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Saint Frances Cabrini and Louisiani

By Bob and Penny Lord

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Mother Cabrini wins over Louisiana

Mother Cabrini loved the people of Louisiana. We love the people of Louisiana. She could not be intimidated by anyone. Her time in New Orleans was proof positive of that. She was asked to work with the Bishop of New Orleans, to rid the state of the tremendous discrimination against the Italians there. There was a large community of Italians living in worse conditions than in New York, if that were possible. The sisters were shocked when they first saw the living conditions.

In addition, there was a great deal of dislike of the Italians. It's not that way anymore in New Orleans. As in the rest of the country, the Italians have become part of mainstream America. We have many Italian friends who live in New Orleans, who have businesses in the French Quarter; they are public officials, professional men and women, doctors and dentists, attorneys, as well as shop owners and restaurateurs. But they paid a high price for their acceptance. Many of our friends shared that when they were children, they lived in the part of the French Quarter, which had originally been a black section. These Italians told us they lived a very difficult life in those days.

At the time that Mother Cabrini embraced the people of New Orleans, the plight of the Italians was at its lowest. There were stories of lynchings of Italians on charges of murdering the chief of police. The bodies were left on the trees and lamp posts as an example.

Researching the life of Mother Cabrini, we found that the reason that the Italians moved into that section of the French Quarter of New Orleans was because Mother Cabrini came into the area and bought an apartment house there. She immediately set up a chapel. The Blessed Sacrament was brought there by one of Bishop Scalabrini's priests and Masses began to be celebrated. The Italians flocked to be near her and her sisters. They were like an oasis in the desert, a dream come true, a genuine miracle.

Mother Cabrini also went to the aid of the Italian people who were being victimized by callous and self-centered politicians. As in New York, being foreigners with limited or no knowledge of the language, they were easily taken advantage of by dishonest and deceitful men. But Mother Cabrini, also a foreigner with no great grasp of the English language, but with the strength of the Angels of God behind her, was not intimidated by these corrupt politicians. She was able to instill the fear of God into them. She was also able to get the police, who adored her, to give protection to the people from the crooked politicians.

Regarding her attempt to help the poor Italians in Louisiana, her historians wrote: "And when the latter (corrupt politicians) tried to frighten her by giving her a sinister warning, she, a tiny woman, simply warned them of the justice of God and left them speechless."

Louisianians have suffered greatly, corruption always a way of life they have had to endure for generations. It's an accepted fact, like mosquitoes or humidity. It's just about taken for granted. But one thing they are, they are Catholic! They have a healthy respect for God. Tell the people of Louisiana that you are protected by the Angels and they will give you a wide berth. They have a great faith! So Mother Cabrini felt right at home among them. She didn't want to leave them, when the time came for her to move on. No one ever does! She believed she had made a little progress converting some of the public officials while she was there.

A minor miracle took place through the work of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. In those days, towards the end of the Nineteenth Century, sanitary conditions in Louisiana were not the greatest. Typhoid fever took many lives. In 1897, an epidemic of yellow fever broke out in New Orleans. The people were devastated. All the schools were closed. But the sisters recalled a similar problem which the Lord had resolved for them in Marseilles, France. It was a cholera epidemic. The sisters had made and distributed hundreds of scapulars of the Sacred Heart. Then they prayed for all they were worth. The epidemic passed, and all who wore the scapular were saved from cholera.

They decided to do the same thing in New Orleans. They hurriedly made as many scapulars as they could and passed them out as quickly as possible, as the epidemic was about to reach plague proportions. They also did the most important thing they could have done; they prayed for the intercession of the Sacred Heart. Sure enough, the Lord came through and everyone who wore the scapular was excluded from the disease.

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