SPIRIT OF FIRST U.S. SAINT BURNS BRIGHT MOTHER CABRINI: PATRONESS OF IMMIGRANTS REMEMBERED AT CHAPEL.

Byline: Holly J. Andres

Staff Writer

BURBANK -- Every morning when she wakes up and every night before she goes to bed, Josephine Galante stares at the portrait of Frances Xavier Cabrini and says a prayer.

"She was a determined, little, tiny woman with a lot of zeal. She knew how to raise money for the less fortunate," said Galante, a member of the Burbank branch of the Italian Catholic Federation.

"She had poor health, but there was nothing to stop her."

An Italian-born naturalized American citizen who became the first saint from the United States, Cabrini lived and worked in Los Angeles and Burbank on and off from 1905 to 1916. She is the patroness of immigrants, emigrants and orphans.

"Mother Cabrini is very near and dear to our hearts," Galante said. "She is what keeps us strong. To me, her chapel is very, very sacred."

Maria Francesca Cabrini was born July 15, 1850, in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano in Lombardy. She took her religious vows in 1877 and added Xavier to her name in honor of the Jesuit priest St. Francis Xavier.

Cabrini founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1880 after being twice denied entrance into religious orders.

Despite her longing to do missionary work in Asian countries, Cabrini was encouraged by Pope Leo XIII to begin a ministry to the many Italian immigrants in New York City. She took up that challenge in 1889.

Later, she moved to Los Angeles and established an orphanage on Hill Street. Her indomitable spirit eventually led her to found 67 institutions, including orphanages, schools and hospitals in the United States and abroad.

She retained her title as Mother Superior of her order until her death Dec. 22, 1917, in Chicago. She is buried in New York.

Her connection in Burbank began when she built a sanatorium and school for children. The school later became the Villa Cabrini Academy and operated until 1970. Woodbury University is now on its site.

Cabrini's 1916 hilltop chapel was built by a group from the Knights of Columbus. When the land was sold for development, Mother Cabrini's chapel was relocated in 1973 to the grounds of Burbank's St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church.

A stone grotto dedicated to the Virgin Mary, part of the orphanage Cabrini established in Los Angeles, was saved by preservationists and moved in 1997 to the Villa Scalabrini Retirement Center in Sunland.

The Burbank branch of the Italian Catholic Federation, a charitable organization founded in 1924 in San Francisco, is responsible for the maintenance of the chapel.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini is co-patroness (along with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first United States-born saint), of the organization whose members staged a longtime annual procession up to Cabrini's chapel until it was relocated.

The relocated chapel has a statue of the saint and stained-glass windows. It was blessed in 1975 by Cardinal Timothy Manning.

A library was built onto the chapel in 1992 by members of the Italian Catholic Federation. It houses memorabilia once owned by Cabrini, including crosses, rosaries and her nightgown.

Kenny Bribiesca, a member of the Burbank branch of the Italian Catholic Federation, said people from all over come to light a candle, meditate and pray in the chapel.

"It's sacred ground to them. I believe she's there. I can feel a lot of power there," Bribiesca said. "It's a beautiful little place. The spirit that is there is positive energy."

holly.andres(at)dailynews.com

818-713-3708

WANT TO GO?

The Chapel of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini on the grounds of St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church, 3801 Scott Road, Burbank, is open from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the third Sunday of the month. A procession is held in December. For more information, call 818-504-4400.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2) This chapel was moved from a hilltop at what is now Woodbury University in Burbank to the corner of a parking lot behind St. Francis Xavier Church. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, known as Mother Cabrini, took her middle name from St. Francis Xavier.

(3) This pin, on display in the library of her little chapel, contains a remnant of clothing from Mother Cabrini.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

Box:

WANT TO GO? (see text)