 St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was born in 1850 in what is now the Lombardy region of Italy. She immigrated to the United States in 1889 and went on to found more than 60 schools, hospitals and orphanages. She died in 1917. The sculpture depicts Cabrini with two children &mdash; a boy and girl &mdash; sailing on a paper boat. The girl is a reflection of Cabrini when she was young. She is holding a book in one hand, which symbolizes her commitment to education, while her other hand holds firmly onto the boat, signifying her steadfastness in the face of adversities. The boy depicted holds onto his luggage to face what the future will bring and holds on the other hand a wind instrument invented in Italy, which represents the culture immigrants have brought to America. 

For many years, the Statue of Liberty greeted immigrants arriving in the U.S. by ship. Ellis Island is the place where many immigrants were processed by immigration officials before they were allowed to enter the country. And the Diocese of Brooklyn is known as the diocese of immigrants.  

Despite her fear of water and her frail constitution, Mother Cabrini&amp;rsquo;s &amp;ldquo;sea legs&amp;rdquo; carry her 23 times over the Atlantic allowing her to continue her charitable missions dedicated to immigrants throughout North America and the world. In her life of 67 years she establishes 67 hospitals, schools, and other charitable institutions.    

In the Five Points neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, Mother Cabrini witnesses the devastating living conditions of the immigrants. She makes it her mission to elevate the human condition and defend the rights of immigrants and needy. Mother Cabrini soon meets with Countess Mary Reid Cesnola to establish an orphanage for young girls. Her husband Count Luigi Palma di Cesnola, the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, becomes her strategic advisor and helps her navigate this new modern society. The Cesnola&amp;rsquo;s will remain supporters and friends of Mother Cabrini.  

On April 21, 1889, Mother Cabrini opens an orphanage with the help of Countess Cesnola at 43 East 59th St. and names it House of the Holy Angels. Almost as soon as it is open, she focuses on moving the orphanage to a place that is located closer to immigrant neighborhoods and also capable of accommodating a greater number of children to assist in the physical and spiritual care of all children in need &amp;ndash; orphans as well as children abandoned by immigrant families &amp;ndash; who arrived in America to find far less than the riches that they imagined.    

Mother Cabrini returns to Italy for a short time and within a few months of her return to New York, she purchases a beautiful property in West Park, affectionately called &ldquo;Manresa.&rdquo; Leveraging her upbringing as a daughter of farmers, her creative abilities, and her love for the land she finds a spring of water on the arid property where a well can be drilled. The orphanage is moved from Manhattan to this stable and more favorable location and it also becomes a place for the training of her &ldquo;daughters.&rdquo; With her guidance, the immigrant children under her care are taught English and American customs without losing track of the values and traditions of their homeland.There are many impoverished Italian immigrants in desperate need of medical attention and who are unfamiliar with the language and American customs. Due to Mother Cabrini&rsquo;s administrative and organizational skills, on July 25, 1891 she is implored by Archbishop Corrigan to assume responsibility of a hospital for the Italian immigrants. Mother Cabrini agrees under one condition: that it remains under her direction. Mother Cabrini ends the collaboration with the hospital&rsquo;s owners and establishes a new hospital, with the generous help of the Countess Cesnola and her daughters and the encouragement of Archbishop Corrigan. It is the first hospital of the Missionary Sisters, and is named Columbus Hospital &ndash; eventually renamed Cabrini Medical Center &ndash; open to all, including those who cannot pay. Doctors donate their services free of charge.

On July 15, 1850 in the small town of Sant&rsquo;Angelo Lodigiano in Northern Italy, Frances Cabrini is born as a flock of doves hovers over her family&rsquo;s farmhouse. As Maria-Francesca is born, a dove welcomes her into the world. The Cabrini family gathers in the evenings listening to the stories their father, Agostino Cabrini, who tells tales of missionaries such as Francis Xavier and their heroic deeds. Frances, endearingly nicknamed Cecchina because of her minute stature, develops a lively and creative mind and becomes passionate about missionary work.Frances wishes to follow in the footsteps of the great Jesuit Missionary Saint Francis Xavier whose deeds of plurality, care for numerous ethnic groups, tolerance for diversity and contemporary insight into spiritual globalization influences Cabrini&rsquo;s direction.Cecchina often visits her uncle Don Luigi Oldini, parish priest of Livraga who lives near the Venera River. During one of her visits, Cecchina builds a boat with wax paper from her lunch and fills it with violets, her &ldquo;missionaries&rdquo;. Then sends them off to China on the Venera River to rescue infant girls. She loses her balance and falls into the river and a hand rescues her, which she always believes to have been her guardian angel. Cecchina catches bronchitis after falling into the water and her sister Rosa takes good care of her, putting her back on her path to becoming the cheered advocate of immigrants and the needy around the world.

Mother Cabrini Memorial