On March 8, Angel Studios’ latest movie, Cabrini, will be released. The screenplay is based on the true story of the first American to be named a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Francesca Xavier Cabrini. Timed for release on International Women’s Day, the movie highlights an often forgotten but pivotal character in women’s history, Italian American history and the American immigrant saga.
Born in Lombardy in 1850, Cabrini was orphaned at a young age, and was a frail young person. She planned to be a missionary in the Far East, but instead was urged by the pope to assist Italian immigrants that were coming to the Americas in large numbers in the late 19th century.
Arriving in New York City in 1889, Cabrini founded 67 missionary institutions to serve orphans, the sick and the impoverished, at a time when the government social safety net did not yet exist and when Italian immigrants were often looked on negatively in American society.
Cabrini died in 1917 in Chicago at age 67 and was cannonized as a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1946.
Cabrini’s Ties to Southern California
Before 1900, the United States was indeed a very large country, decades before air travel.
But Cabrini did visit the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles, founding the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart which then built the Villa Cabrini Academy, an all-girls Catholic school that operated from 1937 to 1970 (Kimber Tunis, daughter of Clint Eastwood, attended this school).
In 1916, Cabrini directed the construction of a small chapel in Burbank, atop Mount Raphael in the Verdugo Mountains. The chapel even served as a beacon for airplane pilots during the early years of aviation in the early 20th century.
A Shrine to Cabrini in Burbank
Today, a shrine to Cabrini stands behind the St. Frances Xavier Church at 3801 Scott Road in Burbank, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Italian Catholic Federation in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
A special mass in Cabrini’s honor is held on the second Sunday in November each year, timed with Cabrini’s beatification date.
The shrine is also open between 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. every second Sunday of January, February, April, June, September, and November, or by special appointment.
The shrine includes a small library of works about Cabrini and her impact.
A visit to the Cabrini shrine in Burbank is a great way of exploring the Italian American experience and a great educational activity for those of any ethnicity, especially after watching the Cabrini movie.
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