The Good Works of Mother Cabrini in Seattle
In 1903, a humble servant of the Lord, and future Patron Saint of Immigrants, arrived in this new city, and the Pacific Northwest would never be the same after her stay.
UPDATED FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2024
Born Francesca Saviero Cabrini and known later as Frances Xavier Cabrini, Mother Cabrini earned a teaching certificate and taught in her home town of S’ant Angelo Lodigiano, a small town about 30 km east of Milan, Italy. She was taught by Daughters of the Sacred Heart, and when she tried to join the order, she was rejected due to frail health. Undeterred, she turned that rejection into an opportunity, and in 1880, together with 7 other young women from Lodi, founded her own order, Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, at the age of 30.
Despite her request to Pope Leo XIII to take her missionary work to China, he redirected her not to the eastern United States, but the western side of the country, though it took her a while to get to and settle in America. A decade after establishing her order, she and her group of nuns arrived in New York City, though there was no place for them until a generous donation by a contessa enabled the sisters to set up their base. Thirteen years later, in 1903, she arrived in Seattle to minister to the growing Italian immigrant community there, who welcomed her with open arms.
With her trademark zeal, she quickly founded the Mount Carmel Mission on Beacon Hill, followed soon after by a school, which became associated with Our Lady of Mount Virgin Parish.
In 1918, Mother Cabrini had a dream of a safe haven for orphans on a lake. Spurred on by their foundress’ vision, the sisters relocated to Lake Washington without her, and opened Sacred Heart Orphanage, now Villa Academy.
Mother Cabrini was also instrumental in purchasing Perry Hotel, to be known as Columbus Sanitarium, and eventually, Cabrini Hospital. The bishop withheld his blessing when he heard she wanted to convert it into a hospital. He assumed her hospital would compete with Providence, the pre-existing Catholic hospital in the city. She prayed without success, and due to her deteriorating health, she left in the winter of 1916, never to return.
The strife she incurred with that particular institution may have contributed to her early demise, which is a sad thought, however we can be buoyed by the hospital’s eventual construction PLUS, the 66 other good works from coast to coast she accomplished in her life—67 in total, one for every year of her life.
Even though she was unable to see the dream of her hospital come to life, once the bishop relented, she heard of its inauguration shortly before her death in Chicago.
A novice of her order said this upon her death:
“Hers was a life lived for God alone… No task was too great, no labor was too hard, no journey too long and fatiguing, no sufferings were unbearable when the saving of souls and succoring of suffering humanity were in question.”
In 1946, Pope Pius XII recognized her tireless service and she was canonized as the first American saint. In 1950, she was named Patroness of Immigrants
The cities of Chicago and New York City have memorialized her with shrines. In Seattle, her shrine can be seen at St. James Cathedral atop Beacon Hill.
She is buried at Mother Cabrini High School in New York City.
Her feast day is November 13 and here is her prayer:
Blessed are you, O Christ, Son of the Living God. You raised the heart of your bride Francesca Saverio Cabrini and enkindled in her the desire to embrace you in the immigrant, in the orphan and in the sick. We are grateful for the beauty which you give to your Church in our dear saint, our mother and our friend.
Several documentaries have been made of her life, and recently, a new movie was filmed in Buffalo, NY. The movie has an release date of March 8TH, 2024, which coincides beautifully with International Women’s Day.
In the meantime, here is a trailer. You can learn more about the movie on their website. Hopefully, it includes snippets of her time in both Seattle and Portland, where she did tremendous work with the prison population.
You can find additional information about Mother Cabrini in my nonfiction book, ITALIANS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST (Arcadia Publishing, Sept 2023).
Be sure to pre-order now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org.
