above events whetted my appetite to further inquire about this nun who actually founded her own religious order. For information, I relied on head librarian Jim McConnell of the Roslindale Branch of the Boston Public Library, who helped me to secure two publications: "Francesca Cabrini," written by Lucille Papan Borden and published in 1945 and "Immigrant Saint," written by Pietro DiDonato and published in 1960. Though the authors' styles varied greatly, they each concurred that Mother Cabrini was indeed an extraordinarily gifted and holy woman.

Picture, if you would, a little village in Sant' Angelo, Italy, not too far from Milan. Agostino Cabrini, a devout Catholic who was a farmer, and his wife, Stella expected to have no more children. Stella, at 52 years of age, had lost nine of their children between the ages of three and eighteen. One survivor had polio while the eldest daughter Rosa played a take-charge role with the youngsters. Unexpectedly, another addition came in the form of a very frail girl who was welcomed by a shower of doves visiting their property. The villagers mistakenly thought that the birds had come to ravage the crops.

The baby was named Francesca Maria in honor of two of the youngsters who their mother had previously lost. Noting the child's frailty, the midwife, who had assisted with the delivery, recommended an immediate christening, so on July 15, 1850, Francesca Maria Cabrini was baptized. Her older sister, Rosa, nicknamed her "magpie" because she tried to do everything too quickly and was constantly chatting.

Rosa suggested, "If you want to become an educated young lady, you must learn to listen." Francesca was particularly fond of their Uncle Don Luigi who served as an inspiration for her love on God, Jesus, the Blessed Mother, the Church, and the Missions. Confirmed at the age of seven, Francesca loved to play games of the missions inspired by the stories of St. Francis Xavier whose name she would eventually take for her own. This was also a time of turmoil in Italy as war was being waged literally in her own backyard.

An excellent student and homemaker, Francesca took seriously her sister Rosa's advice that she must master much to compete as a missionary. She was quick to emulate Rosa's talents and like her, became a teacher after their parents passed away suddenly within a year of each other, during Francesca's eighteenth and nineteenth years of life.

A parish priest secured a teaching position for her while two different religious communities both thwarted her efforts to join them. The people in authority thought Francesca would not be able to handle the rigors of religious life. Boy, were they to be proven wrong!

Years ago, a businessman named Ruby Epstein applied for a bank loan and was turned down. When asking the loan officer his options, the banker jokingly suggested that he start his own bank, which he did! It met with surprising success under the charter, City Bank and Trust.

Francesca had the same kind of idea as Ruby when after being turned down for the religious life, she decided to found her own order. She became Mother Cabrini, Superior of the House of Providence. Her cohorts were seven orphans.

At this time, Jesuit-educated Cardinal Vincenzo Pecci was elected Pope on February 20, 1878, a time of great ferment, especially in the Church, which had literally been brought to its knees by the hostile secular government. The new pope took the name Leo M. Like his model Thomas Aquinas, he also had strong ideas as to what the Church should be. The House of Providence was ordered dissolved and the nuns returned to the town of Codogno where they founded a private school to which seven others were eventually added.

Mother Cabrini confronted many road blocks as she went to Rome to petition the founding of an order called "The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart." Her desire to establish a foundation of the order in Rome was continuously frustrated until surprisingly, she was granted permission to establish two houses, but with no financial help to get them started. On March 12, 1888, her order received official approval and recognition. Meanwhile the government of Italy was hoping that immigration would help alleviate some of the country's shortages.

Mother Cabrini's hopes to eventually do missionary work in the Far East, as had her patron saint, Francis Xavier, were thwarted when Archbishop Corrigan of New York asked that she come to set up a mission there. Pope Leo XIII himself, in granting her an audience said, "The house and family of Western civilization must first be put in order. Frances Cabrini, go to America, plant there and cultivate the beautiful fruit of Christ."

Using foreign newspapers, she compared them to Italian ones to help master the English language. In 1889, she sailed from Havre, France, the first of over thirty trips across the Atlantic. Her destinations later would include Canada, Alaska, Central and South America.

The horrors of steerage passage and constant seasickness did not stop her and her small group from practicing their mission, even at sea. Like every good teacher, she also did her own homework, mastering lessons in courtesy and social graces that would later disarm the people with whom she would come into contact. She would be an advocate for Italian immigrants who were being exploited in the factories and other workplaces.

A shrewd businessperson, she would scout potential sites for her missions as if looking for champagne at beer prices. Her vision took her to spots, such as a Jesuit Retreat House on the banks of the Hudson River at West Park. The Manresa Retreat House was named for a place where St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius of Loyola had once conducted their own retreats. The New York property was in dire need of repair, and the Jesuits were actually willing to abandon it because it lacked access to potable water.

After experiencing a vision one night, Mother Cabrini stood on a spot on the property and commanded that digging should commence there. A spring appeared, just as it had to St. Bernadette at Lourdes, and the community's needs for drinkable water were fully met.

Street-smart in engineering, painting, and plastering, Mother Cabrini was able to delegate with authority, and slovenly workmanship was not tolerated, even to the discharge of culprits who were soon replaced with honest and talented workers.

She asked nothing be done which she herself would not attempt, and she was a pillar of strength in sea-crossings, mountain climbing, and primitive jungle travel on beasts of burden, all the while keeping in the forefront, her religious mission to Jesus, the Blessed Mother, and the Sacred Heart.

A financial wizard who made the most of every donation, including sweat equity, Sister's order numbered over sixty foundations, among them. orphanages, schools, colleges, and even hospitals, with a membership of over 3,000 followers. They donned hardhats to visit the workplaces of Italian immigrant workers bringing them cheer, news of their homeland, and token offerings of meats and sweets.

At the turn of the century, Mother Cabrini decided it might be time to step down, just as Mother Teresa of Calcutta would think of doing many years later. They both received shows of confidence, with unanimous voting for their reelection, a strong mandate to continue.

Later, Mother Cabrini met a cardinal who asked if she practiced obedience. After her positive reply, he ordained that she continue in her leadership role for her lifetime. She too believed in what Mother Teresa once said, "There is plenty of time for rest in Heaven."

This beautiful saint, Mother Cabrini, passed into eternal life on December 22, 1917. She was buried on the grounds of her first acquisition, the former Jesuit retreat house on the banks of the Hudson River.

Her three major sources of inspiration throughout her life had all been named Francis: St. Francis Xavier, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Francis de Sales, a Mentor for Don Bosco, a Jesuit, a Franciscan, and a Salesian, respectively.

How grateful American Catholics and. in particular those of Italian ancestry should be for Mother Cabrim's fortitude, persistence, vision, practicality, and spirituality in overcoming numerous obstacles and in contributing so much to the American Dream.