“Prayer is powerful! It fills the earth with mercy, it makes the Divine clemency pass from generation to generation. Right along the course of the centuries wonderful works have been achieved through prayer.” ~St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.
November 13th is the feast of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. Born as Maria Francesca Cabrini in 1850 Italy, she was a premature baby who struggled with poor health. Denied many requests to enter missionary convents, Frances was eventually accepted and was sent to the United States. She founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart with the blessing of Pope Leo XIII.
The first canonized American citizen.
Some of us may be familiar with the Cabrini movie. The feature centered on her missionary work in New York, establishing orphanages and working in hospitals. Her work in America was greatly focused on helping struggling Italian immigrants. However, a short-sight of the film was her great devotion to prayer.
Frances believed nothing in life could be achieved without prayer. She herself was an orphan. Her health was so poor it took years before she could enter the convent. Yet God used her tragedy in hospitals and orphanages to shape her beautiful heart. Pope Leo was so touched by her spiritual strength he sent her to care for the Italian people in the U.S. The young woman too unreliable enough to work in a convent was sent to another country by the Pope himself.
Nothing so extreme as her missionary work could be achieved without Divine Intervention. Especially in the early 1900s, medical help was hard to come by for someone chronically underdeveloped. But Frances knew she was made to serve the Lord. She dreamed of following Francis Xavier to China to evangelize the far away country. Instead, when she at last was allowed to enter the convent, the Pope asked her to lead the way in the U.S. Her work led to her being the first canonized American citizen.
Mercy through generations.
How different could the world be right now with another Frances Xavier Cabrini? Someone who lives for others and works with mercy? A heart that has nothing but compassion for others? How healing and beautiful would a spirit of mercy be in our 2024 United States?
