Denver Catholic

6 JULY 22-AUGUST 11, 2017 | DENVER CATHOLIC Around the Archdiocese 303.743.8804 HoranCares.com Helping You Honor Life D riving out of the mountains on I-70, it's hard not to spot: A statue of Jesus overlooking the corridor, signaling a warm welcome back to the city after a long weekend away. Mother Cabrini Shrine has become something of a landmark for Coloradans; a silent refuge just outside the city for the weary, the overburdened and the distracted to come and find a little bit of peace and quiet. What the many who visit may not know, however, is the rich history of the land and its founder — a saint from whom the haven takes its namesake. On July 15-16, the Shrine marked 100 years since the death of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini with a weekend-long cel- ebration of her life and achievements. Bishop Jorge H. Rodriguez said Mass on Sunday. Mother Cabrini was a simple Italian woman who made an impressionable mark on American Catholic spiritual- ity and was responsible for founding 67 di›erent institutions in the U.S., includ- ing schools, hospitals and orphanages. Mother Cabrini Shrine can be counted among these, though it didn't begin as the shrine it is today. Frances Cabrini was born July 15, 1850, in the small village of S'ant Angelo Lodgiano, Italy, just outside of Milan. The youngest of 13 children, she was born two months premature, and would live her life in a fragile and delicate state of health. Despite her condition, it didn't stop her from joining a religious order when she was of age. In 1880, Cabrini founded the Mission- ary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The dream for her and her sisters was to go and do missionary work in China, and was granted an audience with Pope Leo XIII to gain permission to do so. Much to her surprise, he told her not to go east, but to the west — namely, the United States. Italian immigrants were flooding the country at the time, and the Pope thought her talents would be best utilized serving them instead. He was right. She arrived to New York City in 1889. It was di¯cult at first, but she founded an orphanage in what is now West Park, New York, known as Saint Cabrini Home. She eventually found her way to Colo- rado in 1902, where she would visit sev- eral times in the remaining years of her life. She ministered to the poor Italian mining workers and their families in the foothills west of Denver, an area she was particularly fond of. Having already established Queen of Heaven Girls Orphanage in Denver, Mother Cabrini was in need of a summer camp to bring the girls during the summer months. She discovered some property on the east slope of Lookout Mountain, owned by the town of Golden, BY AARON LAMBERT aaron.lambert@archden.org @AaronLmbrt At Mother Cabrini spirit lives on 100

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