VATICAN CITY, JULY 17 (ZENIT.org)

    Frances Xavier Cabrini, patroness of immigrants and first United States citizen to be declared a saint, is the woman responsible for one of the most spectacular charitable epics of the 20th century.

    From his holiday residence in the Italian Alps, John Paul II sent a message to the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, spiritual daughters of Mother Cabrini, on the 150th anniversary of her birth, and the 50th anniversary of her designation as intercessor of immigrants.

    In his message, the Pontiff gives a biographical outline of this "courageous Mother of the Americas," as this small and delicate woman inspired by an unshakable faith has been described. She was born in a town in Lombardy, Italy. Singled out by a vocation to found the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Mother Cabrini benefited from Pope Leo XIII's intuition. When she told him she wanted to be a missionary in China, the Pope pointed her in the opposite direction. "Do not go East, but West."

    Thus began an incredible adventure that would entail Mother Cabrini crossing the Atlantic 24 times. She arrived first in New York, with a handful of religious. She then explored other horizons, which took her to Nicaragua, Brazil, and Argentina. However, her objective was always the same: to help the masses of disinherited who arrived in the New World in search of work. Starting from scratch, she established schools, hospitals, and orphanages for immigrants.

    John Paul II pointed this out in his message, which continues: "Her concerned, maternal heart reached them everywhere -- in slums, prisons, and mines. Fearless, she travelled distances from New York to New Jersey, from Pennsylvania to Illinois, from California and Louisiana to Colorado."

    At present, there is great devotion for her in the United States, where she is known as Mother Cabrini. She became a U.S. citizen without losing her great love for her distant homeland. Today, her work is carried out by Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Brazilian "favelas," helping street children and immigrants from different countries of America in a changing world that, as the Holy Father says in his message, is experiencing the same problems that St. Frances had to address in her apostolate: "residence permits, teaching the language, integration in the society, help for illegal immigrants in prisons."

    The message of life of the patroness of immigrants is more urgent than ever the Pope said. Hence, he asked Mother Cabrini's spiritual daughters to continues tirelessly to promote "with constant effort the safeguarding and development of every human being." ZE00071707

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