Frances Xavier Cabrini

1850–1917 (age 67)

Religious nun, missionary

Biography

Frances Xavier Cabrini founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and traveled to New York City, establishing her headquarters in Manhattan to minister to Italian immigrants by opening schools, hospitals, and orphanages across the city and beyond.

Her tireless advocacy for the poor led to her naturalization in the United States, her canonization as the first American saint, and the enduring institutions that still bear her name and mission.