I have never been a movie lover, and never have I gone back to see the same movie twice… but then came Cabrini – a movie released on March 8, marking the celebration of International Women’s Day. Typically, when I hear about the celebration of women it has to do with women’s reproductive freedom, superficial beauty, independence, or how they don’t need men anymore. But Cabrini, an Italian Catholic nun born in 1850, gave her life to helping the poor, especially orphans. She was tenacious, persevering, bold and relentless in helping many Italian immigrants in New York City.
As a child she suffered from a lung disease and was told she would be bedridden for life, not living past 40. But her philosophy was,
We can serve our weakness, or we can serve our purpose.
MotherCabrini chose to serve her purpose, traveling from Italy to NYC in 1889 with five other sisters, against the advice of her superiors. She was met with chaos and poverty, finding many Italian immigrants living in squalor. Nothing, absolutely nothing would stop her from going to the streets of New York to find children living in the sewers, then taking them to a place of safety. She and the other sisters rehabbed an abandoned building, filling it with light, love, education, music and laughter.
Cabrini faced opposition on all sides, those who thought Italian immigrants were less than human, idiots, only to be used for common labor. The rich didn’t’ want to hear the truth when a front-page article appeared on the front page of the NY Times that, Even the rats in NYC lived better than the children. Of course, Mother Cabrini is the one who walked uninvited into the office of the editor of the NY Times, challenging him to visit the sewer homes of the children and write the article.
Though many tried to shut her down, she was relentless in her love for the unlovable. The pimps were against her because she gave dignity and worth to young girls they hoped to use for their business. Yet Cabrini would not be stopped, assuring the other sisters that God would give them strength to continue their work.
Amazingly, Cabrini lived until she was 67 – defying all the predictions of the medical professionals in her life. Since her death, the influence of her work in NYC has reached six continents and 15 other countries in the world – always with the goal of serving the most vulnerable in every city and giving them the dignity they deserve.
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