By Steven Cordetti

It would be difficult to find an adult most anywhere in the world who is not familiar with Mother Teresa, now known as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Her humane work and that of the Missionaries of Charity has brought comfort, dignity and hope to thousands. Canonization is expected for Blessed Teresa, and if so, she will follow in the footsteps of another nun with a similar but lesser known biography, a driven woman born and raised in Italy who became the first American saint.

Maria Francesca Cabrini was born in 1850 in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, not far from Milano, and spent her early years tending the farm with her parents and siblings. Her father would read aloud from the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, telling stories of missionaries in all corners of the world. The chronicles of the missions in China made a particular impression on Francesca and she resolved to go there as an adult.

Francesca's parents sent her at age 13 to study under the Daughters of the Sacred Heart, and she received her teaching certification when she was 18. Her first instructional positions were in private and public schools in her hometown and the nearby village of Vilardo. The time in the convent school inspired her decision to pursue the religious life.

Francesca later accepted a request from diocesan authorities to take over direction of the unsuccessfully administered House of Providence, a girls' orphanage in Codogno. Five fellow teachers at the orphanage wanted to become nuns, and with Francesca as their leader, began their novitiate and made profession of vows in 1877. Francesca added Xavier to her name in tribute to the sixteenth-century Jesuit missionary, Francis Xavier, who evangelized in the Orient.

The orphanage unfortunately closed in 1880, and Mother Cabrini and her fellow novices became the founding members of a new order, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC). Mother Cabrini composed the rules and constitution and continued as superior general until her passing, just like Mother Teresa did with her order. The MSC added members and established several convents, schools and orphanages in Italy.

The Missionary Sisters shared Mother Cabrini's dream of going to China, and she obtained an audience with Pope Leo XIII in order to make the request. The pope told her to go to New York instead and help the Italian immigrants settled there. Archbishop Corrigan of New York City, concerned with the material and spiritual plight of Italian immigrants and the lack of Italian schools and bilingual religion teachers, had solicited missionary assistance from the Vatican. Mother Cabrini was naturally disappointed with the pope's response but also knew she and her companions could be useful to the underserved Italians, so the women departed in 1889. Their first endeavor was an orphanage for Italian children, launched with financial backing from Countess Mary di Cesnola, wife of the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and other donors.

Mother Cabrini and the Sisters also opened a free school and taught catechism on the lower east side of Manhattan, where the poorest Italians lived. The Sisters constantly traversed the streets of the Italian district providing support to the immigrants in any form possible. They begged for alms because donations received from religious congregations and private contributors were not enough to support the growing number of orphans.

Mother Cabrini created an orphanage for Italian girls, Sacred Heart Orphan Asylum, at the appeal of the archbishop in 1891. She later moved the orphanage to the rural location of a former Jesuit novitiate on the Hudson River in West Park, NY. The Sisters and girls had to haul water from the river for weeks, but after scouring the property and praying to the Virgin Mary, a natural spring was discovered on the premises. St. Cabrini Home, as it is known today, provides residential care and intervention for girls, boys and their families. The home is the only childcare agency founded by Mother Cabrini that still survives and is operated by the MSC.

Petitions to open schools and other institutions soon came to the MSC from all over the world. Mother Cabrini made over twenty transoceanic crossings and formed 67 institutions -- schools, hospitals, missions, convents, social outreach programs and orphanages -- in New York, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Europe and South America. She began a custom of writing letters to her religious sisters in the form of a travel diary during her second voyage. The letters are preserved today and provide valuable historical documentation.

Mother Cabrini was naturalized as an American citizen in Seattle in 1909 and died in Chicago in 1917 while preparing Christmas presents for local children. She was canonized in 1946 as the first American saint and her feast day is November 13. Her beatification miracle involved restoration of sight to a child blinded by excess silver nitrate in the eyes. Her canonization miracle concerned the healing of a terminally ill nun who was given only a few days to live yet went on to live another twenty years. Mother Cabrini was declared the patron saint of immigrants in 1950. Her remains are enshrined behind glass under the altar at St. Frances Cabrini Shrine Chapel in Manhattan. The street west of the shrine was renamed Cabrini Boulevard in her honor.

Today, the Missionary Sisters, their lay collaborators and volunteers still embody the values of their order's founder in roles as teachers, nurses, social workers and administrators on six continents. Cabrini Mission Foundation was created in 1998 and fosters Mother Cabrini's legacy by providing social services, healthcare and education to women, children, immigrants and senior citizens of all faiths and backgrounds.

Maria Francesca Cabrini's dream of working in China was never realized. She nonetheless found fulfillment by assisting thousands of fellow Italians scattered around the globe. She went about her vocation using a toolbox similar to Mother Teresa's, stocked with sharp administrative abilities, a resourceful spirit and passion for aiding the less fortunate. National Italian American Heritage Month is a fitting time to share Mother Cabrini's biography with young people who may be unaware of her contributions.