On March 8, International Women’s Day, the feature film “Cabrini” opens in theaters worldwide. It tells the remarkable story of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, whose journey to New York and beyond, made her a missionary pioneer bringing care, stability and faith to Italian immigrants like herself in the late 19th and early 20th century.
The cast features Italian actress Cristiana Dell’Anna as Mother Cabrini, as well as well-known American actors John Lithgow as New York City Mayor Gould and David Morse as New York Archbishop Michael Corrigan.
The work accomplished by Mother Cabrini and her Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is staggering, now more than a century after her death. She founded 67 institutions serving the poor and the sick including many hospitals, schools and orphanages. In 1946, she became the first U.S. citizen canonized by the Catholic Church. Her feast is November 13, and she is patron saint of immigrants.
Scores of parishes across the United States bear the saint’s name including St. Frances Cabrini Church in Coram. Catholic Charities of Long Island’s Cabrini Gardens senior housing site is also in Coram.
Opening midway through Lent, “Cabrini” offers an opportunity for reflection on the saint’s life and service, much of it in New York. The film is being screened at many Long Island theaters.
Mother Cabrini was a woman of action deeply rooted in prayer. The following is from her Prayer for Surrender to Jesus: “My loving Jesus, I enclose myself in you and surrender myself completely in your loving heart…Enlighten my mind with a ray of your light, move my heart and soul and make me do whatever pleases you and is for your greater glory…”
Enjoy this “Cabrini” trailer from Angel Studios: