The Anniversary of Mother Cabrini’s Death, Healing Mass, and Christmas Schedule

Late in 1917 Mother Cabrini  arrived in Chicago thin, weak, and exhausted. Part of the problem, the doctors at Columbus Hospital told her, was that she was suffering a relapse of the malaria she’d acquired in Brazil years before. But at 67, after decades of relentless work and ill health, her body was clearly wearing down.

Still, she pushed on. Concerned about the World War and the possibility of food shortages for her hospitals in Chicago, Mother Cabrini purchased a farm in Des Plaines, Illinois. Then, true to her roots as a farmer’s daughter, she set about personally selecting the livestock.

As Christmas approached, Mother Cabrini learned that because of the war the pastor at Assumption Church, where the Missionary Sisters ran a school, could not afford candy for the Italian children. That would never do! She immediately ordered sweets. It turned out to be her last act of charity.

On December 22, 1917, around midday, Mother Cabrini was alone in her room when she died peacefully. The doctor attributed her death to chronic endocarditis.

This year the Shrine will hold a special healing Mass on Sunday, December 22 to mark the date of Mother Cabrini’s passing. We invite all who are struggling with physical or mental illness to attend. There will be individual prayer with a first-class relic of St. Frances Cabrini at the conclusion of the Mass.