Mother St. Frances X. Cabrini Shrine (Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus)

History & Significance

Shrine · Est. Shrine dedicated 1959 (site acquired by Mother Cabrini in 1899)

The St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Shrine in upper Manhattan (701 Fort Washington Avenue) honors St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the first U.S. citizen canonized a saint. Cabrini acquired the Hudson River bluff site in 1899; after her 1946 canonization drew growing crowds of pilgrims, a dedicated shrine chapel was built and dedicated in the late 1950s (1959) beside the former Mother Cabrini High School. Most of the saint's relics are enshrined beneath the altar in a reliquary, with her face and hands sculpted in wax. The shrine is operated by the Missionary Sisters and serves the Archdiocese of New York.

Mid-20th-century chapel

• •Honors St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), first U.S. citizen to be canonized (1946) and Patroness of Immigrants (1950)
• •Operated by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the order Cabrini founded in 1880
• •Located in the Archdiocese of New York at 701 Fort Washington Avenue, Manhattan
• •Shrine chapel built and dedicated in the late 1950s (1959) following the surge of pilgrims after her canonization
• •Most of the saint's relics are enshrined beneath the altar, her face and hands rendered in wax