Pop quiz: Who was the first female American citizen to be canonized a saint? Elizabeth Seton? No. Rose Duchesne? No. Katharine Drexel? No. Try St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850- 1917), who was canonized in 1946 by Pope Pius XII. She was born in in Italy but at the suggestion of Pope Leo XIII in 1889, she brought her congregation to the United States. She embraced her new country to the extent that she became a citizen herself and is truly an American saint.

Her Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart were originally founded to work among Italian immigrants to this country but as usually happens, the apostolate became more diverse. In the Philadelphia area they are best known for the foundation of Cabrini University, although theirs is an international congregation.