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Born in Italy, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini felt a missionary impulse to leave her homeland and travel to the "land of immigrants."
At the time she was encouraged by Bishop Giovanni Batista Scalabrini to begin a mission in the United States with her new religious order. She had founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1880 and received papal approval on March 12, 1888.
By that point, her newly founded religious order already had 105 professed sisters and 40 novices. While there certainly was a need in the United States, Mother Cabrini initially wanted to go to Asia.
She later met with Pope Leo XIII two times, and during the second audience Cabrini revealed her desires.
"Not to the East, but to the West"
St. John Paul II relates what happens next in a letter he wrote to the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart:
The famous words of Pope Leo XIII to your foundress, "Not to the East, but to the West," are well known. She longed to go to China, but his words gave new energy and direction to her missionary zeal. The invitation of the Vicar of Christ directed her towards the masses of immigrants who, at the end of the 1800s, were crossing the ocean in large numbers to the United States of America, often in conditions of extreme poverty.
Mother Cabrini humbly obeyed Pope Leo XIII and arrived in New York City on March 31, 1889.
Throughout the rest of her life she kept in close contact with Pope Leo XIII, often able to visit him when she returned to Rome.
The Mother Cabrini Shrine in New York shares this exchange between the two during a visit in 1894:
Leo XIII inquired, “When do you leave for America?”
“Next September, Your Holiness.”
“And how many?”
“Sixteen at first, and the same number or more on the second departure.” The pontiff wanted to know where they were headed now. The answer: Brazil.
“To Brazil! But what a vast field! Let us work, Mother Cabrini! Let us work! Then a beautiful heaven will be ours.”
“I like work,” Mother Cabrini confided, “Yes, Your Holiness, but heaven – will heaven really be ours?”
“Certainly,” replied Leo XIII, “Heaven is made for those who work like you. Courage, Mother Cabrini! Work!”
Pope Leo XIII even helped fund some of her missions, highlighting their close friendship.
Mother Cabrini had great courage and tenacity, but was certainly helped in her vocation by the role of Pope Leo XIII, who supported her in her desire to help the poor and suffering in the "land of immigrants."
