Born July 15, 1850 in the village of Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Italy, Frances Cabrini was captivated by stories of missionaries. The youngest of 13 children born to farmers Agostino and Stella Cabrini, she was small and frail. She attended a religious institution run by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in her teens and graduated with a teaching certificate.

At 20, following the death of both of her parents, Frances applied to teach at the school but her teachers told her she was too frail to live the austere life that they led.

Undaunted, she became the headmistress of an orphanage, teaching women to live religious lives. In 1877 she added Xavier to her name in honor of the patron saint of missionary service, Francis Xavier. She still dreamed of being a missionary in the Far East, like Francis Xavier.

In 1880, Frances founded her own order — the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus — with seven other young women. The women did charitable work, helping the community and taking in orphans.

When Frances Cabrini went to Pope Leo XIII in September 1887 to seek his approval to establish missions in China, he encouraged her to go to the United States to help the thousands of Italians who had immigrated there.

Frances and seven of her Sister companions arrived in New York in 1889. She organized catechism and education classes for Italian immigrants helped orphans. She also established Columbus Hospitals in New York City and Chicago, which were later named after her.

In total she founded 67 schools, hospitals and orphanages in America, Europe and Central and South America to help the poor and sick, at a time when the government didn't have any aid in place. Many of those institutions still exist in 16 countries around the world.

Frances died on December 22, 1917 in Chicago and was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1946 to recognize her service to mankind.

A movie about her struggles to become established in the United States, starring Cristiana Dell'Anna and titled Cabrini, was released in theaters on March 8, 2024. ~Alexandra Heilbron