St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850–1917) was an Italian-American nun who became the first U.S. citizen to be canonized. Born in Lombardy, Italy, she was the thirteenth child in a humble farming family and from a young age felt called to be a missionary. Refused entrance to some religious orders due to frail health, she nonetheless founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1880. At the urging of Pope Leo XIII, Mother Cabrini went not to China as she originally dreamed, but west to the United States to serve the flood of Italian immigrants. She arrived in New York in 1889 and over the next 28 years established 67 institutions: schools, hospitals, and orphanages across the U.S., Latin America, and Europe. Small in stature but mighty in spirit, Mother Cabrini tirelessly organized communities to care for the poor and sick, often overcoming great obstacles (including financial hardship and prejudice). Naturalized as an American citizen, she became lovingly known as the “Mother of Immigrants,” attending to their spiritual and material needs. Cabrini’s deep trust in the Sacred Heart of Jesus fueled her work; she once said, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” She died in Chicago on December 22, 1917. Canonized in 1946 by Pope Pius XII, St. Frances Cabrini’s legacy of charity and advocacy for immigrants continues in the many institutions bearing her name.