Cabrini: My 110% Honest Review
America's first saint has a new biopic
When Angel Studios invited me to screen Cabrini, the new biopic of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, I have to admit I was a bit hesitant. First of all, the idea of reviewing anything that was sent to me has always made me nervous—I had to reiterate to them that I was thankful for the opportunity but would be 110% honest. Secondly—
I knew nothing about Mother Cabrini.
Nothing! In fact, one of the pilgrims on our Poland trip mentioned Mother Cabrini to me and I casually responded, “I know literally nothing about her” and they were shocked. “YOU?!” she said. “YOU don’t have a devotion to Mother Cabrini?” The more I read about her, the more excited I got to learn even more about her. Because this pilgrim was right—a saint like Mother Cabrini is right up my alley.
The TLDR for those of you who were in the dark, like me: Frances Xavier Cabrini was the first canonized American saint. She was an Italian immigrant in the late 1800s, and was sent by the Pope with a few of her fellow Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to minister to the poor Italians of New York. Eventually, Mother Cabrini founded multiple hospitals and orphanages throughout the country and was an advocate for social change and care for the poor. She faced sexism, racism, ableism, and anti-Catholicism, but still charged forward with a bright spirit and determined attitude.
Cabrini, a recent movie from Angel Studios (known for Sound of Freedom, which I never saw, and The Chosen, which I’m legitimately obsessed with.) This movie tells the story of her initial trip to New York and her attempts to care for the orphaned children of Five Points, a dangerous Manhattan neighborhood populated with impoverished Italians.